Book 5 Chapter 13.5 - Path
Even though the fishmen already died, their bodies were still sturdy, and after freezing, they became even more difficult to deal with, becoming a bit similar to a car tire. Cirvanas wasn’t allowed to use any tools, so the process was naturally difficult. He had to first create and control the temperature of a flame, softening up the fishmen’s corpse, and then produce an ice blade with his ice ability to dismember the fishmen bit by bit. To simultaneously maintain two completely opposite abilities was something only someone like him who possessed Elemental Affinity could accomplish, and even then, it was still extremely strenuous. The fishmen were actually extremely powerful enemies, and it was only because they encountered freaks like Su and Madeline that they couldn’t withstand even a single blow. For example, this seven membered fishmen soldier patrol, Madeline instantly knocked out five of them, leaving two for him as practice, but in the end, even though Cirvanas successfully killed two, he still almost died in the process. If not for Madeline interfering at the most critical moment, he would have killed the last fishman at the cost of suffering serious injuries, and only then would he barely win. The process of dissecting the fishmen was actually to understand their enemies, because only by clearly understanding their body composition would one be able to achieve a one strike kill.
When he saw the bonfire made from a pile of fishmen corpses, Su couldn’t help but feel momentarily stumped for words. He never expected there to be another fishmen soldier patrol during this hour where he was completely asleep; it seemed like the King of the Frozen Sea had quite a few subordinates under its control. The fishmen’s fat was extremely capable of burning, so it seemed like burning for an entire night wasn’t too big of an issue. The raging flame released a faint fragrance that made one feel extremely comfortable. Su took a sniff of the fragrance, determined that it wasn’t poisonous, and only then did he relax. He looked at the pile of fishmen corpses in the distance, and then suppressed his thoughts of eating them. Even though their outer appearances resembled fish, they were still intelligent life forms. As a result, it was extremely difficult for Su to see them purely as fish.
If he didn’t eat these fishmen, then there was momentarily nothing to eat. In these frozen plains that stretched as far as the eye could see, not even things that could be used to make a fire could be found, which was why only by cutting off the fishman’s fat could they maintain the bonfire.
Su had only sat down for a bit before the feeling of hunger overwhelmed him again.
“Have to find something to eat.” Su said to himself. When this sentence was spoken, both Madeline and Cirvanas’ eyes suddenly lit up, the young man’s eyes especially lit up. He didn’t say anything, but his expression betrayed him.
All abilities needed energy, so that was why the amount of food ability users ate was always great, high level ability users like Su and Madeline even more terrifying in this aspect. Cirvanas had just exhausted his stamina in battle, and then he was even given the responsibility of cleaning up the fishmen’s corpses, cutting off the fat as fuel for the fire, so he had long become so hungry his vision blurred, his entire body limp. Only, under Madeline’s powerful suppression, he didn’t dare voice any of these thoughts.
Su stood up and said, “You all wait for me here, I’m going to get some stuff to eat and return in a day or so.”
“I am also going!” Unknown if it was because of the great hunger or something else, Cirvanas suddenly blurted this out.
As soon as these words left his mouth, he realized something was wrong. In these frozen plains, only by plunging deep into the frozen sea would he have a chance of finding something to eat, so where would he have the skill to do such a thing? In addition, that was Pridekla’s territory. Two fishmen soldiers were hard enough to defeat above water, so even if it was just one fishman underwater, he would still only become fish food.
Su smiled while shaking his head, saying, “You two won’t be able to help me. Wait for me here.” After saying this, he gave Madeline a look, frowned slightly, and after thinking for a bit, said, “Don’t always bully him so much.”
“This is for his own good.” Madeline gave Cirvanas a glance, looking like she didn’t have any plans of stopping. Su’s brows frowned again, but he didn’t say anything, instead heading north alone.
Beneath the ice sheet was solid frozen rock, and only after heading a few dozen kilometers further north would he enter the range of the frozen sea. Su began to run at a fixed velocity, and in roughly half an hour, he would enter the frozen sea. Meanwhile, the ice sheet would only continue to stretch on. Running at his current speed wouldn’t exhaust much strength, and the energy the Heart of Darkness provided was enough for low intensity battles. Su was always someone with great patience, so he wouldn’t feel boredom even if he ran for an entire day and night. However, right now, for some reason, he unexpectedly felt an indescribable, faint jittery feeling, yet he couldn’t find the reason for his distress.
The chilly winds whistled past Su’s body, carrying a faint anger. This was Pridekla’s anger. The King of Frozen Sea was already starting to feel helpless towards Su’s conduct in its domain. After all, even Pandora was defeated, so those fishmen soldiers under him, no matter how many he sent out, they would only be sending themselves to their death. This was, unless he went out to do the job himself.
Su strangely didn’t sense the frozen sea lord’s anger. His current condition felt extremely strange to him, his chest tightening up, the orders he sent towards his heart all disordered and chaotic. His perception towards the outside world continuously weakened, yet there was a fire rising from the bottom of his heart, the burning sensation preventing him from remaining calm.
The strange sensation was impossible to get rid of, to the extent where his body instinctively already carried out a self-examination, but it couldn’t find any problems, as a result going silent again. However, the vexed and impatient feeling continued to tangle about in Su’s mind, lingering like a specter, starting to make him lose his cool-headedness bit by bit.
“What is wrong with me?” Su decided to just stop and stand still, silently ask himself this question. Of course, there was no way he would obtain an answer. There were extremely few signs of life in his panoramic view, so it was definitely not the reaction of a nearby enemy.
As for those close to Su, Madeline’s combat strength was already close to his own, so there shouldn’t be any danger to her either. Persephone was a Black Dragonrider general, possessing both great strength and craftiness. With her family’s secret support on top of that, she should be fine as well.
As for Helen… why would she ever need his worry?