Unchained Potential (The Whispering Crystals: A LitRPG Series Book 4), page 7
She blinks at me at a glacial tempo. “Emma... I’m s-so c-cooold.”
“Okay, okay, don’t panic, you’re gonna be fine,” I ramble. “We’ll just need to get you warm.”
But how?
CHAPTER 8
These are desperate times
I ineffectively clutch Kaitlynn to me as I ramble. “Warm, warm, how do I get you—a fire! We can make a fire!”
Kaitlynn glances around with jerky motions, teeth chattering. “W-where? How?”
I bite my lip. Making a fire on the glacier probably wouldn’t turn out great. The little wood we brought with us for cooking would just evaporate the Boreum beneath it and sink down.
There’s gotta be a way, come on, Emma, think! We just need something that can stand the Heat...
My eye falls on one of the rocks at the bottom of a pit, but no, getting that close to a source of that much Radiation is not something anyone should attempt. Well, except for a Radiation subtype like Dave, I guess.
I blink when a thought strikes me. “I’ve got it! Quick, strip!”
Kaitlynn shoots me an odd look.
“Ehm, not like that,” I add. “I don’t exactly have body heat to share. Just... trust me, okay?”
As she stiffly starts to undo her armour and pants, I busy myself with taking out the wood. Unfortunately, she’s not getting very far with her shaking, presumably numb fingers, so I step in and help her undo the straps and pull off her clothes.
I direct Kaitlynn to lay her armour on the Boreum and sit down on it, trying to keep my eyes from straying into uncharted territory. I mostly succeed.
Then I start piling the wood into her lap. Kaitlynn catches on to my plan and fixes up my sloppy structure with shaking fingers.
“I c-can’t light it,” she manages to bring out when she’s done. “Out of Qi. N-need a F-Fire-Blossom.”
I crouch down next to her bag and rummage around in the herb pouch inside until I find one, carefully wrapped in a protective bed of moss to keep it from igniting. It seems to have wilted a little, but when she crushes it in her lap, a ball of Astreum still bursts out.
For a moment it flickers uncertainly, but then one of the sticks catches fire, and the Astreum flames immediately spread down the whole length, then quickly jump to the next stick, and the next.
Relieved, I sit down behind her. For a moment, my eye trails the smooth lines of musculature on her back. Part of me wants to reach out, to offer some kind of comfort, but even though Kaitlynn might welcome it, my hands are still like ice.
Instead, I clear my throat. “All right. I trust you know better than me how to draw as much Heat into your body as possible.”
Kaitlynn nods and shakily sucks in a nice lungful of Astreum. She holds it in for a moment, then exhales it in a whirling cloak around her body, to stave off the freezing winds
“Very good. Now, once you’ve purged the Cold from your body, start using reconversion on the Heat you take in, and try to store as much of that Heat as you can as Qi.”
Kaitlynn hesitates. “It takes me about 20 Onkh of Heat to make one Onkh of Qi, and when I turn that single Onkh of Qi back into Heat, I produce only 12 Onkh... but you’re right, if I store it as Heat I’ll draw in more Cold through Yin-Yang attraction. Guess reconversion is going to come in handy after all.”
Huh, those amounts are both much larger than for Toxic Energy. I guess it works differently for different types of energy.
For a moment, I allow myself to relax, listening to the crackling fire and Kaitlynn breathing steadily like a bellows.
However, the tension in my body quickly returns. The wood in this Realm burns very differently than the wood I’m used to. It burns hot and intense, but brief. A single stick will only last minutes. It’s fine for cooking, but not ideal for keeping warm.
And we didn’t bring that much, preferring to travel light. Even if Kaitlynn burns it sparingly, it will last for half an hour at most. And then the battle of attrition begins again.
Unfortunately, we’ve yet to come across any kind of vegetation. Actually, even if we did find some, I’m not sure if it would be very helpful. The Qi in Yin plants doesn’t convert into Heat, after all, and it’d be hard for any Yang vegetation to survive here.
