Chapter 163 - March On

[Shattering Hammer] was the skill I had picked up after reaching level 60 and from my initial tests of it, it was a great skill.

The three I was offered all had their perks, but this was the one I felt fit me best for right now. One was a more defensive option which I felt I had covered and the other branched out in a different direction I didn't wish to take right away.

[Shattering Hammer] fixed the issue of if something was too strong for my ice to affect or my hammer to smash. My biggest weakness right now was finding something I could not cut or pierce with ice, while also being tough enough that my hammer blows were ineffectual.

[Mighty Blow] and [Pervading Cold] could be added to my swings to make them more powerful, but other than that, I was out of options for what to do. The first time I ran into the problem was when I was fighting the metal ants of the tutorial.

Their hard metal exoskeletons made most of my Ice skills ineffective and they could brush off my swings with little more than a dent. I took heavy wounds fighting them just because of how long it took me to kill one of them.

They were able to hold up longer than anything else in the tutorial and the waves of them were too much for me to handle effectively. I still won, but at a great cost of effort and mana, while also receiving devastating wounds.

I doubted I would run into many foes that had that combination of protections, but I wished to have something more to use. A strong finisher or something I could pull out when my max just wasn't good enough.

The skill took a lot out of me, and I couldn't use it a lot, but it worked to fill that role spectacularly. The reason I couldn't use it frivolously was because of the cost it took to activate.

The mana cost was high, but that was to be expected from such a skill, but it took a physical toll on my body as well. Where [Mighty Blow] took stamina, and my Law caused mental strain, this strained my body in a way that was new.

It took the same stamina energy as [Mighty Blow], but it also wore on my body worse than anything else. After using it, it felt like going 10 rounds with the Vine Bear from the tutorial hitting me all at once.

The skill was only Epic, but I doubted my body or hammer could handle it if it was Legendary.

As my stats grew and my Body Refinement level improved, I would be able to use the skill more frequently, but for now, once or twice in a short period was all I could muster.

A second use wasn't going to be required this time.

As my hammer landed on the wolf, the cracks on the hammer's face spread out from the impact site following unseen lines upon the wolf. It took milliseconds to take effect and the wolf shuddered and swayed as its body tore asunder.

The appearance of the cracks faded from my hammer as the energies left it and entered the body of the wolf, showing themselves as they spread.

The transfer wasn't entirely perfect and some of it diverted down into the ground, but most was on target enough to land where I was aiming.

Where I had missed and it got diverted into the ground caused it to feel its effects and great rents were carved upon the frozen earth. Even [Permafrost] hardening it as it was, it failed to hold up against the might of my new skill.

What showed upon the ground was also happening inside the wolf's body and it wasn't long before it staggered and fell. Blood pooled along the various rents in its form and leaked out of different places.

I looked on, briefly swaying from the strain, while the wolf lay prone, hacking and wheezing as blood filled its lungs, trying to excavate the liquid out only for more to fill in where any was lost.

It was dead even if it didn't know it.

This was the reason I didn't like to use the skill very often. It introduced a delayed death that only caused suffering. It was not very pleasant to watch and I could only imagine how it felt.

I didn't like observing the skill work its way through my foes. While we fought to the death, it was a level of cruelty I didn't enjoy basking in.

Anything lesser would have exploded in a shower of gore from the energies and why using it on weak monsters was a waste. Doing so only created a mess and strained me unnecessarily.

It went to show the wolf's strength, being able to last this long, fighting with everything it had to stand back up. I saw it attempt to get its feet under it many times only for it to fall back down.

There was a vitality in it trying to stitch itself back together but it wouldn't be enough. The vigor it showed in trying to fight on was honorable and it didn't feel good to watch it stumble around.

Righting myself after the backlash washed over me, I stood to give it a good end.

It tried to scramble away at my approach but it wasn't able to get very far, falling down not two steps away from where it started. There was a fear in its eyes that replaced the rage it once held there.

Fear of Death.

It knew it was going to die yet it fought on anyway.

I stood next to it with my hammer in the ground and gave it as honorable a send-off as I could, "You fought well and you should be honored. I wish you well on your journeys to come."

A final hit brought its motion to an end.

Looking over the corpse made me grit my teeth. My Vine Bear pelt was coming to an end for its usefulness and the wolf's pelt would have made a great replacement but there wasn't much of it that was left intact.

The fangs and claws made it out mostly unscathed but the meat and hide were mostly ruined. The rest of the wolves would fill that need but I wanted the leader's and it was unfortunate I couldn't have it.

Sam might be able to do something with it, but I doubted it. Unless her skills got much better in a short time.

Another detriment of using [Shattering Hammer].

