Kieran was no stranger to the feeling of space travel anymore. Crossing the entrance of the secret realm was like every time he crossed a rift.
The feeling of spatial loss faded very quickly, and an icy wind assailed him, which made him shiver involuntarily.
He quickly circulated his crystal essence inside his body, expelling the cold air that tried to freeze him in place before examining the area around him.
The cold, icy wind blew snow that filled the entire sky, a mirror-like field of ice continually stretching beyond what he could see. In the distance, he could see pillars of ice stacking on top of each other, creating structures.
"Is this the snowy plain?" Kieran whispered in a daze. He hadn't expected such a sight when reading the information Alexei had given him.
Behind him, the spatial vortex constantly warped, and each time it warped, a member of the team appeared on the snowy plains.
"Which direction are we going?" Kieran asked once everyone had arrived.
The wind was cold, and his breath turned white when he spoke.
"There are 27 crystal beasts gathering points on this plain, 15 of those points resemble the structure made of ice pillars we can see in the distance. Each gathering point is led by a beast at the early stage of Silver rank that it shelters. The two evolution materials we need are in these gathering points. The guild's latest report mentioned that the hundred-year-old Snow Lotus appeared in the southeast of the snowy plain at the third gathering point. We will head there first and let Anna reach the Silver rank before starting to hunt the Silver rank beasts to obtain the soul crystal," explained Alexei.
"Surely there will be a Silver rank beast guarding the lotus, right? We should be able to get both evolution materials at once," said Kieran.
"In an ideal world, yes, but I don't expect us to get a soul crystal from the first beast we kill."
"You're right."
"Amber, call your ice mink."
"Okay!"
A woman stepped out of the group, appearing young, barely a little older than Kieran. She had brown hair tied in a ponytail and hazel eyes, with a cheerful demeanor surrounding her.
Kieran recognized her as one of the few in the group who showed no hostility toward Alexei.
She joined her two hands together like a prayer, then a circle filled with symbols appeared under her feet.
A small mink with white fur appeared in front of her. Shaking its body, it moved quickly, climbing onto her shoulder, its muzzle moving in the air as if trying to pick up a scent.
"Snow, let me know if anything is approaching us. Okay?" she said, rubbing the mink's head on her shoulder, which let out a happy little sound.
"What is this?" Kieran asked, moving closer to Amber.
It was the first time he had seen someone summon a beast in person.
"It's Snow! An ice mink, he has a tracking ability that is enhanced in environments where the ice element is abundant," A smile appeared on Amber's face as she saw Kieran taking an interest in her summoned beast.
"That's a good ability. We're all counting on you, Snow."
He reached out to stroke it when Amber's face went white.
"Wait..."
She tried to stop him, but before she could finish her words, Kieran's hand was already on Snow's head, stroking it.
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Snow made a happy sound, not seeming to be bothered by Kieran's touch, which surprised Amber.
"Eh?! How..?" she muttered in a daze.
"Is there a problem?"
Amber stared into his two eyes that looked like two ambers, speechless for a moment before looking away.
"N... No, nothing."
'I wish I could pet Luna again too,' Kieran thought, stroking Snow's head.
He used his consciousness to look inside his spiritual world, where a small whale was swimming inside.
'I will find a way to recreate your body, Luna.'
"Tsk, if you're done, let's get going. We didn't come here on vacation."
At the back of the group, a man with a darkened face advanced, heading southeast without worrying whether the others were following behind him or not.
"Let's get going," said Alexei.
The whole team started heading southeast. Kieran felt a sense of loss as his hand left Snow's head.
"Who is this?" he asked Amber.
"It's Holden. He was the one who should have been able to breakthrough into the Silver rank instead of Alexei and Anna."
Kieran frowned.
"Is he strong?"
"It depends on what you call strong. He has a support type ability that is recognized throughout the guild. If the guild leader didn't want him to defend a crystal essence stone mine in a bronze rift, he would already be at the top of the Silver rank. Alexei and Anna were the two peak stage Bronze rank selected to replace him to help protect the mine."
