Kill The Old Ones!

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”Jen, you okay?” Ren sounded concerned.

They’re currently at stage 23, exploring the snowy plains, hiding their tracks from the roaming frost wolves while searching for resources.

It wasn’t a secret that Jen was struggling here. For someone whose talent was biased to the fire element, the permeating cold of the snowy plains would obviously be horrible for her, especially towards her, more like.

Jen feels oppressed here; that much was clear. She had to put double the effort to not slow the team down. She was weakened, stifled, and suppressed. It must feel unbearable for her.

But Jen endured. She just gritted her teeth and stubbornly kept going. Her pride didn’t allow her to collapse in here.

That said, as they climbed through the stages, the cold intensifies. The dungeon won’t wait for them to adjust.

From stage 23 onwards, the chances of a blizzard occurring here sharply increase. As if the cold wasn’t already bad enough on its own, they have to be prepared for that as well.

Obviously, stage 23 is much colder than stages 21 and 22, and it’s Jen who’s having the most difficult time here. Therefore, the whole party was paying closer attention to her. They didn’t want her to collapse in the middle of a fight.

”Peachy,” she replied with gritted teeth.

Ren could tell that she was fighting tooth and nail to keep her chakra moving while the environment was trying to freeze it.

Others would think that she’d be more resistant to the cold since her chakra’s naturally hot, but that’s not the case. Nature itself was Jen’s enemy, not some weak monster.

Although Jen reached the marrow cleansing stage recently, she’s nowhere near strong enough to stand up against the power of nature. And she won’t be for a long while.

Jen was already covered in a thick padded jacket, coat, boots, etc. She should feel warmer with all of this, but no, she doesn’t. The cold seems to target her specifically somehow.

”Just a little bit longer, Jen. Once we’re done with the collection, we go on a killing spree, and we’re out of here.” Derek tried to sound reassuring, but his voice shook because his teeth were clattering from the cold.

”You speak as if this were our last round,” Jen bit harshly. ”This is only our third quota for today. We still have to clear this stage two times this day.”

”Look, I appreciate the sentiment, but if we could move faster, that would be better.”

Jen wasn’t trying to sound ungrateful here, but this place was really testing her. She feels targetted, truly, and it feels unbearable. She didn’t want to be here, but she has to; she can’t excuse herself out of this and leave her team to handle everything. That’s not her. That violates her morals.

Besides, she’s a dungeon explorer. Stage 23 won’t be her wall. There’s no way she’d accept that. She promised Travis that they will go far with this party.

Derek didn’t speak another word since he too agreed. He too feels oppressed by this cold, but certainly not as bad as Jen does. As for moving faster, well, sad to say, but this was already as fast as they could go.

They’re treading through knee-deep snow, barely able to see more than twenty meters ahead of them, enduring the bone-gnawing cold, and searching for resources while also being wary of the roaming wolves.

This is the best they could do in this situation. Any other party in their level and position would probably experience the same.

Meanwhile, Ren went quiet after he checked up on Jen.

He kept glancing above as if he were trying to see through something, but the thick haze of ice and snow prevented him from seeing far.

”What’s wrong?” Kaycee asked. She noticed Ren’s behavior and felt like something was up.

There was a deep frown on Ren’s face; it’s as if he’s troubled by something.

”Can you help me check the skies real quick? I feel like something is happening, but I can’t see through this damn environment,” Ren whispered to her.

Kaycee’s eyes flashed with worry. It’s not that she doubted Ren; it’s the opposite, in fact. The whole party learned that Ren’s intuition was really sharp sometimes, and it’s rarely ever wrong.

And that’s precisely why it was worrying.

That’s why Kaycee didn’t hesitate. Although Derek should be the only one who could order her to use her bloodline ability, she knew that Derek wouldn’t mind if she listened to others. Besides, she’d only be blind for a minute or two.

If this could confirm Ren’s suspicions, nobody would dare to reprimand her.

Kaycee’s eyes turned silver as she used her bloodline ability—the Stargazing Eyes. This time, her target was not the overall position of the wolves or resources. Her vision was aimed at the skies.

What she saw made her gasp in alarm, something that alarmed the entire party.

”We need shelter, now! A blizzard is forming just right ahead. I think we only have fifteen minutes before it starts raining icicle shards here!”

”The wolves are already burrowing to hide. There’s no threat around us; we can make as much noise as possible.”

Kaycee wasn’t idle as she spoke; even as her eyes turned dull once her ability ran out, she was still doing something.

”Shit! No wonder why it feels colder all of a sudden!” Derek cursed.

Jen paled and gritted her teeth even more. She fought the urge to raise her middle finger to the sky. Instead, she assisted Kaycee with whatever she’s doing since she knows that the girl couldn’t see shit right after using her bloodline ability.

Ren’s expression turned stormy. His intuition turned out to be right, but at what cost? This was one of the times he wished that his intuition was wrong, instead.

Alas, there’s no escaping this. They can’t outrun a natural calamity. They could only do what they could—build a shelter and hope that it’d be strong enough to last until the blizzard was over.

”Are there no safe zones around?” Jules asked, looking a bit grim and worried too.

”Too far; I don’t have enough time to get there,” Kaycee answered negatively.

BOOM!!!

Their surroundings shook all of a sudden, surprising the team. They thought it was an enemy, but when they looked, it was just Ren.

He punched the ground with all of his strength, no holding back at this point. His punch caused a shockwave that cleared the area with snow, allowing them to see what the actual ground looks like for the first time.

Ren didn’t stop there. He continued punching the ground until large chunks of rocks jutted out.

The team looked at each other before nodding; they jumped and joined him. They carried the rocks that he punched out of the ground and arranged them in the shape of a temporary shelter.

They made sure to cover as many gaps as they could to prevent the cold winds and the sharp icy gales from penetrating them within.

An igloo would’ve been better than this, but again, there’s no time. They have 15 minutes before this blizzard starts raging; any solid shelter would do in this situation.

To account for the smaller gaps, they draped whatever they could find over the stone shelter—tents, blankets, rugs, etc. Anything to close the gaps.

They attached pipes to let air flow; these should be strong enough to endure the harsh blizzard and filter the snow, ice, and water that would eventually flow into it. They could heat it up so that it won’t get clogged.

With their temporary shelter built, the team settled inside and sealed themselves in.

Jen lit up the furnace to start heating up the space. Once the heat emanated out, the whole party breathed a sigh of relief.

”Yeah, this should do. Good work, guys.” Derek sighed as he peeled layers of his clothes.

”How long do you guys think this blizzard would last?” Jules asked, still sounding worried.

”Two hours, max,” Ren replied. ”At least, that’s what they said in the forums. Our time limit here is six hours; we’re an hour and a half in.”

”If they’re right, then we should have more than enough time to wait until the blizzard passed to clear this dungeon. If not, then...well, too bad.” Ren shrugged.

”Yeah, that sounds about right,” Derek agreed. ”Failing to clear isn’t a big deal. Not in this stage at least, so we’re all good. For now, let’s chill here and wait until the blizzard’s over.”

”I would kill for a hot cup of coffee right now, just saying,” Jen uttered, no longer sounding urgent or stressed. She also took off the thickest layer of her clothes since it’s warmer here now.

”Damn, relax!” Derek rolled his eyes at her. ”I’ll start boiling some water, okay? No need to kill. Geez.”

As the party settled inside their temporary shelter, waiting for the blizzard to arrive and pass, Ren silently brought out a small generator, a laptop, and a projector.

Why? To pass time watching movies he downloaded in his free time, what else?