Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]

Chris

The days after my Law improvement were rather boring. I played around and grew used to the increase, but other than that, there wasn't much to do.

That was until I found what I was looking for.

My days following the coast were over as I felt the ground become further and further away. The sheet of snow and ice I was walking on became thicker and thicker, making it nearly impossible to feel any earth under my feet.

The only other thing I felt was a touch of water, which meant only one thing.

I had finally hit the ice shelf. It took me a long, long while to find a piece of land that connected to it, but I finally did. The last time was much easier, as the ice shelf extended much further south during the winter, but I still managed it this time.

While hitting the ice shelf was a task in and of itself, that wasn't what my excitement was entirely about. Sure, some of it was about that, as I wouldn't have to keep walking aimlessly, but it wasn't all of it.

That honor was taken up by a multi-ton ursine of truly monstrous proportions.

[Dire Polar Bear – 125]

I'd seen pictures before, and even felt one's aura before, but this was my first time putting eyes on one. They were... something. My head only came up to barely shoulder level, and I wasn't a short man.

That was in addition to the boots I was wearing, which added to my height, giving me an extra few inches at the top.

Other than its height, its bulk wasn't something I could have pictured. I knew they would be large; we had a few bears around Frostheim, but not like this. Polar bears were the largest species of bear there was, and if the previous convention still held, the largest carnivore on the planet.

That could have been altered since the Change, but that was still something to make note of.

What really struck it home and made the sight something I wouldn't forget for a long, long while was the fact that this was probably one of the weakest ones. All of the more powerful bears would have territories in better spots, either closer to the pole, where the Arctic mana was densest, or nearer to a coast with better hunting waters.

Technically, we were near a coast, but not a very good one. I hadn't seen much in the way of marine life, and there hadn't been much else of note other than the monsters from the dungeon break. The storm could have scared some of them off, but I highly doubted that. If things were living this far in the Arctic, some snow wouldn't have sent them running. Also, the mana was dense, but I hardly expected it to be the highest in the area.

That being said, even though the beast was most likely on the weak side for a bear, that didn't stop the wellspring of power the beast gave off. I'd faced beasts of a similar level, and none of them felt nearly as threatening as the bear did.

Even the 12th Floor Bosses in the Dungeons, which were level 120 Boss monsters, didn't feel as dangerous as the bear.

These things were the kings of their territories, and I was about to intrude on one.

Just as I had noticed the bear ambling somewhere on the ice, the bear had noticed me. A part of me wanted to curse my lack of stealth, but it wasn't something I could regret now. Even if, in the end, I would have tried to fight the bear anyway. At least then it would have been on my terms and at my discretion.

Instead of dwelling on it, I prepared myself.

This was one of my goals for coming up here. It wasn't that I had a mental block or anything, but running from a bear the last time I was up here hadn't felt good. It rubbed the wrong way, as it was one of the few times I had run from anything, and that left a sore spot to look back on.

I knew it was for survival and only an idiot would stand and face a beast so far above them in what would have been certain death, but now that I was stronger and I had evolved, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it now.

That being the case, when the bear noticed me, I didn't turn and run immediately. I dropped my back, covered it in a layer of ice to protect it, and ripped my hammer free.

Sensing the very real threat, I didn't hold back. [Glacial Heavy Plate] formed sheets of ice around my armor, [Battle Fury] activated instantly, and my Bloodline came next. [Weight of the Arctic] would have to build during the fight, and [Glacial Presence] was already maxed out.

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After that, I used [Frozen Leech] on the bear as it ran toward me before launching myself at it in turn.

From the moment we saw one another, only a few seconds had passed, and we were already sprinting at one another and drawing on our power. Mine from skills, mana, and my Bloodline, and the bear from its own mana and Bloodline.

Our steps thundered on the ice, but it held fast, surprisingly. The bear weighed much more than me, but even its bulk didn't cause problems on the ice.

As the distance closed, I felt a familiar, but hostile, haze of mana settle around us, and I knew it was an innate skill similar to [Tundra's Descent]. The bear was trying to claim the area in the same way I usually did to my opponents.

