"I really need a camera," I muttered, staring at the beautiful ice crystal. "Then I can rub it in Micah’s face, when I get around to telling him all the cool stuff I get to see in the wilds. I mean, no one would believe me without photo evidence."

I walked closer, squinting from the light radiating from the giant ice crystal. It was so bright that it almost hid the magic sparkle that glittered in the icy blue depths. Without a doubt, this was a magic point. And the System sent me here for that very reason. The only problem was, I couldn't cultivate ice. So, what was I supposed to do with it?

I opened the task description and read it again. It was literally four words: Daily Task: Collect Ice. Very helpful.

"I guess I could just put it in my Items Bag?" I wondered aloud. "That should count as 'collected,' right?"

I reached out and touched the gorgeous ice crystal. And immediately jumped back when its frigid cold bit my fingers. Humming in pain, I shook my hand and contemplated the ice sculpture. I forgot the number one rule in the wilds: the prettier it was, the more dangerous it was. But that wasn't all I learned when I touched it. The ice crystal was connected to the ice stand, which was connected to the tunnel rock — AKA, the mountain. I couldn't put an entire mountain in my Items Bag.

So what now?

Levi lounged across my neck, perfectly content to watch me struggle on my own. He didn't even bat an eye when the ice crystal hurt me, as if he expected it to happen.

I was half tempted to toss him on it to share the experience. Instead, I chose to be the bigger person and bent down to examine the base. There didn't seem to be anything important about the thin stalagmite, other than it was completely made of ice. Just plain, ordinary ice, unlike the thing it supported. I think it was hollow, too, and the only reason it glowed was because of the ice crystal on top.

I stood up and rubbed my hands up and down my arms, warding away the chill. All the cold in the tunnel was coming from the ice crystal – which meant that the closer I was to it, the colder it was. As hot as my forehead felt, this didn't help in the slightest.

But that didn’t matter right now. The only thing that did was the ice crystal. If I separated it from the stand, then it wouldn't be a part of the mountain, right? Then let's go with that.

First, I turned on the torch orb. The ice crystal was the only light source in the tunnel and I didn't want to be left in the dark when the crystal disappeared. Then I took my sword out and created a water shield over the blade. Then I aimed at the base where the ice crystal met the stand and swung as hard as I could. My sword hit the ice with a chink and abruptly stopped a third of the way through the base. Encouraged, I wedged my sword out and swung again, then again. Crack! The ice crystal slipped to the side and tilted towards the ground.

Quickly, I reached out and touched the bitter cold chunk. The ice crystal disappeared into my Items Bag, while I hissed in pain and shook my hand. Damn, I accidentally touched it in the same place on my finger twice. I could already feel the blister swelling. Grimacing, I pressed my finger against my warm neck and tried to use my fever to make the frostbite mellow out.

Ding! [Daily Task Collect Ice Completed.]

Ding! [Cultivate the Water.]

My brows rose. "Water? There wasn't water here a second ago. Don't tell me..."

I glanced at the broken stand. I knew it was hollow from earlier, I just didn't realize that there was something in it. The crystal was gone, but the stand was still glowing and it had everything to do with the water hiding in the triangular ice vase. Was it the water that made the ice glow, or was the ice the reason the water glowed? Either way, both of them shimmered with magic.

I poked Levi's tail with my finger. "Well, I guess the System has decided that we're the official magic spot cleaner uppers. What do you think, are you up for cultivating again?"

Levi climbed down my arm and hung onto my wrist, looked at me with big, expecting eyes.

I, however, wasn't as fast on the get go. Instead, I took out my thick wool blanket and folded it into a butt-rest. The System never said that I had to sit on cold rock to cultivate, and I wasn't too keen on freezing my cheeks off while cultivating. Once seated with my back against the wall so I could see down the tunnel, I folded my legs and fingers as Levi perched on my knee. Then I closed my eyes and reached out for the water magic.

Volume wise, it wasn't as plentiful as the magic spring that I encountered yesterday, but it was very potent. Maybe that's why it affected the tunnel so much, by freezing it and causing all the icicles. This magic water was so strong that it resisted my call when I tried to direct it into me. With a slight frown, I forcefully grabbed the water essence. At first it struggled, before it slowly followed my direction. It wasn't a rushing river, or even a stream, but a tiny trickle. Each drop took a long time to bring to me, and even longer to merge it with my own essence. A freezing pool grew in my stomach where the essence touched, like someone was holding a giant ice cube to my skin. Instinctively I wanted to wiggle away from the feeling, but it was a spiritual feeling from the inside. I couldn't get away no matter where I moved. Not to mention, what if shifting my posture interrupted the cultivating process? Not worth it.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Even though I was dealing with less water than ever before, it took a long time. At long last, the water essence dried up.

I opened my eyes with a sigh of relief, and quickly adjusted to the dim, torch lit dead-end. For the first time since I left the stream today, I didn’t feel dizzy. I didn’t know if the poison naturally resolved itself, or if cultivating made it finally go away, but I was grateful. But I still couldn’t say that I felt the greatest. Cultivating usually felt good — freeing and empowering. While I did feel magically charged now, I was exhausted from the effort it took. An annoying contradiction.

