Chronicles of the Exalted Sun Child

"Are we still going south?" Yuriko asked once they reached the relative center of the biome.

The hills made it a bit harder to make sure, and only her perception sliver could actually sense things. Obviously, it didn't make for a very good long-range sensor, but if not for the fact that too dense an Anima didn't lend to being discreet, she would have thickened at least fifty paces of reach around her.

Her Anima was flushed with Radiant energy, and that was actually what made it glow so brightly. Unfortunately, Radiance, being her primary Colligia, and because of Radiant Refinement, was permanently imbued into her Anima. Even her incarnation body had the same issue, even if it was the Bladeless Sword that was her primary there. Radiant Refinement of both physique and Anima was still what she did. She couldn't afford to weaken herself after all. Perhaps if she could create another incarnation, she'd do something different, but she probably wouldn't be able to until she reached three levels above her current Anima strength.

Manifestation would probably stabilise her Animus constructs imbued with Intent, or really, any kind of construct she could make. Magi imbued Intent into their spells to hold them in control and shape them better after all. She could do the same with spells, or Arcana Weaving as it was properly called. She reminded herself that there was also Sorcery, but…that discipline needed copious amounts of Chaos, and the only way she could probably use it here was if she tore a hole into Primordial Chaos. Still, it wasn't as if Sorcery was useless. Rather, it was the practice she did to Shape Chaos that helped her learn Arcana Weaving easily. Come to think of it, Sorcery was also a great way to train Intent and Will. No wonder Mum was able to reach Knight Dominus levels, even if she technically used the Sorcerous Circles to reach that kind of power rather than the Imperial Path.

"Hmm, I'mnot sure, actually." Carina said. "At this point, it wouldn't matter where we go since we'll turn back afterwards. Unless you want to stay the night in Shangria? We still have a few hours before evening, you know."

"My companions and lovers will worry," Yuriko said ruefully.

"Ah, I see." Carina nodded, then froze for a moment, before she shook her head. "A-anyway, I guess I'll leave it to you? There're three other door frames, east, south, and west."

"Hmm, no, I'll leave it to you. You're the trouble seeker after all," Yuriko said with a smile.

"Har de har har," Carina laughed sarcastically and rolled her eyes. "What, you think whichever door I pick will be the one with the troubles?"

"Yes."

"Way to hit someone when they're down," Carina grumbled. Still, there was a slight smile on her face and considering how much tension had eased off her shoulders compared to before that guy, Karn, had outed her circumstances, she must have been used to being shunned. Carina reached over to pat Sir Blue on top of his head when he circled worriedly around her head.

"So, which way?" Yuriko asked insistently.

"Uh, let's just continue south," Carina grumbled.

"Fine by me."

The monsters in the biome were just as easy to spot as the one before, though not because of the fact that their fur had not acclimated to the snow. Instead, the obvious foes here were some kind of winged monster that looked like a cross between a bat and a scorpion. Large flying rodents with venomous stings on long, articulated tails. Well, they were also an unhealthy brown colour. The dark skies would actually obscure them, but her eyes were trained enough to spot quick-moving targets. The scorpi-bats moved quickly enough that they just drew her eye.

Carina, on the other hand, absolutely loathed them.

"Those mongrels!" She spat as one almost skewered her with its tail. "Die, you rats!"

She peppered that one with half a dozen plasma bolts, and turned it to ashes even before the usual disintegration happened. Unfortunately, that scorpi-bat didn't leave a frag, so it only heightened Carina's annoyance.

Over the next hour, they were attacked by nearly a hundred of the things. They were now the ones who were remarkably obvious on the snow-covered ground. Even without Yuriko's golden glow, they were the one spot of colour on the ground. Anyway, a hundred meant that they got about ten frags, which was a respectable haul considering they got almost as much from the other biomes. So roughly a hundred ninety creds for a couple of hours' work. Not bad, she supposed. It was enough to pay for a room and food for one person for several days, at least.

Then again, she also didn't know how much other stuff costs in the rings. Ammunition, rifle power packs, rations…all of those probably cost more than a meal at the local pub, right? Or maybe the liquor was grossly overpriced considering how much adventurers and delvers loved to get sloshed after work hours.

Soon enough, they reached the southern door frame. Yuriko opened it and led the way. She stepped into an ongoing snowstorm. A blizzard that obscured anything more than ten paces away. And just like the rest of the place, her normal Anima perception couldn't see anything. She created half a dozen slivers and sent them out scouting. More than one should've been the norm, she realised, and it didn't take more than one strand of consciousness to create and direct the search pattern. It took six strands to parse information, though, with any kind of speed to be reliable.

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"Awooo!" Fluffington howled as soon as he entered the blizzard. His voice penetrated the snow and wind, echoing against the distant mountainsides. This fifth hike was like their fourth, but instead of just hills, they crossed valleys and mountains. They were on the northern door frame, and technically, they should go back through it in order to get back to node 626. But it would be a shame to leave so quickly.

