"Crows take them," I said, knowing exactly what their battle tactics were. "They'll try to crush us with stone and--"
An arrow flew from Artemis's glowing red bow and found its target in the yeti's belly, throwing the creature backward, beyond what we could see of the ledge.
"It shouldn't have been this loud," Artemis said. "You think there are more of them?"
"There definitely are," I said, knowing that most yeti species usually lived in small communities. "But I don't think they'll be coming after us now."
"Why not?" Artemis asked, having nocked another arrow and searching for the right moment to loose it.
"Because you one-shotted it," Aphrodite replied before I could. "They might be monsters but if they're smart enough to use gravity and boulders to their advantage while fighting, they're also clever enough to stay away from us now."
"Weaklings," Artemis replied. She let loose the arrow she was holding, sending it up at the same place the yeti had appeared. "Just in case they think of trying it again."
We continued our ascent through the cold. Even the yeti incident had barely managed to raise our body temperatures. And the higher we climbed, the deeper our feet would dig into snow with each step. So much so that even Artemis noticed that we were moving significantly slower than she had initially estimated.
We took regular breaks for rebuffs, but managed to cover less and less distance between them each time. Somehow, we made it almost to the peak of the mountain. Just before we reached it, Aphrodite cast a last round of buffs and we rested for a bit so that she could regain some of her MP before we went through the portal, gate, or whatever it was that would lead us to Niflheim.
Once she was satisfied with the percentage of her MP bar, we climbed the final stretch and were soon standing on the windy peak of the small mountain. I was hoping to be able to see the lay of the land from up here, the forest and sea to the south and whatever wonders lay beyond to the north.
But the blizzard was at its strongest around the peak, and all I could see was rapidly moving snow, the occasional cloud, and a couple of tree tops breaking through the thick white and gray mass around us. There was one other thing, which was completely out of place: the sky and the clouds seemed to have a rather peculiar hole in them.
While thick white clouds covered the sky above us, generously donating fat flakes of snow to the storm, a perfectly round hole had been formed in the middle of them, in the area right at the highest point of the peak. The rapidly shifting clouds moved around the hole, and through it we could see the bright sky above.
It was one of the most beautiful sights I'd ever seen. The sky wasn't bright with light of the sun, but was instead filled with swiftly shifting lights that danced and changed colors. I struggled to take my eyes off of it.
"This is the portal I suppose?" Artemis asked.
"I've never used this one," Aphrodite replied.
"Neither have I," I said, "but there's a portal here for sure, and this definitely looks like it fits the bill."
With every step closer, the cold around us subsided and the winds became milder, throwing less of the stinging snow at our faces. My body seemed to become lighter too, and I figured this would probably be the way we would be able cross through it.
"Ready, goddesses?" I asked when my body felt almost weightless, as if I would be float upward if I took one more step forward.
"Let's do this," Aphrodite said.
Artemis nodded decisively.
We joined hands, Aphrodite on my right and Artemis on my left, and walked forward. As I expected, our bodies started floating upward, moving closer to the northern lights that shifted between purple and blue. I took a deep breath as we approached the waves of illumination, and we were suddenly thrust into intense light and then absolute darkness before the weight returned to our bodies and we could see normally again.
The ground beneath our feet felt solid but a thick layer of moving fog covered everything below our shins. It wasn't my first time in Niflheim, but every time I'd traveled here before it was as a representative of the Greek pantheon, as the son of my father. I had never been through this portal and from what I could see, it seemed to be one of the less hospitable places to arrive.
Whenever fog was moving this rapidly, it generally meant that either it was soon going to disappear or that more of it was being pushed in from somewhere. Looking around us, the white veil seemed to cover everything, which meant that we were probably very close to a place connected to an elemental plane of fog.
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As soon as we took a couple of steps forward, the shimmering portal above us disappeared and the only light that was left was that of a half-moon, probably lingering for its last couple of hours before giving way to the blazing sun of the Norse realm.
There was an almost infinite valley around us, mostly empty, save for the occasional leafless tree, their branches extending at odd angles as if they were trying to reach out for something.
"Doesn't look very hospitable," Artemis noted.
"Doesn't look like anything," Aphrodite said. "There's barely any vegetation here even. Why would they put a portal in a place like this?"
"Perhaps the portal formed here by itself," I said. "How do we find your brother now?"
