Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]

Chris

Hudson Bay

There was a certain amount of clarity that came with being alone. Being alone and surrounded by blessed silence led to the most relaxed I had felt in a long while. Planting the seed and experiencing my little slice of Winter had a lot to do with it.

I felt stupid for worrying about the decision to wait or not. At some point, I had started thinking about leveling up as a race, and it was never a race. Or if it was, it was a marathon, not a sprint.

It didn't matter how quickly other people leveled up. It didn't matter what anyone else did. All that mattered was setting myself up so that I had a solid road to walk down.

Steady but slow steps were always better than flailing and rushed.

I will wait.

After coming around to the idea, and seeing how stupid I had been trying to rush ahead, I could finally enjoy the silence. I wasn't wondering what I could be doing differently. I wasn't itching to level.

My hands were still, and my mind didn't anxiously think of other things I could be doing that would have me advance faster.

Sitting in the slice of Winter I created did little besides act as comfort. My Bloodline was as strong and pure as I could make it. Any more would risk destabilizing the entire thing. If the power I called on when I used it was too much, it would tear apart my body rather than helping it.

My body refining was as high as I could go. It followed a similar ruleset as Mana Cultivation, and to try refining to Copper would require 3,000 points in a physical stat, or at least near it.

I didn't even have 2,000. Strength was my highest, and it was only 1876.

My Law was as high as I could realistically take it. Tier 3 Laws at E-rank weren't impossible, but it was basically unheard of. No one, not one person, had one. The best I could do was try to expand the ones I already had with supplementary concepts.

The road to Tier 3 was going to be a long one.

I felt something occur in my Spirit during the battle with the Orcs, but it also felt like I wasn't ready yet. Chasing after that felt like a fool's errand.

It was only upgrading my Skills that I could persue. Both Class and Profession, but I didn't feel like doing either right now, so I didn't. I'd just spent the better part of a year spending every waking moment thinking, performing, or studying Runesmithing.

I wanted a break, so that was what I did.

There was one thing I did do, but it was closer to subconscious rather than taking active effort.

Play with my affinity.

Affinities were... weird. They were much more flexible than I first assumed. They could change over time. Being altered either on purpose or by circumstance. Not to mention by treasures, like I had already done.

It wasn't just aspect either. Ice to Arctic was a change in aspect, but it could also increase in strength. How deeply tied to it you were. How strong it was. How firm the connection between the person and the aspect presented.

I'd seen requirements on some Classes that read 'Strong Ice Affinity' or 'Extremely Strong Ice Affinity', which was a measurement of how deep my connection was.

It wasn't something that was shown; rather, it was felt. It was in how easily [Ice Manipulation] responded. How quickly and efficiently ice or ice mana responded to my call.

It also affected how much mana certain skills required. The deeper my connection, the less mana it took to have the same effect. It was small, but it was there.

So, while spending time in a well-earned rest, I felt it out. Played with the connection. Explored what I had and sought how to improve it.

As I explored, I saw places where it was expressed. Effects that had gone unrealized.

I'd had the same affinity for over three years now, but my mana was different. More pure. Colder. Fiercer. Closer to the ideal Arctic than it had been before. My deepening connection had made it so, even without me realizing.

I felt the mana course through me. It entered through my skin and joined the river that was already there. It flowed through my arteries and veins and filtered through my heart. Some stayed there to be left in the large pool my mana had become.

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Some escaped back out of my skin, back into the world at large to play and mingle with the mana saturating the world.

Most of the mana inside the formation had already turned into Ice, Snow, or Frost mana, but I was turning it into Arctic mana.

There was already a lot of it in the air from mana I'd already expended, but just my presence was creating more of it. My affinity acted like a filter, and it was slowly working through any mana that I passively absorbed.

Rachel was always on me about training my mana, and now was the first time in a while I had the time to do so. I didn't even consider it training, as I wasn't straining myself or trying for an end goal. Merely exploring.

It was fun to watch and manipulate. Nearly as fun as the dancing auroras.

Nick

City of Storms

"They said what?" Nick forced out while restraining the urge to let his lightning loose. After his newest evolution, the power felt like it was right at his fingertips. Ready to leap at his command if he so wished.

The messenger stuttered and gasped like a fish. Even if Nick was releasing the full brunt of his aura on him, he needed to be better than that. It was an insult.

