Sitting on a patch of grass that had been completely flash-frozen into a perfect circle, a girl sat alone at the center of the field of frost.
She appeared to be around 15 or 16, dressed in an elegant pale-blue and silver uniform that looked both expensive and carefully tailored. Her long hair was the color of glacial ice, cascading over her shoulders and down her back in shimmering strands that almost seemed to blend with the frozen landscape around her.
Yet despite her beautiful appearance, she was clearly suffering.
Her arms were wrapped tightly around her body, and her entire frame trembled uncontrollably. Her lips had taken on a faint blue tint, while every breath she released became a cloud of freezing mist that immediately crystallized against the ground, spreading another thin layer of frost across the grass.
Matatabi's voice sounded in Arthev's mind, her usual calm tone carrying a trace of concern.
'An extreme ice variant. Her martial soul's attribute is far too potent for her current physical vessel. The energy is overwhelming her body's natural temperature regulation and causing a severe cold backlash.'
Arthev studied the girl carefully.
'She's freezing from the inside out.'
'And she's isolated herself,' Matatabi added.
That much was obvious.
There were no companions nearby, no camp, no belongings apart from the things she was wearing, and no signs that anyone else had entered the frozen area. She had deliberately chosen a secluded place where her condition could not endanger anyone.
Arthev didn't announce his presence, nor did he immediately rush forward and attempt to play the hero. The girl had already recognized the danger of her own condition, and charging directly into an unstable ice domain without understanding its mechanism would accomplish nothing.
Instead, he crouched down roughly ten feet from her, just beyond the edge of the freezing zone, and calmly placed his small bundle of dry twigs on the ground.
The girl didn't seem to notice what he was doing at first.
Arthev arranged the twigs into a small pile and raised one finger. A microscopic fraction of plasma heat flowed through his body before he released it into the center of the pile.
Fwoosh!
A tiny flame appeared.
It burned cleanly and steadily without producing any smoke, completely unaffected by the freezing air surrounding it.
The girl's eyes suddenly snapped open.
They were a striking shade of deep sapphire blue, but the moment they focused on Arthev, they widened with alarm.
"Don't come any closer!"
Her voice was musical despite the strain behind it, and the urgency in her tone made it clear that the warning was genuine rather than hostile.
"My martial soul is unstable right now. The cold will penetrate your meridians if you enter the area, so please stay back."
Arthev glanced at her before calmly placing his small iron kettle over the fire.
"I heard you."
The girl stared at him in disbelief.
"Then why are you still here?"
"I'm making tea."
For several seconds, she simply looked at him.
"Tea?"
Arthev opened a small pouch and dropped a pinch of dried ginger root into the kettle, followed by some crushed star anise and a spoonful of medicinal honey.
The girl's expression shifted from alarm to complete confusion.
"I told you to leave."
"I know."
"Then leave!"
Arthev stirred the contents of the kettle with a small wooden stick.
"You are suffering from severe hypothermia caused by excessive ice-attributed soul power. Your body is struggling to maintain its internal temperature, and forcing your soul power back down would probably cause a backlash through your meridians."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"You can tell that just by looking at me?"
"Your symptoms aren't particularly difficult to identify."
Another violent tremor ran through her body.
She clenched her teeth and tried to suppress it, but the effort only made the martial soul phantom behind her flare more violently.
The temperature plummeted.
A wave of very cold 🥶 frost exploded outward from her body, sweeping across the ground and racing directly toward Arthev.
"Please, move!"
The freezing wave struck him.
Nothing happened.
The flames beneath the kettle continued burning. The water inside continued warming.
Even the loose strands of Arthev's hair barely moved.
Deep within his body, Isobu effortlessly absorbed the water aspect contained within the ice, while Matatabi's constant baseline heat circulated through his cells and maintained a stable internal temperature.
The combined effects turned what should have been a lethal wave of freezing energy into little more than a cool breeze against his skin.
Arthev looked down at his hand.
A thin layer of frost had formed across his fingers. He brushed it away.
"Interesting."
The girl stared at him as though she had just witnessed something impossible.
"You..."
She looked from his completely unharmed body to the frozen ground around him.
"How are you still standing?"
The girl stared in absolute shock as she watched the dark-haired boy pour the steaming, fragrant liquid into a wooden cup.
She still couldn't understand what she was seeing. The temperature around her was low enough to freeze ordinary soul master, yet he was standing beside the fire as casually as if nothing unusual were happening.
Then Arthev stood.
He walked directly into the center of her freezing domain.
The frost cracked beneath his boots with every step, but it never climbed up his legs. He didn't shiver, activate his martial soul, summon a soul ring, or construct any kind of defensive barrier.
He simply walked through the localized blizzard until he was standing directly in front of her, completely unaffected by a temperature that should have caused severe frostbite within seconds.
He held out the steaming wooden cup.
"Drink."
The girl stared at it.
"Ginger promotes circulation, while honey restores blood sugar and provides a quick source of energy. Your body is spending too much energy resisting the elemental intrusion, so we need to give it something it can use to stabilize itself."
She slowly looked from the cup to his face.
For her entire life, her extreme talent had been a double-edged sword. She was genius, but her ice was so potent that when the backlash came, everyone had to stay away. No one could touch her. No one could sit beside her when she was hurting
Yet this strange boy was standing directly inside her localized blizzard, calmly offering her tea as though the two of them were sitting together in a warm room.
After a moment of hesitation, she slowly reached out.
Her trembling fingers wrapped around the wooden cup.
Their fingertips brushed for the briefest moment.
She instinctively expected him to recoil.
Instead, she felt something she had never experienced before.
Warmth.
