My Servant System

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but... damn is it cold right now..."

Retrieving the thick fur robe that Anput had swiftly stitched together out of my storage bracelet, I immediately hunkered down with it draped over my shoulders as I looked around at the beautifully deadly landscape around us.

It was breathtaking, and it was extremely reminiscent of those mountains that I had found myself teleported to way back when; towering overhead as they scraped out the cold blue sky, the mountains acted as pillars to a gigantic cage that trapped us inside this area, but despite that they were ethereal and gorgeous.

The snow glittered on their dark blue stone faces, and the few trees that somehow managed to grow out of these harsh conditions bore a multifaceted fruit that looked like it was made from gemstones, shining brilliantly beneath the pale sun above.

Then there were the sprawling forests below us that looked like a sea of deep evergreen, though the various clearings that were dotting these evergreen forests were usually locations of frozen over lakes that emitted a chilly light.

"It's unnatural. This is normal winds, nor is it a normal frost. Something is causing the temperature to bite like this, and that already makes me worried. Feels far too similar to home, and not in a good way."

"Is this what the Duchess can do?"

Draka nodded slowly as she swept her gaze around the Trial space, taking it all in and enduring the bone chilling winds far better than I could ever manage; she didn't even react when I offered her the extra robe I had, though after a moment she did take it and swiftly pull it over her shoulders.

"My Mother can do far better than this paltry chill, but that's what is so worrying to me. For something to create a natural 'domain' like this... it would have to be some sort of spectacularly powerful monster or person. And if that person has Dragon blood, I am definitely going to suggest we pray numbers can overwhelm them."

The sincerity in her tone as she laid that out was far different from her usual attitude, so even though I had to just question how strong that sort of person would actually be - considering she herself hasn't seen as many 'freaks' as I have - I decided it would be far more prudent to just take her at her word.

"Well, it's good then that the objective is simply to locate and secure the 'Ice Howlers Shrine'. We should be able to do that relatively- actually, I'll just stay quiet and try not to tempt fate."

The Dragonkin gave me a wry smile while also nodding her head in agreement before looking back down at the forest, which was far more inviting then the vast mountain ranges around us... though that didn't comfort me at all since now I was thinking this shrine would be somewhere inside of the mountains...

My hearing wouldn't be of too much use either since the wind was blowing over the mountains and gathering inside of this giant bowl, shaking the trees and sending large amounts of snow further into the forest, where it was caught on the evergreen's needles.

That also meant my nose wouldn't help us since the sticky, sweet and potent scent of the evergreen's sap wafted through the forest alongside that crisp mountain air that was constantly moving.

In other words this was going to be a rather 'blind' search for something unlike the time that Lady Fenyras and I had been on those plains, so we would need a fair amount of good luck and prayer to locate this shrine.

"It isn't... that bad though. The chill, I mean. We can always make ourselves a nice igloo down there to trap any heat we might make inside of it, and the trees are so thick it might be warmer down there anyways."

"These bracelets are definitely a lifesaver too, what with all the food, materials and basic necessities we have stored in there. Plus we don't have to carry anything with us if we like it. I hope we can find a few more Trials that give these as rewards... they are one of the greatest things... pretty much ever."

I had to agree with that since I didn't need to worry about the weight of my weapons nor any other pieces of gear; I just had them all stuffed into the bracelet and made sure to practice grabbing them out so that I could always have them no matter the circumstance.

It was still a little weird to be this 'unfettered' as we began to explore a dangerous and unknown place, but it was also rather freeing to just walk down the stony mountain and not have to worry about the extra weight.

I could just hold the fur robe tight against my body and shuffle on down right beside Draka, the two of us keeping close as the snow began to limit our vision the deeper we went; entering the forest though did prove me right as the wind broke against the trees, preventing us from being blown away and limiting its effects on the temperature we felt.

The first thing I noticed - besides that - was how empty the forest felt as soon as we entered it; the needles that cluttered on the frozen ground lay in sheets around us, and there was no signs of any sort of life whatsoever that I could sense.

No markings, scents, sounds or even a faint taste of something in the air; it was completely 'empty', like the only living thing inside of the forest were the trees themselves... and now us, which was very unsettling.

It wasn't 'silent' per se, but the wind soon became a background noise that was filtered out of our minds, leaving the forest quiet and seemingly frozen in time, which had me on my guard immediately since this was supposed to be a Trial.

There was no way a Trial that wasn't marked as explicitly a puzzle Trial would be devoid of enemies to fight, and with the feeling that Draka had upon entering we were no doubt in this forest with something... or someone.

We just needed to find them, or preferably find the shrine far before we crossed paths with whatever was here, because I also just had a feeling that this was going to be a rather draining Trial if we did come across them.

Though at the same time that just made me curious if the thing or person we might come across would have something to make this worth our while, so I was very much conflicted on what and how to feel about this...