Flapping its wings through the sky, the Frost bat hated the sun almost instantly. It suck off its energy; it had noticed how its flight grew weaker the more the blasted radiance appeared.

  But, it recognizes the danger now.

  (Frost Bat. Lvl 30)

  It landed on a strong branch; beside were another two of its brethren. It began screeching loudly, causing leaves to fall and an echo of frost to rush into the human who casually stood uncaring.

  The human wore a beaked mask. In its hand was a cane that it had used to bludgeon two of them to death already. They were reluctant to get into close combat, so for the past ten minutes or so, they glided around, throwing frost sonic on the human.

  Did the human mask protect him from the frost sonic? This is inconceivable…

  The human tapped his cane, and a cube made out of ice appeared out of thin air. Then he raised his cane, with his arcana pushing the cube into the deep forest. The bat eyes followed the cube, it's not going to hit…

  Spinning mid-air, the cube blasted into five thin ice needles. And they spread, zipping and crushing straight to another Frost Bat beside it.

  The bat screeches; it has a range attack. Signalling a complete attack, the bat blasted wind and dived straight into he human along with ten others who rushed through the forests.

  The claw of ice colors the bat’s talon. They get him surrounded.

  As the beast was about to claw the human's throat, however, the human, with his left hand, manifested a sword made out of frigid ice. He drew his sword back, and suddenly the bat vision split into two, and its wings splayed on the ground in front of it. The bat died before it could even register what was happening.

  --

  “I know you said you hated the plan,” Elend smirked as he went out of his hiding place, which was just behind the tree with a camouflage spell.

  Alongside Elend were another two he didn’t recognize. Both are fire mages.

  “But, I can’t help it! They can’t even damage you,” Elend shrugged.

  Rue removed his mask and offered the one-glassed man a scowl. The second detachment leader has made him a punching bag, basically! Sure, their frost magic cannot damage him. But that ice talon could. Well, they’re still too slow, though.

  “Glad I could be of service,” Rue grumbled.

  “My man, that mask is terrifying,” A bald man with the body of a lean office worker said to him. “I would though you’re one of these Frost monsters.”

  “He is a monster,” the other one—a girl with shoulder-length orange hair added, “You should’ve seen when he turned all black ice.”

  “Which is why we brought him,” Elend declared.

  “Anyway,” Rue said. “I think that should be enough, right?”

  “Yes,” Elend mumbled. “No bat will be enough to harass the supply line anymore. We’re clear to proceed now. Come now, let's rejoin the main group.”

  It's been not five hours of the journey to the frigid ice mountain, and problems were already surfacing. The biggest one was the constant harassment of their supply line by the Frost bat.

  Fielding a thousand men comes with a considerable cost. They had to lower several wagons even. Elend had come up with the idea of separating into a small elite group to kill the Frost Bats. It’s been working, and their group has killed maybe about thirty of them with Elend blasting most of them with target-seeking flame magic and using Rue as a distraction.

  And honestly, he’s not complaining since it's working now.

  They arrived back at the camp, shieldwalls greeted them, and mages and archers behind them tasked to take down the scrambling frost bat. A lightning strike burst open one frost bat, and it shattered like glass. These bats looked weak, but these creatures had frost supersonic; it was deadly. Not an immediate effect, but it would slowly kill you. Three persons had died in it with their eyes frozen into ice.

  Rue couldn't imagine if they brought a low level with them. Only low-level individuals with special classes are being brought, which include Soma.

  The shield wall was a small thing, well, small for five hundred people. Another five hundred has been split into small groups like Elend’s and Rue’s. Elend wanted Rue to be in his group, and they ended up being the group with the most kills.

  “We’re done here! Get moving! Supporters, roll the carriage. Anyone who wants to use pots better get moving now!” Elend shouted. But the shield wall still held. Whisper drifted forward before the commander had to scream again. “Break it already, fools!”

  A flurry of movement followed. Rue made out a couple who grumbled on being called fools. But they obeyed dutifully.

  Elend had split their marching position into three groups. The middle group will be the range user and the supply group. Front and back are warrior or front-runner classes.

  Rue and Lars have been positioned in the middle; Elend placed them here so that both of them can go to where they would be needed much faster. Soma and Romero, meanwhile, were on the front.