"They dispute your claim on the Dungeon. They say it has been under their authority for years, and just because you now claim it doesn't make it so." The sniveling man said.

"Oh..." Nick said and played with a bit of wind around his hand, "They said all that."

The man nodded quickly.

"It seems Three Rivers has some spine, then," Nick commented. They weren't even a Noble City, yet they were standing up to him. Conquering them was going to be fun.

"Um, also, sir, we saw an envoy leaving the City and heading East. We think they're appealing to the Admiral for protection." The man added with a bowed head.

Static energy built, and the thought to smite the man returned, "Why didn't you lead with that?"

"I'm sorry, my lord." The man hurriedly apologized.

I can't take on all of the American Faction, but how much would they be willing to help Three Rivers? It's just a random City far away from their holdings.

His evolution provided a lot, but he couldn't contend with the number of people they had. They'd win by sheer attrition.

"Uh-hum," James, one of his trusted captains, cleared his throat, "My lord, I thought we were going to focus on the Northwest after we got back. Take most of Wisconsin while no one claimed it."

Nick smiled, "Why not both? No one will contest us there, so we can take our time, but the longer we wait in the south, the more... messy things will get."

Nick didn't bring up the main reason. They were running out of unclaimed dungeons. His Faction had claimed every single one from Chicago down to Indianapolis and beyond, with a few more under their banner elsewhere.

The amount was decent, good even, when compared against other factions, but that wasn't all. They only had a few that reached deep enough to matter. Only one had reached D-rank yet, and after his evolution, it barely did anything for his level.

Running the entire thing barely gave him any essence. If he had to keep at his current pace, it was going to take decades to reach level 200.

The amount of dungeons didn't matter anymore. While it gave the lessers something to do and brought in money and resources, it didn't help him directly, and that was all that mattered.

Three Rivers just so happened to have a D-rank dungeon. One that Nick wanted.

"My lord, what do you mean it will get messy?" James asked.

"We aren't the only ones eyeing their dungeon. The new Baron in Nashville is too. Fighting him wouldn't be too hard, but he isn't the only one. Three Rivers has a trade deal with Kingston that they could get aid from, along with St. Louis." Nick said.

All three of the cities were in an alliance after meeting for the test. They called themselves 'River Lords', as all three of their cities sat on a river. Three Rivers was the most Central of them, where the Ohio met the Mississippi, and would cut the other two off if they were conquered.

St. Louis was to the North along the Mississippi. Kingston was to the East, along the Ohio. Cincinnati, is it used to be named before Braxton King took over and renamed it after himself.

"If things take too long, we could be in the middle of a three-way battle. If that happens, things will get messy. I doubt their appeal to the Admiral will amount to anything, but if it does..." Nick left the rest unsaid.

As he described the situation, Tracy, one of his City Mayors, spoke up, "Is it worth it, then? If it drags us into this mess?"

She was always undermining his plans. If she weren't so helpful in running his Faction, he would have gotten rid of her long ago.

He held back a sneer. Of course it was worth it. It was what he needed, but that wasn't what he said.

"It won't be too bad. There are other reasons to dip our toes in the water. It will level up the army, create opportunities for growth, and bring in a lot of essence. War doesn't have all the downsides and none of the upsides like it used to." Nick said.

He'd learned early that the essence transfer from other humans was better than from beasts. Less of it was lost from being incompatible, resulting in a higher efficiency.

A war would give him a good excuse. It would get him the dungeon and levels. A win-win.

James, ever the loyal captain, jumped in after him, "It will also prepare us for later. Be it the Settlement Waves, pylon upgrades, or another test. If we hone ourselves now, we can be sharp for the future."

Nick wasn't sure if the man truly believed in what he said, but it helped sway the rest of them. As much as Nick wanted to tighten his grip around everyone and force them to go along with what he wanted, there had already been a few times when that hadn't worked.

He'd had to send a few captains on missions they didn't come back from already, and he didn't want to have to keep doing it. They took a lot of time and effort to bring up in power, not to mention loyalty.

He also couldn't keep going to get more of the ink. Contracts that held up for the strong were expensive.

Tracy was the only one still against it; all ten of the other captains were swayed. Tracy didn't matter much as she wasn't going to participate either way.

"Send a team to stand outside the dungeon and take a percentage. Say that we're allowing them to use it while we organize our own delvers. If they fight back or refuse, you know what to do." Nick ordered.

They knew where to find him if they had a problem.