Union Depot, St. Paul, Minnesota - 6:47 PM

It was still light out when I left the train station. The chilling cold bit at me, but it wasn’t a bother at all. I hadn’t thought about it before, but traveling gave me a lot of time to think about things and I came to the conclusion that the soulfire from my Angelic heritage had to be keeping me warm. Considering how expensive Cold Resistance was up here in places where it was actually useful, I called it an absolute win.

Stopping in the streets, I looked around. Every building except the one I had come from and a tall one nearby called the Custom House was covered from top to bottom in ice. Their last scenario, which was now over, had them chasing a magical beast known as the Frozen Gust Monarch through the city. It had caused blizzards with every flap of its wings.

I couldn’t remember which group had been the one to defeat it, but it had managed to bring about a miniature ice age before it was killed. Half of St. Paul was frozen over, which wasn’t going to change until things started getting warmer.

<<<>>>

[[Patron Message]]

It looks like they’ve had a tough time. There’s a lot of dungeons in buildings spread throughout the city, but they’re almost all frozen over. I wonder what the administrator is getting out of this, because it certainly seems counterintuitive when the people can’t enter them.

<<<>>>

Shrugging, I looked up to the sky. “Might just be lazy or waiting. If they discover the dungeons later, they can show off a lot of different scenes at once. Either way, it doesn’t matter much. We’re not here for that.”

Stepping away from the train station, I started following the paths left in the knee-high snow. Most of the trails started at the Custom House and spread out from there. That was one of the biggest safe zones in the city and, despite its size, there were so many people staying there that it had become cramped.

Those that I could see through the windows seemed fine, however. Because St. Paul was currently between scenarios, they were enjoying the peace while it lasted. There was some trepidation about what came next, but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Everywhere was dangerous now if you weren’t strong enough.

I wasn’t tempted by the warm space the administrators left for the people and passed on by. My destination was farther away from the train station than I would have liked, but I could still make it just as it became dark out.

The paths weren’t there for very long. I crossed the Mississippi River on the Wabasha Street Bridge and jumped down to walk along its bank. Pieces of ice floated past me. At one point the water had been completely frozen over thanks to the Monarch, but that hadn’t lasted.

Walking through the snow next to the river, I did my best to leave a ten foot buffer between us when the landscape permitted. The Cable Conglomerate slowly removed itself from the Vambrace of Wires straight out over the water. Since I had total control of the rope, I had the individual metal threads separate at the end, forming several hooks. Once I was satisfied, I plunged it into the water.

Thanks to my high Strength Score as opposed to a normal person, I wasn’t impeded much by the thick white blanket I was forced to walk through. There were plenty of things to trip over underneath the snow, but it wasn’t a good insulator from Absolute Awareness.

Water in its liquid form, on the other hand, was, but not at this depth. In St. Paul, the Mississippi River wasn’t deep at all, and most places wouldn’t even reach my stomach. I could see the monsters following after my makeshift hook. They didn’t need bait like the Chainsawfish to bite; they were more interested in movement.

I waited as dozens of the long, eel-like creatures trailed the cable. Some were as thick as my arm, others as thick as my thigh. Their mouths opened to reveal several rows of abnormally large teeth. They had small fins that were powerful enough to burrow through the snow if they knew I was on the bank.

That was the reason I kept my distance even when docks got in my way. There was no reason to deal with them directly when there was an easy way to do it.

They were remarkably skittish creatures, preferring to travel and attack in groups only when they were sure of their superiority. It took nearly a half a mile of walking for them to make their move. All at once, they swarmed, biting the metal cables. Their teeth were powerful, but there wasn’t much they could do to my wire rope.

The ends exploded outwards as I fed more of the Cable Conglomerate into the water. Each hook straightened and shot through the monster trying to eat them. They continued to untangle and branch out, piercing through as many as possible while the swarm of eels started panicking. Those already on the line struggled to get free, their tough hides making it hard to pull away.

“Thank you again for this, Ash,” I said absently as I mentally controlled the wire rope. The tool was truly a valuable one, and it was a lot of fun.

The ones I couldn’t snag swam away, brave in groups but easily scared off. While I lifted my fishing line out of the water, I retrieved my Vague Stick from my inventory and shaped it into a sword in preparation for what came next.

At least forty eels had to have been skewered by the Cable Conglomerate. They all hung there, shaking the line as they tried to free themselves. The longest was nearly eight feet in length, but most of them were between two and three. They were dark, like the water, with pulsing veins of light blue covering their bodies. As one, the lines became brighter and the water underneath them started to freeze over.

I was standing far away, and thus was unaffected. The cable shifted, positioning each of the monsters at roughly the same height. Raising the Vague Sword, I swung it with the help of Orbit to give me some extra power while I activated Distant Slice. A wide beam of power sprung from the tip of the blade towards the eels.

The first twenty were decapitated a few inches beneath their teeth and, despite their struggles, the rest were dispatched as soon as the cooldown on Distant Slice was over.

<<<>>>

[[Victory!]]

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

You have defeated x1 Alpha Freshwater Freezer Eel; +15 points.

You have defeated x42 Freshwater Freezer Eels; +210 points.

<<<>>>

The long, slimy bodies floated away on the bed of ice they had created, and I could see the ones that got away climbing out of the water to eat them. I Pulled a few of the longer corpses towards me, especially the Alpha, putting them on the ground beside me.