  Wagon rolled and they creaked across the unruly ground of the forest.

  This place was a combination of warm bothering with cold. The deeper they advanced, the colder it got. They left the warmth behind them and entered the embrace of the ice mountain.

  Rue dipped his head up, and this reminded him of the ice wall Cel had created. But to a much grander degree. The tundra-soaked mountains towered imposingly, and Rue started to breathe cold vapor out not from his body but from the air around him.

  ”Ugh,” Lars grumbled beside him. The Highest-level wore a thick fur jacket. Well, it's probably not a jacket, but it looked so modern that it might as well be one. “Out of all the mountains, of course, it needs to be the freezing one,” He grumbled.

  Lars proceeded to enviously stare at the archer and mages who sat atop the wagon. The archer had their arrow nocked, ready to shoot at any moment.

  “What are my chances of pretending I’m an archer?”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Probably none,” Rue said. “It's strange we only met the bat, isn’t it?”

  “Not really, that only meant the report was actually correct,” Lars shrugged.

  An infighting between the frost creatures. That would be a curious sight.

  A figure ran toward them from the front group. Rue recognized the overbearing bag behind him, and the youth huffed with a thick cloak draping over him.

  “Where’s Elend!” He shouted. One of the mages pointed at where the commander was. Walking right in the middle of the group. Elend walked as he read a book that had various information on supply chains and all of the things necessary. Rue had taken a peek earlier. And the note Elend made was surprisingly easy to understand, but what's hard is to reorganize the information. For example…

  The youth ran near the commander and began blabbering.

  “A monster spotted! It's fighting! Literally fighting! Can you tell the front to rush ahead, please! like, come on! The other scout was dangerously close.” The youth walked backward while facing Elend. He drew so much attention, but most kept walking, but their ears glued to the conversation, including Rue and Lars.

  Elend closed his book and sighed dramatically. “Calm down.”

  “Calm? Calm down? Are you kidd–”

  “Name,” Elend demanded.

  “It's Jerry,” The youth huffed.

  “What kind of monster did you see, Jerry?” Elend asked, and he picked up another book, this one the size of a ledger, off a moving carriage.

  “A big ice skeleton! It has a disgusting tongue and its middle body is so thin, like they're about to fall.”

  “What did the system tell you?”

  “I don’t know!”

  “What do you mean you don’t know?” Elend asked, lips twitching. Rue imagines that one glass would break from pure annoyance.

  “I did not get close enough to identify it.”

  “But, you said earlier the scout is dangerously close, why are they not identifiable?”

  “There’s some scout that identified it already.”

  “Well?”

  “I forgot the name,” Jerry admitted. A stifled groan was heard around the moving wagons. Lars, beside Rue, shook his head.

  “Oh, we’re so dead,” Lars whispered.

  “Okay,” Elend started. “You said they’re fighting, against what? And do you remember their levels?”

  “They fought against a ghostlike ice creature; this one had a hood made out of ice, and it used magic.”

  “Ghost-like? Did they show any ability? And the level, please.”

  “Yes, the skeleton did not show any abilities, just that it burst apart snow every swing. And the ghost can sort of fly, well more like gliding really, and it can produce ice crystals. I think the ghost is winning the fight. It was five against three, and the ghost was still winning.”

  “Jerry, level please.”

  “It's… I think both at thirties”

  “Okay, thank you, Jerry,” Elend smiled, closing the book. He patted the youth on his shoulder, and Jerry saluted. “Yes, my lord!”

  My lord?

  What is this an opera?

  “Go, return to the scout team. I will send a messenger with further instructions.”

  Jerry saluted again and tapped his fist on his chest. Then the youth ran, returning from wherever he came from. He was very fast, maybe an upgraded scout class? Rue can sense wind building up in his legs, and he propelled himself forward. He was probably chosen because of that skill.

  The youth quickly disappeared farther and farther into the forest in mere seconds. That was actually impressive.

  “Rue! Lars! Come here,” Elend called them.

  “Bad news you think?” Rue asked.

  Lars shrugged again.

  They walked beside Elend, who silently just kept walking, before he massaged his head.

  “You would think having this… system would make people pay attention to it,” He stifled a sigh. “I will need more concrete information.”

  Ah.