Baring my teeth in a smile, I activated my own skill to ward it off. Both our efforts repelled one another, but I wasn't sure who would end up winning that battle of will because a much faster altercation was coming that I had to prepare myself for.

Activating [Fury] and my Bloodline one right after the other had my body swell with power that would have bordered on dangerous before my evolution, but those bones were being put to good use. Not only that, the changes were much, much more pronounced than they had been before. The growth wasn't just a few inches anymore, but nearly a foot, and the rest of my body filled out to match. The increase drew me more level with the bear, but I was still outclassed in height and weight.

It was a rather large increase on its own, but that was nothing compared to the feeling I had while sprinting. The added weight, the sheer feeling of power coursing through my veins. It wasn't just my bones that got the upgrade, but my heart as well. The evolution had improved the foundation of my racial trait in addition to adding to it. This wasn't the first time I'd called on my Bloodline since the evolution, but it would be the first time I drew this openly and deeply, all at once.

The last preparation I made was activating [Jotun's Resistance]. It was a mana hog and would drain me quickly if left on for too long, but I felt it was taking that precaution now, just in case the first clash went poorly.

The ice vibrated under my feet from the bear's weight, and I brought my hammer around to meet the beast's charge, sending mana flooding down into it. My first thought was to use [Shattering Hammer], but I went with [Meteor Strike] instead.

It was of lower rarity, but I wanted to use my new Law aspect with it and see how much I could now do with the heaviness concept. I didn't bother with using [Pervading Cold], as the Cold affinity of the bear was a match for my own; that would just be throwing mana into the wind.

Ice instinctively wrapped around my feet and legs as I swung, anchoring me down and putting my newly upgraded [Ice Manipulation] to work.

My arms ripped down and my hammer whistled through the chill air, slamming into the bear's shoulder with an echoing thud. The snow dampened the noise, but it was like thunder in my ears from this distance.

The bear roared in pain, but that didn't stop it from completely bulldozing over me. The weight was impossible to stop, and I was sent skidding back and toppling over. The ice around my legs broke apart, putting up little resistance, and my bulk was nothing compared to that of the bear.

I retained my hammer and quickly found my feet before the bear could charge again.

The only thing that stopped me from charging forth once more was the sharp crack I heard, and it wasn't of the ice around my feet breaking.

It was of [Glacial Heavy Plate] shattering.

I was unharmed from the initial clash, and there weren't any wounds on me, but my armor skill couldn't say the same. It shattered just the same as the ice around my feet had. The metal underneath was also visibly dented, which was... worrying.

While the aura of the beast was strong, and it was enough to put my instincts on edge, I hadn't thought it would be that strong.

I didn't expect to win in one blow, but I also hadn't expected to come out as badly as I had either. I had mountains of stat points, an evolution, and so much more going for me since the last time I'd faced a bear, and I'd still lost.

Yes, there had been time for the bear to grow as well, but still... I had expected more.

That just went to show that the beasts of the planet still had their place in the hierarchy.

I shunted those thoughts quickly and focused back on the fight. This time, ice cracked, and my hammer fractured apart as [Shattering Hammer] filled it with its violent energies. Runes lit up, and I whipped it around for round two.

The full force of my hammer slammed home again, but did so without as much effect as I'd hoped. The bear cried out again, and the violent energy did something inside the bear, but that was all I could pick up on.

[Dash] carried me away from the bear before it could crash into me for a second time.

I grinned.

[Charge] brought me back in front of the bear, already swinging. The bear's neck snapped sharply to the side, but it still wasn't enough.

Before I could think to get out of the way, teeth flashed much too close, and pain flared in my arm. For some reason, [Dash] hadn't activated like I'd hoped. [Charge] was still in effect, and I hadn't been able to use the second movement skill in time to get out of the way.

Teeth split skin, and it was my turn to grunt in pain.

The last thing I wanted was to let the bear get a handhold, which it would then use to throw me around like a ragdoll, so I instantly reached out and punched it in the eye with my good hand.

It had bit down on my left shoulder, leaving my right free with a clear shot at my target. My icy gauntlet slammed home, and the bear released its hold, leaving behind a handful of puncture holes and thin streams of blood.

"Alright then," I wheezed, "Round three."