After five days of hard work, the valley had completely changed once again. Not only were there creatures roaming around the valley, but there were even multiple walls protecting the perimeter and the individual pillars. That, together with the glittering web of Astral Power in the air, from which occasionally a bit of diamond dust dropped, gave the entire place a somewhat magical feel. Standing at the top of my tower, I couldn’t help but be proud of my accomplishment.

As I was watching the movement below, Lenore landed on my shoulder, after she had checked the last batch of avian constructs, the creatures we had dubbed Nevermores, in honour of the poem that had originally given Lenore her name. We had created quite a few of them, the last batch our most successful one. The original constructs were mostly designed to search for our enemies from the air, maybe perform a bit of harassment or attack other airborne creatures but the last batch was so much more.

Made from Eternal Ice, they were quite sturdy, could regenerate damage to a point and, the achievement I was most proud of, could even conjure sharp, feather-like Icicles and shoot them at their foes, airborne our ground-bound. It made them excellent aerial attackers, the only problem was their limited range. They simply couldn’t last as long outside the valley, compared to the original constructs that could range out for days at a time.

“What do you think of their performance?” I asked Lenore, curious about her point-of-view, as an expert at all things bird.

“They aren’t bad. The initial batch is quite agile and I sent some of them out, to make sure there would be no unpleasant events. Given the call to the entire world, I would be highly surprised if there are no enemies coming for us,” she replied, more details flowing over our connection, comparing the flight performance of the newer construct to the old ones. From the looks of it, I had been a little short-sighted in thinking the new batch was best, and the old ones had their own advantages. Speed, agility and reach against durability and attack power, both variants had their uses.

“Agreed, it was quite motivating, wasn’t it,” I grinned, the challenge thrown down by the system cutting both ways. If I was being cast as the ‘enemy of the world’, well, then I had to put up a good show, right? And that was what almost my entire effort over the last few days had been directed at, making sure I would be a memorable enemy, one the world would remember forever. If that wouldn’t net me some sort of performance bonus at the end of the beta, I didn’t know what would.

“Did Ylva say anything about our other project?” I changed the topic, curious if Lenore had talked with our canine friend.

“A lot of grumbling, she’s happy to have the pack expanded but they are not wolves, so she’s also grumpy,” Lenore replied, her voice filled with mirth. She even transmitted her memory of Ylva, who, as Lenore had said, looked incredibly happy, her tail twitching uncontrollably, while her words and some of her behaviour spoke of annoyance as she complained about the other set of constructs we had created.

Those had been modelled after her, almost two metres from snout to hindlegs and about a metre and a half in height, they were designed as ground troops. While we had no chance to copy Ylva’s Fenris-given ability to fly, the canine constructs had strong jaws and their bodies made from Eternal Ice should be able to withstand some punishment. As with the avians, their range of operations was a problem but by my estimation, they should be capable to operate for three days outside of the valley, if they didn’t have to seriously fight. They lacked ranged abilities but they really didn’t need them, the idea was that they would use wolfpack-tactics, acting as hit-and-run harassment in the mountainous environment around us.

“Their abilities are growing,” I mused, taking in Lenore’s observations and comparing them to the previous ones I had seen. It was quite obvious that the canines were now working together as a pack, just like normal wolves would. Maybe even a little more vicious, given that they were made from Ice and thus lacked pain receptors and their only vital point was the rune-engraved core set in their chests. As long as that core was undamaged, they could recover, especially when it was particularly cold.

Stepping forward, I focused downward, looking closely at the walls I had raised. The walls themselves were not that impressive, a mere three metres high and two metres thick, but they didn’t have to be. They weren’t really supposed to work as walls, they were more akin to fences for the final variant of Ice-constructs I had raised. Those were, in some ways, the least sophisticated of them all, four metres high and vaguely humanoid, with stocky legs, a blocky torso and long, thin arms that ended in a sharp, pointed blade. They didn’t even have heads, their eyes directly integrated into their torso, giving them a somewhat alien, rather intimidating feeling.

There were only ten of them, but I had made them for one purpose, and one purpose only, and that was to fight. They wouldn’t be able to leave the valley, they wouldn’t last long outside of the Nexus that constantly provided them with power, but here, they were incredibly strong and durable. With that in mind, I had given them the ability to launch Icicle-Javelins and reconstruct themselves slowly, if they were damaged. Five were to defend the outer walls, and one each was stationed next to the pillars and their smaller walls, with orders to defend their post to the last.

In game terms, I wanted them to act as mini-bosses, to give attacking Travellers something familiar if any ever made it here in the next few days. If not, I would be a little disappointed, for what good was a collaboration between Pantheon and myself, if I couldn’t show the other Travellers, and the world, what was possible on the Road to Purgatory?

Looking at the fortress surrounding my tower, I considered making some sort of trailer myself, a challenge to the other Travellers, to come and venture into the Frozen Citadel. Maybe that would work as bait, allowing me to cement the set-up Pantheon Entertainment had started and, ultimately, give me the maximum reward at the end of the Beta.

Shaking my head, I stepped back and shelved the question for now. While there was an argument for it, I didn’t want to give away all the surprises I had designed and most certainly not the special constructs I had created inside the tower itself or those hiding in every shadow around the valley.

Those in the shadows had been the most difficult to make, made from pure Darkness and only able to leave the shadows for seconds before they had to return. But that just meant they were perfect assassins, even if their ability to scout was rather limited.

Sitting down on my throne, I looked at the Soul Prison on its stand, right below the crystal siphon. The power channelled into the crystalline prison was no joke and unless my estimation was off, it would only take a few more days before I would be able to shatter the prison and unleash the Nihhögg on the world.

When I noticed one of the Nevermores quickly flying directly to my tower, I was intrigued. They had mostly interacted with Lenore, treating me with an odd sense of caution and reverence whenever they got close to me. And yet, this one gave off a sense of urgency, quite unlike their usual manner.

Making myself comfortable, I waited the minute it took the Nevermore to reach the tower, my mind idly taking in the rest of my domain.

“Ice Queen, I bring news,” it greeted me. Their ability to communicate had advanced quite a bit and now they were capable of using words, even if there was still a lot of conceptual speech transmitted with those words. The reverent, almost worshipful, concepts embedded in my title managed to bring a faint blush to my cheeks while the cautious, vigilant undertones of the ‘news’ made me frown.

“Show me,” I ordered, pushing my mind towards the bird as if it was Lenore. Given that they were partially part of my power, I could connect to their minds, it just strained my mind, and theirs to a degree.

What I saw in the Nevermore’s perception only solidified my worry, it had been one of the first I had made and travelled quite a distance, taking a look at the lands they had never been able to traverse. It had only returned when it saw something strange, out of place. Something that I recognised as an army.