"Assuming he's in this realm, I can communicate with him," she said. She moved her hand to take something out of her inventory, but suddenly pulled it back and pointed behind me. "Look out!"
Both goddesses jumped back, as I instinctively ducked and rolled out of the way of whatever she was warning me about. When I turned around, I was able to take a look at the enemy Artemis was already shooting arrows at.
* * *
Name: Greater Fog Elemental
Type: Magic Creature - Elemental
Level: 55
Disposition: Aggressive
HP: 1673/1673
Physical Attack: 554
Magic Attack: 384
Speed: 174
Attack Range: Melee
XP: 4488
Description: Fog elementals are the personification of the purity and raw power of fog. They are categorized according to their age, as they become more concentrated and run thicker at their cores over time, making them stronger. The rankings of elementals are minor, small, medium, large, great, greater, and elder. Each tier can command a larger area and circulate its mana at higher speeds, while only great fog elementals and above are able to travel the planes.
* * *
"Time to go home, buddy," I said, and activated my Vandalier aura to raise my critical damage as well the Precision aura.
Being able to see the critical spots on the elemental's body gave me exactly the edge I needed against the amorphous concentrated fog being that seemed to generate limbs from nothing to attack us. The fog was swirling rapidly, creating what looked like a small tornado with the occasional spout reaching out to me.
Artemis appeared to be having issues landing her arrows on the elemental until she activated her Precision aura as well.
* * *
Name: Precision
Level: 1
Type: Aura
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 5
Power: 0
Range: Self
Precondition: None
Description: Mana is channeled to the user's brain to increase their focus and attention on their opponent's vulnerable spots, making them better at finding aim with their strikes. Accuracy is increased by 3, and MP proportionate to the user's level is consumed continuously while this skill is in use.
* * *
By the time I took my first strike at the creature with my spear, Artemis was already targetting the vulnerable parts of its body--the only ones where the fog was less dense and didn't stop the arrows.
Under normal circumstances, I would have avoided confronting an elemental. After all, it was only here to see the sights and grow stronger. Elementals weren't evil creatures by any means but if they got something into their heads, or whatever it was that hosted their thinking organs, they wouldn't back down. Especially fog elementals. Perhaps it was some kind of inferiority complex, since they weren't one of the basic elemental forms of life.
The creature wrapped a tendril around my spear and pulled me closer, at the same time sending a thick cloud of fog into my nose, ears, and mouth. I couldn't breathe, and I knew that I had only a few seconds before it caused too much damage to my insides. But I also knew that panicking would only accelerate this effect, so instead I thrust my lance forward and activated one of my favorite skills.
* * *
Name: Mana Stunning Pierce
Level: 4
Type: Active
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 85
Power: 1497
Range: 300 inches
Precondition: Only usable with spears, lances, and polearms.
Description: An incredibly powerful melee attack that charges the tip of the spear with an immense amount of concentrated mana. Upon contact, the mana is released at the target, knocking them back and stunning them for 5 seconds. Should the user wish it, this attack can be triggered from a distance, ignoring shield defense bonuses.
* * *
The elemental hissed as it was thrown backward, taking with it all of the fog that had entered my body. I took in a deep breath, happy that my quick thinking had delivered instantly. The poor creature had no idea who it was attacking.
Before it had the chance to pick itself up, Artemis delivered the final blow.
A charged arrow sliced into what was probably the creature's torso, and sent it flying back before it turned into a ball of regular mist, losing its form and eventually joining the thick veil hovering over the ground.
"What is it with elementals and attacking on sight?" Aphrodite asked after casting a healing spell on me.
"Not all of them attack out of instinct," I said. "Other elementals can be reasoned with."
"The description said that there's a higher rank of elementals called 'elder'," Artemis jumped in. "Where can we find them?"
"I suppose in the elemental plane they belong to?" I said, shrugging and then turning to Aphrodite to see if she had any idea.
"Don't look at me," she replied. "I've only seen a few of them, and this one was by far the largest."
"We should travel more," Artemis said. "There are so many powerful monsters that I know nothing about. I want to fight them all."
"All in good time," I replied. "I promised you would be hunting monsters you've never seen before and this was only the beginning. But it's not the reason why we're here."
"Right." She nodded and looked at Aphrodite. "You said you were going to communicate with your brother."
"Let's get away from this place first." She pointed at a small hill. "At least we'll have a better view of the place from over there."