  “The scout position is very close already, and they entered the snow area just recently. Unlike us, they had already encountered whatever they saw. I would rather not march the whole detachment into the snow if I do not know what to expect. So both of you gather two or three people. Keep the group small, because we will rest tonight, and I want you lot to be back before the morning we cross to the snow area.”

  Rue couldn’t help but think it would be much faster if he went alone; the cold is his ally after all. But well, with a level thirty monster, it might be better to have Lars alongside him.

  Should they bring Romero? The man will be slow with all of that armor.

  “Here,” Elend opened his grimoire, and skipping into a page with bluish ink inside it, drawing in circle and some alien writing he didn’t understand. He ripped five pages and handed them to Rue. “I’m not getting any sleep tonight, will have to draw more of these.”

  “You know I don’t need one, right?” Rue said.

  “These are frost-resistant barriers, they will act like an invincible blanket and will last a day at least. So you two get to bring three people with you, choose wisely.” Eled explained.

  “Great, can I use it now?” Lars asked eagerly.

  –

  Rue world switched from verdant green into a cold blanket of soft white in front of him. The enormous slope leading up the mountain was completely covered by snow. How the hell are the wagons supposed to be carried up? This is madness.

  He walked on, his feet buried within the snow. Now, this will be quite annoying.

  “You’re right, I shouldn’t come,” Romero admitted. The knight stubbornly insisted, and now his greaves were trapped under the soft snow, shallow it like hungry mud.

  “I don’t think it's that bad, actually,” Rue said, observing the snow. “You just had to get used to it.”

  “Guys,” Soma called, the red hair shuddered, patting around his hand. “I know what my skills are, but bringing me just because of that?”

  Soma's body glowed with white golden light, heat emanated from his body, and around him, snow melted slowly. It was working, and what was more fabulous was that this was his passive skill, no mana needed.

  “Having a source of heat more than this piece of paper is important,” Lars said. He was the one who insisted on Soma coming after he found out about his ability. “Besides, you want to level up, no? That sword I gave you is a good one and should be able to pierce high-level monster skin.”

  Soma stared at Lars, and a resolute face marred his expression.

  “Trade!” Rue called out behind him. “You mean traded. I’m the one who gave him that sword.”

  “Sure, whatever,” Lars rolled his eyes. He summoned a sword of light and held it close to himself, which was actually smart.

  Soma copied him, hugging his own sword close; he stayed close to Romero, who found his bearing. The knight just waded through the snow, forcing it, and it worked surprisingly.

  The crosses the snow, and turned out it's not that bad. Rue's body was strangely at peace as he trudged through he heavy snow.

  As a test, he cut his finger using his dagger. Pain flared briefly, but a second passed, and only a trickle of blood appeared. He grinned; the wound closed already.

  “Damn it, Rue, wait up,” Lars called behind. He lashed his sword like a whip, bludgeoning through the snow beyond him, creating an easy path for Romero and Soma.

  “Just treat me like a scout,” Rue said absentmindedly. He kept advancing. The climb up to the top of the slope was harsh, but it wasn't that hard for him. When he stumbled, ice burst from below and offered him a foothold. Rue tests it by stomping on the crystal clear ice.

  “What was that?” Soma asked about the sudden ice.

  “My passive,” Rue answered. He kept climbing up, creating icen foothold for the party. When he finally climbed to the top, however. He found a corpse, frozen solid and encased in ice. Jerry's eye gaped open; the poor youth was dead, that much was clear.

  Beyond the youth was the ghost that the youth must’ve described earlier.

  (Frostmaiden. Lvl 38)

  The frostmaiden looked at him, and Rue summoned Frostbite sword.

  Jerry had described it as wearing an ice cloak, and that was accurate, but not really. The cloak was a part of the maiden's body, sticking as a skin covering its skull, where both eyes were sunken with blue liquid. Plaster of skin stuck pathetically on her ribs, falling to hide the bony figures. The cloak covered legs down and limbs, with only skeletal hands escaping, and they glowed with a vein of ice

  He eyed Jerry, the lad's mouth gaped open; his death had probably been quick. Hopefully at least

  ‘Brethren?’

  A voice speaks inside his mind. Rue’s eyes opened wide, zeroing on the Frostmaiden.

  No… just what are you?