Frozen over

There were two steps to Kai's escape plan, step one being much easier than step two for a large amount of reasons.

Extending his hand, Kai summoned the Stat Bead and looked down at the item curiously. This was the first time he had summoned it, and he was rather pleased with the way it looked.

It resembled his soul, the bead being made up of a swirling vortex of seven different colours. Of course, the light wasn't as bright as the ones in Kai's soul due to the fact that the bead was in its weakened form, but that would be fixed as time passed.

If Kai got out of here, that is.

Taking a deep breath, Kai closed his eyes and attempted to use his Legacy Item.

It was surprisingly easy, it came like second nature to him. It was much like Statshifting, only he was moving the stats to an external source rather than another stat.

The stats were also incredibly easy to move, probably due to the way that the item worked. Kai was able to move a large amount of stats in record breaking time, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to replicate that feat normally, it was only because of the nature of the bead that it was possible in the first place.

And after a few minutes had passed, step one was complete.

Nearly all of Kai's stats were stored inside the vibrant bead. The beads appearance hadn't changed at all, making him fell a little disappointed, but he was someone who cared about efficiency rather than vanity.

There was a cap of how many stats Kai could put in though, that cap being the same as Statshifting, that he couldn't go below the amount of stats when he had when he first began the tutorial, so his stats currently looked like this:

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 4

Constitution: 7

Mana: 10

Stamina: 7

Will: 14

Luck: 12

That 4 Dexterity was still a little funny to look at. It felt like it was only yesterday when Kai was offered that archery skill that scaled on Dexterity, even though it was his lowest stat. It had felt like the System was taunting him, which now felt extremely plausible after all he had gone through.

It was a little bit surprising, but Kai had to take a moment to accommodate the sudden loss of stats. His head spun for a while, but it calmed down after about a minute.

He hoped that there wouldn't be any side effects like that when he got his stats back, that could potentially put a spanner in the works.

Now incredibly weakened, Kai felt ready to try and escape this damn collar. He wasn't sure if it was possible, or even if it was worth the risk in general, but this was his only way out unless he wanted to wait patiently in a cell of ice until the next Tournament of Time, which he had no idea when it would occur.

Kai glanced at Remy and Umbra, flashing them a small smile as he mentally prepared himself incase things went wrong, which seemed like it had a high chance of happening.

He felt his heart racing at the though of death, but Nonchalance helped with that. Oh, how Kai had missed this skill, even though it weakened and even took away some of his emotions at certain times, he could admit that it was the best skill to have in a situation like this.

He gave himself another minute to prepare himself, wanting to make sure he was fully ready incase he accidently messed up.

And finally, under the nervous and watchful gaze of Umbra and Remy, Kai set phase two into action.

"Anastasia is a bitch."

His fingers slowly started to turn to ice.

"She's a washed up old hag."

The ice continued to cover his fingers, reaching his knuckles.

"She's not even attractive. It was all her relying on her Innate Ability, someone like Cecilia, Noelle or Sofia would be much more attractive to the average person. Even Failure would be."

The rate the ice was spreading sped up, now both of Kai's hands were pure ice, the growth not stopping.

"And what a weirdo too, I was seventeen when she started going for me, isn't that weird? Oh well, there's no one here to answer, so I will... It's very weird."

Both of Kai's arms up to his elbows turned to ice.

"And Castillian, what a horrible man to take as a husband. He acts like he's all that, but really he's just an incredibly annoying coward... actually, maybe they do suit each other."

Up to Kai's shoulders became encased by ice.

"And that braid, don't even get me started on that braid. It's so ugly, so horrible. I don't know why she bothers styling it that way, it probably makes up half of her weight."

Kai's feet slowly started turning to ice. However, he had also run out of original things to say, so he resorted back to the most true statement he could think of.

"Anastasia is a bitch."

Up to his ankles turned to ice.

"Anastasia is a massive bitch."

The ice reached his knees.

