479 [479] The Crystal Palace.
‘Where am I?’
His voice resounded, but only his mind. He felt a chill encompass his body, as he found himself unable to move.
His eyes opened, and eternal darkness greeted him.
“Ugh…”
Alan let out a pained groan, as he tried to massage his head. But was unable to do so.
“So…cold…”
He was shivering, and this was a ludicrous statement! The chosen of the Frost Supreme…feeling cold?
What was this.
Strangely enough, he could only move his body, a majority of his body felt wet, as if it was submerged in water.
He moved his head wherever he could, Darkness was the only thing he could see. Looking left and right, it was the same. It was when he looked at himself, downwards as much as he could, that he found himself to be in a frozen lake.
The upper parts of the lake, where his limbs were bound, were frozen. But his hands, upper chest and head were out of the lake.
“Ugh!”
Alan tried to move, but to no avail. The ice, seemingly thin, was strong. But he didn’t give up. He tried and tried. He even tried using mana to break the ice, but he could not use mana.
His strength was his only ally. He didn’t know how much time had passed, all he knew was that his body was shivering, his teeth beginning to chatter.
‘Crack!’
Finally, after many trials, a crack appeared on the Ice. Alan, seemingly rejuvenated, tried yet again, with all the strength he could muster.
‘Crack! Crack!’
The cracks expanded into cobwebs, and finally. He broke through!
“Argh!”
He hurriedly swam up, his body nearly frozen. Shivering, and his teeth incessantly chattering, he got up and held himself. Trying to be warm. Mist escaped with each troubled breath.
Never, had he felt cold before. He may have felt chills…but this? He had never been faced with such.
“Where…the fuck am I?”
He questioned, looking around, but all he found was the ice that he was once encased in. He didn’t dare put his head under the small hole he escaped from to see what was inside. Furthermore, he only ventured forth.
Blue lights, from far away, filled his vision, they were everywhere, and they illuminated this place. .
He tried to go near them, but no matter how much he walked towards them, the distance never seemed to close. Tired, he gave up and proceeded to walk forward. His body was bare, and with no protection to the cold. He was going to die a freezing death.
But, as he continued to walk and walk what felt like miles, he found small crystals on the ground. Some the size of his palm. Some reaching up to his face, they all pointed towards the dark sky that loomed above this accursed domain.
As he walked ahead, the crystals continued to increase in number, As he stared at them in confusion, and curiosity, he suddenly felt himself fall.
Surprised, he tried to swim back up, fearing the cold waters below but… .
The water only reached up to his knees. The ice here was also weaker, and crumbled beneath his weight. He stepped out of the water, but the ice ahead still crumbled.
“Hmm…”
He had no choice but to walk ahead, with his feet still in the water, the ice proved to be no hindrance, but the fucking frostbite that reached his knees was.
“Why am I feeling cold…?”
Alan asked himself, but no one could answer. Lanesha or Suleras were absent, and he could only dwell on the thought. Logically speaking, unless it originated from Lanesha herself, no frost or cold feeling could ever make him feel cold.
“F**king hell…”
He cursed, with the name of the place considered to be the direct contrast of this domain, and ventured forth.
He jerked back, feeling himself being watched.
“…”
He tried to activate his skills, mainly ‘Dragon’s Eyes’ to peer through, but he couldn’t. He could only walk forward, occasionally looking behind himself to make sure no one was there.
Finally! After what felt like ages, he saw something different. The ice had completely disappeared, and the water was like a large puddle, only reaching his toes. The abundance of the crystals increased, and some were the size of cars, houses, and stalactites whose tips disappeared into the darkness above.
They seemed to…be in a line? Like a pathway! It was like they were leading him to a certain path.
Soon enough, there was no gap between the stalactites, they had melded together to form a wall. The hallway(?) that was caused by such was large, about ten of Alan, each holding their arms out!
“The water…it’s gone.”
Indeed, it was gone. The land had elevated a little, and Alan was finally free from the abhorrent sensation of his toes being constantly wet and numb. He walked upwards, and the walls closed in.
It was getting tighter and tighter, and Alan could barely fit now, He was squeezing through the stalactites, hoping he wouldn’t be stuck here.
“Ha…”
He groaned, as he made his way up. The cold and numb feeling had returned since his body was in direct contact with the sunlight.
“What kind of fucked up floor is this…damned tower.”
He said, cursing the tower. He believed it to be a tower floor, he was completely oblivious.
“Restricting my mana again…go F**ck yourself.”
He cursed, again and again, as the cold pierced his skin and attacked his insides. Mist escaped his mouth again. Until finally.
He reached the end. He could see an opening, although it would be hard to reach it, He continued to push and push, even as his skin was bruised and ripped apart.
“Ha!”
With one final grunt, he pushed through. The wet feeling of water returned to envelope his toes again. Alan looked at the water with a disdainful look. He raised his head to look up.
“What the…f**k…?”
He gasped.
Updated from .𝘤𝘰