72. Winter Overworld (II)
After trekking through the forest for a while, Zane realized he was a pretty shit hunter.
He wasn't sure what he should look for. Tracks? He saw some but he couldn't tell if they were wolves, men, moose, or something else. 'Hunting' for him amounted to blundering around in the forest, hoping a really big red dot showed up.
That didn't happen. But eventually, a big cluster of red dots popped up at the edge of his mini-map. He drew closer and found they were hugging a smaller cluster of white dots.
He was there in a Volt Blitz—a step and he plowed through five straight trees. He rammed straight into a bank of fluffy white thicknesses; white clumps went flying. At first he thought it was snow. Then it howled and shrieked and started biting him, and he realized he'd overshot a little.
He'd just cannonballed straight through the wolf pack's flank. On the mini-map there was one blank line in the middle of that red mass—the line he'd just mowed down. He was pretty sure a few of the beasts straight-up exploded on impact. It'd explain the blood on him.
The wolves came at him in a fury, all at once, with lots of snarling slobbering teeth.
He got his Axes out.
As it turned out, it didn't matter much how many numbers you had if none of them could make a dent.
Wasting a hundred-odd Snow Wolves wasn't that much harder than wasting thirty. Just took a little longer. With every swipe, he sent up a wave of blood. Slick white fur caught fire, roasted to black crisps. He just waded into the midst of them and started whomping, blasting through rows at a time. He sent a fair few airborne, clawing at nothing. Some he chopped in half mid-air. He felt like one of those fancy French chefs, lining all those ingredients up and slicing them down the middle.
Soon there were just a handful of scattered red dots. And they went scurrying, yowling, their tails between their legs, slipping on pools of blood.
Which left Zane to face the crowd of people standing there staring at him dumbstruck.
Turned out they were three Factions clumped in one, clustered for self-preservation. It was pretty easy to make out who was who—one was called the 'Guardians of Eureka,' mostly grass Mages and Rangers. The 'Red Voyagers' in their red cloaks, and the 'Skyhawks,' wind Rogues dressed in light blues. Most Factions Zane found had a theme. The Luminous Faction was a bit more scattered, mostly because it was a Faction of Factions. But it seemed the exception, not the rule.
After they got all shock and awe out of the way, a burly gray-bearded man ambled up to him, smiling all relieved. "Zane Walker. Thank Heavens you came! Name's Clayton—I lead this little alliance of ours."
Zane blinked. "Do I know you?"
"You did take that Rescue Quest we put out, right?"
Right. That. "Ah. Yeah."
"Hey everyone!" Clayton shouted. "The strongest man in Cascadia's come to save us! Just a little longer and this damned nightmare will be over!"
Ragged cheers rose up. Mostly they looked too frazzled to be very excited.
Zane felt a little embarrassed—'strongest man in Cascadia'? That was a little…
… Now that he thought of it, it was probably true, wasn't it?
Eh.
Soon the Factions decided to go off to seek shelter. They were headed for one of the caves on the crater's other side—where they said wolves seldom went.
"Where can I find the boss? This 'Nymeria'?" Zane asked.
"Not sure," said Clayton. "She could be anywhere. This whole stretch is her territory. But she likes hunting the strongest and taking 'em out first… so." He swallowed, looking straight at Zane. "You'll find each other one way or another, I reckon."
"Hmm."
They left. Zane kept going the same way.
He dipped along the edge of the forest, near the sparkling frozen lake. Close enough that the little island in the middle came into his mini map's range. Sure enough, it was yellow—a treasure area. There was a white dot there. It had to be the same woman. But he hadn't expected to see an 'S' on it.
A Signed?
What had that Walter said? Zane wasn't the only Signed he'd seen around these parts. Nor the only World Ranker…
Could it be they were both still here?
Were they the same person?
These thoughts drifted idly by as he prowled. He had a feeling he and this Signed lady would meet again, sooner or later.
***
He was coming up to the edge of this patch of snowy forest. Still no wolves besides the occasional straggler. He saw heated pools popping up in the distance—it was those geothermal vents he'd seen earlier. Up close they looked like the ones he'd seen on those nature documentaries about Norway or something. Though Zane had a feeling these were a lot hotter. The steam rose so high it seemed a low cloud.
A few treasure areas popped up around there. Some of those steaming hot pools vented sheer essence…
He blinked. Wait a minute.
He wasn't seeing things. There was a white dot somewhere beyond the pools, hidden behind a rocky outcropping, just out of sight. But it was clear on his mini-map. A single 'S' lay on it. It just sat there like it was waiting for something.
Had that blonde lady moved? But he had been going in the same direction and he hadn't seen her pass him. He hadn't seen movement from the island at all. That couldn't be another Signed, could it?
… No way. The odds… Even if this place attracted lots of powerful folks, three Signed in one dungeon?
The dot vanished. Like it'd never been there.
He blinked. Just weird stuff. He kept staring, but it didn't pop back up again.
Whatever.
Where was this wolf hiding?
