Rin laughed as she snapped her fingers, a pulse of ice exploding outwards and instantly freezing those within her perimeter. The control she held with her second class was addicting. A different kind of drug than the destructive forces she used to preside over. Although, she had to acknowledge that what she held was just the beginnings of something more and couldn’t even be considered for comparison.

‘Oh well... at least I got to live again.’

Rin tilted forward and lightly danced as ice gracefully trailed after her feet. She moved and swayed through masses of writhing roots, twisting and turning as the dungeon primed its weapon and cracked its whip towards her body. Yet as her mana continued to ignite, compress and cycle through her system, dodging then immediately countering was nothing but child’s play.

She braced her core and launched herself, twirling through the air above a massive, gnarled beast of crooked wood. Then she met its eye, yellow and wild, but beyond that was a familiar fear recognizable by all, and she smiled. Rin angled her arm downwards, her left hand clamped down on her shoulder to provide its support as a magnitude of energy rippled through the air.

Immediately, Rin felt her fingers growing numb as the temperature of the space beneath her instantly dropped far below freezing. Particles of pale white frost floated through the air, fairy-like – Rin thought them to be as a twinkle emerged in her eye. And a moment later, those very fairies screamed.

Illuminating the dungeon was a coalescing spiral of the purest form of ice. The attack, a beam she herself controlled, came down and seared into the monster’s spine. Ice rapidly built around its skeleton before immediately shattering into a cascade of fractured beauty. As for the dungeon floor itself, cracks filled with ice ran through the stone following a fracturing pattern. While the outer layer flaked and peeled to expose the bedrock within.

“Hmm...”

Rin didn’t bother to glance at the aftermath of her spectacle as her eyes began to close over themselves. Her mind slipped astray, and a gruesome massacre of a scene started to unfold—a vast sea of enemies, far more than the strongest battalions darkened the skies. Monsters, nightmares, and even God-like beings parted the clouds, heralding an apocalypse of death. However, in an instant they were reduced to nothing but a blood-red mist. The Chaosfire didn’t allow for any reactions as flames ravenously feasted on its meal. And finally, an immense presence made itself known, a woman enshrouded in the embrace of dark abyssal wings

‘It’s me,’ she thought.

That, Rin deemed was the definition of true exhilaration. An overwhelming level where none could be called her equal. Oh, how she missed it so... the strength that could bring nations to their knees with just a glance, the ability to cleave through mountains, and ultimately, the freedom to do whatever the fuck she wanted. It was once all hers, and yet... she had fallen. The world was vast, and with her being reborn she knew it was far bigger than she could ever imagine.

Feeling the world of dream start to fade away, Rin glanced one last time at her past self. Thoughts of reaching her former strength raced through her mind, and it would only take a couple decades at most with her experience. However, things just didn’t feel right when she thought of those things. There were many things she regretted, but also many things that she couldn’t bear to forget. And yet, Rin knew that it was goodbye. It was simply a memory to cherish, and a moment to move on. So thus, she smiled.

“Farewell.”

 

****

Rin’s eyes shot wide open, and a gasp left her lips. She felt her body starting to burn from an unfamiliar heat and immediately activated her magic. But as a couple seconds passed, she recognized the feeling to be not of pain, but of warmth. Her arms tingled, and a curious desire for growth sprung up within her soul.

NEW:

-Active: Frostfire

Born from the aptitude of death and nature’s gift of snow. Incinerate your enemies with ice.

Category: Cryomancy, Pyromancy

'Frostfire hmm?’ she thought.

Seeing the system window pop up in front of her eyes was quite a surprising event. It was only two levels since she had reached the milestone of thirty, but then again, it wasn’t the oddest way she had obtained a new skill.

Rin glanced around the battlefield. The rest of the party seemed to be holding up more than fine while the battle itself was drawing towards an end.

“Perfect.”

Exuding out a wave of pressure, the monsters cleared out from her general perimeter and a space of testing was now available for her. Although, she also garnered a glance from Adam which she quickly responded to with an innocent tilt of her head.

“Hehe...” she giggled when she saw the man sigh.

Stepping forward, Rin channeled her mana into her hand and released the newfound skill. She felt its power wash over her as a bright blue flame roared into life. The frostfire flickered against the dungeon walls, childishly licking against the skin of her arm as her eyes glinted against the light.

“Amazing...” she murmured.

It was akin to the chaotic nature of regular flames, but the tranquility within the fire’s essence brought about an unnatural contrast that wasn’t meant to be. Regardless, it was something that she now had available to her.

“All that’s left to see is how good this thing really is eh?”

Rin turned her palm outward, and a blast of blue fire shot out in the form of a thin cone in the space in front of her. She noticed however that it wasn’t just an attack to be used once, but instead a continuous stream that gently suckled at her mana, exponentially increasing as time passed.

Halting the stream of flame, she examined the area where it occupied and noticed that the air itself shimmered. But when she passed her arm through the space, she didn’t feel any heat and only felt frost growing at the fringes of her clothing.

