Chapter 225 - Bitter Cold

Chris

Brrrrrrrr.

My teeth clattered together slowly as I marched through the raging storm. It was an odd sensation to have again. After going without it for so long, I almost forgot what it felt like.

I was cold.

I hadn't felt anything close to a chill for over two years, and now I was shivering and trying to pull my fur cloak tighter. I was thankful I liked wearing the heavy thing because it was marvelous against the cold.

Although its condition wasn't the best, and it had seen better days, it was my favorite article of clothing right now, and nothing else came close.

In somewhat of a twisted sense of humor, the best thing to fight against the bitterly cold winds was actually [Frost Armor]. It surrounded my body, even my burly cloak, and shielded it from the worst of the bite.

Somehow, even with the skill creating a thick layer of ice around me, and then another thick layer of fur for the Wind to get through, the chill still got through.

I knew traveling through high mana density areas would change things but this was something else. Even the Wind held such power to go through everything I had to block it.

It made me fearful of the other spots we noticed on the map.

Ice and Wind was my specialty. I had a specific resistance to the two especially when they were combined like they were, but what if it was something else? The environment I was in was deadly to everyone besides me that I knew of there had to be places that were deadly to me out there.

What did that say about the World?

Frostheim was located next to two Dungeons which made the magic there denser than in other places, but it was nothing compared to the thick bog of it was wading through.

We knew these areas would be deadly but I had gotten complacent. The areas practically glowing on the map were easy enough to interpret as dangerous.

I thought that being able to run through the Dungeons unharmed not much would be able to threaten me and I had been proven wrong twice in quick succession.

The Demons came and nearly killed me and now I was receiving a reality check just from the environment!

An environment I was supposed to thrive in!

Oh, I was way more powerful here than I'd ever felt before, but even I had limits and I was quickly reaching them. Soon, even [Frost Armor] wouldn't give the respite it once did and I'd have to find another way to keep going.

The power helped, though.

If I didn't grow stronger as it got colder I would've had to stop miles ago and change tactics. The weight of so much Ice Mana and at such purity caused even me to balk.

It wasn't something I could take lightly.

My body and stats were enough to get me this far, but the stats from [Glacial Presence] helped me push on further into the cold and so did the steady beating of my heart.

The latter wasn't something I could quantify though. [Glacial Presence] was straightforward in its effects but my heart was not.

As the days got shorter and we neared the Solstice, the swing in temperature grew wider.

Cloudless days that allowed the sun's rays to bask the area in light were usually followed by cloudless nights that let all the accumulated heat escape made the highs and lows brutal.

It went from not that bad and only my cloak was enough to ward the cold away, to shivering while [Frost Armor], my cloak, and bursts of [Jotun's Resistance] tried their best so I didn't freeze to death.

The effects it had on [Glacial Presence] were wild to get used to at first. Even with the hours between the highs and lows, it was still a massive swing. If it happened any quicker it could be used as an attack it was so disorienting.

Another quirk of the skill that I found out while traveling was that it had a cap.

A raging snowstorm with Winds so fast I had to fight just to remain still and an Ice Law that neared my own in Tier brought the coldest I'd ever felt and the skill maxed out. I could feel it trying and failing to go any further with the boost.

At a 33% increase in physical stats, [Glacial Presence] could go no further.

The skill wasn't linear in the boost it gave. The colder it got, the less efficient it got, but still, to get an increase of a third was monstrous from only a Rare skill.

Other than the temperature becoming nearly too much, other things came into play. The atmosphere was chock full of mana and the beasts used that to grow to insane heights.

Some were already in D-rank!

I persevered through it all, trying to push as far as possible to get the perfect area to go through with it. The book said an insane amount of mana was needed to do it perfectly and I was going to keep traveling until I physically couldn't anymore.

[Jotun's Resistance] flared briefly to give a small respite from the cold and I marched on. I had been using it more often as my resistance wasn't able to keep up. Soon, it would be the only thing that kept me from freezing to death.

Maybe I should've gone for Body of Stone first?

