I spied them for what must've been the fourth time. They weren't much taller than I was truthfully. To be fair though, I wasn't close enough to really judge that. I've only ever seen them at a distance, taking wide berths when I do.

"Now, what are you?" My eyes followed their forms as they flickered between the trees. Their colors weren't too hard to spot if I was alert. I was kind of surprised they hadn't once seen me.

My eyes drifted down to the tufts of white fur cloaking me. It matched perfectly with the snow around me. The perfect camouflage.

I played at the thought of sneaking around, but my best bet was getting far away from here. I didn't want to interact with them, there was no telling their motive. If push came to shove, I wasn't willing to risk it all on a random weapon and armor.

"I haven't been idle though." I let my thoughts into the frigid air. "I know it says random, but the range of that is something I need to eventually comprehend."

"[Weapon Roll]" I whispered, feeling that fateful power course through me. A strange sensation to be sure.

A wispy transparent shamrock green flowed towards my hand, before solidifying into something real. Prior to formation, it glittered in a way that sent phantom chimes off in my ears. I stared at a regular sword.

"No, not a regular sword." I held it up, the sword misleadingly falling partly apart. "Interesting. I wouldn't say totally random, but it wasn't something I expected so I'll give it that."

The segmented sword I held in my hand was a testament to that randomness, though the sword category was a little predictable. I just wasn't expecting this style of one.

Weapon: [Serrated Urumi]

A segmented whip sword of three blades. The urumi is a specialized weapon capable of keeping multiple foes at range with the correct expertise. This ironwork features serrated blades and copper wiring.

I looked up, finding that there was nothing in my vicinity. I pressed my back against a tree and stared upwards.

"What am I doing here?"

My eyes drifted to the leaves of the tree, searching for color in a world of white. Only to find that the leaves weren't actually all fully covered by snow, in fact, they were just white. But I did see a flash of color. Red, among the white leaves and snow.

The color gave me a reference and I traced a burrow, made right into the thick snow held up by the tree. It looked for all the world, a plain squirrel, albeit a bit larger. Not enough to worry me. I stared up at it, the second creature I've seen.

I blinked, surprised.

"Well, that's-" I began, quietly vocalizing my thoughts before the words caught in my throat. Ice powder thumped my face hard enough to make a small cloud of snow.

I shook the snow off my face and stared, peeved at the creature. I wasn't the type to get too worked up about things. I threw a snowball back and the creature ducked away, before appearing somewhere else in the boughs of the tree. It dumped more snow on me and, though unaffected by the cold, I frowned.

Snow hit me in the back and I looked upward and behind me. There he was again!

"You little- " The wind got knocked out of me as another harder chunk of snow broke against my chest.

I fell backward and snow piled up on top of me, ultimately harmless, but annoying nonetheless. Under the snow, my already frowning face twitched. "Calm down, Vak. It's just a squirrel." I spoke into the mound of snow. My words were muffled.

I pushed an arm out partially, but only managed to get my head out first. I was an inconspicuous mound of snow against a tree. As I gathered the strength to break out, I looked like a decapitated head trying roll over.

I stifled a gasp as it stalked into view.

I froze, metaphorically, and played the part of "that mound of snow against a tree" to the best of my ability. My hood covered my head, which would've given me away. The fur was too perfectly colored against the snow, and partially covered in the powder, even more so. My eyes barely peeked out from the bottom of the hood, my head halfway into the mound.

Under everything, I was for all intents and purposes, sitting on my ass. Staring, wide-eyed, at the thing that could've killed me with a flick.

It was a lumbering giant and not the damn gentle kind. Its skin was a frostbite blue the coloration second only to pure white in terms of camouflage. The hide it wore around its loins smelled from even where I sat a few meters away. 

I was a statue. It wandered over to the tree and stared up at the boughs much the same way that I did. Spotting something, it smiled and I got an up-close look at a row of canine teeth, pearly white.

