Chapter 64 The Cold

Meira strode toward the dump truck-sized creature, stopping less than a meter away. She materialized a meter-high stack of various glowing mana-rich plants in front of the creature.

Upon seeing the pile, a happy-sounding rumble resonated out of the creature’s massive beak-like mouth before it dug in. To the dismay of the creature, after only three bites, the entire pile disappeared.

“I’m sorry, but that’s all I can offer.” Meira denied the begging creature.

After grumbling for a few seconds, the creature tipped its horns to Meira before turning around, returning to the forest through the hole, leaving Evernya stunned.

“What was that about?” Evernya inquired, only to receive a smile from Meira.

Before Evernya could question further, Meira tossed some simple leather armor at Evernya, ordering her, “take off your suit and put the armor on. I don’t know why you thought it would be a good idea to wear it when I had several sets of armor in my ring.”

Evernya glanced down at her body, finding most of her torso and legs exposed. Without responding to her elf’s jab, Evernya deactivated her suit before pulling it off. She handed Meira her battered suit before slipping on the multi-piece leather armor over her body, starting with the thick but flexible leather pants. After pulling the armored sleeveless vest over her torso, she glanced over her shoulder at the straps just out of reach. Before she could figure out a solution, she felt a tingling as the armor tightened snugly over her body.

After ensuring her kitten armored herself, Meira floated the unconscious Maylin and strutted off into the forest heading north, opposite of the dump truck-sized hole created by the creature.

Upon entering the forest, Meira’s serious demeanor returned. Evernya followed suit, expanding her senses. To her surprise, her senses came up empty on the mana beast department besides the dimming signature of the triceratops creature.

Evernya glanced at Meira, prompting her to point back the way they came toward the no longer visible dump truck-sized opening in the clearing. With a shrug of her shoulders, Evernya continued to follow Meira with her senses on high alert, in case the situation changes.

Evernya noted how Meira followed the stream of Elven scents, despite as far as she knew elves didn’t have a strong sense of smell. I suppose after centuries of experience, following the trail of hundreds of elves is a cakewalk.

Several hours passed as they weaved their way through the dense forest, trying their best to avoid the increasing number of mana beasts. With Meira’s knowledge of surviving in the wilds and Evernya’s sensitive senses, they remained undetected.

Evernya noted the declining temperature, now hovering just above zero degrees Celsius as they ventured further north. Upon reaching another small couple dozen meter wide clearing, the temperature plummeted ten degrees, causing Evernya to tense at the familiarity. She dialed in her senses, picking up five creatures approaching from five different directions. As soon as she caught a whiff of their mana signature, she confirmed her suspicions.

Meira stopped at the center of the frosting over clearing, dropping the still unconscious but shivering Maylin onto the ground between them. A moment later, five ice wolves emerged from the forest to surround the trio.

Evernya glanced at Meira questioningly as she sensed the average mana grade from the pack as awakened grade nine, with one larger alpha wolf in the low arisen stage. “Take this as practice. Remember to use blunt force attacks to shatter their ice armored fur.” Meira instructed without taking her eyes off the approaching wolves.

The alpha wolf, along with two upper grade nine wolves, focused their attention on Meira while the other two wolves, around mid-grade seven, stalked toward Evernya.

Overcome with a primal need to redeem herself from running from the previous ice wolves, Evernya stood her ground. She unfurled her ancient feeling mana aura, battering the wolves, causing them to flinch and whimper.

Evernya took advantage of the opening, striking with a dozen rapid-fire force blasts pummeling the wolves. Shattering resonated through the clearing, followed by a pained whimper from the wolf on her right.

Unrelenting, Evernya continued her assault, dashing forward when the wolves retreat outside her range. After her initial blast assault, Evernya mixed in several force blades and bullets, devastating the now vulnerable wolves. Only a few minutes later, Evernya stood panting in front of two bloodstained but still standing wolves.

