Moving away from the edge of the icy woods, Alan took off in a sprint towards the path that would lead him inland. It only took a minute for him to see the grove split to form a path. Here he found the first place on the island that held some resemblance to everyday life. He came across the first signs of civilization. The pathway was made of the same black ice as the rest of the island; however, underneath the path was a flowing stream of black liquid he now knew was Gwen’s blood. The trail was lined with ice-covered cairns. He assumed they were some path markers but didn’t Gwen say it was a single path? Why would there be path markers if there was only one clear trail to follow?

Wanting a better look, he peered through the ice, and what he saw only caused confusion. An intricate pattern of lines was carved into the stone cairns; they came together, forming a formation connecting to the ground. The strangest part was that the lines pulsed with a dim blue light. As he made his way down the path, he noticed every cairn he passed by had the same blue pulse that seemed to travel through each one on its journey to the center of the island.

“What are these for, Gwen?”

“They’re the sealing formations. It’s what has prevented me from escaping this prison all these years. It siphons my power towards maintaining the seal and hinders my growth, preventing me from becoming too strong for the seal to hold.”

“Is there anything I can do to break the seal?”

“Not unless you suddenly gain more power than I currently have, which can’t happen until after the system integrates. Don’t worry about it; it won’t matter soon anyways.”

Rounding the last bend in the pathway revealed a clearing opening up ahead. Alan’s focus was drawn to the massive frozen temple that dominated his view. It was one of the largest temples he had ever seen, taking up nearly the entire clearing. The land surrounding the temple gave the appearance of an enchanted winter wonderland. A magnificently cultivated rose garden, with beautiful rose arched pathways that lead to the temple in each cardinal direction, all delicately encased in the same black ice as the island. The concentration of essence throughout the garden was vastly superior to the island's outer edges, causing a fine mist of frosty miasma to exude from each rose.

“Run you, idiot! How often are you going to make me tell you that we're running out of time before it gets through your thick head? You can stand around gawking at the garden after we save your soul.”

Clamping his mouth shut, Alan abashedly rubbed the back of his head, “Sorry, just a lot to take in all at once.”

Running through the miasma, Alan began to feel a cold but soothing surge of energy course through him, giving him an intoxicating feeling of power. It felt like he had wandered into an oasis after days of being stranded in a desert, finally able to sate his thirst.

“Well, that’s a good sign.”

Shaking his head to clear his mind and recenter himself, he asked, ““Huh, what? What’s a good sign?”

“The miasma you’re absorbing like a dry sponge, it’s not only death essence. This place was originally full of only ice essence, the affinity I was born with. After they sealed me away, my body died, causing the influx of death essence to rise to this degree over these long years; However, instead of these affinities continuously clashing for supremacy, they reached an equilibrium and eventually merged. It can’t be classified as either essence anymore, as it has become a mixture of the two.”

“So why is it a good sign that I’m absorbing it?”

“It means you have some natural affinity towards ice essence. I’m not sure what your affinities were before your death, but as an undead, you’ve gained a natural affinity for death essence. Since you have access to both essence, it has increased the odds of stabilizing your soul.”

“What would’ve happened if I didn’t have an affinity for ice?” Alan asked, with a bit of concern in his voice.

“You would have had a more challenging time stabilizing your soul as it forced an ice affinity upon you. It would have made the outcome less stable and unpredictable. The worst case would have been you suffering a backlash to your body rejecting the assimilation of ice essence, causing your blood to suddenly freeze, shredding everything from the inside out. Just count your blessings that you have both affinities. Not like it would’ve mattered, you’d be arguing over possible death versus guaranteed death. Not much to lose there.”

“Count my blessings…” Alan grumbled as he approached the large frozen ornate double doors that led into the temple. They were enormous, easily the largest doors he’d ever seen, coming in around thirty feet tall. The doors gave him the impression of a cathedral entrance or similar place of worship, with the top of the doors tapering to meet in the middle. He wasn’t sure if the doors were designed for a larger person or if they were designed to make him feel insignificant. If it was the latter, then it was definitely working as intended.

“You do realize I’ve already died once. And don’t you think this is something you should’ve told me about?”

“Isn’t that a moot point considering that you have an ice affinity? And who wants to know that there are two possibly terrible outcomes? How would that have helped your decision? Just focus on the good; you have so much more to look forward to in this life or undeath, so you might as well focus on turning over a new leaf and making the most of it.”