For the first time, as the situation demanded, I invoked [Buff Roll] mentally. I felt the power surge through me once again too fleeting for my mind to latch onto.

Buff: [Conductive]

You are a strong conduit for electrical energy. The innate ability to direct energy is briefly awakened within you. Lightning and thunder bend to your fingertips.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

My skin tingled and I felt the difference. Unfortunately, this buff was useless here. I grit my teeth, breathing slightly heavier as the giant moved closer. Watching it step forward confirmed a few things, mainly why I didn't hear it approach. Its footsteps were eerily absent. No crunch of snow, no footprints in the powder. 

Yet, I could clearly feel its weight behind each step. It held a hand up, its attention still above, and an icicle formed from the air, shooting skyward into the boughs. Its face simply met a face full of snow in a near-instant retaliation. 

I tried again. [Buff Roll].

Nothing happened. Maybe there was a wait time? 

I took a sharp breath as the giant stumbled forward as a wad of snow struck its back hard, much harder than anything I was subjected to. The giant came dangerously close to the mound that I was acting as but before that happened another struck in it the face, and while it didn't seem fazed, it backed up growling gutturally.

For a moment, I wonder if that little squirrel purposefully saved me. It was the reason I was even buried right now.

Armor then, in case the thing finds me. There's no way I can defend myself against all that mass. [Armor Roll]

Armor: [Leather Jerkin]

A close-fitted jacket made of durable leather. The hide is processed and made tough enough to mitigate some attacks.

As the shamrock mist appeared I nearly shat myself. The giant's gaze was still upward, but eventually, it was drawn to the glowing mound of green snow.

My fight or flight kicked in, flooding my thoughts as my eyes widened in fear. I burst out of the snow with a strength I didn't have earlier. The giant's only reaction was to immediately pursue. And the only reason I knew that was for the fact that it roared in what I'd deemed bloodlust.

Its roar was cut off by a muffled grunt and I turned around to find it wiping snow away from its face. It stared upward angrily but accelerated in my direction again. 

I ran hard not knowing anything else to do but stick to the trees when I could.

"I need to fight, damn it. There's nothing else for it." I said, out of breath. "It's gonna catch me. It's gonna fucking catch me!" 

I turned and raised my urumi. It fell limp to the floor and for a dumb moment, I wondered if it was supposed to do that. "I don't know how to use this!" I exclaimed, trying to gather the segmented blades.

I was gonna cut myself. I don't think there's any way around it. The blood-curdling roar of the giant was interspersed with annoyed grunts which meant for whatever reason the squirrel was harassing it. Any moment now, judging from the volume, it would be upon me. I didn't think I could run but now I was having second thoughts. I had enough time to stand here for a solid thirty seconds. My lead was farther than I thought, the giant was just extremely loud.

"Well, I'm in deep shit now." 

As it entered the clearing its annoyed face lit up in a feral grin as it saw me. 

Before I could even react I held a hand toward me and a stake of clear ice shot towards my chest. I managed to dive clumsily to the side in fear. Something impacted my left shoulder and I could feel the bruise already. I turned and the icicle lay on the ground beside me, sharp as a pick.

I breathed heavily. Panicked, I grabbed the icicle in my other hand. "That should've went through me." I thought aloud. "That should've killed me." By now, my face must've been blanched, whiter than anything around me.

The giant grumbled something deep and monotone. He approached swiftly, again with the silent footsteps.

I backed away, unsteady on the snowy terrain. "Stay back!" I yelled. The giant snarled intimidatingly, looking down on me. It eyed my hands and I remembered I had weapons.

I swung the urumi in an arc, letting the blades swing-out. I wasn't at all confident I could pull off a whipping motion, even if it was the first plan of attack that came to mind. Miraculously, the blades fully extended, connected to their wire. They cut into the giant's side, slicing along his ribcage.

