Eternal Winter's Reign - Book 2 - Chapter 31 - Not a Worm (Patreon)

Alexander North

Before I do something I might regret, I go ahead and have the terminal check their energy signatures. But the energy around us is so dense that I can’t determine their energy levels. So I reach down and grab a rock instead before tossing said rock into the room.

The instant the rock hits the floor, sending a clinking noise through the room since the rock is frozen, all of the frozen ones instantly react to swipe their scythes at the rock, striking both the rock and the ground and leaving a small crater in their wake.

Huh. Speed and strength.

Got it.

Also, it looked like it reacted to sound.

Imma test that.

I slowly inch forwards before stopping at around right before the point I think begins their territory. Then I stretch my hand out into their territory, only to yank it back again.

Nothing happens.

So I slowly stretch it back into their territory without making a sound or moving it back this time.

Still nothing. None of them so much as look at me.

Guess they’re blind?

Strange creatures.

I reach down and grab another rock before tossing it, and the creatures immediately rush towards the rock.

That should be enough to prove my theory.

They didn’t attack me when hearing my footsteps out here or me swearing, and are only attacking the rock when it makes a noise.

Just to make absolutely certain, I grab another rock and slowly lower it to the ground without dropping it or making a sound within their territory.

Nothing happens.

Cool.

In this case, the problem is very easy to solve.

There are currently about two dozen of the creatures just scattered through the hallway. Meanwhile there are rooms on either side of them, with another intersecting hallway just a dozen or so meters in front of me. Through this hall and their territory.

So I try to angle myself so that I’m able to have as clear a view as possible of one of the doors leading to other rooms, then I swipe my arm through the air, sending an arc of cold energy that flies through the air and slices into the door while sending it flying off of its hinges into the room. And immediately after that, the frozen ones all rush straight into the room and I send several more blades after them, letting the blades cut straight into the creatures as they crowd into the room.

Which results in a blue blood bath. And frozen frozen ones.

What’s made even worse is that they all end up tangled up and slick from the blood running across their bodies. So I just send more and more arcs of ice straight at them, slaughtering the lot of them without even stepping into their territory.

Especially since their scuffle manages to draw more and more of them over there to join in the fun. And over time, I manage to kill them all off.

Leaving a massive pile of frozen one corpses for the taking.

Or rather, for the draining. As I walk over to drain the things.

While doing that though, I make sure to check on how much energy they had in the first place. Only to find myself surprised that they had quite a bit more than the frozen ones outside had.

Although, judging by how easy they were to slice through, probably not much in the constitution department.

Come to think of it, they’re quite a bit like the wraiths upstairs in that.

Does that mean every frozen one in this nest will be an agility focused one?

Would certainly make sense if that were the case. Although I’m not sure how I feel about it.

I personally don’t specialize in any area. Although my agility is a little higher than most of my other stats, being about equal to my strength. But it’s not a very big gap at all. Maybe half a point at most.

So my stats are all balanced out.

Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if these things had like twos and threes in their constitution with tens or something in their speed.

I was able to react and back away, so their speeds are still lower than my own. Which is good.

Anyways, after finishing up absorbing all of their energy – which doesn’t give me as much as I wish it did – I begin moving further down the hallway before looking both ways at the intersection. And, of course, I find another tunnel. One of those things inside of the stairwell. The thing is sticking straight out of a wall down one of the paths in the intersection.

Nothing comes out of it though. Which is confusing.

What’s making these?

I can also tell that something big must’ve come through, since the walls look a little dented. Like something a little larger than the hallway itself tried making its way through.

Something round judging by the rounded dents.

A worm maybe?

A giant worm.

Only other thing I can think of off the top of my mind is a snake. But a snake wouldn’t likely be digging tunnels. So probably a worm.

I continue walking down a different hallway from the one with the tunnel in it. All the way till I reach a dead end.

Ugh. Wish I had a map.

I turn around and begin walking back, only for a loud sound to echo through the base. A very odd sound.

The sound is like a mixture of something freezing over and the groaning of metal. But I don’t feel anything that would indicate something moving.

If I had to guess, whatever is doing this is likely freezing everything as it digs.

That aside, what’s with these giant worms and military bases? This is the second-

My thoughts cut off when a giant snake drills into the hallway right in front of me with some sort of ice drill in front of its head before drilling through the other side of the hall and passes through, moving incredibly fast throughout the process. And within seconds, the thing vanishes from view despite having to be over a dozen meters long.

I stare at the two holes left behind before slowly nodding my head.

That… was not a worm.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you who are reading this on a website that is not Patreon, please stop. You're reading a pirated version. Instead, if you would be so kind, please click on the table of contents link below and go to my Patreon instead. Or even read it off of Royal Road, which is free.

Discord Invite

Top Web Fiction

Table of Contents