Return of Winter - Volume 1. Part 2.
-----------------------------------------------
Volume 1. Part 2.
Return of Winter
-----------------------------------------------
There... is only one pillar left, the amorphous goo that can lead me back to StarDuster... back to them.
I'm on a one way ticket to either Heaven or Hell, let's see where this train takes me.
Making sure my pockets are stuffed full of the material inside, I spin around with a farewell bow to River Styx... then I hop backwards into the Sludge pillar, its thick substance pulled me downward with great strength into whatever lies below.
The descending isn't the scary part for me anymore, rather its the destination I face. What will I see? How has the world changed since I've left... and how will I go on, knowing I left my friends alone for... years. Years and Years and Years and Years...
Well... better late then never.
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
My eyes... they were heavy, hard to open as I laid in a... wet place... I couldn't see, my vision hadn't returned to me yet... but, I could... well, I couldn't feel...
My arms struggled to move, and my hearing kicked in... I heard the whirling of gears, the sound of gunfire and artillery, I heard voices and the distinct noise of magic, I heard the clashing of metal... I struggled to move my body, barely making progress as my limbs snapped back into function.
I hit the whatever contained me just to get the blood pumping, the pain startled my sickly body... my nerves rang out full force at once, my arm jostled with force once more as my eyes produced a blurry vision for me.
I slammed my other hand into the small shell... no... the pain racked me once more, and this time my throat let out a loud grunt.
I attempted to pulled my torso upwards, however what I was inside failed to keep my grip and I fell down with an echoing thump. I placed my hand on my chest, I could feel once more... I felt the cold liquid surrounding me, the sludge like bits of what I assume was a bit of the River Styx coming with me... I felt my clothing, same as when I was at Styx.
I laid inside the Coffin and look at my surroundings, a metal room with a large door center towards my sight... to the right of me I spotted a table filled with many things, journals and notes... materials, blades, scepters and staves... and they all were glowing with a light purple.
That's when I heard dashing from outside the metal room, the clunking of metal boots against metal floors accompanied by... two... maybe three leather boots?
Maybe that's wax or water in my ears... but after the metal steps finished, a large
* Cathunk* rang out in the room, a SciFi like sound pulled something metallic with a scrapping like echo... and then the door opened.
| Event Complete |
| Reward - Revival of Cobalt |
| Event - Rusted Blade is still underway. |
System... oh dearest system... how are you?
| Welcome back Avery... its been a while, ready to do some work? |
Ah... haha... no rest for the wicked, its good to be back...
Soldier 1 - " He's... alive! "
Heavy Soldier - " I'll report to General Arch, the Crusader of Ice is awakened... get him out of there and escort him to somewhere off site! "
Soldier 2 - " Of course, Commander! Come on, Ignis! "
Soldier 1 - " Right... uh... beside... "
{ Player Ignis has been slain }
" Ignis! Oh Fuck... Bleed damage... Alright, I guess I got to do this myself... Can you hear me? Cobalt? "
- " ehe... "
I try to let out a word, but my throat dispels that thought instantly as it only comes out as a marbled mess...
So, I attempt to pick myself up once more... the man with me helped as I tried my best to exit the container, with all the strength the man has... he picked me up onto my fe-
Ah, Fuck!
Ow ow... that stings like a mother fucker, every step I take my nerves feel like their being pulled apart, I step with the man's shoulders bearing my weight... and I attempt to approach the table.
There must be something left for me... I know it. Something I can at least use as a crutch.... I pick up a large staff encoded with and gemstones and used it to support me, I inspected the items on the table...
| Low Grade Health Potion |
| Winter Blossom |
| Ring of Morin |
I take the potion vial and take the cork top off, I painfully pull it to my lips... and with force I drink it down, my pain subsides for the most part... but it still feels like hell... So, I pick up the other items that caught my interest...
The Ring... it slips on my fingers easily, and nothing seems to change as of yet... so onto the next item, the Blossom...
| Winter Blossom |
| Unique Flower |
| A blessing, or a curse... such is winter. The cold air is as refreshing as anything, but be warned... the ice isn't kind. |
| Consumable |
I picked up the white flower, and as I did it shook my body with even more pain than before... it was cold, frostbite cold... and yet the system wants me to consume it. Let's give it a shot... open wide...
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
After an eon of bone snapping pain, I eventually grew enough strength to leave wherever I was... the man who's shoulder I leaned on hurried me out of the place now that I finished my business...the system rang out to me...
| You have consumed the Winter Blossom, as such you are now the Origin of Ice. This brings no benefits to yourself, but it serves to bring winter to the world. |
| The world Temperature has been restored. |
| Priests of Ice now receive their full power once more. |
| Devil type Ice monsters now spawn. |
I see... so its true that the deities are dead... That dumb Ice Goddess had been very good to me, and now I must be good to her... and carry her burden. The pain isn't fading away... and I don't think it will ever, heh... now I see why Mordova wanted to get drunk all the time.
And that's when it hit me... I'm no longer the Ice crusader anymore, there aren't anymore crusaders... the deities are gone, and so are the... so who will break the barriers....
I consider this as I'm pushed up a metal ladder, before me was another large door... opened to give me a glimpse... of what I dreaded when I told people of...
Blossom Field... Its... in flames.