SB: Chapter 259 – Trek Of Frozen Tears (Patreon)

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Level: 20 Experience: BLOCKED

Healing: 560/560 Stamina: 740/740 Mana: 860/860

Class: Tier 1, Adult Human(Blue)Effect: Increased Skill Acquisition(+10%), Increased Learning Speed(+10%), Increased Stat Gain(+10%), Increased Physical Gain(+10%), Increased Mental Gain(+10%)

Vitality: 56 (+1)Endurance: 74 (+2)Strength: 51 (+2)Agility: 60 (+1)Perception: 49 ()Mind: 188 (+2)Magic: 86 (+2)Focus: 71 (+1)Free Points: 200

Tier 1(8)(46+): Dancing Skills(100), Stillness(80+6), Driving(60+8), Veil(52+8), Mask(33+7), Obscure(28+7), Deception(15), Coordinated Balance(2+2)

Tier 2(82)(17+): Mana Sense(100), Danger Sense(100), System Sense(100), Soul Sense(100), Speed Reading(100), Mana Vision(100), Demonic Lore(100), Focused Deflection(99), Darkness Vision(99+6), Focused Dodge(86), Shadow Vision(83+1), Focused Combat Tactics(75), Temporal Sense(72+4), Monster Analysis(71), Spatial Sense(70+2), Focused Cooking Skills(69+3), Depth Sense(66), Eldarin Lore(60+1), Trap Detection(59), Dwarven Lore(57+3), Focused Throw(54), Sweet Teeth(54), Focused Shield Skills(53), Poison Sense(52), High Vostner Lore(52+2), Focused Rage(50), Elven Lore(46+2), Focused Armor(41), Low Vostner Lore(40), Focused Spear Skills(40), Focused Axe Skills(31), Soul Vision(20), Focused Speech(20), Focused Pugilist Skills(18), Focused Whip Skills(15), Focused Bow Skills(13), Focused Dagger Skills(12), Focused Drawing Skills(11+3), Focused Wrestling Skills(10), Focused Pulse Strike(6), Social Performance(2+2)

Tier 3(135)(6+): Empowered Will(100), Mana Manipulation(100), Eldarin Runes(100+6), Empowered Gestures(99), Empowered Meditation(99+5), Fear Resistance(99+4), Hidden Status(95), Light Orb(88), Skill Control(85+2), Silent Casting(82), Ward(82), Clean(78+2), Empowered Breathing(71+1), Empowered Running(69+2), Lightning Resistance(64), Fireball(63), Empowered Writing(63+3), Flame Blade(60), Lightning Beam(54), System Control(54+1), Physical Resistance(52+5), Empowered Sword Skills(51), Dwarven Runes(47), Elven Runes(46), Sleep(46), Status Analysis(45), Soul Strike(44), Arcane Resistance(37), Empowered Stealth(33+3), High Vostner Runes(32), Calculus(32), Advanced Geometry(31), Cure(31), Empowered Toughness(30+5), Social Resistance(29), Demonic Runes(29), Low Vostner Runes(29), Sonic Resistance(20), Alchemy(17), Compass Of Desire(16), Slice(14), Soul Shield(13), Demonic Hunter(10), Empowered Thinking(3+3), Empowered Monster Processing Skills(2), Runic Combat(1+1)

Tier 4(36)(1+): Experience Siphon(C), Gnomish Silence(C), Poison Immunity(52), Multi-Casting(45), Soul Immunity(40+3), Vibration Blade(28), Pain Immunity(25+3), Healing Immunity(20), Fire Immunity(18), Ritualism(7), Cold Immunity(12+12)

Tier 5(5): Dominate Soul(3+2)

Tier 7: Seraphim Quest(C)

EquipmentGloves: Gloves Of Durability(T3) (Durability-T3)Boots: Boots of Durability(T3) (Durability-T3)Head: Helmet of Durability(T3) (Durability-T3)Body: Heavy Armor Of Durability(T3) (Durability-T3)Ring1: Ring of Warding(T3) (Can use a charged ward skill once)Ring2: Ring of Force Deflection(T3) (Reduces impact force by a quarter)Amulet/Bracelet: Sun Amulet of Experience Blocking(T3) (Prevents all experience gain for primary level, channels excess experience into imbuing weapons with fire damage)Weapon1: Reforged Beginner’s Blade(T3) (Sharpness-T4, Durability-T3, Self-Repair-T2)Equipment1: Runic Writing Set(T3) (Write Runes T3 and Below)Equipment2: Monster Processing Set(T3) (Processes Level 150 and Below)Equipment3: Ring of Remote Awareness(T3) (Allows for remote viewing from companion ring)Equipment4: Wand of Explosion(T3) (Rechargeable, single use wand with T4 Explosion spell skill)Equipment5: Sword Case of Containment(T5) (Blocks all Mana leakage and divination from inside) (Cursed Longsword(T7) (Aura Of Mana, ???))