Perhaps that’s why it’s so lifeless. It takes Yin and Yang to make life, so in areas with such an extreme disbalance, it won’t sprout.
Let alone survive.
The bottom line is, that mountain is just too far, and the landscape is becoming ever more hellish as we approach it. Even if we reach it, we still need to climb it. We need a way to keep Kaitlynn warm as we travel, or she’ll—
“Emma,” Kaitlynn says gently, interrupting my anxious thoughts and pulling my attention away from our oh-so-distant goal. “I need you to promise me something.”
My stomach sinks as I study the girl still facing away from me. “Kait...”
“If I end up... staying behind in this Trial, I want you to promise me you’ll keep going.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat, subconsciously shaking my head. “Let’s just, stay positive, please. You know giving up’s not in my dictionary.”
Kaitlynn finally looks back, smiling gently at me. “I know. This is just in case. If it does come to pass, please remember the package of letters from Hub Two in my backpack.”
I blink. With everything that happened, I’d almost forgotten about that.
“I took the liberty of adding some of my own, back in Hub Three,” Kaitlynn adds. “They’re for my parents and my brother. I can’t say I’m ready to die, but I want you to know I’ve long made peace with the idea.”
Hearing Kaitlynn speaking about her possible death like this makes the surreal idea suddenly more real, more tangible, and something inside of me snaps. I can’t lose her. Not like this.
Grim determination rises in my chest as it becomes clear to me what I need to do, and a rush of adrenaline helps me stagger to my feet and draw my crystal spear. Was the Cold making me passive?
Well, no longer.
Kaitlynn blinks at me as I rise.
I take a deep shuddering breath. “I’m sorry Kait, but I don’t have peace with the idea of you dying. I can’t have peace with that.”
She furrows her brow. “O-okay, then what are you—”
“I’m going to look for something to help keep you warm. If the fire burns out before I return... head for the mountain. I’ll find you.”
“You’re... you’re leaving right now?” Kaitlynn asks, turning back a little more, her face growing even paler.
I step forward and crouch down next to her. Keeping my eye steady on her face, I gently cup her cheek.
She leans into the touch, her eye staring pleadingly into mine.
“There’s gotta be something out there that can help,” I assert, as much to myself as to her. “So far, the Trials have always been hard, but never impossible. But if I’m going to find it in time, I need to get a move on.”
She bites her bottom lip, looking conflicted.
I lean forward, resting my forehead against hers, the heat of the Astreum licking at the side of my head. “I need you to trust me, Kait. This isn’t goodbye; I’m not letting you freeze to death.” My hand clenches around my spear.
After a moment she nods. “I do. I trust you.”
“Good. Keep the fire burning low, make it last as long as you can, okay?” And with that, I kiss her on the forehead, get up, and start walking in the direction of the mountain, not daring to look back lest I lose my resolve.
“All right, Suri,” I say out loud as soon as I’m out of earshot from Kaitlynn. “Here’s the thing. I know you know some way to save her.”
This is the conclusion I came to as we walked the glacier. The Trial Welcome Window even said that risk begets opportunity, so there must be a way. There must! And Suri knows, I’m positive.
[Do I now?] Suri chimes haughtily.
“I know you’re not supposed to tell me,” I continue, ignoring her response. “I bet you probably don’t even want to tell me, as I have a nagging suspicion seeking it out will put me in danger. However, I don’t have time to waste looking for it in this hellscape, so I’m going to have to incentivise you to bend the rules and help me.”
[Oh? And how, exactly, will you do that?]
I stop moving, take a deep breath, and draw up my chin. “Well, the only thing you seem to care about is my survival, so... I’ve decided I’m not finishing this Trial without Kaitlynn.”
[Excuse me?] Suri chimes, sounding genuinely perplexed—nay, affronted—for the first time in a long while.
“You heard me. You can either help me out, or watch me struggle and fail to keep her alive, only to jump into a pool of Boreum vapour and sink into sweet oblivion. What’s it gonna be?”
