Chapter 175: Icicle Storm

"Please, Yuki? You know I'm good for it." Said Alexander with a faint smile as he planted tender kisses on her neck, causing an inward grumble before she eventually sighed.

"Hmph, fine, I'll allow it." Muttered Yuki quietly in annoyance as she glanced at Alexander, who was beaming with satisfaction.

"Hehe, thanks, Yuki. I promise I'll make it up to you!" Stated Alexander with a smile as he passionately kissed Yuki before turning around and approaching Soom and Lazuli, who was standing by the dome's edge.

"Great news, I managed to convince Yuki with my charms, so you two are more than welcome aboard." Added Alexander with a smile as he stood in front of Soom, who was reprimanding Lazuli.

"Eh, we greatly appreciate your efforts, Alexander, but are you sure? I wouldn't want to make your lover uncomfortable with our presence." Remarked Soom softly as he looked at Alexander with an awkward expression, though he promptly shook his head.

"Nope, you're fine, trust me. Now, C'mon, we can't continue to stand around here, for we've got places to go." Said Alexander with a faint smile as he dismissively waved his hand before turning around and approaching the carriage while gesturing to it, causing Soom to nod hesitantly. 

Nearing the carriage, I patted the seat beside Yuki while giving them a friendly smile, causing Soom to nod as I helped him onto the seat; while I tried to help Lazuli, she practically ignored me and sat beside Soom by herself. Awkwardly chuckling to myself, I grabbed the reins of the carriage from the ground and infused my mana in the entire carriage, using [Mana Enhancement] to strengthen it again while I activated the gravity belt, increasing its weight roughly ten times before I stopped.

"Alright, get ready; I'm about to disperse the dome." Said Alexander loudly as he glanced at everyone before waving his hand, causing the protective dome to disappear.

The instant the dome vanished, powerful winds with enough force to uproot a tree hit us, causing the carriage, which was ten times heavier, to be lifted slightly off the ground while we were bombarded with heavy rain; however, unlike before, the drops of rain didn't only feel very heavy, they also felt sharp.

'It's only been a few minutes; how has the storm gotten so much worse?' Thought Alexander with an unsightly expression as he raised his hand, protecting his eyes from the rain while looking through it, observing the powerful storm.

Even with my eyes, I couldn't find anything wrong with the storm; then again, I wasn't a meteorologist, so I didn't know what I hoped to uncover by doing that.

"Icicle Storm?" Said Soom softly with an ugly expression as he covered his head with his arms while Lazuli and Yuki seemed completely unbothered by the sharp rain droplets.

Sighing to myself, I gathered a bundle of wind within my hand before raising my hand, creating yet another dome; this time, it was much stronger than the previous one, and thanks to the powerful wind, it was also self-sustaining.

"So, what's this Icicle Storm you spoke of?" Asked Alexander with a faint smile as he turned and glanced at Soom, Yuki doing the same.

"Well, pretty much as the name implies, Alexander. Far out in the Asu Sea, North of the Mezcla Continent, incredibly powerful storms far more devastating than hurricanes occur there, and they're called Icicle Storms." Declared Soom with a slight frown as he glanced at Alexander while pointing toward the sky.

"Icicle Storms usually happen at sea and stay at sea, only reaching port cities at most, and even then, they've lost a great deal of strength and don't tend to last long. But of course, when there is a massive shift in the atmospheric mana, incredibly powerful Icicle Storms are born every now and then. Ones that'll last for a long time, even while deep within the Mezcla Continent, and this seems to be exactly one of those storms." Added Soom with a deep frown as he stared at the sky and listened to the suppressed roaring sounds of the wind and thunderous lightning noise.

"I've experienced and seen the aftermath of Icicle storms, and neither were terrible. Are you sure they're that bad?" Asked Yuki with a raised eyebrow as she glanced at Soom, who faintly nodded.

"Well, Yuki, most cities that are frequently threatened with Icicle storms already have protective measures, so they won't experience much, if any, destruction. However, we're out in the middle of the forest with nothing but a wooden carriage with a cloth roof; if it weren't for Alexander, already strengthening it with his mana, it would've long since been torn apart." Replied Soom softly as he gave Yuki a small smile, causing her to nod before glancing at the storm.

