Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]

Chris

Frostheim

I separated from Lucille and walked to meet Ashley away from our testing area. I wasn't sure why our Healer was running at me, and just in case it was something sensitive, I stepped aside.

Ashley easily closed the distance and was in front of me swiftly, and her face made it clear she wasn't bringing good news.

Bad news and a running Doctor...

"Chris..." She was distraught and to the point of nearly hyperventilating.. The third bad sign. "I did everything- no, I couldn't-, I'm sorry..."

The woman was usually unflappable, even in the face of a battlefield hospital. She was like a steel wall processing the injured during the test. Not even the mountain of dismembered warriors or corpses had rattled her this much.

This must be personal...

"Take a breath and explain clearly," my words were forceful as the longer she took to explain, the more worried I became.

"It's Grandma." She got out, "Something's wrong and I can't fix it. She collapsed in the garden-"

That was all she had to say. I was off sooner than the words were out of her mouth. Ashley was quickly behind me as we both sprinted back to the city. The testing grounds were in between the Dungeon and the City, only a few minutes away, but even that felt like hours.

I disproved Lucille's observation as I left small indents in the ground. My full strength being utilized to get home as quickly as possible. Ashley was close behind me, but didn't have the speed to keep up. Her Agility was even lower than mine, not to mention her Strength.

There was a dedicated hospital wing of the Castle, and that was my target. It had only been used as a recovery station before, with me as its most frequent visitor. Now it held someone else.

The guardsmen at the gates saw me coming and worked frantically to open the gates in time. I wasn't sure if I would have waited if they failed. Replacing them was a paltry worry compared to the alternative. The guards at the Inner Gate had more warning and had them open with time to spare.

My aura cleared the streets, and I quickly made it through the city.

I busted through the Castle doors and climbed the steps in giant leaps. The stone held, but barely. They would need to be upgraded soon.

Only when I nearly tore the door of the medical ward from its hinges did I finally still. My entire family was here. Everyone who was in the city now stood around a hospital bed.

Uncle Brayden and Aunt Carrie were the closest, as it was their mother who occupied the bed. Around them were the grandchildren. Abigail, Gabriel, Vincent, Mitchell, Hal, and Connor. Around them was the next generation. The great-grandchildren, of whom there were three. Lily, Anna, and Josh.

The rest of the family, the in-laws not directly related to her, stood nearer to the edges of the room. Sam being the sole exception, as she used a few healing skills near the bed.

Rachel stood behind Brayden, rubbing his back while Lucy did the same for Vincent. My mother was behind Abigail and Gabriel, and only smiled softly as I arrived.

Jonathan was making sure the three kids didn't climb on the bed.

The only people missing were Austin and Ashley, with the latter quickly walking around me and through the door a few moments after I did.

"Explain."

It was Sam who did so, not Ashley. "We aren't sure why, but she just collapsed. One second she was fine, and the next... It's presenting like a myocardial infarction, but that doesn't make any sense. I haven't seen anyone have a heart attack in years."

"She had a heart attack?" I asked.

"No." Sam answered, "It presents like a heart attack, but the symptoms are lingering, and her heart is fine. [Body Scan] picks up nothing wrong. No clots, no blockage, nothing seems wrong.

"Nothing we do helps. None of mine or Ashley's skills do anything. Even Abigail's doesn't help. Nothing is working, and we don't know why."

"What do you mean you can't fix it? Both of you have put me back together from scraps before." I looked at both Healers intently. I firmly remembered the conditions they had pulled me out of.

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Both Healers just shook their heads sadly.

"Potions?"

Connor took this one, "Ineffective. Even Rare Health Potions do nothing. It's like there is nothing there to heal. The medicinal energies just spread and do nothing."

I wasn't sure how to respond... What did a person say to that?

"Chris." Jonathan pulled my attention, "Feel her Spirit."

What is he on about...

Oh.

Her spirit felt... weak wasn't enough to describe it. It was closer to flickering. Even when Jonathan's spirit tore, it had never felt this weak. The man had felt diminished, sure, but not... this.

It was at this point that the woman in question spoke up for herself. My... abrasive entrance and subsequent demanding of information had put everyone on the figurative back foot. It didn't help that I hadn't bothered to rein in my flaring aura, which made people wary. Even my family, who had grown comfortable with the feeling over the years, hesitated when faced with the full brunt of it.

"I'm old, Christopher..." Even her voice was weak, "I never expected to see so many years, but age comes for us all eventually..."

