Knives & Levels - Chapter 100

The horrid glacier and tundra of the Frozen Academy were a far cry from the lush, misty forests surrounding New Nashville… And this wolf was the epitome of danger, but still, they had conquered it.

And following that, the most appropriate action for the group after gathering their bearings was to assign their stats. Everyone had gotten additional levels from the quick yet frantic fight against the wolf.

For Colt, getting a total of three levels meant that he had nine stats to spend. It made it a pretty easy choice for him then, with his Soul getting so close to 200. So, with little thought, he simply threw everything into that particular stat. It had been his biggest Strength. Now that they were facing off against even more dangerous things, having a better grasp of it could only improve his situation. His choice was easy… Others weren’t.

“I’m still not sure what to do,” Sarah complained, with labored breath. “I’m still not sure Soul is as worth it as Colt says.”

“It isn’t,” Nick responded, sitting across from her. He briefly withered her glare, retreating further back in the white tundra around them.

“Explain.”

“Edicts aren’t as simple as ‘pump everything into soul and you’ll get stronger.’ Denny and the rest of the guards were doing some experiments. Your Edict itself determines the best route. Got yourself an Edict that relates to your magic? Better off investing in intelligence or willpower… Maybe a couple points into Soul every now and again, if you hit a bottleneck.” Nick spilled out the information under her withering glare, maybe to get back into her good graces. 

“You can also find an environment that will enhance your understanding. Like my Forge Edict.” Nate said, standing nearby with his arms folded. “To compensate.”

“Different Edicts have different requirements.” Nick reiterated, as Sarah tapped a hand against her chin thoughtfully. For once, she didn’t stab at him with her words.

Colt mulled over what they said, but knew, intuitively, that his biggest strength was Soul. Maybe it also had to do with his class. Either way… Since it was working, he wasn’t about to change up what was rapidly giving him an edge in fights.

After giving everyone a polite amount of time to assign out their stats, Colt finally spoke.

“So, the cave?” He looked at the elephant in the room. The big black gaping hole that led under the earth, not far away from the corpse. “We go in, right?” Colt asked.

There were careful looks among them.

It was Sarah who spoke up, her eyes flicking to Nate. "Going into a cave restricts some of our team's abilities." That was true—going into a cave would restrict their light archer from performing his techniques.

Nick shook his head. "I’ll get by, it may restrict me a little bit. I spent time developing more short-range techniques and uses for my bow. Aint perfect, but it’ll be enough.”

Colt's mind flashed back to his fight against Nate, where he’d managed to barrage the man nine times while he was closing the distance. "Has your control over the light arrows increased that much?" Colt asked.

"I... it has. I knew against you guys, I’d need more…" he trailed off, "So… Anyway, I'd have been working on increasing my effective distance. As long as you guys can control the flow of battle and keep something from directly eating my face off, I’ll be just fine.”

“Then we go in,” Colt said as he approached the entrance. Just out of the air, he felt a difference. The cold mellowed, and while there was still some swirling mist inside and ice, there weren’t any deadly spears like the tundra surrounding them. Most miraculously, when he reached the cave’s confines, he felt his strength sapping a bit slower..

Going into the cave would prolong their time before needing Julia.

“This is our path forward,” Colt called over his shoulder. They were too weak yet to go down to the Academy. It was risky to go anywhere, but this was a fine starting point. With agreement and hesitant allies following, Colt led the way forward, using his natural speed and reflexes as a crutch in case they ran across anything too terrible to deal with.

For the most part, the cave was empty until they encountered yet another wolf within its confines.

This was a harsh battle, with Colt diving in first and opening two gashes on the wolf's side. Sarah followed up, and Nate took a blow for Sarah in the cave, receiving a bite on his arm in the sacrificial move.

Since it was Nate… He would heal over time, thanks to his unique Edict.

The wolf, however, was yet another tasty treat for all of them. 

———

You have defeated Frostbitten Wolf - Level 82

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have 6 Stat points to spend. You have gained 2 points of Dexterity and 2 points of Soul.

———

The six points went into Soul for Colt… Bringing him that much closer to the threshold of two hundred. Soon, after reaching it, he’d start to balance out his other core stats. But for now, he’d hit that goal.

Sarah wrapped Nate’s wound. They waited a bit for recovery, then, after ten minutes and copious insistence from Nate, they kept diving further into the dark tunnel beneath the earth. The tunnels themselves were rather barren things. Slick with ice and mist.

At the bottom of the cave, they came across ominous bones that looked like they came from another person, but it was cleared after the last wolf. Deep in the depths, the effects of the cold outside were about a fifth of what it was on the surface. It seemed that to survive in this place, the wolves had used these sorts of locations for recovery, which suited Colt just fine.

Julia activated her ability, and as suspected, it was easier for her to maintain down here.

This, then, would form the core of their tactics. If clearing a cave resulted in a reprieve, then they could dive into the depths, recover, and then go and find more monsters… Colt marked the cave in his mind as they left it through a slow and careful process. Were there no other caves, then at the least they had this place to pull back to.

The rest of the day revolved around the discovery… They searched the surface for caves and wolves, and then killed them.

It wasn’t just wolves either—they ran across a smaller frost-rabbit creature which spewed ice magic. This one skimmed Colt’s arm with a missile made of ice that left a nasty gash… But they took it down as well, spending the day on a careful expedition to slay whatever they could that seemed possible, and in the process, they gained more levels.

Every fight felt like teetering on the edge of oblivion the entire time. In a full day, vetting two caves, and slaying about three more wolves, the ice-bunny Colt had seen a few more advancements, getting him closer to what felt like a good place.