"So, we should find a storm a place to bunker down until the storm passes?" Asked Alexander curiously while looking at Soom, who gently shook his head.

"If you can push through such a storm, that is up for you to decide, Alexander." Said Soom lightly, his words causing Alexander to nod while waving his hand, causing the protective dome to disappear while they faced the mighty storm head-on.

Increasing the weight of the carriage further with the gravity belt, ensuring it didn't go flying, I glanced back and noticed Soom had created an umbrella sticking out from his staff while using earth mana, causing me to faintly smile as I was remembered of Master.

Shaking my head, getting rid of bittersweet memories, I focused on the task at hand and started pushing the carriage through the muddy path while getting bombarded with hundreds of tiny icicles every second; thankfully, they easily broke against my skin, so they were only mildly annoying at most.

Given how loud the Icicle storm was, there weren't any conversations going on between the four of us, and we were all silently in our own little world, though quickly, the minutes that passed turned into hours, and even when dusk arrived, none of us realized it, not until someone finally opened their mouth.

"Alex, I'm hungry." Said Yuki with a frown as she held her stomach before glancing at Alexander, who nodded while pushing the carriage.

Nodding at Yuki's words, I didn't bother responding since she probably wasn't going to hear me. Her perception stat wasn't nearly as high as mine, so I just continued walking while searching either side of the surrounding forest for possibly a place to set up camp. After a few minutes, I managed to find a rather thick tree right beside a small pond, which would typically be perfect, but unfortunately, the weather messed it up, though I still headed that way.

Turning off the muddy road, I headed into the forest, practically dragging it through some areas before we finally arrived at our destination several minutes later; setting the reins down, I leaped onto the seat between Yuki and Lazuli before sticking my head past the curtain and into the carriage.

"Seems you three got along really well." Said Alexander with a faint smirk as he looked at Soom and Chloe playing together.

"Hehe, seeing Chloe reminds me of my own little girl when she used to always cling to me, now… Haa, now she doesn't even know how to properly show emotion." Remarked Soom with a fatherly smile as he glanced at Alexander while Michelle watched with a faint smile, only for him to lower his head and sigh.

"Is everything alright, Alexander?" Asked Michelle curiously as she glanced at Alexander, who nodded.

"Yeah, everything's fine; the Icicle storm doesn't seem like it's going to be slowing down any time soon. I was just going to ask if Soom could help create a shelter for tonight." Remarked Alexander in slight annoyance while Michelle sighed, only to glance at Soom, who nodded.

"A Shelter? I can do that; just give this old man a second to get out of this carriage." Said Soom softly with a nod as he slowly stood up while Chloe pouted, causing him to chuckle.

Exiting the interior of the carriage, I turned and glanced at Lazuli, who hadn't so much as moved a muscle since sitting down, causing me to raise an eyebrow as I stared at her, yet, after seeing her ignore me, I tapped her shoulder, which finally managed to grab her attention as she looked at me while tilting her head.

"So, how are you doing? Fine?" Asked Alexander curiously as he gazed at Lazuli, who tilted her head to the other side before finally nodding.

"I-I see, what about dinner? Is there anything you don't like to eat? maybe meat?" Questioned Alexander lightly with a nod as he slightly scooted closer to Lazuli.

"No. Not hungry." Replied Lazuli indifferently with a shake of her head, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Not hungry? When was the last time you ate?" Asked Alexander in slight surprise while Yuki clenched her fists in joy.

"Ate? I don't know." Said Lazuli while shaking her head, confusing Alexander, yet before he could ask her any more questions, Soom exited the carriage.

"Seems I wasn't the only one who got along." Muttered Soom with a faint smirk as he glanced at Alexander and Lazuli, causing the former to awkwardly chuckle as he scooted closer to the Yuki.

I thankfully didn't need to tell Soom anything, which would've been difficult given the weather, and instead, he created a large yet simple shelter using his earth mana and connected it to the tree, causing me to smile as I pushed the carriage into the shelter while he created a wall behind us.