The hackles raised as the wolves growled menacingly at Evernya. Rage clouded the wolves’ pain and any reason they may have. Evernya sent yet another assault of force blasts at the rapidly approaching wolves, only for the charging wolves to ignore it. Despite the sounds of cracking bones, the wolves charged forward in a frenzy. Stunned by the display, Evernya failed to react as the mangled wolves reached her.

With the last of their strength, the wolves clamped down on Evernya with their jaws. With the left wolf piercing her left waist easily biting through the thin armor sending numbing bone-chilling cold ice magic through her left side. While the right wolf clamped onto her right thigh, also piercing through the armor, spreading icy numbness through her left leg, causing it to buckle immediately.

Both wolves breathed their last breath as their ice magic payload coursed through Evernya’s body. The ice magic sent paralyzing, bone-chilling numbness through her body. Unable to correct her balance due to the paralysis, Evernya fell face-first, carried down by the weight of the now-dead wolves clinging to her body.

Meira glanced at her kitten to check on how she was doing, only for her eyes to widen in panic. Done with playing with her wolves, dispatched them with air bullets to their head and rushed to her kitten’s aid. A moment later, Meira slid to kneel by her fallen kitten, prying the dead wolf’s jaws away, revealing blackened, frosted over bite marks.

Meira cut away the surrounding armor with air magic, revealing her kitten’s entire left side from her armpit down to her hip, and her right thigh blackened with spreading frostbite.

“Evernya, stay with me, don’t fall asleep! Fight the magic, I know you can!” Meira screamed to her fading kitten.

Why is Meira yelling? I’m so tired. Why won’t she let me take a nap? Evernya thought, barely lucid. For a moment, her eyes fluttered closed, only to spring open as firm hands shook her stiff and numb body. Evernya tried to complain, but her frozen blue lips refused to respond, resulting in incoherent mumbling.

Meira’s panic ticked up a notch as the freezing magic ravaging her kitten’s body neared her vital organs. Evernya’s breathing became labored as her lungs stiffen from the cold. Seconds later, the ice magic reached her heart, causing it to slow struggling to function as its walls hardened.

On the verge of a breakdown, Meira used air magic to dice several large trees, dropping them in a pile at the center of the clearing. Next, she poured a liquid on the several meters high piles of logs before lighting a match and threw it. The moment the match contacted the drenched pile of logs, an explosion of fire erupted, thawing the frosted over clearing.

She scrambled back to her frozen stiff kitten, gently picking her up and placing her closer to the fire. After noticing her kitten’s soggy armor, she cut away the remains. Once her kitten was naked, Meira gasped at the extensive frostbite covering her kitten’s entire torso and most of her right leg.

With tears in her eyes, Meira dropped to her knees and prayed to whoever was listening. “Please save my kitten! She doesn’t deserve to die so young!”

Unfortunately, the damage had already reached past the point of her healing as Evernya’s clouded eyes drifted closed once more, this time unresponsive to Meira’s shaking. Her labored breathing and sluggish heartbeat slowed to a stop a minute later, despite her warming body.

Meira ignored the gathering mana beasts wandering into the clearing, attracted by the blazing bonfire as she materialized several smoothie bottles. She pried open her kitten’s stiff jaw to pour the lukewarm purple smoothie down her throat, but unlike normal, her kitten’s fangs didn’t descend, thus failing to absorb the mana.

“Come on, Evernya! I know you can beat this! Don’t let some weak wolves be you!” Meira cried as she poured another smoothie down her kitten’s throat.

Awoken by the commotion, Maylin cracked her eyes open only to find a car-sized brown bear standing over her. Pale-faced, she scrambled on her hands and knees to her sister on the opposite side of the bonfire.

Upon reaching her sister, she found Meira kneeling on the pine needle-covered clearing, hugging her blackened kitten, unaware or uncaring of the dozens of mana beasts encircling the clearing.

“We have to go! Your servant is dead!” Maylin yelled as sweat rolled down her back, both from the scorching heat and the panic of being surrounded by creatures who could tear her apart.