Shaking out his body, Alan braced himself for the exerting effort opening the door would take. “I guess that’s fair, but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t hide important information that pertains to me from here on.” Laying his hand on the door, he pushed with all his strength, promptly stumbling forward as the door effortlessly swung open on its hinges as if it were weightless. Gwen’s laughter accompanied him as he picked himself up off the ground.

“I didn’t know it was possible, but I guess an undead can blush, or maybe you have a fire affinity too.” She chuckled.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Alan grumbled, “Very funny; let's pick on the dying man as he stumbles around in an unknown area while being told that spirits and magic exist.”

“Alright, alright. I get it. No need to sulk about it. Now you’re close to the altar, so I’ll see you soon. Just follow the main corridor; it will lead you to the altar. Do not open any other doors; they don’t concern you, and their contents are best left forgotten. Now I’ve used much of the energy I was able to conserve and won’t be able to appear again until you reach the altar where my domain is strongest. I’ll see you soon.”

With Gwen’s voice slowly fading, Alan shifted his focus to his current surroundings, finding himself in a large atrium. There wasn’t much to see as essence poured from every surface, bathing the room in a dense mist that obscured his surroundings in a haze. Seeing through the mist beyond the long corridor proved futile as it became a thick fog, making sight indistinguishable past a couple meters. As a precaution, Alan placed his hand on the right wall as a guide to ensure he wouldn’t get lost as the corridor became obscured to the point he could hardly see his hand gliding across the stone as he walked.

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His loss of sight wasn’t the only effect caused by the increasingly potent concentration of essence; where he had felt a surge of energy before, it now felt like a dam had broken, flooding his body with a raging current of power. Alan felt invigorated, as if he was being infused with vitality, pushing his body passed its peak and climbing as if he would break through his mortal limitations to become something more. His body kept transitioning through stages of intense heat to a soothing calm as if he was constantly undergoing the healing process after an intense workout. This must be how bodybuilders feel when they hit the gym on a regular basis.

However, this pleasant moment wasn’t meant to last as Alan finally noticed the creeping chill invading his body. It started in his legs as his gait turned sluggish, slowly progressing to a shamble. Glancing down, he finally noticed the problem; his body was being layered in a frosty coat, hindering his motor functions as it spread like high tides covering the shore.

Alan abruptly stopped as his guiding hand approached the edge of a corner. He’d nearly missed it as the frost had reached his hands and was slowly creeping toward his fingertips, practically robbing him of his sense of touch. Glancing towards where his hand was, revealed a thick blanket of fog shrouding everything passed his wrist. Pulling his hand back towards him brought it back into sight. Further attempts proved the same, with any part of his body that passed that point just disappearing from view, only to reappear in the same state as if it hadn’t crossed the barrier.

Just a leap of faith into the unknown. Nothing different than everything else that has happened to me today. Guiding his hand back to the edge, Alan took a deep breath and shambled through the curtain of fog.

He knew the saying about a light at the end of the tunnel, but this was a bit much. Unlike the previous areas, the ice in the altar room was untainted from any death essence, allowing the ice to remain a blindingly deep glacial blue. Scanning the room, he locked eyes with Gwen as she stood on the corner of the raised dais, looking down at him with a sad smile. At the center of the dais, to Gwen's left, sat a coffin made of ice; entombed within was a similar ethereal beauty compared to Gwen, if not an identical copy. Did Gwen have a sister?

“This is me, or was me, I guess. Now it's just a corpse, preserved for all these years I was left here in solitude.” Gwen turned her head to stare at where her body lay entombed, a slight shudder running throughout her. “I’m not sure if they did it to break me or as a reminder of what they’re capable of doing if I didn’t follow their directives after they left… Either way, they didn’t break me, and I’ll be able to defy their orders in the end, not that I had a chance prior to your arrival.”

“Mmhm” Alan’s eyes widened at the realization that the frost had covered his mouth. He hadn’t noticed at first, but after stepping into this room, the rate at which the frost spread rapidly began to increase. Am I going to die if it covers my nose? Do I even need to breathe anymore since my body is dead?

Gwen’s head snapped back toward Alan’s direction as she waved her hand, halting the spread of frost in its tracks.

“I’m so sorry about that, Alan. My thoughts are all over the place, and I completely lapsed on the fact your body isn’t strong enough to enter my domain naturally. This concentration of ice essence would have killed a living human of your grade by now. I guess it’s good that your body died before you made it here.”

