Flames crackled, winds blew, causing more crackling as the noise of the flames flickering from the wind. There was no light outside the flames. Everything was desolate at this moment.

Clouds or a new moon, Jessica wasn’t sure which. Outside the flame, the world seemed to no longer exist. It was both peaceful and lonely.

Even using mana Jessica couldn’t see very far. She was inclined to use her hearing over sight. Mana reinforced the senses, it couldn’t reconstruct them. Therefore, one could enchant their vision in the dark but never truly acquire night vision.

This was similar sense that in the dark, one would see multiple layers of shadows. Right now, there were only a couple layers around the fire, outside that everything was pitch black.

With mana, these shadows faded slightly, as if the light became brighter as each layer of darkness became easier to see. In the end, there was still an endless abyss of darkness outside a small ring of light.

As time continued to pass, Jessica could do nothing with the time on her hands. Because of the darkness, she couldn’t do anything. All her attention needed to be focused on her hearing. It was, for that reason, she turned to look at the carriage.

From the edges of the darkness came Saleh. He was yawning a bit as he stretched. It wasn’t until he handed her a small red stone that his eyes visible became bigger as he shivered slightly.

“Anything?” Saleh asked with a bit of clattering as he was quickly getting used to the cold.

“No.”

“See you in the morning.” Saleh waved at her as she soon disappeared into the darkness.

Thankfully, they planned ahead. The carriage wasn’t terribly far. After using the space for baggage, she was able to silently make her way to the top. Being careful not to wake the person inside. Using mana she was able to make out the snow wolf glancing up at her before laying back down.

Because of the fire stone, her entire body was filled with warmth. Being expensive, the two only got one. Partially because of the expense, and partly because, as Jessica now experienced.

Inside the cold, the fire stone made her very tired. It wasn’t that she was exhausted. Instead, it was more the comfort. Having been sitting with only a small semblance of warmth being given out by the fire. Feeling now as if her entire body was in bed as warmth invaded her body from all sides, caused her body to relax, and she very quickly fell asleep.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

When morning came, Cassie came out as Jessica came off the roof. This time she was in charge of heating up the food. Saleh went off to fill up a bowl of water for the snow wolf.

Putting out a number of things from her spacial bag. The first was a pot, followed by meat and stock. Having already prepared a few logs to act as a stand, she was able to easily fit the pot on the fire. Filling it in a practiced manner.

Before putting the lid on, Jessica continued to pull out a series of fresh vegetables. Using one hand to hold the vegetables, she cut them into pieces as they fell in. Once done, she covered it to let it cook.

It was important to not waste too much energy. Because of the snow, their travel speed was slow, that also meant everyone else was the same. They had been out here for a week and had yet to be attacked once. Nor had they seen anyone else.

That also meant that food wouldn’t be very fresh. They couldn’t go out to get it. The best they could accomplish was added somewhat fresh vegetables to add some freshness to the salted meat. Having gotten already spiced stock, it was enough to fill them with warmth, with some variety.

Both of them were slightly surprised with Cassie. It was obvious, this wasn’t a very comfortable week. However, she didn’t complain. Neither about being kept inside the carriage for the vast majority of the day, or the lack of a good quality meal.

After they ate, Cassie and Saleh went into the carriage as Jessica did a once over the campsite. After going over with a tool, she caused the snow to show a large indent, without showing any of their footprints or even evidence of a fire.

If someone was good enough, they could find some traces, however this made it much harder. Their carriage was provided by Helga. Not only was the snow wolf able to walk on the snow, the sled also showed a very tiny indent, making it so that any snow destroyed all evidence of their passage.

Picking up the bowl of water and soup used by the snow wolf, she put them away before sitting on the driver's seat. Unlike with a horse, the snow wolf had been trained.

Jessica had no doubts it could probably fight. However, after each of the three giving it a special treat, the snow wolf never reacted negatively to any of them. It was cautious around them. However, since they fed, gave it water, and didn’t abuse it. The snow wolf continued to do its part without any problems.

Having not experienced it, which left her happy. The snow wolf was said to be trained to give out warnings when it smelled or sensed another being. Rather that be a creature or a person.

Wolves had insanely powerful noises, smell was also something that was difficult for even high graded beings to account for. Jessica desperately wished it continued that way.

Picking up the reigns, Jessica used mana to instruct the snow wolf it was time to leave. Having removed the brakes, the snow wolf didn’t have any issues moving.

Its large physique made it possible for it to pull slowly. Once momentum was gained they moved with considerable speed. Considering the weight of the carriage, along with the fact the snow wolf was only Grade F, their speed was considerable.

Not at the level of a horse carriage, they were moving on flat ground. There was generally more than one, depending on the size of the carriage. Jessica had no issues with the snow wolf, for it being winter and snowing on and off, being so far away from any maintained roads. This speed was amazing.