“For now…if this is really the weather everywhere in the valley, then I’ll create a base for us,” Emilio said, “Stand back.”
The three seemed eager for the young Dragonheart’s offer as they gladly stood back and watched as Emilio put his magic mastery to use, able to utilize the vast clearing ahead as he manipulated the natural material around.
A square-shaped cottage was made from a combination of reinforced dirt and stone, using the frost itself to stick it together and harden it.
“Awesome!” Everett bumped his fist into the air.
As they all went inside, the lesser spirits were kept manifested, with Salamander creating a campfire in the middle of the closed-off base of dirt to create another source of heat.
In unison, sighs of relief left their mouths as each of them sat around the fire; Emilio sat next to Melisande and Everett sat alone, with Yuna staying near a corner quietly to herself.
“…Phew…” Emilio leaned his head back against the wall.
“Augh…my toes were starting to go numb!” Everett said.
Without any shame, the shielder had his boots off, massaging his own feet as he wiggled his toes to bring them back to life, though this only kept the others even further from him.
“Good to know,” Emilio sarcastically said.
“…Gross. It smells sour in here now…” Melisande held her nose.
Everett’s cheeks went red with embarrassment, “Hey! It ain’t exactly easy to get a bath in during this trial, okay?!”
Though right after the shielder yelled out in embarrassment with his boots still off and his cheeks flustered, the red-haired rogue was suddenly on her feet with her tail swaying.
There was silence for a moment from this unexpected stance taken by the demi-human as her eyes were on the wall behind Everett.
“Wh-what? Ya got somethin’ to say, too–?!” Everett asked.
Just then, Emilio yelled out, “Gnome! Undyne!”
The entire wall of reinforced dirt crumbled from a sudden burst of physical force behind the shielder, taking the group by surprise as a goliath of a figure crashed in.
“What–?!” Melisande let out, still sitting.
Just as the unknown intruder broke through the wall, the two lesser spirits called by the young Dragonheart acted, with Gnome summoning a pillar from the ground that smacked into the figure’s chest, and Undyne unleashing multiple arrows of water towards it.
Before it was even properly seen, the bestial intruder was knocked back, giving them time to properly react.
“The hell was that?!” Everett asked, quickly putting his boots on before standing, shaking the dirt off his shoulders.
“I don’t know, but it’s angry!” Emilio said.
He and Yuna were the first ones out of the base, stepping back into the field of open snow to confront the unwelcome entity as it picked itself up, roaring out as its coat of snow-white fur vibrated.
Is that…a yeti? He questioned.
It wasn’t something he had read about in books on Arcadius, but a concept he recognized from fairy tales on Earth when looking upon the tall, burly creature that was built like a mix between a bear and a gorilla.
“Do you know what this thing is?!” He asked.
Yuna nodded her head, drawing her daggers, “It’s a Snow Granga!–I’ve seen normal Granga in my homeland, but none were this big!”
What made little sense at first to Emilio was why the beast that was clearly adapted to cold weather appeared now with the flash of winter, even though it should’ve been spring weather just an hour prior.
…Do seasons change weekly? Was it hibernating? That has to be it, I’m guessing, he concluded.
Thoughts had to be ceased as the Snow Granga charged forward with a roar that rippled through the snow, rushing across the clearing of frost as it used its massive fists like a second pair of legs.
“Get ready!” Yuna warned.
Just as Emilio was preparing to meet it openly with a heaping summoning of flames, he found the beast intercepted just as it lunged towards him–
“Hoo-raaaah!”
As brazen as ever, Everett bashed his shield against the wild beast, knocking it back as its feet slid across the sea of white.
“Ha-ha! It’s not so–”
After boasting, the shielder found himself quickly silenced as the frost-inhabiting granga leapt over, slamming its fists against the man’s shield with such force that the echo shifted the snow wildly.
“Here!”
Emilio yelled out before summoning a large javelin made of flames, shooting it towards the beast as it sizzled through the rain of snowflakes. As the beast roared and continued thrashing against Everett’s shield, it was knocked back by the impact of the flame javelin, resulting in a small explosion.
“Gah!” Everett slid back from the shock wave.
Even though it was a direct-hit, the granga rolled over momentarily with a burnt patch of skin on its side before jumping back up, salivating with another warcry leaving its mouth.
As it thumped its own chest in a display of power, Yuna tossed a few needles against it, stabbing into its arm, though only seeming to invoke the beast’s wrath.
“–!” Yuna’s eyes widened.
The agile cat-woman flipped back as the snow granga dashed with relentless speed, attempting to grab onto her with its mighty hands, though missing entirely.
“Wind Blast!”
Interrupting its charge, a propulsion of wind smacked right against the gray-skinned monster’s face, causing it to scrunch its nose and shake its head, stopping in its path.
Melisande stood there with her hands pointing forward, huffing out as she realized the futility of the attack, “Uh-oh–”
“Get back!” Yuna called out.
As the beast rushed towards the silver-haired girl, who didn’t have any time to weave another skill into reality, Emilio was forced to intercept its rush as he pointed his staff forward in a desperate extension:
…Come on! He thought.
At the distance he was at and with snow being a foreign element to him, the accuracy of the spell of wind he desired to cast was lessened, though he pulled through just as the granga raised its fist to smash the girl below it.
“Orbital Storm.”
The spell was simple and vast in potency as it caused a rift of wind directly beneath the beast in a condensed explosion of wind, knocking it upward harshly.
FWOOOOOOOOOSH.
Everybody looked up in awe at the result as the large, muscle-bound monster was now launched upwards, flailing wildly as it soared higher than the tallest trees before slamming into the upside down region of the valley above.
“Holy damn…!” Everett reacted, watching from below.
Though the effect didn’t last long as the raging beast broke out of the soil it was caved into, letting out a bestial roar before leaping downward once more.
Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on free(w)ebnov(e)l.𝒄𝒐𝙢