The swirling vortex of white snow in Alvian's mind finally settled. He stood in the center of Professor Rogge's chaotic laboratory, the lingering chill of the Frostfang Caverns still clinging to his skin like a second layer of armor. In his hand, he held a crystallized fragment of the [Heart of Frost Essence]—a leftover sample Rogge had demanded he retrieve.
Rogge snatched the sample with a pair of mythril tongs, his magnified eyes wide behind his goggles. He shoved it under a massive, humming analyzer that looked like a torture device for magical rocks.
"Fascinating… absolutely fascinating," Rogge muttered, the gears in his head turning audibly. "The energy signature is stable, yet aggressive. You didn't just absorb the essence to learn the skill; you dominated it. But this… look at this reading."
A holographic display flickered to life, showing a jagged, dark violet line spiking through the pristine blue data of the ice essence.
"Corruption," Alvian stated flatly, recognizing the signature from his past life.
"Worse," Rogge corrected, his manic grin fading into a grimace of scientific concern. "Organized corruption. This isn't natural decay. This is a manufactured signature. Someone, or something, is tampering with the elemental planes connected to our world. The Heart of Frost wasn't just acting up; it was being poisoned."
Before Alvian could respond, a blaring chime echoed through the room. A crimson holographic envelope materialized in the air, stamped with the official seal of the Academy's High Council.
[Ding! Mandatory Mission Issued!]
[Priority: High]
[Type: Investigation/Suppression]
[Target: Silverwood Province]
Rogge swiped the air, opening the message. His eyebrows shot up. "Well, speak of the devil. The Academy's sensors have picked up a massive anomaly in Silverwood. The Governor has declared a state of emergency. Monsters are rampaging, and the temperature is dropping by the hour. They believe it's a dungeon break."
He turned to Alvian, a gleam returning to his eyes. "They want a team. And because you are my 'Special Entrant' and currently the only student who has successfully attuned to a High-Grade Frost source without dying, you're on the roster."
Alvian frowned. "A team? I work alone."
"Not today, you don't," Rogge cackled, tossing a data slate to him. "The Academy requires supervision for high-risk zones. You've been assigned to Squad Alpha-9. Meet them at the teleprotation plaza in ten minutes. And Alvian? Do try not to break your teammates. I hear the leader is quite fond of rules."
Ten minutes later, Alvian arrived at the Teleportation Plaza. The wind whipped at his clothes, but he felt nothing. His resistance to cold was now supernatural.
Three people were waiting for him.
The first was a tall, armored figure leaning against a stone pillar, radiating an aura of disciplined steel. Valeria. She looked up as he approached, her grey eyes locking onto his with a complex mix of emotions—lingering humiliation from the Battle Grid, begrudging respect, and a burning desire to prove herself.
Beside her stood a nervous-looking healer clutching a staff, and… Arin. The arrogant mage from the Frostfang Caverns.
When Arin saw Alvian, his face drained of all color. He took a distinct step back, almost tripping over his own robes.
"You…" Arin stammered, pointing a trembling finger. "You're the fourth member?"
Valeria straightened up, her expression hardening. "Arin, compose yourself. Alvian is the top-ranked freshman. His presence increases our survival chances mathematically." She turned to Alvian, her voice stiff. "I am the designated leader of this squad. We operate on precision and orders. I know you prefer… unorthodox methods, but out there, a mistake costs lives."
Alvian looked at her, his expression bored. He pulled up his interface, checking his stats one last time before the mission began.
┌──────[ Profile ]──────┐
│ [Name]: Alvian
│ [Class]: Unbound
│ [Level]: 18
│ [Title]: The Anomaly
├──────[ Attributes ]───┤
│ [Strength]: 35
│ [Speed]: 42
│ [Physique]: 28
│ [Energy]: 65
├──────[ Core Skills ]───┤
│ [Shadow Weave +2] (Legendary)
│ [Frost Descent +2] (Perfected)
│ [Runic Aegis] (Incomplete - Learned via Scroll)
└─────────────────────────┘
"Are we talking or leaving?" Alvian asked, ignoring her speech about leadership entirely.
Valeria's jaw tightened, a vein pulsing in her temple. "We leave now. The mission briefing is simple. Silverwood is freezing over. The Governor's daughter, Alice, is Patient Zero of a mysterious affliction. We are to secure the area, investigate the cause, and neutralize the threat."
She stepped onto the teleportation circle. "Don't slow us down, Alvian."
The healer, a girl named Elara (a common name that caused a brief, dull ache in Alvian's chest), smiled nervously. "Let's just all do our best, okay?"
Alvian stepped onto the rune-etched stone. He didn't care about squad dynamics or Valeria's need for control. He knew something they didn't. The dark line in the Frost Essence data wasn't just a random event. It was the precursor to a Calamity.
Silverwood wasn't suffering from a dungeon break. It was being terraformed.
[Ding! Teleportation Sequence Initiated.]
[Destination: Silverwood Outpost.]
The world dissolved in a flash of blue light.
When they materialized, the air was gone. In its place was a wall of biting, razor-sharp wind. Silverwood, known for its lush forests and silver-barked trees, was a wasteland of white. The temperature was easily twenty degrees below freezing.
[WARNING! Environmental Hazard Detected!]
[Region: Silverwood.]
[Effect: [Deep Freeze]. Stamina consumption increased by 200%. Movement speed reduced by 10%.]
Valeria and the others immediately shivered, their breath pluming in thick clouds. Arin hurriedly cast a thermal barrier spell, his teeth chattering.
Alvian stood perfectly still, the cold washing over him like a gentle breeze. His [Heart of Frost] attunement negated the environmental debuff entirely.
"Movement speed reduced," Alvian noted aloud, looking at the shivering party. "You're already slowing me down."
Valeria glared at him, shivering despite her high-grade armor. "Check your perimeter! Hostiles could be—"
"SCREEEE!"
A piercing shriek tore through the howling wind. From the snow-covered tree line, shadows detached themselves. Not wolves, but twisted mockeries of nature. Ice-encrusted Treants, their wood turned black and brittle, their eyes burning with the same violet corruption Alvian had seen in the lab.
[Monster Identified: Corrupted Frost-Treant]
[Level: 22]
[Status: Elite]
There were twenty of them. A horde.
"Defensive formation!" Valeria shouted, drawing her claymore. The blue steel hummed as it ignited with mana. "Arin, fire support! Elara, shields!"
They moved into position, efficient and trained. But they were fighting the cold as much as the monsters. Alvian didn't move into formation. He simply walked forward, stepping out of Arin's thermal barrier.
"Alvian! Get back in formation!" Valeria screamed.
Alvian ignored her. He looked at the charging treants, lumbering forward like juggernauts of ice and rot.
'Too slow,' he thought.
He raised a single hand. The ambient mana in the air, already thick with frost, rushed toward him, submitting to his will.
"[Frost Descent +2]."
He didn't need to shout. The words were a verdict.
The sky above the treants darkened instantly. A localized storm, far more violent than the ambient blizzard, slammed into the earth.
"BOOM!"
The shockwave of the spell hit the treants with the force of a physical hammer.
[-4,500!]
[-4,620! Critical!]
[-4,500!]
Numbers erupted like a fountain of blood. The monsters didn't just take damage; they stopped. The [Crippling Frost] debuff, amplified by the environment, froze their joints solid.
Valeria stood with her sword raised, watching as the horde of Elite monsters was turned into a garden of statues in a single second.
Alvian glanced back at his stunned "leader."
"Are you going to kill them," he asked, his voice cutting through the wind, "or should I finish your job for you?"