Chapter 10: Cold wind, burning heart

Sion and Nemma were in their room again. Nemma was sitting on the bed, shaken from the earlier incident. Sion was using a towel to wipe blood off her face. Both of them were silent.

Sion cleaned her face. He looked at her clothes, she still wore that torn peace of clothes that reached her knees. It was now bloody.

" You need to take a bath, clean yourself from the blood. I'll find some new clothes for you. " Sion said in a calming voice. Nemma looked at him with tears in her eyes.

The inn had a decent sized bathtub in the toilet upstairs. After short preparations, bath was ready. Nemma entered the toilet while Sion searched the inn for some clean clothes. All the corpses were gone, Sion stored them using Collection. Theirs body still possessed energy even though they were dead, that's why he was able to do so.

[ About half an hour later ]

Sion was sitting in the bar. He found some clothes in a room next to their and placed them on a chair next to the toilet for Nemma.

As Sion was drinking, she was dressing up. She arrived at the bar with much calmer expression. " I guess I have explaining to do.. " she said quietly. Sion was holding a glass of wine and looking at her. Nemma was now wearing a pale white dress, it wasn't too wide or long. It reached her ankles and looked fairly comfortable and didn't restrict her movement. Dress didn't look as if it was made for dancing nor elegant gatherings, it looked as an ordinary whitish dress made for going to the market or taking a walk down the street.

She took a deep breath and started talking: " I'm from the Eastern country called Luchester. There is an old tradition there; if a baby with strong energy is born during the Rebirth Festival, it is taken from their parents and raised in secrecy. Children there are treated as gods, they are given names based on angels.. and are cursed with powers of Devil. In total, as much as I know.. there are 30 cursed children, including me. Once you receive your demon, your Class rises to 3rd Class. And 4 out of 30 children posses the power of high 2nd Class, they are known as 4 Archangels. They are leaders of Luchester in the shadows. Four of them combined posses a power equal to that of a military army. I carry the name of Nemamiah, and a nameless demon. It awakens when I'm in grave danger and I lose control of what's happening. I usually wake up in a pool of blood and surrounded with corpses.... ". Nemma's eyes were full of tears again.

Sion looked calm, he was trying to understand her feelings. " Archangels.. what type of rulers are they? " he asked. Nemma looked at him and a slight smile appeared on her face; " They rule with power and fear.. " she answered. Sion took her hand and helped her stand up. " One day, I will shatter the system.. that includes cruel traditions of Luchester. And I don't care how strong Archangels are, if I gather enough weak people we won't fail! " he said with a smile.

" B-but that doesn't make any sens-.. "

" IT DOESN'T MATTER-! "

[ KNOCK, KNOCK ]

Someone was knocking on the door. Guests? Soldiers? It didn't matter, floor was still covered in blood and people were missing.

Sion grabbed Nemma's hand and ran through the backdoor.

" What now? " she yelled while they were running.

" We need to look for more allies, any idea where? " he was looking forward as he ran.

Nemma was silent, she was thinking. They were running down a narrow street. It was filled with trash and puddles of water. Some moments later, they found their way out and were now standing in a crowded main street. Rain stopped several minutes ago, air was still cold and ground was muddy and full of puddles.

" In order to find allies.. we need to f-find people that share the same goal as us! " she yelled.

" We've been in Nellān, that's on South... If I'm correct.. we've sailed across 'Lost Ocean'... I uh-... I'm pretty sure I know where we are.. this nation has a group called ' Sons of Freedom ' they share the same goal as you, they want to thrown down this nations corrupt government.. " she said.

" H-how do you know so much? " Sion was confused. Nemma looked at him; " East Sion... I was thought many things when I was taken away.. World's geography is one of the most basic things Luchester thought me... Groups, significant people, places... You can't receive a demon unless you master it all-.. " she explained.

All of a sudden they realized they were standing at the town's gate.

' Gwunnd Town Entrance ' it said. Sion and Nemma approached the guard located at the gate. " We would like to leave, thank you for your hospitality " Sion said. Guard nodded and opened the gates. They exited.

~Rune, you got any map or something, I have NO clue where to go now!

[Runes voice: Sorry, I'm in possession of no such thing Sion..]

~Dammit... Alright, thanks anyway

Nemma stopped and looked around. She closed her eyes afterwards and her focused. She raised one arm and pointed at a mountain far away; " That way.. " she said. She continued pointing; " This nation is small, slightly bigger than Nellān.. Only mountain in this country is that one over there, Frozen Fang is it's name... On the western side of the mountain, there is a small town called Greyre, that's where we will find Sons of Freedom. ". She turned around and looked at Sion with a proud look on her face, she smiled. Sion smiled back and tightened his gloves around his hand.

[ Ability Collection activated, robe received ]

He put on his robe and both of them headed towards the Frozen Fang. It didn't take much time for them to feel the cold breeze blowing in their faces. " How come South is this cold? I'm not the smartest guy but, Nellān and... well.. this nation, aren't that far away right? That section of Lost Ocean we sailed over, it must've been most narrow one considering we sailed across it in only one day. That means Nellān and this place should have similar climate.. " he looked at her. She nodded; " Frozen Fang is inhabited with a cruel creature Sion. It's energy is radiating a cold aura that literally froze the mountain and it's surroundings. Don't bother with it. Thousands of top class Hunters are coming here every year, and no one was able to defeat it. No reports are even stating what the creature actually is.. " Nemma explained.

