[Protagonist found. Connecting System Camera...]

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"Look, I apologized already like a dozen times, so could you please just use that [Perfect Environment] spell on me, it's freezing cold out here!"

"Hmm, I mean I would, but it's uses up so much mana... I don't want to waste it all..."

"You are literally using it on everybody but me."

"Because they need it! We didn't have enough time to prepare, so I was forced to use the spell on us. Meanwhile you were so excited to go up north to the Frozen Caverns that you accepted the quest without telling us. Surely, your burning passion alone is enough to keep you warm for the trek."

I sheepishly looked away as I created an excuse I couldn't use in my head.

'Well, it's not my fault that The System awarded me with a [Snowstorm] skill if I accepted this quest. I may have been too excited at getting another skill and accepted the quest without thinking...'

Despite the howling wind and the grunts of our guildmates as we trekked through the waist-high snow, our bickering continued loud and clear. At last, our guild leader's patience had reached its limit as he personally paused the expedition to acknowledge the two of us.

"Oh for the love of the goddesses, can the two of you just shut up? We're already doing a quest that nobody likes-"

"Ahem, one person..."

Blaze gave an unamusing glare to Ethereal, innocently returning eye contact to the person she just interrupted. With a sigh, Blaze shook his head and resumed the convoy, with special instructions given to the troublemaker of the group.

"Ethereal, please. Just give the boy the spell. My ears are already worn down by the weather, please do not make it worse with your... conversations"

With a pout, she waved her hand towards me and chanted a phrase. After a few seconds, my frost-bitten extremities had their sense of feeling returned to them. It was strange, to pick up freshly fallen snow but paradoxically retain my warmth as if I were holding my phone. My enamourment of the spell was interrupted by a mocking giggle beside me.

"BAHAHAHA, seriously?! You were able to wow the top guild-masters in the entire region with those strange spells you casted in the Colosseum before, but this simple two-star spell is strange to you?? Hahah-"

My snowball smashed into her face, interrupting her ridicule. She opened her mouth to refute, but the stern gaze of the guild-master reminded her of his special instructions. She grunted in frustration, but her sly smirk returned the moment Blaze looked away as she wordlessly cancelled the [Perfect Environment] status on me. The shivering cold started nipping away at my skin again as the eternal snowstorm in the area grew stronger as a silently complained in my head.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

'It's so damn cold, why couldn't The System give me a spell like that...'

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Despite the sun being high in the sky, the visibility was extremely low. The combination of darkness created by the stormy clouds and the thick snow falling everywhere around us turned our trek into a trudge as we struggled to move forward. The snow was now up to our torso as we essentially dug our way forward. It was even harder for me, who was nearly frozen into a popsicle if it weren't for Ethereal's "faulty" spell that turned off and on at random. As we neared our destination, one of the other fledgling guild members near me started complaining about the cold too.

"The blizzard must be really strong for it to penetrate through the spell. I'm starting to feel really cold."

Ethereal's eyebrows scrunched in confusion as she curiously glanced towards the guildmember.

"Nonsense, my incantations got me into this guild for a reason. Yes, it may be a low star spell, but it can't be easily bested by something as simple as a blizzard."

I cleared my throat loud enough for her to hear through the storm. She rolled her eyes as she reluctantly turned towards me.

"Oh, don't act stupid. You know what I was doing."

"So you admit it?!"

Our argument was cancelled by the collapse of the fledgling guild member. Blaze squinted his eyes in suspicion as he stopped everyone's movement and urged us to check on his status. Ethereal and I glanced at each other, and carefully dug through the snow to the fainted guild member. He lay face first onto the snow, but the thing that caught our eye was a blue-purple organism clinging to his leg. Every time it pulsated, it grew bigger, and the guild member's skin turned blue-er. It seemed to have sensed our presence, as a few seconds after we observed it, it detached from the leg and screeched at us.

"...what the fuck?"

Ethereal quickly began chanting for a spell, meanwhile the thing coiled backwards. My expression twinged in panic as I recognized what it was trying to do. I quickly tackled Ethereal into the snow as the thing shot upwards to where she had been half a second earlier. It flew through the air in an arc, landing onto the snow and burrowing into it, out of sight. There was a moment of stillness before another guild member collapsed in the snow. Then another. Then two more. Sensing the dire situation, Blaze utilized his role of guild master as he began yelling orders.

"Everyone, come to me! We need to huddle together to defend from these things!"

Ethereal tried to cast the [Perfect Environment] spell on me, but a scream for help distracted her. She glimpsed at me worryingly, but I waved her off.

"Don't worry about me, I'll bring this guy over. just help the others."

She nodded and quickly rushed over to assist the other guild members who were in danger. With her help, most of the remaining guild members reached their leader in time and readied their weapons for combat. Meanwhile, I was halfway away from the group, carrying the fainted. Blaze brandished his shield as he motioned toward Ethereal.

"Any ideas?"

"All creatures are weak to fire. Just do what you do best."

For the first time during that expedition, Blaze smiled upon hearing Ethereal speak. He readied his stance as his shield began glowing. A tide of orange flames appeared as a hollow sphere, encapsulating the group. Both the snow and the darkness surrounding them melted away from the flames. Now with a moment to catch their breath, Blaze started strategizing with Ethereal.

"Do you know what those things are?"

"Yes, they're akin to leeches from the swamp lands or in the contaminated forest down south. From what I recall, they

"Yeah, thanks Blaze."

"I don't know what we'd've done without you, guild leader."

"It's still a bit cold in here, isn't it?"

Ethereal and Blaze spun towards the member who said that. They espied a blue-purple worm-like critter the size of a pinky on his neck start pulsating and growing. Ethereal

"IT'S ON YOUR NECK. SOMEONE GRAB IT, NOW."