***
And then, he came upon another bunch of stragglers. These ones were hidden in a cave. They seemed relieved and frightened at the sight of him—they asked him not to come too close. The wolves like to go for the strong ones, they said.
In the end, stymied, he just plopped himself in the middle of a clearing. Big fat target. And waited.
That did it.
Not five minutes in, dots started to circle in from all sides. Zane saw a particularly thick one drift closer at the head of the pack.
There we go.
They didn't come in fast this time. They just crowded in from all sides, pouring out of the tree line, mouths drawn in low growls, saber teeth bared. Like a slow-moving avalanche.
Then there was the wolf at the head of them.
ℕ𝕪𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕒 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 — 𝔹𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕫𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕎𝕠𝕝𝕗)
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟠𝟜
𝕃𝕒𝕨:
𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝔽𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕥
𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕫𝕒𝕣𝕕
𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕓𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕖 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕡𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤
𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:
𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕫𝕒𝕣𝕕 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖]
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕫𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕤, 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕪. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤 𝕔𝕦𝕥 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕟, 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕟𝕖.
𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕕 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖]
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣, 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕓𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕔𝕙. 𝔸 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝-𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕓𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕤.
ℙ𝕒𝕔𝕜 ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕕 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖]
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕤.
She was twice as big as any other wolf. And from bone to fur to claws she was one pure color, the color of freshly fallen snow. So clean you couldn't tell where bone ended and fur began. And under that fur lay tight coils of sleek muscle. A powerful, terrible, beautiful beast.
Zane grinned at her. Finally!
They stopped there, circling him. The whole pack. All glaring.
She howled.
They swamped him.
They came at him so fast it was like they'd all turned into vicious winter winds and he was suddenly caught stranded in a blizzard.
It looked scary. Lots of flashing white chaos. It sounded scary. Snarling and slobbering and scratching and gnashing shrieking past his head.
Only… it didn't feel scary. They gave him the same scratches as the other wolves.
And like with the others, he made brutally quick work of them.
Blazing red slashes split the air, one after another. Red pierced the white, stained the blizzard, stained the snow-white grounds. Yowls drowned out the snarls.
Mostly Zane was just irked at them. He had to fight his way through them to get to the interesting one. He couldn't even see the great wolf until she bowled into him.
Four claws sank deep into his chest, tearing muscle. Then they raked down; blood poured. Zane hissed. A line of cold pain ripped down his torso, breaking at his hip. He stumbled back and the Blizzard Wolf was on him again, slashing the other way. She crossed a bloody X down his chest. And where her claws touched the wounds went black, thick with frostbite, deadened. He lost all feeling. Icy essence struck deep into the core of him, aiming for his heart—
And burned.
Every wound burned stark white as Fiery Renewal roared to life. Nymeria tried striking again. But this time he cut first. And his slash cut deeper.
Blood splattered the air. A molten line ripped through the wolf's chest; she yowled. But she didn't fall back. She whirled around, snorting ice, and lunged for his throat.
She slashed twice, deadened an arm. He slashed back with the other, drew a fountain of blood. Her next slash nicked a vein on his neck. Then he almost split her in two. They tore into each other; white slashes crossed red crossed white, lightning quick. Man's blood and wolf's splattered the white snow; soon there was hardly a white spot left where they stood. And it only spread, getting redder and redder...
The red drowned out the white.
In the end Zane was panting, kneeling, bloody claw-marks all over him. His health dipped dangerously close to 50%. His skin was necrotic black, splotched all over. He couldn't feel his upper body anymore.
But the wolf was the one who lay still. That sleek pelt had been shredded utterly. You could hardly tell it had been white once. Zane limped over and put the creature to rest.
ℕ𝕪𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕒, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕫𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕎𝕠𝕝𝕗, 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!
𝕆𝕓𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕖: 𝟚/𝟝
He stood and sighed happily at the sky.
Then he scratched his chin.
Pretty good appetizer. But…
"Not enough."
He stood.
"More," he breathed, grinning.
***
Next, this 'Basilisk.' That was a fun scrap, but it only got him going a little. He hoped this Basilisk would really take it to him.
Though the Second Floor… he had a feeling that was where he'd find the true heavy-hitters.
He trawled around for a bit, poking into caves, checking out cliff faces, scouring the nearby forest. Where did snakes live?
After coming up empty, he looped back to those hot springs. He'd checked pretty much everywhere else along the rim…
Wait. He blinked. That Signed white dot wasn't on the island anymore.
It was in the hot springs region. Zane pushed his way out of the tree line, came up to the frozen water's edge, and saw her on the other side of the little bay.
The same blonde woman, tall and lithe. She turned suddenly as though she'd sensed him, and they locked eyes.
She was younger than he thought—she couldn't be much older than him. She had delicate features, like those of a princess—something about her just screamed high-born. The kind of face you might see on a magazine cover. Her most striking feature, though, was her eyes, bright blue and clear as ice.
𝕍𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒 𝕍𝕠𝕝𝕜𝕠𝕧𝕒
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟠𝟞
𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕝𝕖: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕖
ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤: 𝔸𝕦𝕣𝕠𝕣𝕒 𝕊𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤
𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: ℕ𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕖
'Volkova'—where had he read that last name before?