<<<>>>

[[Patron Message]]

You really do make things look effortless. While I surely do enjoy your fights, showing off your knowledge, strategies, and items like this is interesting in its own right.

<<<>>>

“I’m happy to be your entertainment, Sara,” I replied with a slight bow and flourish.

Finally pulling the heads in from over the river, I dumped them unceremoniously into my inventory along with the bodies. Ash could use the teeth to create several different types of cold themed weapons, perhaps even something for Corwin, while the leather and veins would be fun for her to play with on armor and other items.

In a previous run, she had used materials from the Freshwater Freezer Eels to make an impressive war club that froze opponents after enough hits. The bigger they were, the longer it took, but the Dexterity penalties were still substantial. The only issue was that the frozen targets became so cold that it was hard to be near them without taking damage, which was where the leather came in.

I found myself smiling while I reminisced. It wasn’t often we came across these eels under normal circumstances. They made for powerful materials, but were generally more trouble than they were worth. Since it usually required wading into the freezing cold Mississippi River where they would try to freeze you to death, I didn’t like to go out of my way to get them.

Then again, the Cable Conglomerate made it really easy. Looking from my Vambrace of Wires to the river, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to do some more zero-risk fishing. It was free points and something to do on my long trip from the train station to the mall. After the first time, I managed to streamline the process.

By the time I made it to Interstate 494 and used it to cross the river, I had caught three more swarms. It had been a pretty lucrative hour, and it was finally starting to get dark out. I wheeled myself between lines of cars that had been punished by monsters since the system dropped, getting off at the exit that would lead me to the Mall of America.

The area was quiet. A large-scale battle had taken place here, though there was nothing but wreckage to show for it. Automobiles were burned, shoved, and crushed, power lines and traffic lights no longer hung in the air, and the buildings lining the road showed signs of damage both inside and out.

Once I was off the interstate, I pushed towards the mall. The battlefield was surprisingly clean, though that was winter doing its work. Snow had covered any bodies left behind, and not even the monsters came here searching for food; it was too close to the scenario boss.

The only sign of life wasn’t even really alive. Lucas, the Drone Aficionado, had set up several sensors with his technology-based class. The moment I stepped onto the main road, he was aware of my presence. He would watch first, I knew, as I made my way closer. Few people walked through what they called No Man’s Land, and that would make him curious.

My course didn’t deviate even knowing this, I headed straight for my destination. He would come to me soon. It was only a matter of time.

I cut across the large parking lot towards the north entrance. There wasn't any particular reason for it; the mall could be accessed from nearly any direction including through the glass roof. It was the closest one to me from the interstate.

It wasn’t until I hit the road between the parking lot and the mall when I saw them coming. Blocky, rectangular robots that looked like waist-high refrigerators on tank treads started approaching me. Seven of them in total, and they blended in with the night fairly well. Not that it mattered, because I would have seen them anyway.

I stopped with my hands in my pockets as soon as one of them came within thirty feet of me, and we waited patiently for the rest to catch up. They had a plethora of weapons inside of them from flamethrowers, to shock cables, to a chainsaw, and finally assault rifles, though their ammo was limited to a single large-capacity magazine.

They surrounded me, stopping at twenty feet, and seven high powered lights attempted to blind me. It was outrageously bright even when I closed my eyes, but I didn’t react otherwise. I stood there, waiting for them to make the first move.

The drone in front of me spoke, its voice robotic and lifeless. “Go no further, citizen.”

“I refuse,” I said nonchalantly. “I’m here to win the scenario.”

“The scenario boss has already been dibs’d,” it argued. “You are about to trespass on property of the Three Factions.”

“Actually, it’s for anyone to come and defeat,” I continued, shrugging. “For example, by me, and right now.”

“Identify yourself, citizen.”

“No.”

It paused. “Identify yourself or leave.”

“No again. Not until I have his attention.”

“If you do not comply, you will be exterminated.”

I scoffed. “Please. I’m about to go take out the scenario boss, I’m not about to get scared of a few F-103 Dangerbox drones.”

Each of the robots opened a small sliding door on the front of their chassis, revealing a small, round tube with a small flame flickering in front of it. “This is your final warn-”

“Perfect timing!” I interrupted, pointing at the robot. After a moment, I adjusted my arm so that it was straight up. “I am no longer willing to talk to this rolling refrigerator with its basic bitch AI core, but I will talk to the Dronemeister himself, should he be willing to fly down.”

High above me, twenty feet from the edge of my sight, was a matte black sphere the size of my head. There were no rotors, propellers, or wings; it simply hung there as if ignoring gravity. This was the top of the line product that the Drone Aficionado had managed to put together with help from others. It had been built for the sole purpose of making it easier for him to watch the mall.

The only sound as seconds stretched onto minutes was the wind. The ground-based drone didn’t speak again, and the sphere continued to levitate in the sky. I was patient, not wanting to scare him into attacking. Compared to the eels, this was a short wait.

But not one everyone was happy to take.

<<<>>>

[[Patron Quest: Negotiate with the Drone!]]

Alright, this guy seems to be really cautious. You said that you can handle it, so let’s see what you’ve got.

… Once he actually comes down from there. Is he playing some kind of game making you wait or something? You could already be fighting that giant mass of boss inside the mall already.

I guess I should just be patient. It is a virtue, after all. I just don’t understand why he’s taking so long.

Objective: Negotiate your way into the mall without fighting or getting the other groups called on you.

Reward: 1,500 points.

<<<>>>

I smiled. This was definitely better than a quest to rest on the train.