"It seems difficult to belong to a guild."
"Sometimes yes, but we get cultivation resources and evolution paths according to our contribution to the guild. Everyone tries their best to climb the guild's ranks and get more resources for themselves."
"You don't seem to blame Alexei and Anna for their permission to breakthrough into the Silver rank."
"I have not contributed enough to the guild to get my evolution path to the Silver rank. Even if I had the permission, I still could not breakthrough to the Silver rank."
The two continued to talk on the way. Chatting with Amber was easy for Kieran. With her cheerful character, he didn't even have to start a conversation.
He quickly learned that she came from a normal family without a cultivator like Thomas and that the Cold Ocean guild had recruited her when she was still at the academy.
Snow was the first beast she managed to summon, and her ability was quickly known to the Cold Ocean guild, who did not hesitate to recruit her. Each of their members had abilities related to water or ice, environments filled with ice elements were part of their daily life. Having a beast like Snow for tracking greatly simplified their task.
Every once in a while, Amber peeked at Kieran's silhouette.
'I expected him to be arrogant with his double awakening, but he is easy to talk to. He's pretty handsome too…'
She looked away from his face, her cheeks slightly flushed.
As the two chatted amongst themselves, Snow began to fidget, its muzzle moving in the air as it let out a scream that stopped the team in their tracks.
The frozen ground a few meters from Kieran suddenly cracked, and the upper body of a giant middle stage Bronze Rank worm, seemingly made entirely of ice, emerged from the ground with its gaping mouth filled with thousands of teeth.
"Watch out!"
Amber's agitated voice reached Kieran's ears, but he didn't move. He watched as the giant worm's head slowly moved closer to him without any change in his expression.
"Humpf! I knew we shouldn't have let an early stage Bronze rank come with us!"
A cold voice came from the team as a woman with long black hair and black eyes dashed, a white mist appearing around her hands, forming a sword of ice as tall as her.
The sword in her hands left a white trail in the air, severing the giant worm's head in one fell swoop, letting his blue blood flow on the ice.
She cast a cold look at Kieran.
"At least try to react next time, don't just stand there," she said in a cold voice before recovering the crystal core of the giant worm and returning to the front of the team with her ice sword disappearing.
Each member of the team only glanced in Kieran's direction for a second before continuing on their way, Alexei and Anna shook their heads seeing this scene, but they said nothing. They both knew Kieran's power, but no team member seemed to believe them.
"Are you okay?" Amber asked.
"I'm fine."
"You were lucky that Caitlyn reacted quickly. The ice devouring worms are crystal beasts who are good at hiding. They dig thousands of tunnels under the whole snowy plain to attack their target. They are not very strong alone, but in groups, they are one of the most dangerous beasts on the snowy plains."
"Lucky, huh..." Kieran whispered.
"Did you say something?"
"No, nothing. Let's follow them."
Amber & Caitlyn Illustrations :
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1145325206366326785/1164168967036862546/sleds_a_small_ferret_covered_with_white_fur_standing_on_her_sho_35a77ba3-3d4a-4376-8488-27436961b9cf.png?ex=65423bd6&is=652fc6d6&hm=e9ac4eca6dd9c9f0e94e4688584fe95b5d9b354d71704d7772ff42965f633653&]
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1145325206366326785/1164169030161137694/sleds_anime_full_body_masterpiece_highres_a_20_year_old_woman_w_f3dc8238-3999-4394-9916-877f3c7c9092.png?ex=65423be6&is=652fc6e6&hm=df545a5c3fb67d378c2e2aa9e8b13e87f8ab3743211f319895f681c9dfc84f13&]
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1145325206366326785/1164169298751795281/sleds_ice_50_23c4809b-8d51-4b93-8160-86749b27c619.png?ex=65423c26&is=652fc726&hm=c18c30e14649a96001dd5964974ba53a95133ebf7f74347702998cf17a2380e5&]