“That’s neat,” Rin muttered as her eyes lifted to the ongoing battle. “But let’s see how this works on these guys...”

Releasing the pressure holding back the enemies, a pair of wooden wolves began racing towards her only to be immediately blasted by a plume of frostfire. The flame spread across their bodies, burning away their outer shell and replacing it with ice as their movements were slowed considerably. Rin then followed it up by throwing a pair of daggers, the ice blinking through the air before shattering the two creatures and embedding into the stone.

"Seems pretty okay,” she whispered nonchalantly, but the grin on her face said otherwise.

'This might just work...’

Rin flicked her wrist, conjuring a thin blade of ice into existence before stabbing it unto the ground. She willed mana into the sword and a magic circle spread just past her feet. Seeing the runes being painted upon the circle caused her grin to only grow from there.

Increasing her mana output, the blade crackled and shone with an iridescent white light. A humming noise started to ring within her mind as the magic circle beneath her pulsed with power. Rin continued with joyful glee as her hand grasped the handle and ripped the blade out of its sheath.

The magic circle’s energy reached a climax and the now brittle ground exploded from the effects of the coursing mana. Rin stepped away and glanced down at the blade.

White flickering flames danced along the sapphire blue of the ice as her wavering shadow was cast on the cavern walls. The sight reminded her of the childhood stories telling of a young hero holding a blade engulfed with flames. But here she stood with a sword just as sharp, flames just as strong.

‘Maybe I won’t need that other sword after all,’ she thought, looking at the Sunscorcher sitting idle in her inventory. Still though, the stats granted by a purple item weren’t anything to scoff at.

Sensing the battle come to a close, Rin released her magic and the blade dissipated into mist. She quickly rejoined the rest of the party while Tanner finished off the few stragglers that remained.

“Great job ice mage,” Kai said with a warm smile on his face. He sat rested on his heavy shield and raised a murky bottle into the air before taking a large swig.

Adam stood near the vines, carefully tinkering with an item in his hands.

“Yes, yes. She did great, it was a hard-fought battle, good job,” The rogue said, her voice laden with sarcasm as the guardian grumbled.

Rin rolled her eyes but didn’t comment, ‘Didn’t know that we were this close.’

Emma arrived soon after, her attire looking a little battered, but otherwise she was well. The girl had a smile on her face, looking more than cheerful.

“Did you have fun?” Rin asked, smiling at the girl who turned her head away, perhaps a little embarrassed.

“Yes, I did,” the fire mage replied. “I was able to do a lot of damage to them because well... fire beats wood, right?”

“What are you? Five? Isn’t that obvious,” a voice teased.

Rin looked over at the source of the noise and saw it to be Tanner. The swordsman grinned before sitting down next to the guardian and pulling out a sandwich.

“That’s what I thought! I’m not stupid...” Emma squeaked, her face beet red after seeing all the stares.

“Relax,” Tanner said, his words muffled by the food in his mouth. “You did a great job with your fire. Keep it up.”

The girl beamed hearing the praise before clasping Rin’s hand. She motioned towards her ear, leaning closer and whispered, “I did the thing!”

“You did the thing…?” Rin repeated, unsure of what the girl was talking about.

“Mhm! When I was fighting the monsters, I did the spin spin thing!” Emma exclaimed,

‘Spin spin thing?’ she thought, quickly searching through her memories for whatever that could be before her brows raised in realization.

The arcane sequence.

“Oh ho, you did the spin spin thing did you now,” Rin laughed and placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

The girl nodded softly, but before she could speak, Adam interrupted her.

“We’re getting close to the end. Grab your things, we follow the flame.”

The warrior gestured to the cavern walls where a ring of fire hungrily ate through the vines. It travelled at a decent pace, but it would provide a lit-up path straight to the guardian of the dungeon.

“Just be careful with it okay,” Rin said and followed after the man. She focused on keeping her perception at its peak just in case anything tried to jump out at them again. Although she knew that it probably wouldn’t happen as a distinct presence entered her field.

‘Strong,’ she thought.

None of the party members seemed perturbed save Adam. He noticed her stare and gave her a glance along with a light nod.

They continued on their way as the presence only grew stronger. It felt unfitting, a magnitude of strength that didn’t seem to match the level of the dungeon. But they couldn’t just head back now... she needed a fight to satisfy her desire.

“We’re here,” Adam said.

Rin looked straight ahead, not surprised as she felt it too.

Their group turned a bend in the corridor and entered a massive space as the burning flames came to an end from a lack of fuel. No vines or any of the former shrubbery existed here. The area smelled foul, and their sights were filled with an incredibly potent mist.

Adam unleashed his aura and his strength drove away the fog, inch by inch. Slowly, they were gaining visibility as Rin joined in with the man, her mana seeping out of her like a torrent until the entire party viewed a somber sight.

Corpses all around, skeletons and bodies littered the unkept grassy terrain. Tanner brought his arm up, moving the torch he held and shone the light across their sights.

“W-what happened?” Emma asked as a shiver ran down her spine. The girl took a step back before her legs collapsed and stumbled onto her back.