" It would be pointless to waste energy and put your life in danger for a creature we have no interest of right now.. " she continued. Sion was looking at the peak of the mountain. With Runes powers, he clearly sensed a strong presence on top of it, equal, or even stronger than the monster of a man he fought in Ravensborrow. " Yeah.. you're right... " he looked forward.

They were walking through a frozen forest. No leaves could be seen on any of the branches. Occasional rabbit or a fox could be seen running across the road, but no life was otherwise noticeable.. " It's s-s-so cold-d-..." Nemma whispered. Sion felt it too, his aura was strong enough to coat him from the cold in the air though. He took off his robe and coated Nemma with it. " You'll need it more than I will " he smiled. Sion lowered his head for a bit; " But tell me, my energy levels are higher than yours, right? Yet, I'm not a Class 3 in terms of powers. " he asked her. She was shaking less since Sion's robe was coated in energy itself, thus providing a nice resistance to the cold; " That's right, as of right now, only your energy can be classed at low Class 2. In terms of powers you are... hmm.. Santerttem I would say.. yeah, high Class 4 sounds good enough.. ". Sion nodded than raised his head in confusion; " I-... I thought you mention you are... a Gaerttem... that would make you 3rd Class and-... " he stopped. Nemma looked at him and laughed. He frowned; " ...-and that would make you stronger than me.. ". Nemma smiled widely. She looked forward and continued talking; " Well... I DO know some techniques... but I'm not a good fighter.. honestly.. what makes me a Gaerttem is demon inside, it's power is that of a middle.. no.. high Class 3. "

Sion nodded. He looked at his hand and squeezed it tightly, his glove made a screeching noise. " Heh.. I can't wait to find out limits of your power Rune.. " he said with a smile. Nemma didn't look confused anymore, she was well aware of Rune by now.

Air was getting colder and colder more they approached the mountain. Some signs with directions could be found on intersections but winds damaged them too much for anything to be readable. " Where to now Nemma-! " Sion was yelling since wind blew fast. She was barely still on the ground from the force of the wind; " I.. I DONT KNOW-! " she yelled.

[ WOOOOOOOOSH, WOOOOOOOOSH ]

Massive branches and stones flew next to them. Sion barely dodged one branch from hitting his head. " WE SHOULD GO BACK-! " he yelled. Nemma was holding for a tree nearby, her feet no longer touched the ground, if she was to let go, she would fly across the forest. Sion could barely see her from snow and wind. " NEMMA-! " he started walking towards her.

[ CRASH, WOOOOOOOOOSH ]

Massive boulder size of a house was flying through the air, heading directly towards Nemma. If that boulder was to hit her, she would get crushed instantaneously. " No, no, no, NOOOO-! " he tried to run towards her, wind was too strong though. Bolder was just several seconds from leaving Nemma dead, Sion couldn't reach it. Sion reached his hand towards her, but she was still meters and meters away. He felt his heart race and blood boil.

" NEMMA-!!! " he yelled at top of his lungs. He couldn't look so he closed his eyes. While still moving forward, his mind and body were both screaming to go faster. Will his only friend die just because he is too weak? He heard something like a snap inside of him. While his body was freezing, he felt his energy going warm... hot even...

" NEMMAAAA-!!!! "

[ Requirements reached, new ability unlocked ]

[ Ability Aura Freeze activated ]

His eyes were closed. He didn't know what happened and was too afraid to open his eyes. He didn't want to lose her. Sion clenched his fists and opened his eyes.

No wind was blowing, no snow was falling. Boulder was staying still midair and Nemma was still holding the tree. He questioned nothing, he rushed towards her and picked her up. He carried her away from the flying boulder and took cover behind a massive rock ahead of them. As he gently placed her on the ground and took a breath, he noticed most of his energy was gone, approximately 80 or 90%. He fell to the ground. " Dammit... Egh-! " his body was drained. He opened his mouth; " S-stop... stop the ability! "

[ Ability Aura Freeze deactivated ]

[ CRASH, WOOOOOSH ]

Boulder crushed the tree Nemma was holding few moments ago, wind blew again. He felt a relief, his energy was almost completely drained though. " W-what the hell is that ability anyway? How did it *cough* absorb so much of my energy so quickly? " he asked himself.

[Runes voice: Call for me Sion...]

~Rune-...

A hand pulled his shoulder into the ground, as he entered he found himself lying on the floor of Rune's world. Rune was standing still. He was neither angry nor shocked. He seemed a bit excited and proud. He approached Sion and gave him a hand to help him stand up. Both of them looked at each other. Rune placed a hand on his shoulder; " Heh... you've finnaly did it Sion.. congratulations! ". Sion didn't quite understand, he was still shaken. " W-what are you talking about? " he asked.

" You've just unlocked a new ability! " he yelled with a smile on his face.