Chapter 2 : Words of encouragement

Perspective: Conrad Garnier

The snowy fog was thick, barely anything was visible. The map we were given was of no use, but we had been living there for a month, as much as I couldn't say for myself, I was very bad at remembering places and roads, but Regina was very adaptive. She was good at remembering roads, so following her lead, we made our way towards that mine. The air was very cold and heavy, our legs were aching with the freezing chilliness of the snow.

The only thing in my mind, was the taste of that boiled crab soup that we were going to have.

To counteract the freezing weather, I summoned the spell "Warming Light". With a flick of my finger, a captivating orb of light materialized and floated around us, emanating a comforting glow. Not only did it enhance our vision, but its gentle warmth embraced us, like various other past situations. After an hour's worth of tracking in the snow I, Regina and Elkdrack found a flipped signboard that said,

"Warning, only authorised personnel are allowed to venture".

We knew, that we were near, but the problem was, "in which direction the mine is?".

"Is it to our right, or is it a few clicks forward?".

We would have never known, the snow storm was blocking our vision forward.

Incidentally,

Elkdrack found footsteps on the snow, that led somewhere.

"But where?".

Not having any leads, to where that mine was? made us cling to those footsteps. Fortunately, It led us towards a cave , a crevice in the snowy mountain. Assuming, that's it, we ventured in, Inside it was a lot warmer. We discovered various items in a corner of the cave, including a mat, a few pieces of torn clothing, and a distinct black mark on the ground that appeared to have been caused by a campfire being lit.

Outside nothing was visible, inside everything was dark.

It was because of the snowstorms experienced in this region, which were quite exceptional. They would manifest once a week and persist for 3 or 4 consecutive days, occasionally even lasting up to 5 days. Interestingly, these snowstorms exclusively occurred during the winter season. The locals strongly associated them with the legendary dragon Ustrax's curse. However, from my perspective, I believed that these snowstorms were caused by some natural phenomena.

Our clothes were filled with snow. If we continued like that, it was certain that it would become warmer inside, causing the snow to melt and our clothes to become wet. To avoid that, I brushed off the snow from my shoulders and boots, and then proceeded inside.

Though Regina's robe was quite suitable for adventuring, however protecting her from coldness was a different matter entirely.

I wondered why wore that,

(Woman and their clothing sense ... we may never know)

So in a teasing manner, I offered her.

"Are you feeling cold ... do you want my coat?".

The intention behind it was positive, I didn't knew what she assumed but,

As I said that, I couldn't help but notice that irresistible charm of her's, her cheeks turned the most delightful shade of red, matching the rosy hue that painted her ears.

With an unusual and endearing gesture she turned her face away, trying to hide her reaction.

Than with a harsh tone, she replied,

"I don't want your coat... keep it to yourself".

I replied,

"Okay ... suit yourself".

This was the way she always reacted, whenever I tried to be generous. At first, I used to taunt her, as our marriage was decided by my father, I had no say in that. Yet, I rebelled, I would taunt her, so she could finally leave me of her own accord, but instead her reaction was quite unusual, similar to what just happened. Inspite my harsh taunting and being treated roughly, she never left my side.

Soon I came to my senses, that no matter, what she wants or rather I wanted, It wouldn't matter in the end.

So, harsh taunting became occasional light hearted teasing.

The spell "warming light" wasn't doing the job. It was still quite dark inside, so, I casted the spell "Fire orb". with a flick of my hand, a large ball of fire formed in the air, it emanated heat and light, which was enough, to light the way forward.

[I had an affinity for fire and enchantment magic, while Elkdrack had Fire, dark and smithing magic.

Enchantment magic allows the user to enchant their weapons for a short period of time using mana in their body, enchantment such as an buff for defence which negates most of the impact of enemy's weapons only allowing it to absorb a fraction of it, but it also makes the blade dull for the time being. It could be casted on anything such as a shield or a spear, a club or any inanimate object that you don't want to break. It was often used on bludgeon weapons. But the one I used the most was, called razor's edge. It can only be cast on sharp blades, it makes the blade 10 times sharper, but the durability is reduced at a faster rate, so I combine it with another one of my spell al_recreto, it was formerly a spell that I thought was useless. I found it in one of the ancient tomes in my castle's library. It's an forbidden arte that combines enchantment magic and time magic to create the perfect enchantment spell, al_recreto, this form of enchantment reverses time for the enchanted object, but there was a catch, this was an forbidden magic, because to use its full potential, it required mana, immense mana, more than a person could ever have, which meant it required sacrifice, only through human sacrifice you could get that much mana.

