To the Top Of the Mountain

"Now then, are you holding onto my shoulder?" Joseph asked as he looked over his shoulder, checking if I had my grip on his shoulder.

"Yeah. Can we go now?" I responded as I held onto his shoulder tightly.

"Well, a day was wasted getting your ass kicked, so I'll just stop playing around now."

"Tch, you didn't have to mention that. I don't like being reminded of my failures."

Joseph locked his thumb and around his picky and suddenly, we appeared in a field filled with snow. It was really windy… and cold… and… well, cold.

As I observed my surroundings, I eventually spotted a large mountain covered in snow.

"What the-? How the hell did we get here?"

I was curious as to how this happened. A second ago we were in the forest and now, we were in this… this…

What was it called again?

"Welcome to the Auroral Glaciers," Joseph said, as if he knew what I was thinking. "For today and tomorrow, we will be staying here to help you master Cursed White Arts."

"Cursed White Arts? Wait a minute, aren't I supposed to obtain that by defeating a tinge? Why the hell are we in the middle of a goddamn tundra for that?"

"Because this was the exact place I came to master Cursed White, except it only took me a few hours. Anyway, if I remember, the chasm is over there."

Joseph looked off to the mountain and lifted off the ground.

"First lesson, meet me at the top of the mountain, that is, if you can." He said before soaring towards the top of the mountain.

If I can? What does he think I am? A turtle?

And no, I don't like turtles… well maybe.

I jumped into the air and activated Flight.

Instantly, I realized what he meant by "If you can."

As soon as I activated Flight, I was immediately blown away by a tremendous gust of wind. I tried to stop myself but the force of the wind was so strong!

I decided that flying wasn't the best idea since it was nearly impossible to fly in this condition.

I wonder… just how did Joseph manage to fly up without being affected by the wind?

Now that I think of it, he said something yesterday. I think it was something about Warlocks being to disobey the laws that humans follow and altering them to our will.

What did he mean by that…?

Well, I won't be getting answers if I don't catch up with him. Since I can't fly… I guess I'll just have to walk and climb.

Now let me say this, walking through the snow wasn't easy, even with the ability to manipulate and breathe flames. It wasn't because of the height of the snow which measured up to my knees, but because of whatever properties this snow was made of.

When I performed Flaming Dragon Breath, the snow in front of me quickly melted and I was given a clear pathway. However, in just a few seconds, the snow just seemed to reform, as if the fire didn't affect it.

I tried many other strategies to travel through the snow faster, but the only thing that helped was equipping Raiden which increased my speed. The only problem was that the wind majorly affected the amount of lightning I was discharging so as soon as I equipped Raiden, the lightning quickly dissipated.

So I was essentially back at square one.

Well, guess I'll just have to deal with it…

A few hours went by without any incidents occurring.

I'm just kidding, there was… a lot of them… but nothing major in my opinion. The only thing I was suffering from was mostly Hypothermia. I could survive in cold climates longer than a human could, which is like… 5 minutes or something. I have been walking for almost 6 hours; 2 hours walking towards the mountain and 4 hours walking up the mountain. And somehow after all that, I am still alive.

Currently, I was and still am walking up the mountain with my arms encased in Dragon Flames to prevent them from freezing off.

I sighed as I looked up towards the peak. If only this mountain was smaller, I can only walk so much and my mana reserve has already been drained due to the earlier stunts I've done. It's only a quarter of what it is now.

The more I climbed the mountain, the thinner the air got and the lesser the flames I had to wrap around me. The Dragon Flames I had were to prevent me from being affected by the cold. However, in the process, I'll be burning the oxygen I'm breathing in.

My flames were practically like a double-edged sword; they help me resist the cold but in the process, I have less oxygen to breathe.

Then a few hours passed. It was nearly time before my flames were rendered useless against the cold, and I needed a solution fast. But what else do I have that could help me?

I could just Flash Step my way up there, but believe it or not, Flash Step is affected by the wind. Flash Step and any form of Shifting like Shadow Shift is basically useless at this time. It hasn't turned dark yet so I can't use Shadow Shift to travel through the shadows, and I can't use Lightning Shift as it's nearly impossible to produce any in this climate.

My only solution now is… well… using Oppression.

If I use Oppression, I could push through the wind and the snow with ease, the only problem is that my current mana reserve is pretty low. Banishment won't help here since there is no energy being produced by the wind.

Wait a minute, now that I think of it, didn't Joseph have some kind of barrier that repelled Piercing Red? I think it was called Rejecting Barrier.

Right, it was his principle that allowed such a feat. If I remember correctly, he said Rejection was able to repel matter as well.

I wonder if… Oppression could do the same.

I stopped and thought about it for a second before I began converging oppression around my body.

If Joseph was able to do it with Rejection, then I could do the same.

Currently, the wind was blasting me towards the walls of the mountain, so I had something to stop me. I activated Flight and was immediately pushed towards the wall.

If I can create a barrier with Oppression, then I can walk up the mountain with ease…

I just have to imagine the shape of my barrier and how it can resist the wind. Joseph's barrier repels against matter so it doesn't matter what form his barrier takes. Barriers are bendable so we can technically shape them to our will, but right now, I just need a shape that can allow me to fight against the wind.

Eventually, the force of the wind that was blasting against me a while ago had died down. I looked around. The wind was still moving, but it wasn't pushing me.

I flickered Cursed Red Energy around me and my barrier appeared in red. The shape of my barrier was basically the shape of my aura but condensed. It may not look anything special but what it did was. Instead of being a regular barrier that shields the user, my barrier discharges tiny blades made from my principle and pierces through the wind, altering its course. Just combine Atomic Fission, the force of Oppression, and Shadow Blade Assail. With these three, I basically created a barrier that can dismantle any attacks consisting of mana.

If I were to name this... it would be called Rebellious Shield.

[Skill Obtained: Rebellious Shield(Lvl.1)]

Now that I have a barrier, I can walk up the mountain with ease now. The only problem is...

I had to use the same amount of mana I used to fire Piercing Red. In other words, I was about to run out of mana.

So I quickly ran up the mountain and in the process, it seems the snow was also being dismantled by my barrier.

If only I had thought of this earlier, but I'm dehydrated and hungry and that affects my thinking.

Anyway, I eventually arrived at the top of the mountain where Joseph was standing there, waiting for me.

"Wow. That took you longer than I expected."

"Well, I had many options to pick from. I couldn't just start from using my Warlock abilities, otherwise, I would just be wasting mana."

"Using them is better than not using them. Anyway, let's get started on the second lesson."

"And what is that?"

"Well, what else do you think? Getting Cursed White Arts!"

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