"Phew~" Charlotte wiped the sweat off her forehead. She had spent the last few days hunting without break, bringing her blood supply to 'pretty high', at least according to Masamune. 

Pulling Masamune out of the dead corpse she had her foot on, she took out her Ice amulet. Surprisingly, she wasn't tired, instead even more energetic than ever. She felt like she was ready to take on the second fragment already! But her mentor drilled the importance of proper rest into her head, so she still planned on resting, just not back in the city.

She'll teleport back to Vetris and rest there so that she can get more things done in quick succession.

"Yes." As the words left her mouth, the blue Ice amulet shattered and cracked, the tiny little shards forming a blizzard that surrounded her, hiding her from the outside view. As the storm cleared moments later, Charlotte was nowhere in sight, only the flecks of ice indicating anything had happened there.

The cold chill immediately hit Charlotte like a dragon's tail, and the scenery around her instantly changed. Where the lush green forests once stood was replaced by snowy white clearings, with a single massive altar in the middle.

"Ah. Charlotte, welcome." A familiar voice said to her side. 

"Isbert?" Charlotte turned around, to find the frost Elf in nearly the same state she left him in. 

"Indeed." He did a little bow of courtesy. "I presume you are back for the second fragment?"

Charlotte nodded. "Good. My siblings will help you settle in for your stay. I shall attempt to awaken mother from her slumber. Until then, please get yourself acquainted and prepared. The next fragment is Level 2000." 

"You have siblings?"

Isbert grinned. "Now I do. We are all created by mother, and it is due to her will that we live yet again." Before she could say another word, Isbert vanished from her view. 

"Huh." Charlotte walked towards the small hut at the edge of the clearing. Isbert mentioned that the second fragment of Atyx would be level 2000, which Charlotte thought was a little bit too easy. She had already fought a level 10k Dragon twice and won, even though she had the help of that powerful Vampire for the last fight.

Now with Isbert, herself and Masamune, and a couple of his siblings, it might be easier than she thought.

But she wasn't so sure about the one after that. If the first fragment was level 1000, and the next was level 2000, either the pattern could double, with the 3rd being level 4000 and the 4th being level 8000, or it could increase exponentially by 2. If the latter was correct... she'll have to fight Atyx at level 16000 for the final fragment.

Let's hope the second option is wrong.

Charlotte approached the hut's door and gently knocked twice. A few rustling and the creak of footsteps on wood were heard before the door opened with a creak. A young, pretty face peeked out. Her long blue hair fell to just below her chest, swaying in the wind. "Are you Charlotte?"

"Did Isbert tell you?" She asked.

"No, we never get visitors. Though brother Isbert did mention you were the reason I and Syvis are alive once more." The door opened fully to reveal another frost elf sipping a cup of tea, her eyes shut. The elf extended her hand, which Charlotte shook. "Fay. Good to meet you."

"Charlotte Rayne. Likewise." She gently sat down on one of the beds, as Fay poured her a cup of tea. Ah... the same one she drank not too long ago in this very hut. Charlotte didn't know why she was feeling nostalgic all of a sudden. 

A few moments of silence went by, with all of them carefully savoring the taste, before Charlotte spoke up. "So... who are you people anyways?" 

"Who are we?" Fay questioned. "We're Elves, of course."

"Frost Elves." The silent Syvis suddenly spoke up, her eyes still shut. "Yes yes."

"No... I mean like, how did you come to be? Does Vetris create you guys? Or do you get summoned here?" 

"...A little bit of both, to be honest. We frost elves are long extinct. Wiped out entirely during the ancient wars." Fay looked sad as if she was remembering something from long ago.  In her silence, Syvis picked up where she had left off. "Mother Vetris showed you, did she not? It is the reason she is chained in this place. The Great Divide against Natural born and ascended Gods."

Her hands moved on their own, frost magic creating little sculptures out of ice. "Mother Vetris cared little for the other god's petty wars. She was the patron deity of our clan, a subspecies of Elves. She herself was originally a Frost Elf." A little figure with pointed ears appeared on the table.

"However, she was forced to participate as Zedar targeted her. One thing led to another until..." Ice formed into a little miniature-sized city aflame, with an uncountable amount of soldiers marching toward the city's center. "The entire city of Veksa, our home, was razed to the ground. Not a single soul was left alive. Mother Vetris was lured out by Zedar, while we were all mercilessly slain after a day-long siege."

The city shifted as the scene showed countless soldiers with flaming shields marching ever onward as the frost elves desperately tried to hold them back with all of their frost spells. "We still do not know which god ordered the razing of Veksa, but that is unimportant. Our souls all were forcefully taken by Mother Vetris herself, and to not be prosecuted by the neutral Trinity, she challenged Zedar to one last fight, unaware that Atyx was there to ambush her." 

The ice then replayed the same scene in the vision she saw when she arrived here for the first time. "So Vetris has been reforming you with her powers? Would you die if she dies?"

"Yes. That is how depending on a god works. Until we reach demigod status, we will die if anything happened to mother Vetris, returning to her embrace once more."

Charlotte nodded. "Ah, Fay, help me up, darling." Fay held her hand firmly, pulling her out of her chair. "Mother calls. This new environment needs some getting used to." 

Charlotte just realized Syvis was blind. No wonder she had her eyes shut all the time.

As the duo left the shack, Charlotte was left alone to think by herself. Eventually, without her realizing it, she fell asleep on the bed, lost in her own thoughts.

...

"Mother Vetris will see you now."

Isbert's voice called out to her, being carried into the room by the wind. Charlotte got back onto her feet and sipped the rest of the tea before heading out. The altar was swirling with ice again, an indicator that Vetris was awake once again.

The three elves were near the altar, looking at her as she approached.

Charlotte nodded. 

Hesitating, Charlotte nodded after much thought. She had faith in herself and Masamune. They had gone through so many things together, and this will be just another challenge that they'll win against. "After I defeat the second fragment, will you answer another one of my questions?"

Charlotte once again found herself within the sandy deserts, the red sun high above in the sky. A dry, arid breeze blew by, sending dust and sand flying toward her way.

Countless discarded weapons lay stabbed into the sands, the armor piled upon one another like mountains, their wearer already sanded away through millennia of harsh desert winds. Torn flags blew in the wind, refusing to yield even after all this time, their signs and sigils already long lost.

In front of her, stood the largest man she had ever seen, clad in shining holy armor with 2 massive rectangular shields buried in the sands on either end of him.

"And so. We meet again, Charlotte Rayne, Wielder of the accursed Soulcraft." His burly arms unfurled themselves as he reached for his shields. 

"This time, this will be your final resting grounds. Like so many before you." 

Shyberu

*insert funny gif here*
Same deal as always, hit me with your best ideas and suggestions! Same with grammar and mistakes, in case I am a dum dum and I missed some very obvious mistakes that I should've found first.

Have a good rest! Sleep well!

Glossary terms will be updated regularly as well!

Cya tmr!