It was too late to change it now. Plus, the process would take longer than the first time which was something I didn't want to do right now. I wasn't even sure how long it would take to build something that I could even use.

My foot came down, crunching on snow like it had countless times before, but something was different this time. It was a subtle feeling, but unmistakable.

Ha, it only took over a month of walking and running nonstop, but here I am!

I wasn't on the ground anymore.

I was walking on Ice. I'd reached the Arctic Ocean.

~~

Mana Cultivation is one of the oldest methods of advancement in the Universe second only to Body Refining. The many techniques regarding it have been around so long that they date back to before the Three Paths were founded.

Some even claim to have found evidence in ancient tombs or timeless inheritances that its methods existed even before The System if what they say is to be believed.

While interesting in its own right, I'm not here to debate the fabled histories and whether or not those statements hold kernels of truth. The point of this Introduction is merely to inform of the possibilities this Path holds.

Mana Cultivation is the other side of the coin to Body Refining and both techniques combine together to make up the Path of Power through the Body. I feel that should be a distinction that is made more often. Many a time I've heard young apprentices calling it the Body Path of Power when they should say the Path of Power through the Body.

Unlike the semantics of describing the method, the process itself is quite simple. Almost deceptively so.

It uses the principles already seen in nature as a guide and all the various techniques out there are evidence of that. It would take much too long to go into detail about every single one, so instead, I will describe the process in the general sense.

Mana.

The Mystical, Arcane, or any other word the various races refer to it as. Mana is what the entire process revolves around and should be obvious from what the enlightened Races have decided to call this method. The fuel for all manner of spells and enchantments and the substance that can grant unlimited change.

Cultivation.

The tireless and unceasing perpetuation of the process. Continued advancement and growth through various stages. Most use the Nine stage limiter but it is far from the only one.

In the simplest words that even the Krath'les could understand, Mana Cultivation is the practice of growing and advancing the mana pool through various techniques to improve the magical abilities of the Body.

Every being has a mana pool, no matter how big or small, and it is fact that it can be grown with essence, but that growth is only the bare minimum of what's possible.

The first step onto the long road of what can be accomplished.

Mana Cultivation is the directed alteration and manipulation that builds upon what is already there, turning the base mana pool everything has into something so much more.

Some techniques take inspiration from how beasts form cores and have the practitioner forge one of their own. Others use nature as the base, taking inspiration from the natural creation of mana crystals and use that to form crystals in themselves in substitute of cores.

Goranth, The Living Stone, pioneered his method using stone as the base. The Order of the Phoenix Flame does the same with their eternal flame. The famous Nymphs of the Endless Waves create internal Oceans they continually grow and fill out.

Either way, all the techniques referenced above create a localized storage that will continue to be Cultivated and grown with mana until Godhood. The method of storage differs, but all are similar in that respect.

I feel it is important to note that most Mana Cultivation techniques follow this rule but not all of them. I mention this purely to point out the endless possibilities there are for Mana Cultivation techniques.

What the warrior races of Lothlorian -both Orc and Human- have done is outside the scope of this text and frankly, should be impossible. Some scholars still claim it to be so even with the evidence against that stance staring them in the face. The stubborn fools.

While some claim it a perversion, the outcome proves its viability. Even if it leaves them practically crippled magically. They are known as one of the fiercest warrior Kingdoms for a reason.

How they did what they did is still a well-kept secret and the Lothlorians would sooner die than reveal it, but what is known about the process can be studied in later volumes and isn't a topic this one will focus on.

This is meant to introduce the method along with its many variations and what those variations provide in terms of benefit. Where one is better than another or worse than another, including any drawbacks should there be any.

-Excerpt from "Introduction to Mana Cultivation Techniques" by Master Arcanist Woodridge of the Beraxi Mage Tower.

~~

Abigail

Abigail shut the book she was reading as her free time was up. It was something she had already read but it didn't help to get a refresher. She had forced Chris to read it before he went off on his trip and it had been a while since she had last done so.

