WORKERS
Roughly 190 years later…
A few bustling village people can be seen harvesting ice out of a small, isolated lake. Slowly working away, sawing away another section of ice to be sold a worker sees some colour bleeding through the ice in a long strange shape. Pushing his fuzzy brows together and pushing his mouth down he tries to identify it. After a few minutes, the man decides to separate the mass of colour from the rest of the lake. Before he pulls it out of the frigged water, the man decides to walk over to a man in fine attire.
Carefully keeping his head down he implores, “Boss, there’s somethin' in a block I was cuttin' out. I'm not for certain, but I think,… I think it might be a, well, sim-”.
With a chopping gesture, the man stops the older man from continuing, “Take it out of the ice! I don't care what it is! Get back to work. I’ll get... Darrell, Tucker, over here! Deal with this coloured block. We can't sell it.”
A while later the thing in question is excavated from the ice with a lot of heaving and leverage. The large snow that was falling easily clung to the ice's slick surface, quickly blurring whatever was inside further.
The Boss nods at the two men's hard work and ushers them away, “Put it in the bush out back with the other annoyances!”
“Yes sir!”, the two men say in unison.
Going into the nearby supply shed, they start rummaging around until they retrieve some rough leather straps.
"Aren't these meant for the dogs?" Tucker asks while holding one of the harnesses limply.
"Yep. But they're better than the alternative." Tilting his Darrell gives a half-hearted smile, "Sides' aren't we already the boss dogs?"
Letting out a small chuckle, Tucker nods lightly.
Bringing out the supplies the two workers heave, rolling the block onto its side where it met the wood of a sled.
Thunk!
Neither of the men could fit into the harnesses properly, but they could get the largest of the many confusing holes to wrap around their chests and thick coats. Their trained feet stomped steadily towards the edge of the lake that led into the frost-ridden trees. The forest itself was dead silent, not a whisper to be found, most life was gone due to the severe weather.
Once their sore legs arrived deep enough into the forest, the workers unstrapped themselves and rolled the block of ice off of the sled into a section of deep snow exposed to the sky.
* * *
ISMUND
A bright light sears my eyelids as I wake up. Everything feels soaked. Slowly cracking my eyes open I realize that it’s just the sun looking down on me.
“That’s bright,” I murmur, still trying to figure out what’s happening and sit up, and reach back to feel what’s weighing me down.
“A backpack hmm… wait! Wait!” coming to the realization and memory of what’s happened. I feel hot tears run down my face, knowing that nobody is there, I let myself sit and think.
Why did that have to happen? They were all so good, they didn’t do anything wrong! Especially, Balder, he was only 12! None of them even had a proper funeral. All of them are just gone. Why!? Why!? I didn’t even manage to keep Balder safe! Sweet little Balder with his bright eyes. He could’ve been here now if it weren’t for my absentmindedness. Just carrying on seems wrong. We all should’ve grown old together…
I Pause, pulling myself together.
I’ll avenge their deaths. They were kind loving people, too soft for this world. If I’m going to avenge them I have to be as cold as ice. I can’t get attached to others, I can’t have a weakness if I’m going to do this because of how blasted weak I am compared to whatever attacked us. They need a burial… I’ll go make one for them.
Gathering dirt and some pieces of wood, I roughly carve out their names and say some words over them, grit my jaw and harden my heart with resolve. And tune out my grief, letting it strengthen my heart.
That decided, I finally read the messages the system has been giving me, its computer-like screen in stark contrast to my loss.
> [Updating Status…]
>
> [Error, user should be deceased, processing…]
>
> [Trait found, [Born of Cold]. User survived from “increased tolerance for the cold”]
>
> [Update complete!]
>
> [You have been frozen for approximately 190 years to date and survived! New record set. Assigning achievement [Frozen]]
>
> [Granted Title [North Blood]]
>
> [-Frozen: Look at you setting records! Don’t you think you deserve a reward? I do! [Ice bleached!], [Time numb] and [Ice affiliation] have been added to [noteworthy traits]. View information?]
“Yes”
I’ve got to use whatever I can to my advantage if I’m going to do this.
> [Ice Bleached:Your hair is permanently white! lucky you.]
>
> If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
I stare at the screen dumbfounded.
Not what I was expecting… is it just doing it for fun? I guess I can use it to look like an old man. Not too far from it anyways. I was frozen for a while.
> [Time Numb: What’s a second to you? You’ve spent almost 200 years stuck in a hunk of ice. You have gained a poor sense of time to either your detriment or gain.]
My frown deepens.
OK, so nothing very helpful so far. That’s just great.
> [Ice Affiliation: Immunity to all cold and all speed related afflictions. Cold to the touch and generate a small amount of cold energy. You can live and move in all cold or snowy regions comfortably and won’t sink in the snow unless desired. Weakness to heat related attacks. Difficulty traversing sand or any hot conditions.]
Rolling my eyes, I think: Well at least it makes it easier here. But of course, it can’t be all rainbows and sunshine.
> [North Blood: Granted from combination of [Born of the Cold], [Frozen], and [Woodsman] achievements. Allows User safe passage in Northern climates in the case of animals if they are unprovoked.]
I groan.
I got something useful. But now I’m stuck not knowing if I can avenge them in the first place.