———

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have 12 Stat points to spend. You have gained 4 points of Dexterity and 4 points of Soul.

———

Three of those points went into Dexterity… The other nine went to Soul.

Meaning he finally hit the milestone of two hundred Soul.

The moment the points were allocated, Colt felt a shift—not just in his capabilities, but in his perception. For a breath, the world around him seemed to shimmer with threads of reality, the Edicts that wove through everything suddenly visible like gossamer strands in sunlight. Movement, his primary Edict, pulsed with potential, no longer just a tool but an extension of his will. The sensation faded almost immediately, but the understanding remained.

As he handled his Edicts, it felt significant at this point. Instinctively, he knew he could push Movement further.

Yet, in doing so with Momentum so weak, he knew it was a risk. But knowing he’d finally hit the threshold to develop his most powerful tool up another notch left him feeling much more confident in his abilities. The question was when he would set the time aside to move it that next bit forward.

They trudged back toward their discovered cave as the pale sun began its descent. The wind picked up, carrying ice particles that stung any exposed skin like tiny needles. Julia's power flickered briefly, drawing tight hisses from everyone as the killing cold slipped through.

Then, as the sun touched the horizon, something impossible happened. It halted—then began to rise again, casting an unnatural crimson glow across the landscape. The ice spires caught the light, transforming from white sentinels to blood-red spears piercing the earth.

"That's not right," Sarah whispered, her usual confidence faltering.

Nick raised his hand to shield his eyes. "Never seen anything like this… Brace yourselves.”

Colt felt it before he saw it—a disturbance in the Edicts that permeated this realm, like pressure building before a storm. The very fabric of reality seemed to stretch.

———

Quest Received: Halt The Seed

Rank: C

Goal: The Seed, which has been housed and sealed by the Frozen Academy, has broken free from its restraints. In seven days, it will sprout, and when it does, the heavens will tremble with its restrained might. All in its path will face desolation and oblivion. See to it that you stop it before another massive issue is born into the Labryinth, won’t you?

Reward: ???

———

A week. They had a week before whatever the celestial seed was would rupture from its prison and lead to what Colt could only assume was cataclysmic trouble. “Shit.”

This was bad.

Unlike before, with dungeons where they had had all the time in the world to take with caution, as he had hoped would be the case with this one. It had seemed like it would be the case… And now, they would have to rush and throw themselves headfirst into whatever danger lay deep within to find, both locate, and eliminate this celestial seed before it burst and, without a doubt, kill them.

Colt rubbed at his eyes.

"Did your Icon quest update?" he asked Nate, staring slack-jawed at the terrifying sun blotted out on the horizon. 

The man shook his head. "No. No further text. My goal is the same as it was. Eliminate the celestial seed, and then I'll get my reward."

“And you got this new quest.”

“Affirmative.” Nate was tight-lipped, his eyes dark as he was processing the implications of their timeline and the danger they had to wade through.

"We've been through worse," Colt said, offering him a pat on the shoulder. "The Endless Alleys had us starving and fighting for scraps while Bill plotted to kill us all. The Academy's dungeon had us facing Cerberus with nothing but a knife and some determination. At least here, we know what we're fighting for and when the deadline is." Colt said, offering him a pat on the shoulder.

Colt felt a foreboding feeling in his stomach. It wasn't fear necessarily, but the sense that they had to do more to make more of their time if they had any hope of defeating this place. He’d hoped they could take a cautious and timely approach. This whole thing was a risk, but now with a timer on the clock, it had exponentially increased the danger.

There wasn't time, though, for them to sit on their laurels and rest.

"We must move forward," Colt said, looking at the rest of this group.

There wasn't any debate among them. They couldn't be in a condition like this. The basics were to hunt down wolves and advance or die.

"Here's what we do," Colt said, his breath forming ice crystals on his stubbled chin. "Three days up here, hunting and leveling—no more. That leaves us three and a half days to find this Seed in the Academy."

Sarah frowned. "That's cutting it close."

"Too close," Nate agreed, flexing his injured arm. "If we spend too long up here and can't locate the Seed quickly enough—"

"We die either way," Colt interrupted. "Go down too soon, we're not strong enough to handle whatever's guarding this thing. Wait too long..." He gestured at the blood-red sun frozen unnaturally in the sky.

Nick nodded slowly. “Balance the risk. I get it."

"Julia," Colt turned to their mage, "Can you maintain your barrier long enough if we push harder? Shorter rests, more hunting?"

The blue-haired woman's face was drawn with fatigue, but determination hardened her eyes. "I'll make it work. Not dying in an apocalyptic seed… Whatever this is… Is far preferable.”

Assuming, of course, that they could find the Celestial Seed easily. But if they had three days of looking in the Academy and still didn't manage to discover it, then, well, what would another four days be? Especially as weak as they were. They had to balance the need for personal advancement with the demands and threats placed upon them by this place. It wasn't ideal, but it made the best of a bad situation.

Nate offered a contingency plan: if they failed to make progress tomorrow, they would instead rush the Academy… It was a desperate one, but it might turn out to be necessary depending on how things went.

Minimal rests. Colt spun his knife looking at the fucked up sun.

In an environment like this, though, this was when one had to go all out. This was when one pushed oneself to one's absolute limit and overcame one's limits to survive. There would be plenty of time for rest afterward, or, if the worst were to happen, when they were dead.

With confirmations and everyone now aware of the gravity of the situation, Colt strode back forward into the white, blinding abyss, his eyes scanning the many spires and locations around them, searching for the next cave to ransack, and hoping against all odds that they would not yet encounter the Yeti.