Chapter 7 Cave of snow

—Perspective of Luna Hazard.

"Panting."

"This place should be safe," I muttered.

"We shouldn't have left the others behind," Gloriana mentioned with concern.

"..."

"Stop worrying about others, Gloriana. You know that if you die, the entire continent will be in chaos," she replied firmly.

"I know... But they are also young like us. If we were in their place and they left us behind, how would you feel?"

Her words made me reflect in silence.

"Your life is the most important thing right now. The knights of the royal family will arrive soon, and if Asher meets them..." My voice trailed off before I could finish the sentence.

At that moment I was filled with anxiety, an overwhelming feeling that dominated my thoughts. Asher Frostblade...He is someone who should not be exposed to the world; His talent in magic is exceptionally outstanding.

Although he was only 12 years old, my mind functioned like that of an adult over 40 years old. He was capable of performing actions that other children my age could not, and my thoughts were always carefully calculated in any situation. It was something I was very proud of, but regarding this boy named Asher Frostblade, it was a completely different story.

Gloriana asked, "This is a cave, right?"

"..."

I looked ahead; There was a square entrance. It was dark inside, but at first glance it looked like a cave made by humans...

"Bang!!"

Monster footsteps were heard echoing in the distance, from the forest we had just left. The place where we were was clear of trees and bathed in sunlight. The edge of the forest was a few meters in front of the two of us.

"Dry sound."

Footsteps were heard, they seemed like those of a person, but then why was that sound of monster footsteps as they walked? I gritted my teeth and raised my hand covering Gloriana. She had to be safe. If this situation worsens, I must risk my life to protect Gloriana; I must do whatever is necessary, be it betrayal or anything else, but Gloriana must be safe.

A figure began to watch me from the darkness of the forest. I couldn't make it out clearly, but two blood-red eyes were staring at me. I felt restless and screamed at the top of my lungs:

"Who the hell is there? Get out immediately!"

Gloriana was behind me, but she was in danger now. If it was a monster, the situation was not in our favor. He had to act quickly to protect her.

The footsteps echoed closer. Suddenly, a familiar figure emerged from the darkness of the forest. He was covered in blood, his gaze cold as he frowned, clearly irritated. My eyes fell on her hand, which was holding a black arrow with purple rays emanating from it. Who else could it be but Asher Frostblade?

"..."

His gaze penetrated my entire body. He seemed to be very angry, but that look without emotions and without resentment, so cold that it even made me want to run away, scared me very much. That look was full of hate, but why did he have that look?

"You're finally here," I said cautiously.

"..."

"You..." he stopped before finishing the sentence.

"..."

My heart was pounding and my instincts told me to run for my life, but I couldn't leave Gloriana in this place. Not know what to do. This guy... his look was too scary, I felt like he could do something to me that I never imagined.

"What's wrong...? Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked while swallowing, I was very nervous because of his look.

"You... Why did you leave the others behind? Why did you run like a coward without protecting the others? They all died because of you."

"..."

"Did...they all die...because of me?" I thought. My heart beat so hard, my breathing became so agitated, my eyes widened. The look on me seemed to be blaming me.

I covered my mouth as I looked at the ground. Why did I feel guilty? They were just unimportant slaves, so why does it make me feel this way? Because? I didn't understand this feeling.

***

-Change of scene.

—Asher Frostblade's perspective.

A few minutes before meeting Luna and Gloriana, before arriving where all the slave children were.

"Panting"

I hurried, I ran fast; He didn't know how many monsters would be near this place. He had to protect others; I must not let anyone die while I am present. I don't want to be someone who lets people die in front of my eyes, being killed by someone else or monsters. I don't want to be someone like I was in my past life; He needed to get there as soon as possible before more monsters arrived.

"Deaf sound"

My footsteps echoed so loudly with every second I ran, the snow slowed me down; I finally got to where the group was but...

"Boom!!"

"..."

My eyes widened when I saw a scene that I never wanted to see again: pools of blood, lifeless bodies and a single monster in the middle of that whole scene that was in front of my eyes. I was about ten meters away when I saw all this, I started to have various emotions the moment I saw all this.

"Where are they?" That's the only thing that came to mind in this situation.

Where were Gloriana and Luna? Their bodies were not on the ground where all the children were dead; There were no traces of the two of them. So where were they?

"First I must kill that monster." Look at the monster and prepare a spell.

"Boom!!"

A fiery arrow hit the monster's neck as its entire body fell to the ground. I walked where there were bodies on the ground everywhere.

"Damn... Why is this happening? No one was supposed to die in this place." My face contorted as I looked at the scene in front of me.

"Drip"

Suddenly the monster's blood splashed on me; My whole body was covered in blood, my footprints were marked on the ground; It was a red soil, completely red. The iron smell of blood felt so strong that I could feel myself suffocating.

I looked at the ground, it was full of blood, but I looked in one direction: there was a monster walking in one direction. It was far away, but I could see it very clearly within the darkness of the snowy forest; Also its footprints on the ground of its large paws were directed towards that monster. He also killed more children.

But why aren't the two of them there? Did they escape while all these children were dying from these monsters? I clenched my fists and started walking towards the monster.

I ran and got to the monster's back. In front of him there was light; I looked and saw two familiar people. That's when my mana went to my hand and a fireball emerged.

"Bang!!"

The fireball hit the entire back of the monster. He fell to the ground with a hole in his back while black flames slowly burned him.

"Dry sound."

