After figuring out what he is to become and what his final goal is, Ryan is mentally and physically exhausted. Not wanting to face Tio or Mountain at the moment, Ryan locks the door so no one can intrude on him going to sleep. Ryan manages to slip out of his armour and neatly puts it on his desk. He remembers that he had left his helmet and face mask in the first room he awoke to but figures that it would be best to get it when he wakes up tomorrow. Having nothing but a loincloth on, Ryan goes to slip into his bed but notices something in the corner of his eye. There is a mirror on the wall and when looking at himself, Ryan lets out an audible gasp.

His face isn't what it should be. Ryan had made his face different from his own on his character from Cinder Souls but his face right now is identical to the one in the real world. The only difference is that the scars that Ryan had accumulated through the last game are still there. After touching his face for a while, amazed at the insane detail in the structure of his face, Ryan notices that his body looks as skinny as he actually is in the real world but it is extremely muscular. Every muscle in his body is extremely defined to the point where it looks like he has no body fat at all. Maybe he got his weight wrong when he signed up for the Guild?

Not minding his new body but still freaked out that he has his actual face, Ryan manages to peel his eyes from the mirror and climb into his bed. The warmth of the cloth blanket wraps his body as he enters a peaceful slumber.

'You are the wolf and the Abyss is your pray but for now, you must defeat the foe coming for your soul.'

Ryan shoots upright in his bed as he swore he heard someone whispering in his ear while he was asleep. With his lamp being turned on and the darkness being vanquished, Ryan can see that he is still alone in his room. He couldn't tell what time it is since he doesn't have a window in his room but he feels refreshed. When looking at his Health and Focus, they are both completely full which is good news to Ryan. He was slightly worried about if there are Estus Flasks or not and it seems if they aren't real then at least he can get his Focus back by sleeping. He can use his Focus to heal himself so he should be alright after a day if he acquires any injuries or diseases.

Ryan gets up from the stiff bed and when he takes off his blanket the cold nips at his body and makes him shiver. It is a lot colder than he remembers but maybe it was because he had his armour on before. Not wanting to stand in the cold in a loin cloth for much longer, Ryan puts on his armour and equips his greatsword and crooked dagger. He goes to unlock his door but it just pushes open when touched. Confused and worried, Ryan goes to see the latch for the door is frozen and the metal had shattered. Now that he thinks about it, he can definitely see his breath so that must mean it is extremely cold and since this is the case but he must stay on guard because he has no idea what is going on. He pulls out his greatsword with his right hand and takes out his dagger with his left hand.

He looks through the crack of the door that is already open and tries to see any signs of life but it is pitch black.

'Damn, do they not have windows in this place?'

Going back to his desk, Ryan grabs his lamp, which is basically a lantern and attaches it to his waist. With a light source now, Ryan starts walking down the hallway to find his helmet. He would just use miracles to light the whole place up but he wants to save his Focus for now. His sword is scrapping the floor as he walks, leaving a mark on the floor so Ryan knows where he has been. It is an old tactic but Ryan doesn't know his way around the Guild and if needed to, he can buff out the scrape with a miracle.

After about 30 seconds of walking, Ryan recognizes the heavily barred door of the room he was first in when he met Tio. With a small push, the door opens with a loud creak that echoes throughout the halls. The floor is frozen over and almost makes Ryan slip when his foot touches the ground but he expertly and 'gracefully' catches himself. With being caught off guard from the extra slippy floor, Ryan makes sure to watch his step from now on but something catches him off guard again.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Ryan! Please help!"

Tio is standing there with her body frozen from her neck down. Ryan slightly tilts his head as he does not know why she is inside of a giant icicle but he does see his helmet! He quickly runs over to Tio and she lets out a sigh of relief but Ryan doesn't intend in helping her yet. He breaks the ice over his face mask and helmet and puts them on.

"Man, why are these so cold? What did you do Tio?"

"Why are you blaming me?! Wait, why aren't you helping me?!"

"Aren't you like one of the leaders of the Mercenaries Guild? You should be powerful then?"

"Yeah, but I'm not specialized in anything that could get me out of here SO HELP ME ALREADY!"

"Ugh, fine but you owe me."

With a quick whip of his hand and a slash of his sword, the ice encasing Tio's body is shattered into many pieces. Tio lands on her hands and knees and is breathing heavily. Not only is her body bone-chilling cold but it is hard to breath when your chest is frozen solid. Ryan kicks a piece of the ice to the side as if wanting to say something but waiting for the right moment.

"So um.... About yesterday-."

"Look, don't worry about it. Mountain went too far and got hurt because of it. Also, he isn't mad at you but is wanting to meet you immediately to make amends but first, we must take care of the current situation."

Ryan nods his head with enthusiasm as the reassurance of knowing yesterday's mishap will be fixed soon. Tio explains to Ryan how someone was brought in as a possible recruit and they went through the same process Ryan did, including tying her up and having Tio disguise herself to evaluate how they react but it went wrong. The woman in question froze everything she touched and froze Tio solid while also escaping the room. The goal now is to find the woman and contain her before she does more damage to the Guild or anyone in it.

"How long have you been frozen?"

"About 5 minutes."

"Alright, then she couldn't have gone too far in a building she isn't familiar with."

Deciding that he would need to use miracles if he is to find her before she manages to hurt someone, Ryan begins searching through his head for the best miracles for this situation. He holds out his right hand and Ryan becomes encircled with circular incantations of several types of miracles. As if choosing which ones to use now, Ryan begins to read them one by one since he doesn't remember all that he has in his arsenal. He puts out his hand and touches 3 of the 24 circles surrounding him. These three were Flourishing Light, Eye of the All-Seer, and Oath of the Gods. Flourishing Light illuminates the entire room or hallway that Ryan is in since all of the lamps/lanterns are put out. Eye of the All-Seer is to see what can cause all this ice to form and where the source is. Finally, Oath of the Gods is a miracle that Ryan made that combines the powers of Sacred Oath, Great Magic Barrier, Tears of Denial, and Carressing Tears. 2 of the 4 increases his defence and resistances to all types of spells, miracles, dark magic, and pyromancies. Caressing Tears cures and prevents all ailments such as poison and frostbite and Tears of Denial makes it so if an attack will kill Ryan, then it will only take him to 1 Health and he can escape. He uses about one-fifth of his Focus when casting all of these miracles and it might be overkill but someone can never be too prepared for an unknown enemy or power. Ryan also noticed he is becoming more proficient in casting miracles as they do not take as much Focus as some were yesterday which made Ryan happy.

Tio, who is absolutely amazed at the varieties of Miracles Ryan seems to have, lets Ryan take the lead and is following close behind him. He is continuing to scrape the ground and Tio seems to not mind or maybe she isn't noticing since she is on high alert and looking for this mysterious 'Ice Lady'. The ice is letting off an aura that Ryan has never seen before and it is worrying him a little but if it comes down to it, he always has a trump card, just it might not end well for this town if he has to use it.

The illuminated hallway shows no signs of life but the air has gotten colder and telling by the aura surrounding them, Ryan and Tio are getting closer. They get to the end of the hallway and it seems the door was blown off the hinges. Ryan enters the room and can't quite understand what he is seeing. Lilabelle is sitting in the middle of the room with the head of a woman with a veil covering her face, on her lap. Ryan blinks a few times to make sure the excessive amount of ice is created by this woman and sure enough, that is what the Eye of the All-Seer says.