Chapter 29: 29. Shelter or a trap?
A FEW HOURS LATER
ALEXANDER
I woke up because my face hurt, not from being punched, not from a monster attack. The air itself hurt and that seemed unfair. The camp was silent except for the constant howl of wind tearing through the forest. Frost covered everything, the tents, the equipment, and the heaters. Even my backpack had ice growing on it. I slowly looked toward the temperature crystal then immediately wished I hadn’t. -45°C The crystal flashed red.
"DING."The system appeared.
"Oh no." I whispered.
Scarlet immediately sat up.
"No."I repeated.
Noa opened one eye.
"Please no."I repeated again.
Rosalia sighed, even Aiko looked tired. The system didn’t seem to care.
"Emergency survival event detected." The screen announced. "Environmental conditions have exceeded safe operating parameters. Objective generated. Survive until sunrise."The system said.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"That is the quest?" I asked.
"Correct."The system said.
"Just survive?"I asked again.
"Correct."The system said.
"System."I started.
"Yes?"The system asked.
"I hate you."I groaned.
"Feedback recorded."The system said as the screen changed. "Warning. Failure condition: death."
"THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION."I groaned.
"The system appears unhelpful."Aiko adjusted his glasses.
"It learned from Michael."I sad.
The communication crystal suddenly activated.
"What happened?"Michael’s voice emerged.
"The system gave us a survival quest."I said.
Silence.
"What?"He asked.
"It wants us to survive until sunrise."I said trying to stay calm.
"That is usually a bad sign."Michael said.
"Thank you, Michael."I nodded.
"I am being serious."Michael said.
That got everyone’s attention.
"Why?"Scarlet frowned.
"Emergency survival quests only trigger when the system predicts a significant chance of death."Michael hesitated then answered.
The camp became very quiet. Outside, something howled. Loud, deep and ancient. Nobody liked it. Then the temperature crystal flashed again to -46°C. Aiko immediately stood.
"That is outside expected parameters."He said.
The communication crystal crackled.
"How cold is it?"Michael suddenly sounded alarmed.
"-46."I said.
A pause.
"No."Michael said.
"What do you mean no?"I asked.
"I mean NO."Michael repeated.
The crystal exploded with activity, voices, orders and people running.
"Do not move."Michael shouted.
"What?"I asked.
"Do not move. Stay exactly where you are."Michael said.
"Michael-"I tried to interup him, but the connection ended.
Everyone stared at the crystal.
"What was that?" Isabella asked.
Nobody knew. Then twenty minutes later, reality broke as a massive teleportation circle suddenly erupted beside the camp. Blue light exploded across the snow, wind blasted outward as mana surged and Michael appeared. Along with six guild mages. For approximately three seconds, Michael looked confident then the Northern forest hit him. The wind slammed into his face, as the temperature crushed him and snow blasted across his body. The guild master froze solid, not literally, but mentally. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. Michael slowly turned toward me.
"YOU LIVE HERE?"He asked.
"We’ve been here one day."I said.
"ONE DAY IS TOO LONG."Michael groaned.
Another gust of wind hit him and his expensive guild cloak immediately froze.
"My eyebrows are frozen!"One of the mages screamed.
Another mage fell into the snow as a third was desperately hugging a heater. Michael stared at them, then at the camp, then at me, then at the frozen soup still sitting near the heater.
"What is that?"He asked.
"Dinner."I said.
Michael walked over, poked it. The spoon remained standing as the guild master stared, then looked into the distance. His soul visibly left his body.
"You ate frozen soup."Michael said.
"We tried."I sighed.
Michael sat down heavily. The snow immediately began accumulating on his shoulders.
"I regret everything."Michael said calmly.
"Welcome to the mission."I said and nodded.
A distant roar echoed through the forest, much closer than before. Every mage immediately grabbed a weapon.
"What was that?"Michael looked toward the darkness.
"Large lifeform."Aiko calmly checked a scanner crystal.
"How large?"Michael asked.
Aiko looked at the readings, then looked again.
"Large."Aiko repeated.
Nobody liked that answer, then the system appeared once more.
"DING."The system said.
"No." Everyone said simultaneously.
"Emergency survival event updated. New objective available."The system said.
"What now?"I slowly looked upward.
"Reach shelter before midnight."The screen glowed.
The entire camp froze and Michael pointed at the screen.
"THAT WAS NOT THE OBJECTIVE TEN MINUTES AGO."He said.
"Dynamic conditions detected."The system explained.
"I HATE DYNAMIC CONDITIONS."Michael said annoyed.
Aiko suddenly looked toward the forest as his expression changed.
"Master."Aiko said.
"What?"I asked.
"There is movement."Aiko said.
Everyone became alert.
"How much movement?" Rosalia asked.
Aiko stared into the darkness.
"Thousands."Aiko said.
Outside the barrier, hundreds of tiny blue lights began appearing between the trees. One, ten, fifty, hundreds of eyes watching and slowly moving closer. Michael stared at them, then immediately stood up.
"I no longer regret coming here."He said.
"Really?"I asked.
"I regret becoming a guild master."He added.
That was significantly worse. Nobody argued when I said we needed to move, that was the first bad sign. The second bad sign was Michael agreeing immediately.
"We move toward elevation." I said, pointing at the only visible structure through the storm.
A jagged mountain ridge cut through the whiteout ahead, barely visible through the blizzard. It looked like salvation. Or a trap, probably both.
"High ground reduces ambush angles."Rosalia checked her weapon.
"Better wind cover if we reach the rock face."Noa nodded once.
"It will not last long in this cold."Scarlet reinforced a thin light barrier around us.
"Mountain structure suggests possible thermal pockets."Aiko adjusted his glasses while already walking.
"That sounds hopeful." Isabella said.
"It is statistical, not hopeful." Aiko replied.
"Good enough." I muttered.
"If there is shelter there, we take it immediately."Michael pulled his cloak tighter.
That was the fastest agreement I had ever heard from him. We moved step by step through knee deep snow. Wind slammed into us sideways, trying to push us off balance. Every few meters felt like climbing instead of walking. The world was reduced to white noise and freezing pain as the mountain loomed closer and closer. Until it towered above us like a wall carved from darkness and ice.
"Keep moving." Michael ordered through gritted teeth.
Then the ground shifted just slightly and a soft crack beneath our feet.
"Structural instability detected."Aiko stopped immediately.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"It means do not stand here."Aiko looked down.
"WHY DID YOU SAY IT LIKE THAT AFTER WE ARE ALREADY STANDING HERE?"I asked.
The snow beneath us groaned, then collapsed. Everything gave way at once, the world tilted and we fell.
"NOPE-" I shouted as ground disappeared beneath my feet.
Cold air vanished instantly as we dropped into darkness; snow, rock, and wind followed us down. A loud impact echoed through the cavern below.