I walked and looked at the two girls in front of me. I stood still as Luna screamed.

"Who the hell is there? Get out immediately!"

Her scream prompted me to come out of the darkness and I appeared in front of them.

***

-Change of scene.

I looked at both. Luna was deep in thought about her, but Gloriana was just scared. She didn't seem to understand what was happening, but her eyes never left me; She looked at me, she looked at the blood that covered my entire body.

"It's not my blood or the children's, it's the monster's," I said before she thought the wrong thing.

"Sigh."

She sighed, her gaze seeming calmer. Then I looked at Luna; she was very different from Gloriana. At that time, I was only angry about Luna. She is arrogant, left others behind and seemed to only think about herself instead of the other lives that were taken somewhere else. Everyone died and only the three of us remained. I had a fire arrow in my hand in case any monster appeared at any time.

I ignored Luna; I was still very angry with her. My gaze was drawn to an entrance, more like a cave, but its entrance is not natural. I walked towards the entrance; It was very dark, the light did not reach the darkness of the cave.

"What the hell is this?" I murmured.

I looked at some stairs that went down, but because of the darkness I couldn't see very clearly, much less the end of them.

"Dry sound."

Gloriana approached me and looked at the stairs.

"This is a dungeon," she said.

"Dungeon... that's where there are monsters or traps," I said.

"No, but this dungeon is made by humans, so there shouldn't be any danger. We can stay in there while we rest," Gloriana said.

I thought about it for a moment, looked at Gloriana and then at Luna. She was still thinking about her, so I walked towards her and said:

"Are you going to stay out here or come in?"

"..."

She looked at me, but I quickly ignored her. I walked and went down the stairs. It was dark, but my fire could not illuminate the darkness; After all, it was black fire and not the yellow fire it should normally have.

I gave this fire a name. It was not normal fire because of its color tones and its power was much greater than what the book explained to me, so it was called...

[Darkness Ball]

[Dark Arrow]

From now on, everything related to fire and its black hue will be known as "darkness." While walking, I suddenly bumped into something.wx

"Boom!!"

"Ah, damn, what's in this place?" I grumbled as I collided with something.

I touched the entire wall in front of me. It looked like a door, a wooden one. I kept looking for something like a handle or something that could be opened with.

"What if you just push?" Gloriana mentioned.

"..."

I pushed the door and it suddenly opened. At first it was dark, but then the place became bright. It was a sanctuary-like cave, filled with blue crystals that emitted both mana and light. There was a great variety of objects; It looked more like a warehouse than anything else.

As I walked, I looked ahead and saw a round platform. On top of that, the entire place was filled with swords, armor, and many other weapons.

"What place is this?" I muttered to myself.

I was sure it was a cave, but I was intrigued as to why there were so many things here. It seemed like a hiding place from some civilization that had taken refuge in this place. Additionally, I noticed weapons that seemed out of the ordinary due to their high mana level. In one area were the typical knight weapons, but on the other side were weapons of unusual colors such as red, blue, purple, and black; colors that gave the impression of being extremely powerful.

But why were all these things here? The place seemed extremely strange. Despite the cold he felt, there was no sign of heat. Where did that cold come from?

I looked up and saw a ceiling made of blue crystals. My eyes landed on an area that looked like a door. I approached and opened it. As I crossed, I entered a room full of purple crystals. These crystals emanated mana of the same color as mine.

I took the crystal and felt an intense flow of mana emanating from it. He didn't know what it was used for or how it was consumed, but it seemed like it had to be absorbed somehow. Although they weren't too big, just the size of a bottle cap, I couldn't just swallow them easily. Furthermore, I highly doubted that they were the type of crystals that could be eaten like in novels.

"What if I absorb them?" An idea crossed my mind. If they were not eaten, then they must be absorbed.

I sat on the ground, which was covered with dirt. I closed my eyes while holding the crystal and suddenly, I felt the mana from the crystal begin to flow directly into my body through my hands.

"This is amazing, I can absorb so much more mana with these crystals," I thought to myself.

I finished absorbing all the mana from the crystal. The amount of magical energy contained in it was like two buckets full of water. Honestly, it was a considerable amount and I absorbed it in a surprisingly quick time. Normally, it would take me at least an hour to absorb that amount of mana.

I stood up and collected more crystals. Some I kept in my pockets and others I held in my hands. Then, I sat down again and began to absorb all the mana from another crystal. I felt the energy spread rapidly throughout my body.

Several minutes passed as he absorbed all the crystals in the room. When I finished, I got up, opened the door and walked out. I headed towards the round platform that had caught my attention.

"There are some inscriptions here," I said out loud as I noticed some engraved markings. They were saying:

[Infuses mana into the shrine.]

I placed my hands on the two hand marks on the ground, right in the center of the circle. My own mana flowed and headed toward the circle. A light began to emerge from the platform area and something similar to a spell appeared.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed surprised.

At that moment, Gloriana looked at me and shouted:

"No, that's a teleportation spell! Get out of there quickly, Asher!" her as she ran towards me.

Suddenly, a pillar of light surrounded me and my body began to feel lighter. Before he could react, I completely disappeared.

***

-Change of scene.

"Bang!!"

Suddenly, I hit the ground and when I looked up, I found myself in another place. It was on an iron platform. I stood up and dusted myself off. I looked around and saw that I was in the center of six separate roads.

"Where am I exactly?" I muttered to myself.

I looked around again and at that moment I realized I was lost. The place exuded a strange feeling that made me feel uneasy.