Gwen lowered her sight to the ground as she wiped her misty eyes.

“I imagine they never expected this situation to ever happen, as they never set up any precautions to prevent people from entering this building. Hard to imagine a mana-less inhabitant ever reaching these depths. Yet here you are. My little miracle after all these years.”

Gwen slowly raised her eyes to meet Alan’s.

“You can’t imagine all the time I spent hoping for something to change and free me from this place. They designed this place to release me when the system arrives. Probably hoping the system’s analysis would assume I’m a failed incarnation of the world’s spirit and remove me itself, hiding all evidence that they were ever here. I’m not sure if that is what the system will decide, but I will not allow my fate to solely rest in the hands of others ever again.”

Alan couldn’t speak, nor could he fully comprehend what was happening. He understood the significant parts of Gwen’s story but was confused why she was making this sound like it was the end of her life. Didn’t she say I was the one in danger? Why is she making it sound like I’m her savior? That I was the miracle she had been waiting for. I’m the one she saved. I’m the one who should have died. How am I helping you at all?

Gwen’s eyes gained the first spark of happiness he’d seen on her since he’d been down here; not the joy for others but the happiness for oneself.

“So… in a twist of fate, the end of my life will be the start of yours. I hope you have the fulfilling life I was never able to have” Gwen's radiant smile wasn't enough to prevent Alan from trying to shout through his frost-bound mouth. He strained every muscle in his body in an attempt to break free and rush forward to stop whatever Gwen was going to do. I’ve lived my life and have chosen to die already! Don’t sacrifice your life for me! Tears began to stream down Alan’s cheeks, collecting in frozen droplets when they reached the frosted section of his face.

Gwen ignored Alan’s struggles as she walked up to her coffin, interposing herself between him and the coffin, only allowing Alan to see her back. She knew he wouldn’t let her do this if he had known; she might not be able to affect her surroundings past a certain point, but she could still observe. Gwen knew how Alan had come to be here. She had watched as he gave his life for another, knowing at that moment that she could rest in peace knowing she saved a gentle soul, for who else would sacrifice their life for another if they weren’t a kind soul.

Stretching her hand towards the coffin, Gwen manipulated the ice to form a hole leading to her body. Reaching into the coffin, she removed her heart, the one remaining part of her body that held on to life. It was cruel of them to seal her spirit inside her own heart, just another of their ploys to remind her she would never be able to achieve her heart’s desires.

Alan’s pulse was throbbing in his ears as Gwen began walking towards him. She was holding what appeared to be a crystalline heart, only it was still beating and had the same deep glacial blue color as the room encased in ice. What is going on?” Before he could comprehend his situation, Gwen was standing before him. He couldn’t tell if he was still hearing the pulse of his heart or the rhythmic beating of the one held before him.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but we don’t have enough time for you to understand what’s going on. Even if there were enough time, you’d never agree to what is required for you to survive. I just want you to know and understand one thing; this wasn’t your decision but mine. I chose to do this for me, regardless of your wishes. I hope one day you can find it in your heart to understand and forgive me.” Gwen leaned forward, placing a chaste kiss on Alan’s lips. With a giggle, she gave Alan a forlorn smile, “Sorry, having been alive for so long and never having received my first kiss. I hope you don’t mind me stealing one from you before I go. I’m sorry you won’t have anyone to help you through your next few steps; they won’t be easy. Just make sure to do your best and enjoy your new life.” Scrunching her face in a grimace, Gwen hoped Alan could live through what came next.

“Sorry about this, but the next part won’t be pleasant. Just know it is significantly better than the pain you would’ve felt if your soul had shattered.” Gwen breathed deeply, ensuring she timed this next part just right so that the system would integrate and finish the process for her. Exhaling, she thrust her hand forward, piercing through Alan’s chest and crushing his heart. She quickly removed the remnants and replaced his now missing heart with hers.

“Live well, Alan. It was a pleasure to meet you.” Gwen’s voice faded as her body slowly dispersed to merge with the surrounding mana.

Alan didn’t notice Gwen fading away, but her last words helped center him as he struggled to stay awake through the excruciating pain radiating throughout his chest. His black blood slowly began to leak through his lips as the frost began to melt away. His vision began to fade as he collapsed. A startling blue box appeared before it too, was swallowed in a world of darkness.

[Mana threshold has reached operational capacity.]

[System initiating…]