"Anastasia is a super bitch."

The ice reached his waist.

"Anastasia is quite honestly the biggest bitch I have had the displeasure of meeting in my eighteen years of life."

The ice reached his chest.

"Anastasia is ugly."

Soon enough, all of Kai's body beneath his neck had been turned to ice, making him unable to move even a single inch. It was an incredibly creepy feeling, not being in control of your own body, but he knew that he had to push further.

"Anastasia is a bitch."

After that one, Kai's mouth got turned to ice, as did the rest of his head beneath his nose. That meant that he couldn't stick to his routine of insulting her, so he had to resort to summoning items from his soul.

He repeatedly attempted to summoned his tunic, making the ice climb even higher up his body until both ways he could breath had been turned to ice, meaning he had limited time before he died.

The ice then coated his eyes, making him blind and adding an extra layer of fear onto an already terrifying situation.

Then the ice covered his ears, turning him deaf, unable to hear the nervous whimpers of Umbra, or the terrified squeaks of Remy.

All of his senses were gone, turned to ice, completetly frozen, all that remained were the thoughts in Kai's own brain, that factor being the only thing keeping him relatively calm.

And yet, that would soon be gone to.

Kai pushed even more, attempting summoning his tunic again and again. The ice reached his brain, beginning to slowly freeze it over as his thoughts slowed, his mind weakened, his resistance wavering.

A quarter, half, three quarters of his brain had been turned to ice. As soon as the ice completetly encased his brain, he would die, simple as.

The ice continued to slowly encase the organ, slowing Kai's thoughts down to that of a snails pace.

Until finally, just as the ice was about to completetly envelop his brain, Kai had his final thought just as his brain was turned to ice.

Innate Ability activated.

Instantly, Kai was overwhelmed by his senses returning.

First was his ability to think, then it was his ability to hear, then it was his ability to see, then it was his ability to smell, then it was his ability to taste.

And finally, his ability to feel.

Only he couldn't actually feel anything.

Looking down at his incorporeal body, Kai grinned madly as he realised that his maniacal plan had worked.

He floated up, his body no longer bound by the chains or the collar. He could stand, dance, do a front flip, he was free to move around as he pleased.

At least, for a few moments he was.

Warning!

5 seconds before Mana depletion.

Floating forward, Kai phased right through the bars of ice that once bound him just as he ran out of Mana.

Wraith Mode deactivated.

Kai stood on solid ground for the first time in a month, making him grin again. He didn't care about the fact he was naked, or even about the fact he was absolutely freezing, all he cared about was that he was free.

Turning around, Kai saw the collar that had just been wrapped around his neck and the chains that had been wrapped around his leg and arm handing limply from the wall of ice, no one longer in their confines.

Remy walked through the gap in the bars, meanwhile Umbra emerged from Kai's shadow. Kai pet both of them at the same time, his excitement brimming beyond belief.

"Ha, I'm alive! If we don't get out of here after I just went through that then I am most certainly going to sue whatever God runs the afterlife."

Umbra purred, meanwhile Remy squeaked.

Pulling his hands away, Kai summon the Stat Bead again and returned all his stats to him, only he discovered a handy little feature about it.

He could assign the stats in any way he wanted, he wasn't limited to where the stats were when he put them in the bead.

After creating a build that he was happy with, he turned back to Remy and Umbra. He wanted to talk to them properly using Telepathy, but he just did not have the time for that.

"Alright, both of you know your roles and what to do. Cecilia is already fulfilling hers, so we'll have to do the same, now, let's go-

Oh, wait, Umbra, you'll need this"

Kai summoned one of the items from his soul and carefully placed it on Umbra's back, softly patting her head as he pulled away.

"Alright girl, you go on first, you need to make sure you do your role perfectly, okay?"

Umbra let out a single bark before turning around and running out of the dungeon, careful not to drop the item on her back.

"Now." Kai said as a white tunic started to manifested itself around his body. "Remy, its time to do our job."