Meira ignored Maylin in favor of hugging her kitten tighter, tears falling down her face.

Dense mana descended upon the clearing, prompting all the surrounding mana beasts to bow their heads in respect before retreating into the forest.

A moment later, a beautiful woman with dark brown bark-covered skin and grass hair ascended from the ground. She glided toward the group of women unnoticed by Meira, who was loudly sobbing, clutching her lifeless kitten to her chest.

Unlike her older sister, Maylin immediately recognized the woman, dropping to her knees and bowing her head. Only for the bark woman to glide past without even glancing in her direction.

Roots sprouted up from under Evernya, ripping the girl from Meira’s grasp. Only then did Meira notice the ultra-dense mana drawing her attention to the new arrival. She, too, bowed her head to the woman.

“Please save her great tree spirit!” Meira begged, bowing until her head touched the ground.

“Rise, I will not have someone so important to this child demean herself. Of course, I will save this child. If I didn’t, her mother would turn me into firewood for allowing her precious daughter to die in my forest.” The bark woman announced, using a root to force Meira upright.

Meira tried to drop to her knees and bow in gratitude, but the roots encircling her shoulders forced her to remain standing. “I am in your debt, great tree spirit!” Meira cried, overcome with emotion.

“As I said, her mother would turn me into furniture if I didn’t. Now quiet, I need to concentrate.” The tree spirit ordered, returning her attention to the frostbite-covered girl held up by several roots in front of her.

The mana spiked to almost unbearable levels, forcing Maylin to retreat several meters, but Meira, now free of roots, stood her ground. Within seconds, Evernya’s heartbeat and breathing returned as if shocked to life. After the revival, her blistering black skin fell away, revealing unblemished, ashen skin covering her petite frame. Still, after appearing healed, the tree spirit continued her work, pumping more and more mana into the unconscious girl.

Satisfied with her patient’s progress, she switched to cycling the girl’s mana through the tree roots and back into her body. After an hour passed, she stopped cycling mana, turning back to pumping mana into the girl. Ten minutes later, when her patient was about to burst her mana, she stopped.

She laid Evernya on a materialized bed of leaves before turning to Meira. “Little Evernya will make a full recovery. To avoid situations like this, I would suggest giving her dedicated combat training. Also, please warn her to avoid anywhere with thin or polluted mana beyond the norm of Sespina, as her species is quite sensitive to impurities.” The tree spirit informed.

Nodding enthusiastically, Meira assured, “I will train her the best I can, great spirit.”

Satisfied, the tree spirit summoned even more roots, cocooning the three women from head to toe. Just as the roots reached Maylin’s neck, realization dawned, triggering her to struggle.

While easily subduing the struggling young elf, the tree spirit spoke. “The elves passed the great barrier last night. I deem further pursuit too dangerous. Even if they hadn’t passed the great barrier, neither you nor your older sister have the tools required to venture any further without great injury. Even the stealthy little girl here would have trouble avoiding detection. On top of this, the chances of successful persuasion have little chance of succeeding.” The tree spirit revealed, prompting Maylin’s struggles to halt as anguish overtook her face, with tears forming in her eyes.

Meira, who had a calm expression despite the cocooning roots, caught the tree spirit’s attention with a question. “Great tree spirit, where are you sending us?” Asked Meira with a respectful tone, having recognized the magic.

“Since little Evernya needs several days to recover, I am sending you to the edge of my territory just north of the human city of Venduva. I would suggest heading straight for your territory from there.” The tree spirit replied, commanding the roots to finish their cocooning.

Just before the roots covered her face, Meira said, “thank you, great tree spirit.”

After completing the encasement, the roots solidified into a body-sized cocoon. A moment later, the tree spirit descended the cocoons into the ground, sending them on their way to their destination.

“Good luck little Evernya, I’m sure one day we will meet again.” The tree spirit stated while burying the bonfire in dirt before she too sunk into the ground.