The version of this spell that I could use on its own was quite useless, It could only reverse time for one minute means that It could only make things back as it was a minute before. Good for fixing things yes, but in combat quite useless.

But when I used it in tandem with Razor's edge, I could repair my sword while fighting, I just had to cast Al_recreto after each minute, and It didn't even take much of a toll in my mana pool either.]

Elkdrack and I trailed behind Regina as she led the way forward. We later discovered that the cave we were inside actually connected to the mine.

It became apparent that, the workers had their exit sealed off, when the crabs appeared.

Leaving them only with the path that we followed here.

"Which explains the footsteps".

As we went further inside, an imposing and terrifying sight awaited us. A colossal monstrosity, far bigger than us, emerged before our very eyes.

Its ghastly brownish hue sent shivers down our spine.

That abomination had not just 8 legs, but also two menacing claws that appeared unnervingly sharp, in that dimly lit cave it's eyes glowed with an ominous red hue. It was frightening.

Witnessing that monstrosity, Elkdrack began to doubt,

"Are you sure we can defeat that thing?".

I too wasn't certain,

"This thing wasn't supposed to be ... this big ... was it?".

The sense of self-doubt and the lingering suspicion of being deceived started to cloud our minds, casting a shadow over our resolve.

While the rest of us were filled with self-doubt, there was one among us, Regina, who remained composed and strategic in her thinking. She pointed out,

"Let's not be overwhelmed by its size........ After all, crabs are typically passive creatures, meaning it won't initiate any aggressive actions..... Therefore, we still have the option to retreat the way we came....... However, if we do so, we'll be returning empty-handed. Personally...., I'm not inclined to do that..... So, let's gather our courage and demonstrate to this oversized meal where it truly belongs!"

At times like this she becomes a different person.

She acts like a natural born leader, a leader far better than me. With a smile on her face she bolstered our morale with just a few words.

"Guys, I know we can do this".

I don't know what happened to me, but whenever I heard that a surge of energy blasted through my body. I began to feel like I could conquer anything as long as she was there to cheer me on.

Then, She began devising a plan, acknowledging the limitations of using my fire bolt within the mine, which may cause it to collapse on us. She came up with a better idea.

She said,

" Elkdrack use your dark orbs to suck it's strength.... meanwhile, I will use my wind cutter spell to impair it's vision .... Conrad your job is to draw it's attention and prevent it from blocking my strike.

Once it's blinded, sever it's claws and end it".

As far as plans go that was perfect, with no room for errors.

I casted razor's edge in my sword and drew the crab's attention. While I did that, Elkdrack linked his two palms and summoned "Dark Orbs". Those powerful balls of pure energy constructed in thin air, immense and dark as night itself, emitting an aura that absorbed all light, they floated around the crab creating an mesmerizing sight, pulsating with a glow that resembled the beating of a heart, with each pulse, echoes of thunder permeated through the air, as a result, draining the crab's energy and significantly slowing it down.

Simultaneously,

Regina with her wind magic, skillfully carved two graceful arcs of wind, that swirled through the air, hitting the crab's eye and blinding one of it's eyes, in that decisive moment , I ,with all my will power clenched my blade, fortifying my grip and delivered a swift slash, severing both of its claws in one attack, then without any hesitation, I thrusted my blade deep into it's head, finally putting an end to it.

Elkdrack commented,

"Well, that went exceptionally well!"

I chimed in,

"Of course it did! Our leader is simply outstanding....... she's the cream of the crop!"

Her cheeks flushed with pride once again. However, she quickly said,

"Let's not celebrate just yet, ..... our work's not finished."

She spoke those words without making any eye contact with us.

We headed deeper into the cave, found two more crabs , hardly the size of us so we easily dispatched them.

Its shells were to be used for crafting weapons and armours while its tender and juicy meat was going to be used for, well eating, which was my favourite part.

We hauled those dead crabs in our item box. Item box an ability which everyone who has command

over magic possess. It is an ability that utilises the principles of spatial magic, which allows the user to store stuff in it. The capacity is varied from person to person.

After completing our mission we checked the mine for some crab eggs, but unfortunately we didn't find any. So we made our way back to the city of Ustrax. Evidently the journey back wasn't that harsh. So, in no time we were, inside the safe and warm walls of the city. We showed the corpses and claimed our bounty.

Now, it was time to celebrate.