The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 6 - Sapphire Intermission 2

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This is Friday's chapter.

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Table of Contents

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Within the Cursed Bar

Time passes as Sapphire ends up adding quite a few new friends to her friends lists across her many different games. With new friends being added with every half an hour thanks to the next wave of lottery winners.

All over the course of three entire months.

At first she was rather happy with this little bar, since it gave her time to relax. But now she’s just bored.

That and annoyed. Because having to deal with ten new people entering the bar every half an hour for months is starting to get annoying even for her.

Although she is happy about the progress she’s made in all of her games, a lot of which is because of said people.

She could do without having to sign autographs though.

Sapphire sighs while glancing at her father, who has been sitting inside of a frozen corner of the bar for the entire period of time they’ve been there. Except the very start, when her aunt was in the bar.

He’s just been trying and failing over and over again to form his domain. Without any breaks between the attempts.

It’s starting to make Sapphire worry.

In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that she can tell even while playing games that he’s making progress, she would’ve stopped him by now to force him into taking a break. But he’s managed to condense ninety-seven percent of his energy into his heart before losing control in his latest attempt. So Sapphire can’t see this taking too much longer.

Sapphire glances at the other people in the bar, all of whom are currently separated from her as well thanks to her own barrier of ice. Then she looks at the System Forums to see the latest posts of her and her father on it. Because it’s become a thing for people to win the lottery just to be able to take a picture with her and her father in the background.

Especially after she blocked herself off from them once she finally got sick of the people coming and going all the time.

She glances over at her father again when the next group of people from the lottery arrive, only for two of them to immediately rush over to the ice protecting her father before pounding on it. All while raising their voices to shout through the ice asking if he would be willing to bite them. Which isn’t an uncommon occurrence either.

Not that Sapphire can really blame them, considering how popular the lunar winter beasts have become.

And being bitten by the source himself would be an incredible jump in power. Both politically and physically, since it would grant them angel status within the little religion that began outside.

Just like the crab.

Sapphire feels the corner of her lips quirking upwards at the memory of the crab that’s being worshiped as some messenger of god.

Another month gradually passes within the cursed bar with the bartender still patiently attending to anyone who enters. And during this time, a few familiar faces from the outside universe enter. Including a Competitor from the Administrator Dungeon, proving that they are able to enter it as well.

But Crystal ends up leaving without being able to talk to Sapphire’s father. Just like Leo and Diane, who enter at some point as well.

Because her father is very close to pushing the process to completion. With his last attempt having reached ninety-nine percent condensed.

Sapphire just sighs though, even as she watches him begin the process again.

Mostly since it took him a week just to move it up by a single percent. So at best she doesn’t expect him to be able to complete the process for another week or two.

With that thought in mind, she turns her attention back to her video game and continues playing it for another few days. Only for something surprising to happen that snaps her out of her gaming trance.

An overwhelmingly powerful sensation originates from her father’s direction. One that fills her with awe and terror at the same time.

Until that sensation is erased by her own bond with her father, of course.

And when she looks over at her father, she finds him with his eyes open and a faint, exhausted smile on his face. All while she can feel an overwhelmingly dense bit of lunar ice of eternity originating where his heart is.

But that’s not all as just seconds later, the condensed energy begins to spread through his veins, filling his entire body without thinning out in the slightest.

Sapphire watches in awe alongside the ten people currently inside of the cursed bar, many of whom seem to be recording this, as her father’s body begins to glow with pure lunar ice of eternity energy. Energy so pure she isn’t even sure if she should call it energy anymore.

It’s more like…

“He has completed his domain,” Sapphire suddenly hears a voice translated in her head that originally sounds like chitters coming from the bar. A voice she quickly finds to be from the bartender.

And both the power behind his words and the words themselves pretty much confirm what Sapphire and her father have been suspecting for months now.

She turns her attention back to her father again when the glowing fades a little bit, but doesn’t disappear entirely. Leaving his body still with glowing veins of power, but not veins bright enough to turn her father into a walking lightbulb anymore.

But more importantly than that, Sapphire feels her own lunar ice increasing in purity, along with the lunar ice of a couple lunar winter beasts in the bar, and the lunar ice elemental energy in the very air.

Every last bit of lunar ice energy she can sense nearby grows stronger. Purer. And more powerful.

All because the element finally has a domain of its own.

And as the pseudo progenitor finally becomes a complete progenitor.

It looks like things are finally about to get interesting again.