“How much farther do we have to go?”

Howling over the wind, Zoe waited for a reply. She had been entirely focused on fueling the flying sword for what felt like at least several hours, and yet there was no sign that anything around them had changed.

Or rather, it seemed to have gotten worse. She couldn’t even see the ground now, as it was obscured by a thick layer of clouds. The chill sank into her bones, and it seemed like the night sky had grown even darker.

Her instincts screamed at her that a storm was brewing.

“We get there when we get there,” Lily shouted back

Shutting her eyes, Zoe groaned. As soon as they landed, she was going to murder these two. Fortunately, she was no longer running low on mana, which is why she had been able to stop meditating and take a look around.

She had also gained multiple levels in {Meditation}, {Mana Manipulation}, and {Introspection} — three, one, and two respectively. And to top it all off, she had learned a new skill.

{Cold Resistance has leveled up! Cold Resistance is now level 16.}

While Zoe appreciated the system trying to help her out here, it was really starting to piss her off that it was now by far her highest leveled ability. Yes, she was definitely going to give her two companions a beating for this.

Unfortunately, she was pretty powerless right now. All she could do was keep providing mana — mana which Lily greedily guzzled to continue her agony. So with a great degree of resentment and indignation, Zoe resumed her {Meditation}.

Several minutes passed. The web of her mana channels was shining brilliantly now. It reminded her of those photographs of big cities at night as seen from space. It was still annoyingly frayed and tangled, though, so she would definitely have to figure out how to fix that.

Not that she hadn’t tried. It’s just that trying to even untangle one of the more distant threads had proven nearly impossible and given her nothing but a mild headache for her efforts.

{Mana: 220 / 220}

Zoe opened her eyes. All topped off, huh? Looking down, she saw that the mana crystal was shining a vivid crimson as well. She shook her head. I think it’s about time I used some of my mana for myself.

Zoe activated {Cleansing Hellfire}.

She only used the smallest amount of mana she could use and have the ability still activate, and she immediately stuffed it back into her own body. Andric yelped anyway, but Zoe just shot him a glare.

He glared back, but then he shut his eyes and went right back to sleep. How he can sleep in these conditions is beyond me, Zoe thought. She felt like if she tried to sleep, she would probably never wake up — and that was ignoring the fact that she had to keep managing their mana.

In any case, the hellfire now circulating in her bloodstream burned like… hell. It was actually an incredibly small amount compared to the other times she had done this, but it felt much worse. It was probably a similar effect to how even just lukewarm water could feel boiling hot when you were so cold you just felt numb. Which she was.

But while it did hurt, it was a good kind of pain. Pins and needles prickled at her fingertips, and Zoe realized that she was able to actually move them again. Only a slight twitch, but that was progress at least.

{Cleansing Hellfire has leveled up! Cleansing Hellfire is now level 2.}

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Zoe blinked the icy crust out of her eyes. It had finally leveled? That had taken quite a while. And this time wasn’t even particularly special. Sighing, she closed her eyes and dove back into her core space. Just another mystery of this new world. Perhaps Andric and Lily could explain more about it when they landed. Or rather, after they recovered after they landed.

Zoe decided right then and there that she was going to have a nice cup of hot soup, a quarter or half hour by a fire, and then she was going to bury herself under some decadently soft covers until the late morning.

After all, she already knew classic inns existed her. She had just washed up in one about half a day ago. Was it really that long?

Either way, nothing was going to come between her and her soup.

----------------------------------------

They touched down a few dozen paces away from the very outskirts of the town. Lily had wanted to continue, but Zoe had by that point had enough and forced the issue by repeatedly cutting off the mana and letting all three of them plummet for several seconds at a time.

As soon as they were on the ground, Zoe leapt off and dove face first into the snow. Patting the ground, she buried her face in it and kissed it. It felt so strange to be standing on solid ground again — but it was still cold, if not quite so windy. They still needed to find shelter.

Zoe stood up, walked over to Lily, and socked her in the jaw.

Stumbling backwards, the ice summoner clutched her chin and gave Zoe a look of the utmost incredulity. “The fuck?”

Zoe didn’t answer. Instead, she bent down, packed a fistful of snow into a hard ball, and then threw it as hard as she could.

With the help of {Physical Enhancement}, {Kinetic Enhancement}, and {Kinetic Manipulation}, of course. Unfortunately, Zoe wasn’t very good at throwing things. The ball soared over Lily’s shoulder, impacting the ground several dozen meters away and kicking up a spray of snow.

Humiliated, Zoe did the only rational thing she could do to save face. She marched over to the staring mage and shoved her down into the snow. “Thanks a lot for the lift, oh wait, that was fucking horrible, never mind, I hope you lose your ice powers somehow and die soaking wet in a blizzard.”

And with that Zoe marched off towards town. Catching up to her, Andric gave her a concerned look. Zoe sniffled. He looked like he was going to say something, and she was having a hard time reading his expression. Was he concerned for her or for their relationship?

Even if it had been less than twenty four hours.

“I would ask if you are okay, but that would be a bit of a stupid question, wouldn’t it.”

Zoe huffed. “Yeah, kind of.” They continued in silence for a moment. Passing a low, snow covered stone wall, they entered the town proper. “Literally everything since I’ve arrived her has been horrible. But honestly, I’m kind of looking forward to everything.” She paused. “I mean like, I wouldn’t have expected it before I died, but I think this world is a better fit for me.”

Andric nodded but didn’t say anything.

“But I still need friends you know? Even if they’re just using me to gain standing.” Andric chuckled, and Zoe shot him a look. “I’m prepared to wade through shit, but I can’t handle shit from my friends.”

“Oh, so you think I’m your friend?”

“Yeah.”

“Damnit.”

They both laughed, and Andric pushed open the door of the tavern. Zoe hadn’t even realized they were approaching it, but she must have done it subconsciously. Or maybe Andric knew exactly what she needed.

Looking up, she saw that it was called the Coiling Dragon. She scoffed. That was a pretty damn pompous name for a random run down tavern in the middle of nowhere if it meant what she thought it meant.

But then again, that was the style of such places, even back on Earth.

As they entered, she looked backward. “Uh, will Lily be alright?”

Andric shrugged. “Yeah. She’ll owe you an apology. And you probably owe her one too.”

Zoe glared.

“Hey, you know, mutual healing. Bonding over your reconciliation. That sappy emotional shit.”

The booming voice of the barkeep distracted both of them. “Welcome in! Didn’t expect to see any new faces today. What brings you to Shackleton?”

“Business,” Andric deadpanned.

The burly barkeep crossed his arms. Zoe tried to analyze him, but the innate ability refused to activate. {Manasight} revealed that he was just pure green. He must be unawakened, then.

{Manasight has leveled up! Manasight is now level 2.}

“There’s no business here,” the hulking man laughed. And then he muttered under his breath “I would know.”

“Enough,” Zoe said, practically limping up to the counter. “Soup. Give me soup.”

Sucking in his teeth, the barkeep shook his head. “No soup. Served our last pot half an hour ago.”

Zoe stared. “Then make a new pot.” Before the barkeep could protest, Zoe pointed at Andric. “You.”

“Me.”

“You’re definitely completely loaded. So I think you can pay this man for a fresh pot of soup.”

Rolling his eyes, Andric moved to join her. Zoe grinned.

Nothing was going to come between her and her soup.