The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The boisterous roar echoed across the ravine and was followed by the fall of the icicles around Oscar and Mary, shattering loudly against the icy ground. In the distance down the ravine, Oscar spotted a large cloud of snow that was getting larger. 'No! It's getting closer!'

Oscar was about to move when Mary held her spear out to stop him. He looked confused and glanced at Mary, who stared ahead with fierce eyes. The silver spear glimmered from the snow-reflected light.

"I will handle this," Mary twirled her spear and sprinted ahead. "You look over the scroll and think of our next course of action."

Her short brown hair fluttered, glistening with the snowflakes that held to it, and her small back shook around from her sprint. However, her small figure at this moment looked large and mighty in Oscar's eyes. The air around her differed from the slightly rushed and impatient one she had emanated in the past.

Each of her steps was deliberate and well-paced.

Since her loss, she had bounced back with renewed flames in her heart. Her heart wasn't heavy with the burden of her bloodline, and her mind wasn't bogged by their looks and words of pity and indifference. Her brown eyes were clear without the lost feeling they held before.

Mary flowed her Ein into her spear, transforming it into crackling lightning that singed away the snow under her feet. Her bear anima manifested itself, kicking up snow clouds and roaring in rivalry against the enemy.

The snow blew away to reveal a large bear-like creature, but instead of fur, it was covered in a hard shell-like armor that looked like pristine ice, reflecting Mary's figure. It stood twice as tall as Mary's large bear anima and stared with red bloodshot eyes full of ravenous intent. In an instant, it swiped its large icy claw, blasting away the snow and ice in front of it.

'Electric Steps'

Thanks to her increased speed, Mary sidestepped the incoming strike and circled behind the hulking ice behemoth. She closed in, gripping her spear close to her chest and pointing ahead. Lightning focused on its sharp tip.

The bear anima rushed ahead against the ice bear despite the size difference, but it was faster and under Mary's control. With a tremendous leap, the bear anima came before the ice bear's face, which opened to show rows of sharp icicle-like teeth. A powerful swipe from its claw on the ice bear's nose induced frantic howling.

The ice bear stepped back while swiping madly at the bear anima, but it forgot about Mary.

Mary appeared from the clouds of snow kicked up in the commotion. Her spear stabbed halfway into the ice bear's back, piercing through the ice armor, causing it to stampede widely, trying to get her off. She retreated before the ice bear could slam her against the ravine's walls.

The ravine shook a little, and mounds of snow fell from the top.

"Something's wrong." Mary felt her lungs were not properly taking in air as she gasped and wheezed as though she were sick. She looked at her hands, shocked at the slowly encroaching blueish tinge on her fingertips; it was numbing and cold. She clenched her hands and shouted. "Oscar! There's something wrong about this place!"

Oscar stared at the blue tinge forming around his hands; it wasn't only his fingers as Oscar felt a numbing sensation on his face. It reminded him of when he fell into an icy pond, and his father had to constantly rub the blueish parts on his arm to warm him up. He quickly surged his Ein to form heat around him, and the blue colors began to recede.

"Keep your Ein in use all over your body at all times. Or else the frostbite will take you!" Oscar shouted.

A part of the ravine's wall came crashing down in a mess of rubble and ice. The ice bear roared more and trampled its way toward Mary. The red blood had already frozen into blue ice that stuck to the ice bear's ice armor.

Mary's Ein wrapped around her body to hold back the strange encroaching cold. She charged with her bear, and they attacked together as one. Her lightning-charged spear came together with the bear anima's claws in a devastating blow.

The ice bear was forced to the side, spewing out a ton of blood, and a chunk of its ice armor was shattered, revealing the white fur underneath. The Exalt Beast let out a bellowing roar as it slammed its two claws on the ground, causing it to quake.

Mary lost some of her footing from the sudden unsteady ground.

The ice bear took advantage and reached out with its gaping maw to gnaw on her.

'Thunderclad'

Mary unleashed her strongest spell. The icicle teeth of the ice bear sparked with lightning causing the adversary to yelp from the shock. Her brown eyes stared indifferently at the ice bear's woes and cleaved its head straight off with another combination strike with her bear anima.

"That's my victory." Despite her declaration, Mary was in no condition to celebrate. She used quite a bit of Ein in that battle, and the blue frost slowly spread over her body. Her Ein flowed more to combat the affliction, but Mary knew this would not last forever.

Oscar came forward and cut apart the ice bear with his Ein sharpened buckler. He took off the white fur below its shattered ice armor, wrapping himself in it. He tossed another part of white fur to Mary. "Cover yourself in this, it can help for a little, but we need to keep circulating our Ein to combat this frost."

"What is this place?" Mary felt a slight relief from the white fur around her, but she still needed to use Ein to combat the chill. "This is no ordinary cold. Frostbite shouldn't be this fast."

"I don't think it's frostbite. It looks similar, but there is a hint of Ein mixed in, almost like a cold poison." Oscar looked at his hand where the blue tinges dissipated to his Ein.

Suddenly they heard a loud rumbling above as snow started to drop. A large clump of snow fell right by Mary, covering her in snow. More clumps fell and were quickly covering the ravine.

"We need to get out of here!" Oscar summoned his deer anima. "You used too much Ein; hop on my deer."

Mary got on Oscar's deer anima, and they quickly exited the ravine as the snow collapsed into it. If they had stayed, they would have been buried in the snow, and likely lost this trial.

What awaited them out of the ravine was a forest of evergreen trees. But these trees also have many spiky branches covering their trunks, looking like it could impale anyone. Oscar charged in with his deer anima, weaving through the dangerous branches. "Hang on; I'm looking for shelter."

He could feel how cold Mary Jones was behind him. She used a chunk of her Ein in the battle earlier and was covered by the falling snow. Oscar felt her Ein was continually working to lessen the blue frost, but it was slowly waning.

Mary felt a chill in her heart, but a soothing warm feeling soon embraced her. She opened her eyes to find Oscar's blue Ein wrapped around her, helping keep the blue frost at bay. She sighed in relief at the aid and quickly meditated to recover.

'It's good that I went through the lava cavern with Serena. It helps to know how to use Ein around another person.' Oscar looked around and smiled when he saw a cave. Without missing a beat, he changed directions to head into the cavern.

It wasn't a large cavern, but it provided some relief from the snow and cold. Oscar got off the deer anima and laid down a bundle of sharp branches he collected on the way. With Ein to provide some heat, he lit up the branches and fed the flames until they lit up the entire cavern.

"We made it." Oscar was relieved, sitting down near the fire to warm up.

"Thanks for the save." Mary had blotches of blue frost over her face. But with her Ein and the heat of the flames, it slowly faded away. "I underestimated this place. It would have been better if we took down the ice bear together. Sorry for making you suffer from my selfishness."

"No one told us that the cold would be this bad and strange. If it were a normal tundra, we could have made do." Oscar rubbed his cheeks to warm them. "Besides, you took down the ice bear nicely. What happened after I beat you?"

Mary Jones chuckled and hugged herself tighter. "After my loss to you, I felt refreshed. It felt like my head was light and clear."

Oscar nodded, seeing she was relaxed, unlike her demeanor before. The agitation and anxiety in her heart were gone, allowing her to fight more freely and confidently.

"Well, did you read through the scroll?" Mary's face was glowing with a red flush from the fire's warmth. She was feeling better.

"I did." Oscar took out the scroll and unfurled it, showing a map with three x marks and some text. "Listen carefully, and I'll explain our next plan."