It howled in pain, before another icicle shot towards my chest. This time, in slow motion, I could see the projectile reach for my chest. And then it impacted my cloak and didn't penetrate further than the fur of the Alpha Icil Wolf.

"That's right something about resistance to cold," I grunted out painfully, my chest still took the force of the blow.

I dragged the urumi back to me and stood as highly strung as I've ever been. I waved the rolled blades around brandishing them, but the giant clearly wanted me, even with all this effort. Its eyes were all hungry desire.

"Back off! Stay away!" I yelled loud, my desperation must've been apparent because it rushed me.

I screamed as it grabbed my sword arm, forcibly making me drop the weapon. It held me up my right arm and I wasn't to shy to scream loud enough for the creature to flinch. 

It reared its head and opened its mouth of white predator teeth. Pulling hard on my arm, as if to seperate it from the socket, it bit into my shoulder.

I screamed and red filled my vision, whether from anger or pain, I didn't know. All I saw was red, and then, like a pinhole I focused on the red that flowed from its ribs.

Everything focused and even through my screaming pain I plunged his own icicle into the slash wounds from my urumi with my free hand. The blue-skinned creature bellowed in pain releasing me from his teeth cleanly. The flesh hung loose but I couldn't feel it.

I didn't run. "You fucking bastard." I spat. More stupid than angry at this point. "Time to take a risk and see who's gonna die first!"

It stumbled backward in pain but I kept up the only effective attack I'd accomplished so far. I made that damn icicle say hello to his frozen bones, then peek out and meet his other damn leg.

And then I felt a tickle of energy.

"Take this damn it!" A surge of power straightened me out, as if I was nothing more than a conduit for the intense energy. "Ahhhhh!" I screamed.

Electricity, not enough voltage to be visible, flowed into the wound. The giant, like myself, locked up and seized intensely, the icicle forming a conductive bridge into his vital bloodstream. I experienced that same locked muscles, but the pain was absent as if my body was built for such a thing.

My eyes, smoldering hate, locked with the giant's as it lay helpless on the ground. The moment was extremely intimate as if I could read its every emotion and it could mine.

I found it in me to twist the icicle with a growl. "Die bastard!"

The energy ceased as [Conduit] ran out.

My hand was nearly frozen to the icicle but it released itself. Without the pressure from my grip, the icicle squeezed out with a wet squelch and I could smell seared flesh.

In a daze, I locked the urumi around the giant's neck and pulled the blades close. I didn't dare to watch the process.

I threw up on the side, as I felt the pressure suddenly ease. And with it, the urumi disappeared. My leather jerkin was next, and I realized it probably protected me from the worst of the giant's teeth. It got flesh, but not enough to be an immediate threat to my life.

I didn't dare move the shoulder though. I didn't dare move at all. 

"What the hell happened," I said blandly, sitting against a tree far away from the body of the giant. It wasn't a question. It was a grim acceptance of the reality of everything. "What the fuck." I groaned, tenderly reaching for my shoulder before wincing at my bruised chest and stopping.

My eyes drifted to the dead blue body in the middle of the snowy clearing. Snowflakes fell around me. They were gentle at first, easy and beautiful. They fell between my eyes and the trees around me, and for moments I found myself focusing on them, my mind brought away from the pain of my injuries.

I jerked back to awareness, wary of danger. My eyes focused blearily and spotted a figure in between the trees watching me. It wasn't hiding. It was just standing there and I wasn't mistaken either, I could see it breathing. Its eyes were the most visible thing about it, piercing. My heart skipped two beats in panic. My hands went numb. My eyes, wide. My breathing increased.

I was already trying to keep my focus on it as snow falling from above threatened to hide the figure. A small heavy flurry of snow swept through the clearing.

A shiver shot down my spine, and immediately I began to invoke my [Powers].

It had disappeared.

And then a voice spoke to my side as if it were there all the time, and I and it were having nothing more than an amiable silence before it decided to converse once more. It was spoken with just that much casual unfettered confidence.

"Who are you, stranger?"