[Emma, do me a favour and stop kidding ar—]
“I’m not kidding, Suri,” I say, pouring iron into my voice. “Help me or not, it’s your decision, but don’t think I’ll give you the chance to change my mind.”
A silence falls in my head. I know I’m giving away that I know a bit more than I should, that I’ve realised she can manipulate me but at this point, I don’t care. Still, I have no idea how she’s going to respond, so I can’t help but be a little—
[Now you listen to me, missy, and you listen well,] Suri chimes sternly. [You shan’t be getting any hints from me. I will not cave to your demands. You could stand here having a childish tantrum until a hole opens up in the glacier, but it will accomplish nothing, you got that?]
I open my mouth, then close it again. That... was not the response I expected.
“Yeah, I think I got it,” I say slowly, fighting off the small smile that threatens to make its way onto my face. “Guess I’ll have to do this on my own...”
I jog up to the top of a nearby ridge to look around, but other ridges block my view across the glacier. I look around for a better vantage point, but don’t see one, apart from the mountain. No way I’d have time to climb that just to get a view.
I blink. Hold on. If it’s just to take a look around...
I crouch down and charge my Focus Crystal. Then I produce a swirl of Negative Inertial Energy and push off as hard as I can.
With my excessive Agility, I have no trouble stabilising myself mid-jump. I even manage to give myself a very slight spin upon take-off, so I can look all around as I soar into the Aether.
The landscape this close to the mountain is absolutely littered with pits, yet there’s one that jumps out. The other rocks may just have been planted to add Radiation for the Trial, but this is clearly the scene of a massive meteor that impacted the glacier and formed a huge crater, even if it got smashed into pieces in the process. Though the lack of Boreum in the crater seems to suggest it is radio-active.
Hmm. I’m not sure. It fits with the whole ‘risk begets opportunity,’ and there’s definitely a ‘hole in the glacier,’ but it would be rather a stretch to call it—a cave!
On my other side, a large crack runs through the glacier, forming a kind of ravine which appears to end in a tunnel that leads down into the Boreum, beneath the glacier.
It’s a hole in the glacier and a cave, that has to be it!
I feed my Inertial Field a slow but steady stream of Negative Inertial Energy to keep the swirl intact, only allowing it to fade after I land gently on my feet and begin rushing in the direction of the cave.
For a moment I once again consider using Negative Inertial Energy to cover the distance in huge leaps, but I control myself, despite my impatience.
I have a feeling I’m going to need my Qi down there.
Hang in there, Kait... I’ll be back soon.
CHAPTER 9
Into the unknown
I slow my steps as I approach the sharp, jagged Boreum edge of the ravine, and cautiously peek over the edge.
The crack in the glacier, as well as the cave leading further in, seem to have formed around a small stream of Hydrum that once came down the mountain, leaving behind only a streambed of loose gravelly rock.
The walls of Boreum around the streambed are actually slightly concave, making the edge I’m standing on a lot more precarious than it seemed.
The Boreum holds firm, however, and moreover, I’m not afraid of the drop.
In fact, I hesitate only a brief moment before I turn around, and let myself fall backwards off the jagged Boreum cliff.
I close my eyes, fighting the urge to deploy a field of Negative Inertial Energy as my back approaches the ground. My cape of breaths hits the ground in airbag form, rapidly decelerating me as it deflates.
I let out a breath in relief as soon as my back gently touches down. A safe landing, and no Qi wasted. Frig that was scary though.
I get up, take a glance at the maw-like entrance, then stride in, the loose gravel crunching beneath my boots.
The cave forms a wide, roughly hemispherical arc above the relatively flat bed of the dried-up stream. The ceiling is at least 20 feet above me in the middle. It’s darker inside than outside, but enough bluish-tinted light filters through the clear Boreum that I can see just fine.
Something feels off when I walk in, however, and it takes me a moment to realise what exactly.
It’s the gravity. I’ve gotten used to feeling lighter the moment I walk into a structure with rock above me, but it seems like the Boreum—being made of Aether—is so lightweight that it has no gravity itself. This also explains why I didn’t feel too heavy while walking on top of the glacier.