Not the aggressive, burning heat of a Fire-type soul master, nor the overwhelming pressure of a powerful flame. It was something far subtler, yet somehow deeper. His body radiated a steady thermal stability that remained completely unaffected by her extreme cold.
It was grounding.
For the first time during one of her episodes, she didn't feel as though she was fighting the cold alone.
She lowered her eyes to the cup and carefully took a sip.
The warmth spread down her throat and into her chest.
Almost immediately, the violent energy churning through her meridians began to settle. The painful pressure around her heart gradually weakened, while the Ice Phoenix phantom behind her folded its enormous wings and slowly faded into a calm blue light.
The frost stopped spreading.
The girl released a long, shaky breath.
Color gradually returned to her cheeks as the trembling in her hands subsided.
She took another sip before looking up.
Arthev had already moved away.
He sat on a frozen log several meters from her, resting his arms against his knees while quietly watching the surface of the lake.
She stared at him for several seconds.
"You aren't hurt."
Arthev didn't look away from the water.
"No."
"How?"
"Principle of Elemental Equilibrium."
She frowned.
"Elemental... Equilibrium?"
"It's a simple principle."
He picked up a small stone and tossed it into the lake. The impact created a series of ripples across the water.
"Energy doesn't simply disappear. It moves from one state to another and seeks equilibrium."
He glanced toward her.
"Your body is trying to suppress the ice attribute by constantly fighting against it. That resistance consumes your stamina and soul power. As you become weaker, your body loses the ability to resist, which allows the ice to overwhelm you even further."
He gestured toward the cup in her hands.
"I didn't destroy the cold. I introduced another source of heat energy and gave your body enough support to restore the balance."
The girl stared at him.
"So... instead of fighting my ice..."
"...you helped my body stop fighting itself."
Arthev nodded.
"Exactly."
She lowered her eyes to the remaining tea.
For some reason, the simple explanation felt strangely profound.
All these years, she had thought her ice was something she needed to suppress.
Perhaps she had simply never learned how to live alongside it.
He look at her.
His gaze remained entirely analytical, yet there was something strangely comforting about the complete absence of pity in his eyes.
"Ice isn't the presence of cold," Arthev said softly.
"It's simply water at rest. You don't need to fight it. You just need to let it rest."
Shui Bing'er's sapphire eyes widened slightly.
Just water resting.
All her teachers had told her to conquer her ice, suppress the backlash, and force her martial soul into submission through sheer willpower. Not once had anyone suggested that she stop fighting it and try to understand what her ice was actually doing.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
They simply sat beside the lake, separated by a few meters of frost-covered ground. The only sounds were the gentle crackling of Arthev's small fire and the soft rustling of willow branches overhead.
For a brief moment, they were simply two people sitting beside a quiet lake, neither required to be a genius, a captain, or a monster.
Eventually, a faint voice carried from the distant road.
"Sister! Bing'er! The food is ready! Where are you?"
Shui Bing'er sighed softly.
The invisible mantle of responsibility settled back onto her shoulders almost immediately, straightening her posture and returning the composed expression she wore so naturally.
She looked down at the empty wooden cup in her hands, her fingers tracing the smooth grain.
"I should go."
She rose slowly, then looked back at Arthev.
"I don't have any coins with me right now. But if you tell me which academy or clan you belong to, I'll gladly send compensation for the medicine."
Arthev picked up a damp cloth and began wiping down his small iron kettle.
"It was hot water, a pinch of ginger, and some basic sugar."
He paused to inspect the kettle before continuing.
"The material cost was roughly one-tenth of a copper coin. Processing the transaction would consume more energy than the tea itself is worth."
Bing'er blinked.
She had met plenty of boys who tried to impress her, flatter her, or awkwardly refuse payment out of misplaced pride.
She had never met anyone who rejected compensation because the transaction wasn't energy-efficient.
For a moment, she simply stared at him.
Then the corners of her lips slowly lifted.
It wasn't the polite smile she gave to rival academies, nor the reassuring smile she offered her teammates.
It was small, unguarded, and completely genuine.
"I see."
Her voice was noticeably lighter.
"Then I suppose..... I am in your debt for the ten-tenths of a copper."
Arthev finally looked up.
"That's not how one-tenth works."
Bing'er froze. Then she laughed.
A quiet, genuine laugh escaped her lips before she could stop it.
"I know."
She placed the wooden cup carefully on the flat rock between them.
"Thank you."
She hesitated for a moment before adding softly,
"Truly."
Arthev gave a small nod.
"You're welcome."
She turned and walked toward the tree line.
Her steps were steady now, and the suffocating cold that had always clung to her during these episodes was gone. Only a crisp, refreshing chill followed in her wake as she passed through the willow branches.
Arthev watched until she disappeared from sight.
Only then did he stand.
His eyes fell upon the wooden cup she had left behind. It was perfectly clean, the remaining moisture having already frozen and evaporated beneath her now-controlled aura.
He picked it up, packed it carefully into his bag, and slung the strap over his shoulder.
Matatabi's soft, amused voice purred through his mind.
'Well, well. Look at you, playing the gentleman. And here I thought we were going to spend the entire day analyzing dirt.'
Arthev started toward the main road.
'I merely provided a thermal buffer to prevent a localized ecological freeze.'
He adjusted his bag.
'It was an act of environmental preservation.'
Shukaku snorted.
'Sure it was, kid. Keep telling yourself that.'
Arthev didn't bother answering.
He walked beneath the swaying willows, listening to the distant sound of running water and the quiet rhythm of his own footsteps.
The forest was peaceful. The air was cool.
And his mind was completely still.
He had set out that morning intending to rest.
Surprisingly, he had actually managed to do it.
To be continued...