Winged SerpentLevel: 70/462 Experience: 78,827/179,488

Healing: 1,510/1,510 Stamina: 810/810 Mana: 2,130/2,130

Class: Tier 2, Winged Serpent (Orange)Effect: Alchemy Skill Growth (+25%), Alchemic Skill Power (+200%)

Vitality: 151 ()Endurance: 81 ()Strength: 98 ()Agility: 130 ()Perception: 84 ()Mind: 142 ()Magic: 213 ()Focus: 91 ()Free Points: 0

T1: Spark(10), Veil(10)

T2: Alchemic Vision(100), Danger Sense(100), Focused Dodge(49), Health Sense(46), Stamina Sense(44), Heat Vision(22), Shadow Vision(17), Blood Sense(12), Focused Smell(10), Focused Regeneration(8)

T3: Cure(100), Purify(100), Refresh(100), Alchemy(100), Poison Insight(82), Fire Insight (55), Cold Insight(53), Arcane Insight(50), Spatial Insight(41), Soul Insight(37+4), Healing Insight(24+2), Empowered Bite(28), Empowered Toxic Breath(28), Ward(20), Anatomy Insight(18), Harden Scales(17), Cold Resistance(15+8), Atmospheric Insight(15), Bladed Limb Insight(5), Quake(6), Weapon Insight(2)

T4: Flight(88), Alchemic Bounded Field(81+6), Greater Refresh(41), Greater Cure(42+3), Petrifying Gaze(34), Greater Purify(32), Fear Aura(9), Greater Quake(2)

T5: Dominated Soul(C)

We had bunkered down to rest and recover for the night. Each day was a struggle to get as much distance as possible. There was no sign of the demon and my Danger Sense was only triggering off the environment.

The environment was absolutely brutal.

It wasn’t noticeable when we were sledding along, but now that we were walking, it was the absolute worst. I didn’t use the sled, since it wasn’t fully built. I had Ozy work on it some more each night, but changing ice into metal was slow going. It was much easier to compress something than change its nature, especially creating metal. Wood wouldn’t have been much better either.

While I could have had Ozy build something less sturdy, the other concern was using a lot of Mana. If I used the runic plates to push the sled, there was a very high chance the demon would sense something even if it was far away. Just that slight spike in Mana with nothing else out here would be like lighting a light of some kind in a dark room.

Right now we were hunkered down in a small cave just under the surface, only a meter deep. There was a runic array on a stone plate providing a bit of heat, but that was it.

We had gotten incredibly lucky in our escape, not crashing the original sled for such a long time and the sled not breaking. While Ozy had a big role to play in it, the College really did a good job on the craftsmanship despite not being a magical item.

Right now it had been three months since I last checked my status. With nothing else to really do, I looked it over. I had gained 340 skill levels, which wasn’t bad. A good portion of those came from Cold Immunity, but I had been working on that skill quite a bit. Seraphim Etiquette had finally maxed out, and I had combined it with my other three etiquette skills into Social Performance.

I hadn’t taken up Seraphim Formality as a skill. My father had mentioned getting Seraphim Formality as well, but that had been pushed to the side for now. Perhaps it was a mistake, but from what I could tell there were just minor variations on Seraphim Etiquette in terms of using Mana while speaking. Maximizing that skill would have taken a long time and would have limited use. If I had more time I would come back to it in the future. If I did speak to a Seraphim I wouldn’t embarrass myself at the very least.

I was honestly more interested in completing this Seraphim Quest and getting the Tier 7 cursed skill removed than earning skill levels at the moment.

It was too cold for Boris to work out and he needed rest. Carrying that heavy case and sword, combined with the extreme cold, took a lot out of him. We were covering about 5 kilometers a day.

I could do a lot more on my own, but I needed Boris to carry the case. Which meant he set the pace and how long we could go each day. While it was tempting to ask for more or use potions, there was no rush since the sword was now undetectable.

There were two new skills that I didn’t heavily desire. Coordinated Balance was picked up during the escape. I needed the skill to help me keep the sled balanced. Runic Combat was another skill I had picked up in the confusion of the escape. It helped improve my use of runic circles and other runic designs in combat.

The reason I didn’t want these skills was that they were not needed the vast majority of the time. It was a major reason I had never gotten the Mana Combat skill despite using spell skills heavily. There were countless skills, but not all of them were as useful as other skills. I would have preferred to pick up another spell skill or leave myself room to upgrade certain skills to the next tier.

The wind howled outside. It hadn’t been too bad before, but the wind had recently picked up over the last couple of days. “Stew is ready,” I said as I handed Boris a bowl. He devoured the food ravenously. His food intake had greatly increased since we had started trekking across the Great White Waste.

I was hungrier as well. It was the cold, requiring our bodies to do more work. While our little hole wasn’t freezing, there was a chill that just wouldn’t fully go away. The worst part was the distance we still had to go.