Once the remaining wolves saw their leader fall they made a run for it and I wasn't going to chase them. They wouldn't bother us anymore and it was unnecessary to hunt them down to the last.

Plus it would wreck the local wildlife if I killed all the predators. Mana did miraculous things but it wouldn't bring the wolf population back from extinction.

Extinction was a finality even mana couldn't fix.

They would recover and they would do it faster than ever before as well. I wasn't sure of the specifics, but either they had more per litter or less were lost during their births so repopulation wouldn't be an issue.

It wouldn't be the same mating rate as when the planet was being terraformed, but they would be back to carrying capacity in no time even with the amount I had killed.

It was honestly kind of scary to know how fast they could reproduce.

That was only for the normal wolves though, the leader took a special kind of grit and it would be a while until another could take its place. Their levels also would take longer to recover. They hadn't started out this strong and it would take a while for them to gain it back.

The pack would likely splinter under various leaders without the steady strength that had held it together.

That wasn't as important though, it would only really matter if we ended up staying here and that was yet to be known. We had only just gotten to our marker and we would explore the place tomorrow to scout it out.

I cleaned up the best I could before walking back into camp. Hal and others were in charge of dismantling the bodies for anything useful and the only thing I would do was get in the way.

What met me when I returned was a lot more faces than I remembered being up but I thought nothing of it. I was tired from the fight and hurting from using [Shattering Hammer].

No one said a word which made my walk slightly uncomfortable but I wasn't about to break the silence.

It wasn't until I got back to my tent that it was broken. Austin was leaning up against my tent waiting upon my arrival. His spear propped up against him and he seemed to be relaxed despite the tense atmosphere elsewhere in the camp.

"Was that really necessary?" Austin said, "You gave everyone a scare when you went out there alone. I even had to calm some of them down from doing something stupid."

I knew he wasn't really upset but he was peeved he had to step in. He didn't much like taking charge and I was sure he didn't appreciate having to do so.

"It will make our job easier for tomorrow. They would've played games and people would've been on edge. This fixed both problems." I stated as I entered my tent and he followed behind me.

Not finding another waiting to ambush me inside was good but all that meant was she would have words with me tomorrow.

Well, something to look forward to.

The Ice covered my armor from most of the blood and gore but some of it made it through. Either seeping through cracks or from when chunks were torn out during the battle.

Austin was silent as I took the armor off and gave it a cursory wipe-down. I would do a more detailed cleaning in the morning. I was too tired to do it now.

He waited for me to finish with that before speaking up again, "And what if this isn't the place?"

"Then we march on," I said simply. It wasn't a doubt what we would do.

"We continue North? I know we laid out the different markers at the start but that was before living through it. The weather will only get worse and we already have to huddle for warmth and struggle out in the open. How much further are you willing to push on if it doesn't fit what you're looking for?"

"Until we find it."

He stayed quiet for a beat before responding.

"Not everyone is so inclined to the cold. If it gets much worse, some may actually die from exposure. Not everyone has your fortitude" He said before walking out.

He didn't wait for a response and he didn't need one. The idea was already planted, talking more wouldn't change things.

Although it gave me something to think about. I felt we were close. So close to finding the spot we would build upon.

Close to finding home.

~~

Night faded to the sun and the first rays of sunlight signaled the start of another day. The camp brushed off the frost built up over the night and exited their warm tents to a devastating cold.

The start was slow, but people were used to such days and went on their way. Scouts roamed out surveying the area and I took a look around myself.

The area around the two dungeons was large and multiple eyes would make finding spots easier. They were informed to look for anything interesting. Spots easily defensible or hard to attack.

Cliffs with only one side needing to be defended or tall hills hard to scale quickly.

The terrain was our friend and one less direction to defend would make things easier. It also needed to be close to water and fertile land to grow food. While defensible was the most important, it couldn't be too far for what it took to survive.

A City without food and water wouldn't last long.

Try as everyone did, the place couldn't support the vision I had. There were no cliffs or hills, nor mountains or valleys. It was generally flat with only a few rises in the area little more than a small hill.

A river flowed into the lake but that wouldn't help much with flat plains on either side.

It wasn't the spot and it didn't feel like the place we were meant to settle.

People moaned about it, but we moved on.

~~

The weather continually worsened and Austin's prediction only got closer to the truth. It got so cold we needed to add more breaks to light fires and stop during certain times because the wind was too bad.

There were a few days when a heavy snowstorm stopped travel completely until it let up and we could move again.

The whole time, I sat paving the way forward. Clearing the ground for the wagons behind to follow. It wasn't even winter yet and things were already this bad.

The next marker also wasn't what we were looking for and we had to push on as well.

I didn't lose hope though.

I knew we were close. I could feel it.