“Hey System, are-”
> [Answering query…]
That’s creepy. I don’t think it’s supposed to read my thoughts.
> [System has been updated so that it can read users’ thoughts to determine loyalty to the system.]
“Being loyal to what?”
> [System was implemented to destroy dungeons so that the Earth could return to its original trajetory. The system allows users to surpass original human capabilities to accomplish this goal. After this goal is met all abilities that surpass natural human capacities will be removed along with any energy or ‘magic’ remaining.]
“I know that, but why would you want to test that in the first place?” I ask, confused
> [All current users, not including user Ismund Theodore, have made an alliance with the invaders, using their corrupted energy to perform corrupted magic which uses life source, normal energy, and blood as it’s main fuel.]
“So why haven’t you just stopped them or removed their access to it?”
> [Users Thor-ny, Odin-ner, Lo-key, Fry-a, and Hel-thy adopted the invader’s corrupt energy. The System sent a giant to destroy them, depleting most of its energy resources. The five siblings corrupted it with their magic and sent it rampaging and destroyed your village before it could be melted down by the System. The System has, since then, been crippled, unable to stop users.]
So revenge is still an option then. Good. I’ll need to become powerful enough to defeat them, there’s certainly at least a few dungeons around to get stronger. It just makes me want to punch these ‘people’ in the face more. They wanted to get more power without the system and killed many hundreds because they didn’t want to go into some dungeons! That’s messed up.
At this point, I can’t be angry at the system. It tried to get rid of them and isn’t even sentient or anything, as much as it pretends.
> [Question has been answered. Continue notifications?]
“Yes.” I sigh.
Better to get on with it, don’t want to sit around all day.
> [Is the user’s goal to destroy dungeons and remove invaders?]
“Yes, they have to pay for the loss of my family and all of those innocent people!” I get out with hot resolve. “They don’t deserve to stay alive.”
> [System favor granted! Adding to Status under Titles]
>
> [The user is Average tier B and cannot move forward and succeed without a higher Path tier.]
Right, because the D tier is the hardest to get over in terms of paths, and your body, mind, and soul’s tiers won’t go past it.
> [Path has been updated. [Swordsman of the North (D)] -> [Winter’s Blade (C, Upgradable) according to users actions, experience, and personality]
“How does that even match my personality?”
> [User has decided to become cold as to avenge his family’s death]
I pause. “I guess so, never mind”
Man, am I ever glad it’s Upgradable, I’m not particularly keen on doing something that almost kills me to get a new one. I’ll just have to make three things on my status next tier to bring it up.
> [Would the user like to be tiered-up in Body, Mind, or Soul, skill, or receive ‘Help’? Chose one]
Stopping myself from immediately upgrading my Swordsmanship skill, I think for a second.
I Can tier up on my own and advance my Swordsmanship skill by myself as well with the new path. But I can’t easily find any help by the sounds of it. While it’s more risky, I feel like this is probably the better decision.
> [Granting ‘Help’, please wait]
“Why did you do that? What if I changed my mind? at least wait for me to think about it directly!”
> [Changing settings…]
>
> [Complete]
>
> [Updated Status]
>
> [Name: Ismund Theodore (Mr. Toothpick)Hidden
>
> Age: 20
>
> Sex: Male
>
> Race: Human
>
> Path:Winter’s Blade (C: Upgradable)
>
>
>
> Tier
>
> Body:D+
>
> Mind:D
>
> Soul:D
>
>
>
> Achievements
>
>
>
> -Frozen: Look at you setting records! Don’t you think you deserve a reward? I do! [Ice bleached!] and [Ice affiliation] have been added to [noteworthy traits]
>
>
>
> —Trained: You’ve been trained to beat up anything that gets in your way your whole life, good for you! You can now train others with increased success.
>
>
>
> -Martial-artist: You’ve Completed training in outstanding time. You will never lose your muscle memory.
>
>
>
> -Born of the Cold: You’ve lived in the harsh climate of the north. It’s possible to light a fire in any weather and you have an increased tolerance for the cold, however you have lost the ability to live in warm conditions comfortably.
>
>
>
> -Woodsman: congratulations! you’ve been abandoned in the bush and managed to get to your community safely. You are now a human compass who can chop wood.
>
>
>
> Noteworthy traits and Skills
>
>
>
> Upgradable:[Swordsmanship: D+]
>
>
>
> Nonupgradable:[Human Compass], [Iron Fists], [Ice bleached!][Ice affiliation], [Time Numb]
>
>
>
> Titles
>
> - System Favor
>
> - North Blood
>
> -Mr. Toothpick ]
“At least the notifications are done”, I sigh, looking down at my sorry state and picking myself up.
I don’t know when but at some point I had dried off enough from the sun that my shoes wouldn’t squelch while I walked. It looks like early spring. This means that there’s less snow but you still can’t find the ground outside of towns if you try. I start looking around and find myself surrounded by pine trees and some snow, with no physical markers.
“I never really thought that that ‘Human Compass’ would come in handy. but look at me now” I chuckle darkly to myself. Making a few toothpicks with mint flavor out of the trees next to me I start chewing on one. I quietly mumble, “The stress relief is no joke, and I’ll probably lean on it seeing there are no side effects. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let the world see the nickname.”