“I’m not sure,” Anna muttered.

The rogue walked forward and crouched before one of the corpses. She examined its flesh, using her knife to extract a sample of blood and brought it up to her eye.

“It’s been a long time since something’s been here.”

Meanwhile, Rin looked past the woman with a frown. She wasn’t able to see through the fog as the density of the mana in the area far exceeded her expectations. But the overwhelming presence she felt in the area told her that something was indeed waiting for them.

The air was all around still, the cavern walls nothing but quiet, the ground, the fog too. And still, something was amiss.

“Is anyone there?” Tanner called out.

Rin immediately felt a tremor run through her feet, a pulse of mana. A shift then spread in the fog as wisps and swirls of mist were torn away just like a veil. The pressure in the air began to thrum with a chaotic energy as the mist vanished to reveal a being.

Her aura was instantly overpowered, a dark shadow flowing as her eyes struggled to understand the information they were giving her. Wisp like tendrils floated, some vanishing, some attached to the feminine figure that she could barely make out the outline of.

Pupilless eyes with neither soul nor intelligence stared with murderous intent into the group that had disturbed its slumber. Dark shadows grew along its outline, slowly blurring into existence as long dark hair flowed freely down its back. Then more was allowed to be shown as the liquid darkness overpoured onto the ground, spreading across the area as the figure was seen to be seated atop an eroding wooden chair. A single shattered blade was buried into the ground before it.

Rin stared into the eyes of the being, seeing nothing but an unsatiable hunger. An endless realm of darkness those red eyes held. She peered within and didn’t know if what she saw was real at all.

[Spiteful ??? of ??? – lvl ?]

“Something’s wrong,” Rin muttered.

She watched with a frown as the figure slowly rose to its feet. Another wave of sheer pressure shooting around as the fog was effortlessly blasted to the walls.

“What the fuck is going on! That thing doesn’t match up with the information at all!” Tanner exclaimed as he was forced to one knee.

Kai stepped forward, grimacing as he used his body to shield Anna and Emma from the force while Adam wore a deep scowl.

“It doesn’t make sense...” Anna whispered, and her eyes went hollow.

Rin sensed the fire mage’s strength growing pale. Her already weak aura was dwindling rapidly, but she was unable to tear her eyes from the creature of shadows.

Rin felt it, as if time slowed, seeing the being's head twisting at the seams. Its bone-white jaw split to reveal a forgotten hell, a realm to a distorted reality of eternal suffering.

[You sense the gaze of an ancient being who looks towards you with a grin.]

It’s wrong.

Rin’s eyes widened as the being’s form disappeared before instantly appearing in front of her. She brought up her arms as fast as she could, her ice conjuring into existence as her body was fortified with mana, a wall built before her.

A massive force crashed through her defenses; Rin just barely able to throw herself to the side as the attack decimated the ground where she had just stood. Her clothing was already in tatters, the mana protecting her body stripped from her flesh and her ice instantly melted away.

Rin heard a scream, a cry for her name from the fire mage as the distance between them widened. The creature didn’t seem to hold any regard for the rest as it advanced upon her.

She used her mana to blast herself backward, her ice crashing against the shadowy fluid of the monster with little effect.

It came again, claws forming out of the darkness which increased its already ridiculous speed. Rin didn’t have time to think as she was forced to teleport to one of the fallen shards of ice. If she hadn’t—she looked at the caved in cavern walls... her head would’ve been blown off.

“Phew,” she sighed.

Her body was drenched in sweat and her lungs felt exhausted. But she wasn’t able to take a break as a claw forced her to teleport once more. However, this time, it had grazed her shoulder and a wave of pain flowed throughout her being.

Her teleport didn’t help much as the attack was like a poison, she could feel her body tensing up as the magic invaded her system and threatened to destroy her from within.

‘Shit!’

The split-second lapse in her concentration was enough for the shadow to close the distance, its form fluidly lashing out at her with incredible speeds, each blow an instantaneous death as Rin continued to run away on the defensive. Her experience and multipliers were the only thing keeping her alive, but at this rate, it wouldn’t be long until she fell. Although, she had to admit, it was the most fun she had since being reborn.

Grinning with a cruel look within her eye, she expended a tenth of her total mana and created a massive sphere of ice around herself. She then took the next second to use up another tenth to reinforce the sphere, adding layers upon layers of ice whilst strengthening the density of the element.

Rin watched from within the sphere as the ice barely held the shadow at bay. Still, the makeshift barrier provided a short breather, allowing her to hastily form a magic circle beneath her feet. Three seconds she surmised, seeing her sphere being whittled away.

‘Now!’

Just before the shadow broke through her ice, Rin deactivated the magic and absorbed what little of the mana remained as the first drop of snow fell.

“Round two, fucker,” she spat.

An insane pressure was instantly unleashed from her body as the ground froze over. The air crackled with the power of the northern winter as Rin activated Winter’s Embrace.

She instantly sucked in a deep breath, the ability to even breathe unhindered was something she wouldn't take for granted. Now with her dominion, she felt that she had a chance.

“Come!” She roared.