She had already gone through and cataloged all of the texts they managed to bring with them and she put the book back on the shelf where it belonged. It wasn't like anyone would say anything if she placed it back somewhere else but she would know and it would bug her throughout the day.

Their Library was pitifully bare, as knowledge was one of the most expensive things they spent Reward Points on. They were lucky to have what they did. She doubted the Fort had as much knowledge as they did.

It was a point of pride to her, even if the handcrafted shelves by Mitchell were more empty than occupied. The room was planned for future expansion and she hoped to see it filled one day.

Some texts were new, even, and the bindings on those were made of pristine and fresh leather and lacked the timeless quality the other books carried.

Those were written by people in the city.

She had to hound Vincent to record his techniques and the process of Smithing but he got around to it eventually even going so far as to describe his personal [Forging Style]. The same for Rachel and her insights into Mana. Abigail hounded everyone for what they could give.

Mitchell for Poisons and Woodworking, Sam and Ashely for Leatherworking, Allison for Traps, Brayden for Construction, Connor for Alchemy, and Gabriel for Skills. She even got Jon and Chris to detail what they could about Forming an Anchor.

She wanted a repository for knowledge. Of everything they had accomplished so far. Abigail's heart winced at the driving factor behind why she had hounded everyone so.

The... hiccup after Scott died left them behind and unskilled in Carpentry Mitchell did his best to fill. Scott had done what he could to teach but he was always busy doing something they asked of him.

He was able to use his past experience and uncovered new and advanced ways to push his skills that Mitchell just didn't have the knowledge for. That could've been fixed through Scott's teachings, but he didn't have the time. It also could've been fixed if he had written down what he knew.

If the worst were to happen, Abigail didn't want their knowledge dying with them. Especially when they needed it most.

The process of being able to know everything about anything being taken away had shaken her more than she cared to admit. She wasn't one to surf the internet for hours on end about useless things but having that option taken away made her scramble to form a new outlet.

She didn't like not knowing. Even if she didn't read everything out there, the fact it was there was more comforting than she knew. She hadn't realized its worth until it was too late and that option was gone.

She didn't care for Runes and Enchantments like Chris and Gabriel. She wasn't fascinated by the various alloys out there like Vincent. Or the alchemy processes like Connor.

What she wanted was to know how and why something worked in the barest terms. The subtle intricacies behind things weren't important to her as much as the base function. She didn't need to be able to recreate something or make it herself, just the baseline for how it was made and worked.

The general knowledge of how a car functioned, not the detailed training of a mechanic or the ability to machine one herself.

The principles of why things worked.

Abigail wouldn't say she had a thirst for knowledge but others would definitely claim she did. She didn't see it that way. Knowing things was the baseline Abigail believed everyone should be at and it was everyone else's lack of knowledge that baffled her.

Their lack of wanting to know confused her.

She pulled the door shut behind her as she left the library and reinstated the magical lock Gabriel thought up. They weren't sure how strong it was but it was the best they had.

Similar to what Chris had planned during his journey, she was preparing to do the same. They had received the Water method for Mana Cultivation long ago but hadn't had the chance to do anything with it.

Water mana was plentiful in the summer around the various lakes and ponds, but it wasn't dense or pure enough to do what the technique described.

But that changed after Austin found the treasure.

It was the perfect place to go through with it. So, similar to how Chris was going North to find the spot for his technique, she and others were going South to do the same.

She was among the first half to go and they were preparing to set out in the morning. It had been a month since Chris left so hopefully The Twins was prepared enough to receive them.

The trip would give them even more time as it wasn't as quick as hopping in a car.

The deadline for her to choose was coming up and she still hadn't decided on where she would place it.

The book she was reading earlier described the many options and variations she had available to her but instead of helping make her choice easier, the options made it harder.

She almost wanted there to be only one obvious option, like Chris, but she was granted the gift of choice, even if it caused her endless stress in choosing the right one.

When it said the possibilities were endless, it truly meant endless.

Did she want to be a better Mage and forge her Core with that in mind, or did she want to be a better Healer and focus on that?