It took me a second to calculate her age and realize she was close to ninety. There was too much going on to celebrate them yearly, and we only made exceptions for the three children. Everyone older... not so much. It had been almost four years since the Change.

My first thought was stats. Vitality had done a lot to rewind the clock, but looking at her now, all of those rewound years were showing and more. She looked old, older than she should be.

"Stats stave off aging better than they reverse it," Abigail explained, treating the teaching opportunity as an outlet, "Gaining Vitality while young has a much better effect than when gained later."

Even so, it should have done more than it did. I was set to live for over two hundred years! That was double the age of my grandma and before evolving!

She's only level 25. G-rank lifespan is only... one hundred years. And that's with leveling from a young age, not starting in your eighties.

Cold, freezing-cold water shocked my system.

I had known she had stagnated at level 25. She hadn't gained a Law nor done anything else required to evolve. She hadn't wanted to. I knew what would result from that. I knew what would happen. I just hadn't thought it would be so soon.

I thought there would be more time to help her or convince her.

Everyone tried to get her to evolve. To do something that would get her a few levels, but she firmly refused everything.

She planned it that way.

The thought felt like poison, but I couldn't disregard it immediately. Of all the reasons, that one was the only one that made any sense.

I wasn't the only one to reach it, either.

"You knew," Hal said, barely a whisper. "You never planned to evolve."

The old woman nodded slowly. "No, I didn't. I'm sorry it had to be this way, but I just don't have it in me."

Before any of us could interrupt, she waved us off, showing more vigor than I had expected to see when her spirit was... not.

"I watched my husband of over sixty years get taken from me. I watched two of my sons die. I watched too many grandchildren leave the world before they should have. I've buried too many people before me who should have been buried after me. Even when I thought it was over, two more were taken. I just... don't have it in me any longer.

"I held on for as long as I could. I made sure that you all were safe, and our family would continue. Some of you are now D-rank, which was just a dream back then. Now that I'm confident, I can face Richard proud. That was all he ever wanted. To see his family live on, and I can tell him you have and will."

Everyone was stunned into silence. No one knew what to say. Carrie just held her mother's hand with tears while Brayden stood like a silent sentinel on the other side.

I stood in the doorway like an idiot.

"You'll have to apologize to Austin for me." Her words were weaker now, all that previous vigor gone in a flash. "I don't think I can wait for him."

"No, we can buy something. The store has to have something! If not, those merchants!" Carrie said.

Grandma just looked sad. "It's time, Caroline. I want to see my family again. I know they're waiting for me, the same way I'll be waiting for you."

I stood in the doorway for hours. My feet planted in the stone like I was made of it. Ashley and Sam tried again, but their skills had no effect. Neither did Abigail's. It was her spirit, and their skills couldn't reach it.

It was slowly being snuffed out. The flame flickered more and more until it didn't.

She died later that night.

The messages we frantically sent to Austin never made it in time. He learned the next day. His trip was forgotten, and he was rushing home with all haste.

My body ran on autopilot. It saw a body no longer living and knew what to do. Ice froze, and it would protect the body until we were ready to bury it.

A daze filled me.

It was so... unexpected. I felt so blindsided. I was trying my best to advance my craft, and the next thing I knew, BAM. It was easier than the others, as bad as that sounded. The knowledge that this was what she wanted helped cut the bite that usually came with loss.

It helped, but it still hurt.

Austin wasn't going to make it in time for the funeral. We all felt bad for having it without him, but we also couldn't delay for months until he arrived. It was held the following day.

On a frigid winter day, we held the service. The gathering was small, as it was only open to family. We buried her in the open spot next to Granddad, and we mourned her passing. Drinks were shared and stories were told.

From sunup to sundown, we all grieved in our own way. My choice was with alcohol, as I was trying to cut my habit of killing things when my emotions were in disarray. The habit of going out and hitting things was something I was trying to curb.

So, it was with a moderate-bordering-significant buzz that another person came running at me. A messenger who looked every bit the haggard mess one would expect from running miles and miles.

From the look of it, he came running all the way from the mine and stopped for nothing, not even sleep.

The biggest thing, the piece that drew my immediate attention, was that he was bloody, and the wounds didn't come from beasts. They were cuts, like those from a blade.

"Sir..." he huffed, drawing straight to catch his breath.

"My Lord," he was so flustered he forgot not to call me that, "The Mine! It's under attack!"

My urge to hit things reached new heights.

The dirt hadn't even settled on her grave, and now this...

Someone was going to die.