Nero was panting heavily as he jogged up the hill towards the tavern, using his glaive to dig into the ground and pull himself forward. Every single step Nero took was an immense struggle, and not only because of the additional weight he was carrying uphill. It was the raging winds blowing directly in his face, consistently pushing him back that served as one of his greatest obstacles.
Even then, the winds were somewhat manageable. From time to time they would change direction, so they only pushed him aside instead of away. The actual greatest obstacle Nero faced, in what he was sure was some kind of universal irony, was the severe cold.
Nero himself was not affected by the actual cold itself. In fact, the sharp chill helped keep sharp and alert. What affected him was how difficult it was getting to move as the multiple layers of Linen Wrap, as well as his suit underneath stiffened under the accumulating frost.
Fortunately, the corrosive properties of the blue gas were not as severe as Nero had originally feared. Yes, the gas ate through the wraps, but it was slow to do so. A few layers of wraps would take up to 20 minutes to dissolve.
That was good not only because Nero didn’t need to continuously refresh his wraps, but because he had no idea if the others were still conscious and able to add new wraps.
Then again, if they lost consciousness then the absence of Serene Wind would cause them to inhale the blue gas, poisoning them. Best not to think about such things.
The frozen ground was also an obstacle, though fortunately there was no snow. More than once Nero had nearly slipped while running, as embarrassing as it sounded. Only his glaive, dug into the ground, helped him from losing his footing.
By comparison, the strange Ice spirits, as Nero dubbed them, weren’t much of an obstacle. Sure, they flew all around him in the blue gas, radiating a powerful aura. Nero had no doubt that if they all attacked him, given his current circumstances, he would not survive.
Fortunately, Virtuous Moonlight had a cowing effect towards other creatures, whether they were cursed or not. But, as it happened, he did not need to use Virtuous Moonlight. When he encountered the first Ice spirit, it had suddenly flown at him, causing him to stab at it with a Cryoflame covered glaive.
He never managed to land the attack, for the spirits flew too dexterously, swinging around his glaive. Yet the freezing aura of the fire actually caused the spirits to turn docile. It seemed that they had mistaken Nero as one of their own.
As such, all Nero needed to do now was to reach the tavern. On that front, there was good news and bad news. The good news was that the tavern was finally in view, and Nero only had one last stretch to cover. The bad news was that, based on his current speed, it would take quite a long time. He was concerned not only about the others freezing within the earthen cabin he was pulling, which had actually become a little easier over the frozen ground, but also the impending darkness.
He kept a faint cryoflame flickering on his shoulder to keep the Ice spirits at bay, and it could serve as a small source of light as well. But he could not extend that to the others, or the temperature around them would drop even more.
One step after another Nero pushed, his breathing growing heavier with each passing moment. He had long been manipulating his internal aether, pushing himself past his limits, and at first it had been a tremendous help.
But after a sudden sharp pain that he had never experienced before, Nero promptly stopped doing it. It seemed that long term use had pushed his internal aether to the limit, his repeated manipulation of the pressure causing it to nearly break a delicate balance.
But oddly enough the constant pressure, the severe exhaustion, the set task that required completion yet seemed so daunting through the lens of fatigue actually felt nostalgic to Nero. He was reminded of his many years of forcing himself to train beyond his limits, not giving up until he he reached a set target. Performing a 1000 perfect spear thrusts was not an easy task for a young boy, especially after the first 100, when the weight of the spear really began to set in.
For years he’d pushed himself beyond his limits, not letting his actions become automatic and mechanical. Each one had to be purposeful, and performed to the best of his abilities.
Such a difficult routine was actually completely absurd considering how young he had been, but now, years later, it was paying off.
It was not that he needed to thrust his spear a 1000 times, though to be fair he’d probably stabbed his spear into the ground around that many and more before this was over. It was the perseverance that had been ingrained into every pore of his body that made this nigh impossible task seem just like a normal Tuesday night training session.
Of course, it was nothing like a training session. A single mistake, a single misstep, a single foe could spell his doom. But the feeling was still the same.
An impossibly long time later, Nero finally stepped into the range of the taverns territory, and the Ice spirits finally stopped following him, though the storm did not ease.
The entire landscape was frozen, seemingly irreversibly affected. He knew, however, that if he returned tomorrow that all of this would be as if nothing had happened, and Perilith would resume its usual state.
Finally Nero reached the tavern, but then had to undertake the arduous task of fitting the now frozen cabin through the door. He tried to call out to the others, but not only was Nero’s voice gone, the others didn’t seem like they were in any condition to move.
It was a herculean undertaking, but somehow he managed to push the cabin through the door. Before following, Nero turned once to look at Perilith. Darkness was quickly covering the land, and he had somehow made it in time.
As far as he could tell, there didn’t seem to be any additional danger hidden in the dark, but it was not something he was willing to test. In fact, he didn’t even want to stay within the tavern after dark, so he quickly turned around and continued to drag the cabin.
When he finally exited Perilith, and exited the tavern, he found dozens of worried soldiers gathered around the tavern waiting.
Nero finally extinguished his flames and took a step forward, but noticed the ground immediately being covered in frost around his foot. In fact, white smoke started to rise from his body as he stepped forward, and a trail of white followed where he stepped as if verglas.
When he finally exited the tavern, with the cabin following right behind him, the soldiers didn’t rush to him to check up on his health and condition. Instead they used a number of cards, checking to see if he carried any residual cursed energy or some unseen danger.
Nero couldn’t be bothered with that. He tried to warn them to quickly collect the glass orb, lest it attract more curses, but he couldn’t speak.
Moreover, the moment he relaxed, with his mission finally complete, his eyes rolling into the back of his head and he crashed into the ground.
The moment the others confirmed that there was no dangerous aura or energy contaminating them, a number of medics rushed forward, only to curse as soon as they touched him!
"What’s wrong?" another medic asked, suddenly hesitant to touch Nero.
"It’s a freeze burn," the medic said, looking at his hand in shock. "How the hell is he so cold and still moving?"
No one answered the question, for now that they knew the issue, they immediately took precautions and began to treat Nero. They couldn’t immediately raise his temperature, for that would cause problems of its own.
Some others finally managed to figure out that within the frozen cabin were the others, and they began to dismantle it. It was not an easy process, since the others seemed like they were frozen stuck to the walls!
Within the crowd, watching from a safe distance was James, his eyes glowing with excitement. He could sense the presence of a very valuable herb, even from afar. It seemed like they had succeeded in their mission.
"They’re alive!" a medic screamed, suddenly attracting attention. "They’ve used some kind of stasis card! Go through their belongings and figure out what card it is!"
One after another the medics yelled instructions, quickly bringing Nero as well as the entire cabin into the hospital.
These young Neophytes were just as important, if not more important than the soldiers fighting outside the walls. They absolutely couldn’t let them come to harm.
Amidst the chaos, very few noticed that Nero was actually snoring.