The ice vase stood empty next to me, and it wasn’t glowing anymore – which answered my earlier question, I guess. Along with the light, the frigid bite in the air was gone. Now that the magic was gone, the ice was simply ice, and there was nothing to keep it cold. It might thaw, but it was also possible that it didn't. After all, the inside of mountains are natural freezers.

Ding! [Magic +1]

"Yes!" I threw my hands in the air with excitement, nearly unbalancing Levi on my knee. That was exactly what I hoped for. Quickly, I opened my stats screen and looked at the numbers. Finally, my magic was higher than my agility, making it the highest stat.

I pressed a hand to my stomach, where the last of the water essence magic was slowly merging with my own essence. My body still felt cold, but it was warming up with each passing second. I closed my eyes, focusing on the magic reservoir inside. The well had grown to a large pool, the clear, sparkly surface gently swaying in an invisible wind. Just a single thought would cause it to erupt into a torrent.

Ding!

The sound caught my attention and I opened my eyes.

[Gained Skill: Water Slide.]

I gasped in excitement and went to check what that new skill was when yet another System screen popped up.

Ding! [Gained Shared Ability: Familiar Empowerment.]

"Familiar Empowerment?" I read aloud in wonder. Did ... that mean what I thought it did? My heart tightened with hope – and a little worry.

Levi opened his eyes finally and stared up at the screen. He climbed onto my shoulder and leaned towards the teal panel as I flipped through the Guide menu to the Abilities tab. He shifted with anticipation, as if he knew what I was searching for.

There, on my short Abilities list, was a new entry. I clinked on the one that said 'Familiar Empowerment.'

[Familiar Empowerment: The ability to empower and enlarge the Familiar to a size relevant to their strength. Duration: 20 minutes. Cost: 1/4 total MP of both Host and Familiar. The more MP committed to the ability, the greater the effects will be.]

Below was a diagram and instructions on how to activate it. Basically, I needed to make this diagram with my water and attach magic on it. When Levi passed through the diagram, all the magic would soak into him, and he'd get bigger and stronger.

I gaped at the ability and slowly read it aloud, processing. That sounded amazing. For the first time, getting my big, ferocious leviathan seemed more than a pipe dream. I could see him rising up like a boss, a tidal wave rolling behind him just like the first time I saw him in city ruins. But that awesomeness came at a cost. With my stats at 178 MP right now, that meant I was only out 44 MP for the spell. But what would happen as I leveled up? At the rate my MP was growing now, the idea that it reached into the thousands wasn't too far-fetched. That means that casting this spell will cost a lot of MP. As in, hundreds – and if my MP got high enough, even thousands. But the more MP it cost, the stronger Levi would get. Maybe even leviathan strong.

Levi understood all my thoughts. He wiggled around like an electrically charged noodle, his head bobbing in and out of the screen. Then he started tapping my neck with his tail as giddy excitement bubbled in his mind. He desperately wanted to activate the ability right now. He wanted to be big again.

"I understand what you mean," I took him off my shoulder and set him on my lap. "I want to test it out too. Really, I do. But I don't think it's the best idea right now."

I motioned towards the black tunnel ahead. The icicles that filled the rocky cave used to glow because of the magic spot. But I guess they weren't compatible enough with my torch orb enough to do the same now. There was nothing but a black hole in front of us. One I knew was riddled with icy tripping hazards.

A musky smell still lingered in the air. I couldn't detect it very much right now, but it was still there. It definitely wasn't from the ice oras — they didn't really have a scent at all. No, the musky smell came from something with fur, not an icy blob with legs.

"We don't know what else is in the cave," I explained, remembering the two other tunnels we passed by earlier. "We don't know if we're safe here. There could be more ice oras – or other, more powerful monsters. And until we do, we shouldn't waste MP." I glanced at the blue MP bar in the corner of my vision. I had two-thirds of it left. If I used up another quarter just to play around, and a monster found us before Regen filled the bar back up, we could be in trouble.

Levi glared at me, rejecting my idea. He grabbed my hand with his mouth and lifted it, like trying to force me to make the diagram.

I lifted my hand high but he refused to let go. He dangled in the air, like a long blue booger. "How about this?" I compromised. "It's getting late in the day. We need to find a place to spend the night. How about we check out the cave and make sure it's safe. If it is, then we'll spend the night here and practice the spell?"

We were only D ranked, so he shouldn't get bigger than the tunnel... Right?

Ria Moore

D Rank

Level 13

EXP to Next LV 185

HP 122/149

MP 143/178

Strength 21 (+2)

Magic 25

Constitution 20 (+2)

Agility 24

Perception 20

Intelligence 23

Abilities:

Regen (Limited)

Bubble (10 MP)

Hydrokinesis (10 MP + 1 MP per minute)

Familiar Empowerment (1/4 MP)

Skills:

Power Swim

Water Slide

*****