Ozy got a couple of pieces of Alchemically stored monster meat and a Mana core. He wasn’t a fan of the Alchemically treated monster meat, but there was nothing else out here. The physical food was necessary to keep his body functioning. While monsters were mostly made of Mana, they still had physical parts. To keep them healthy as pets, both monster meat and Mana cores were needed. The experience gain would be incredibly minor from such stored items.

“More,” Boris said and handed me his bowl. I ladled him another full bowl which he began working on.

If we could do 10 kilometers a day, it would take 2.5 months to reach this forge based on the previous measurement I had done regarding the distance. The problem was that we were lucky to get 5 kilometers in a single day.

Looking over at Ozy, he was slowly working on making more metal from ice. Getting a finger sized piece a day was good progress. It had to be incredibly sturdy but also light. Whatever material Ozy was creating took a lot out of him. There was no other use of his Mana besides making our hole in the ice every time we needed to rest.

“How much longer?” Boris asked. I was surprised, since that was his first question in a long time.

“Several months until we reach our destination. About 700 to 800 kilometers away. I have a skill leading me in the correct direction,” I explained and he nodded. “Can you keep up?”

“Yes. It is cold, very cold. But I will not slow down,” he said and I felt a sense of relief.

Without Boris braving all this danger, I would have to use my free points, which I had still managed to hold off using. I had gained another 11 stat points over the last 3 months. Other adventurers would spend years trying to get that much. That was why despite how much mental and life threatening pressure I was under, I had held off.

The longer I managed to go without using my free points, the greater the benefit. Later stat points were harder to earn, since one had to push themselves. Also, when a person used free stat points, their natural growth slowed. My natural growth was far beyond other people after everything my mother had done.

I had 635 stat points, which was equivalent to around level 31. If I gained some more levels and I used my free points, I could reach level 62 with the equivalent of 20 stat points per level. That would make me a professional, passing level 60.

While it wasn’t that big of a deal, it made me think how far I had come. Many of my tutors had been around that level. It was also considered the peak of what one could reach through power leveling.

My mother was an exception to that rule of course. I missed her. Things were so much easier when I just had to deal with her expectations, not super demons and a stupidly heavy sword and sword case. I had been a major brat when I was younger, not appreciating the time and sacrifice she had invested in me.

The stew was finished with only a few specks left. Boris used a piece of bread to mop up all the residue from his bowl and the stew pot. “Clean.”

That was still the best spell skill ever. We settled down for the night. Well, it was constantly night, but I tried to keep us to a regular schedule. We would rest for 12 hours, trying to sleep and recover. Then we would get up, eat again, and then walk for 10 hours, before Ozy made a cave. Then we would have dinner, sleep, and repeat all this over again.

When we woke up I forced myself to get out from under the comfortable blankets and use the bathroom crate. I got breakfast ready after that as Boris used the bathroom crate. We were quite comfortable with each other at the moment, but that was the life of an adventurer.

After eating, I packed things up while we bundled up some more. Ozy had made another finger sized piece of metal. One more piece to getting a sled. Boris put the pack with the sword case on his back.

“Let’s go,” I muttered in resigned suffering. Ozy opened up the tunnel to the outside as he buried himself in my clothing. The wind and cold slammed into me. Even with Cold Immunity it was despair. We walked outside and Ozy collapsed the cave behind us. I set off in front, since the snow flurries and darkness made it hard to see, and I was the only one who knew the direction we needed to go in.

Boris followed behind me. I had to make sure I didn’t get too far ahead of him. Around midday, there was a slight glow in the sky by the horizon that quickly disappeared. The dark season was finally ending. That would hopefully make this trek easier once it warmed up a bit.

Every 2 hours, Ozy would use a Greater Refresh on Boris to keep his stamina up and I would check his overall health. His health points tended to dip down to a quarter over the course of our daily trek, but they weren’t bottoming out which was important. I had no doubt he was quickly leveling up Cold Resistance.

I had thought about suggesting he train up that skill while the tunnel was being made. But such an action would have been incredibly rude. I had warned him about the cold, but he preferred physical exercise over everything else. That was the best I could do, the rest, he would just have to endure.

At least my Cold Immunity was leveling up, since it was too hard to practice most other skills while traveling like this. Even when we stopped, I was mentally and physically exhausted. The cold just sapped everything out of a person. The darkness didn’t help either.

There were probably worse environments, but the Great White Wastes had taken the number one spot along with the next four spots as a horrible location.

I thought about having Ozy make a large ice sled, but the risk of the sled breaking would be high. But it might be worth it to try. We had traveled far enough away from where the demon had been chasing us, that I felt confident there was nothing nearby.

I still wasn’t sure if the demon could sense me using Compass Of Desire on it, but I was in no rush to find out. I had left one problem behind, no need to invite it for round two. I had no proof, but I had a gut feeling that the last step of this Seraphim Quest would be the most difficult.

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