Claire could see the ball of snow shiver and she couldn't help but raise an admiring voice as it shrunk in size before her very eyes. Halving, it had now become as big as her head. It looked even less of a threat.

'Does its size depend on its mood?' She suddenly became curious, 'Could its size also determine its power? After all, no matter the opponent, if a big enough snowball lands on and swallows it, it surely must die.'

She wondered aloud, "Hey...Asta, right? Why are you here?"

"Huh?" The ball of snow wavered in the air. "I'm not too sure what I'm doing here really, father just told me to guard that super secret tower over there. And I've been doing that, usually, all the beasts around here listen to me."

Claire raised a brow and pointed at the glistering, cylindrical behemoth, "You mean that tower all the way over there in the middle of this island? Can you also go there and back with no troubles?"

"Yeah yeah! No problem at all for me!" It bobbed up and down, its size noticeably increasing.

The girl smiled, a bright and glowing smile.

"Huh...miss...why are you smiling? I don't like that smile. Could you not smile? Please?" A whimper fell as Asta proceeded to backtrack from his position quite a bit.

Its body shrunk and, suddenly, it felt a creeping danger.

"Wha—what is this, miss?" Its body shook, shrinking with its voice.

Claire walked forwards as she watched the box of ice surround them both.

"Asta, my friend, could you please take me to the tower?" She asked.

The snowball shook, various sprinkles fell from its body, "I don't think I can do that...father wouldn't like that."

Claire smiled, "Do you know I have the power to control Ice, All Ice?"

Asta's figure shook, "I don't...I don't think I knew that..."

Claire held out her hand as chunks of ice begun to dance at her palm.

"Oh," She smiled, "You will."

———

"This is it huh..." She looked up.

Even now, she couldn't begin to see just how high this tower stretched. It pierced through the white clouds and sprinkles of crystal snow fell all around it. There was an unnatural shine to its surface and with the blowing wind, she could see her dancing black hair reflected upon its pristine, clear surface. There seemed to be a bone-chilling aura radiating outward...wait

'Odd...am I not immune to cold? Why do I still feel cold standing next to it?' Claire thought, puzzled.

She stretched out her hand.

"Miss!"

She quickly stopped and looked under her feet...where a gigantic snowball floated within the air.

"Do you want to fall off? In fact, can you get off now?" Asta pleaded.

She raised a brow, "Oh. Sure."

She directly jumped off.

The sheet of ice cracked as she landed onto the ground.

She turned around as the snowball slowly drifted down.

"This looks like a dungeon if I've ever seen one, how do I get into this thing?" Claire asked, pointing back.

She wasn't entirely stupid and neither was the author. They both realized most readers would have already guessed it to be a dungeon, why bother going through the notions of pretending for a moment that it wasn't a dungeon? Claire shook her head, that would just be a waste of time.

"Well, Miss...I have to warn you," There was a gulp.

"There is one creature in this place that doesn't have to listen to me...well, it's not really a creature per say. But! Father once said it holds the key to enter the tower!"

There was a gust of wind. The ground beneath them rumbled as cracks appeared within the layers of ice. She felt a cold gust of air spike up from her back, there was a thundering screech as if two pangs of glass were forcefully sliding against each other.

"..." Claire

"..." Asta

...there was a clank as the ground shook its last.

Claire, "That 'creature'...it's currently behind me isn't it?"

Asta, "Yeah."

She felt the air whistle.

Claire's hair flapped as it crystallized into pure white.

Asta's body jumped.

A thundering clash echoed the lands as splinters of ice flew.

Claire turned her head slightly, dodging a pike of ice and watching it break into the ground. She sighed, turning around.

She raised her head, narrowing her now azure eyes.

There was a wall of ice, half a dome, and etched within was a gigantic great sword that seemed to be made entirely of crystallized ice. It was firmly stuck in the ice wall, ripping it a noticeably sized chunk. Her eyes traced along the gleaming blade, passed by the handle and reached the figure holding it.

It was tall, towering over the ice wall. Its full body was covered in armor, made of the same material as the blade, its very presence drowned the area in a chilling atmosphere. And within that helmet of it were two, glowing, crimson eyes staring back at her.

A Frozen Knight.

[Name: Coldren the Frozen Knight

Race: Elemental Spirit

Strength: A

Speed: B

Mana: A

Skills: Battle Cry (C)

Overall: A]

Claire raised a brow.

Asta's voice reached her ears, "Damn! Why does he always have to look so cool!?! Father! How could you wrong me like this!?! This is unfair!!"

Claire cringed, 'Well...it does look pretty cool indeed.'

She had to admit.

However, the Frozen Knight didn't seem to care all too much for the two.

"Return, or I shall have to draw blood upon my blade." The blazing crimson eyes narrowed.

Asta shook, "Dammit."

"Oh?" Claire raised a brow.

"You'll find that I don't much like people telling me what to do," She shook her head.

She clapped her hand together and slowly begun to separate them as an azure light danced.

"Here's a second option: Give me your key to the dungeon over there or else..."

The Frozen Knight's weapon slid from the ice wall, the ground shook as its weight rested upon it. He punctured the ground with its tip, standing firmly and staring daggers at the girl before him.

"Or else what?" Its crimson eyes flared.

Claire separated her hand, grasping a sword of ice.

"I'll have to draw blood upon my blade."