Wait, I shouldn’t assume that gravity is related to mass like in the Entropic Realm... It could also be that Boreum has no gravity because it is Yin, while gravity is Yang. Would that mean Astreum does produce gravity? Note to self, ask Suri about this later.
The layer of Boreum above me gets thicker and thicker as I venture farther down. The light gets dimmer, and the Cold intensifies as well, but I can still handle it.
At least there’s no Radiation here, as it seems the rocks are confined to the top layer of the glacier. From down here they look like shadows in larger bright spots, kind of like the pupils of enormous eyes. If I squint, I even get the sense that I can make out a hint of sickly-green light coming from them, the tell-tale colour of Radiation Energy Crystals.
The cave leads on, meandering slightly as it follows the path of the stream until it opens up into a large cavern.
The cavern is about sixty feet wide and forty feet high in the centre. Even with the three big pillars of Boreum standing in a triangular formation, it seems like it should all come crashing down at any second. However, Boreum being as light as it is, I guess that isn’t too big of a worry.
Perhaps the only reason the pillars are even necessary at all is the rocks that pockmark the surface of the glacier above, at some points looking very close to melting their way through.
The streambed ends in a shallow pool of Hydrum in the centre of the cavern, surrounded by the three Boreum pillars. I approach it warily, but all I see beneath the clear Hydrum is more gravel. There are tracks in the gritty soil beneath my feet, however, leading to and from the Hydrum. The tracks are all jumbled together, and I can’t really make out a clear pawprint of any kind, so I have no idea what kind of creature might’ve made them.
I follow one of the main trails for a few steps, then realise it heads into a small tunnel into the Boreum, maybe four feet high.
I look around. There’s similar tunnels starting everywhere. Whatever creature lives down here—at least I’m hoping it’s singular—it’s made a friggin’ maze.
I search for some kind of indication of what I might gain here to keep Kaitlynn warm, but there’s nothing but loose gravel and solid Boreum around me. Whatever I’m supposed to find, must have to do with the creature that lives here. Maybe it has a warm pelt or something like that?
My eye turns back to the maze of tunnels leaving this cavern.
Damnit, I don’t have time to go looking for you!
I hesitate for a moment, then walk over to one of the cavern’s outer walls, and smack my spear into it with a loud clang.
The sound reverberates through the cavern and the maze of tunnels for a while before it dies out. I keep my ears perked, and after a moment, I hear a soft chittering echo through one of the tunnels, that slowly grows louder.
Something’s coming!
I take a few steps back from the wall and activate the second mode of Boost Physical. Since there’s no Radiation down here, I can easily afford the cost.
I try to track where the sound is coming from, but the echoes and all the different tunnel exits make it difficult. Suddenly, I see a deep violet light bloom up somewhere in the Boreum, which quickly mounts in intensity.
I stare at it in wonderment. What is that?
[Emma, watch out!]
I reflexively throw myself aside, into the gravel, and not a moment too soon. The violet light bursts through the wall at the exact point where I hit it with my spear, evaporating the Boreum and creating an opening the same size as the other tunnels in the maze.
Well, that’s one mystery solved, I suppose.
A thing that I can only describe as a giant scorpion comes crawling out, waving its claws menacingly. Its exoskeleton is black with a reddish tint, except for its tail, which is glowing with a hint of...
Violet. Oh.
I flip myself up to my feet. A beam of violet light impacts the ground I was just lying on, then swings my way.
I run as fast as I can. It’s almost enough.
The creature’s beam burns painfully as it passes over my calf right before I dive behind one of the pillars.
I hiss and quickly inspect the damage.
The blue leather armour covering my calf is partially turned to slag. My skin is blackened where it was exposed but doesn’t hurt. In fact, it doesn’t feel anything, even when I touch it.
My hackles rise, and I quickly activate Regenerate. Thankfully, it only takes a moment for the blackened flesh to slough off and reveal new purple skin beneath.