Her slivers found the valley walls. They were two hundred paces to the west, and a hundred and seventy to the east. The mountainsides were more cliffs than slopes, and were high enough to discourage climbing them. But perhaps there would be something to find there other than stone.

Her perception aura might not have been able to sense the surroundings, but it had no trouble sensing other people. And she found a group of five nearly at the limits of her reach. They were moving quickly and were in a combat formation, with three at the front and two behind in support. She couldn't see what they were fighting, but…

The centre of the vanguard was struck by something, though his shield caught the brunt of it. It deformed upon impact and threw the man back. From the force, Yuriko was surprised that his arm didn't snap. The one on the left, who wielded a longspear, jabbed his weapon at the assailant. The point must have sunk less than half an inch into the enemy before the spearman retreated. The one on the right used a poleaxe, and he swung with admirable ferocity.

It was at this point that Yuriko's slivers reached the area and she could finally see what their foes were.

"Definitely not normal," she muttered.

According to Carina, the monsters here were large mountain goats with a penchant for screaming and charging down the hillside. Well, that and doing so with dozens of compatriots. The narrowness of the valleys made it a deathtrap once the creatures got a charge going, though if a team was suitably prepared, there were counters to it.

The creatures fighting the five-man team weren't goats, or even living things, as far as Yuriko could see. They were constructs, or were armoured by inanimate material at the very least. They were about five paces tall and nearly as broad. Their bodies were made of ice and were humanoid in appearance. And aside from the one attacking the group ahead, there were three more casually moving around the men. The two in support position were using their weapons, one with several throwing spears, and the other with a plasma…cannon? It was much bigger than a rifle, and it looked like nothing more than a miniature artillery cannon. The bolts it fired were ten times bigger than the bolts Carina could fire from her rifle.

Each time that man fired his cannon, it ejected a shell from the side that was probably the size of her forearm. The cannon didn't quite buck from recoil, plasma being lighter than metal after all, but there was still some backblast. The kinetic force was easily handled by the man, however, considering he was probably more than two paces tall. In fact, all five of them were tall, probably a head more than Heron, who was about half a head taller than she was. They also all had ripped physiques, with visible abs that she could have shredded cheese from. And the reason she could tell without even trying? They were only wearing pants and an open vest. Despite the cold.

"Xandro, you good?" the one with the poleaxe yelled.

"Just a little tickle!" Xandro yelled.

"There's another one over there!" the one with the throwing spears said.

He only carried three of them, and in a flash, he launched all three towards the ice construct trying to flank them. The spears—they were too heavy to be called javelins—buried their heads into the construct with an explosion of chips. He waved his hand, and the spurs reversed direction and returned to his hand. The spearheads were wide, but not barbed or designed with reversed blades to deal more damage when pulled out, probably so that the runescript enchantment that allowed it to return would work properly. However, that didn't do much against the ice, even if they had a ten-inch deep hole in their bodies. In fact, the hole was slowly closing as snow packed into it and solidified into crystalline ice. The golem trod towards the team, though the musclemen retreated quickly.

"Cowflop! We have to run!" Poleaxe guy yelled.

"And where will we go, Orlov?" the spearman yelled. "We're on our tenth biome! We're stuck here!"

"Rotten sheepguts! Of all the times to luck out on a deviant!" Orlov growled. "Just pull back, they can't keep following us!"

"Are you sure about that? It's been half an hour and none of them are wounded!" Plasma cannon guy said. "I shot that one full of holes and it just closed up!"

"Cowflop!" Orlov swore.

"Yuriko? What's wrong?" Carina asked when she stepped through. "Oh divines, it's cold!"

Yuriko pointed down the valley. "A team of five muscle men are fighting against Ice golems."

"Ice golems? Divine mercies, those…are third-layer creatures. What are they doing here?" Carina's face paled, "Oh gods, we should run!"

"What about those men?"

"Five muscle guys? Spear, poleaxe and cannon? Yeah, those are the Ultramuscle team. They're tougher than they look! They'll be able to escape, since the golems are slow."

She just about turned around to reenter the door frame.

"I think they're stuck here," Yuriko said.

"Huh, how'd you know?"

"I overheard them."

"From this far away? Wow." Carina didn't look impressed, but wary instead. "You Mystics are real voyeurs, aren't you?"

Yuriko raised an eyebrow. "I'm not, generally. But you sound like you've had a bad experience."

"Yeah."

"Anyway, those things look fun to fight, so I'm going to. We can always retreat if we have to."

Carina sighed, "Well, do what you want. Don't die, please."

"That's going to be unlikely," Yuriko smirked. "Fluffers, you go for the one on the left!"

"Woof!"

Yuriko drew her Arclight Sword and infused it with both the Bladeless Sword and Radiant energy, then she was off. A few moments later, she was within melee distance from the rightmost golem, and she swung her blade. An Arclight Crescent flew from the tip of the sword and carved into the golem's torso. It dug fifteen inches into the thing and stopped. The Arclight dissipated and the golem faced Yuriko, its eyes blazing with rage.