Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]

Chris

Thankfully, of the five potential upgrades I could now do, evolving my Bloodline was the easiest and most straightforward. Like most things related to Bloodlines, it was supposedly instinctual. Similar to how the previous strengthening and purifying a Bloodline was instinctual. I wasn't sure if all of that was true, but seeing how it had been so far, I chose to believe it.

While the theory of what I was about to do sounded simple, I wasn't sure if the practical application would be the same.

In theory, evolving a Bloodline was similar to strengthening it, just with a lot more energy and mana involved so that a qualitative change was forced, rather than a quantitative one.

Evolving a Bloodline came with a few prerequisites that had to be met, though, so you couldn't just throw mana at the problem and hope for an evolution. Well, you could, but that was a great way to blow yourself up.

The first was that the Bloodline had to be capable of evolving. There had to be a higher Tier it could evolve to. If the Bloodline was already at the maximum Tier it could reach, it couldn't evolve any further along the regular progression and shoving mana and energy into it wouldn't do anything.

You had to seek out other... opportunities to push it further. Treasures, Blood Essence to merge it with, or something else out in the wider universe. For Humans, that usually meant switching to a new Bloodline that had a higher ceiling, but for beasts, that process was much, much more intricate and something that wasn't important right now.

The second requirement was that the Bloodline had to be at the maximum amount of drops and the highest purity possible. That requirement wasn't as hard-coded as the first one, but it made the process smoother and less dangerous. Pushing a Bloodline as far as possible made the energy requirement for evolving it lower, meaning that at the time of evolution, there was less needed to control and absorb. Less energy required translated into less risk of things going wrong and a higher probability of succeeding.

Other than those two prerequisites, there was a third, but that one was more common sense than anything.

After pushing your Bloodline forward a Tier, your body needed to be able to withstand it. That rule was especially true for Humans, who commonly had bodies less resilient than beasts of the same rank.

It was the same reason that I had to start low when I first imbibed my Bloodline. My body wouldn't have been able to handle anything more powerful.

Now, though, after reaching D-rank and having thousands of points in Fortitude, I could withstand going up a Tier. Not to mention my Body of Stone as well, which was perfectly suited to withstanding the type of energies my Bloodline gave off.

All of that said, the process was simple.

Find an area high in the same type of energy as your Bloodline and force as much of it as you could into it. A threshold would be reached when enough energy was gathered, and the Bloodline would do the rest on its own. The only thing you had to do after that was withstand the aftermath.

Being as far North as I was, the area was already dense in the energy I needed, but I still carved a mana gathering formation into the ice below my feet. I didn't spend the time using Tier 2 Runes, as they weren't necessary and would take weeks to set up. With my skills and expertise, Tier 1 runes could be done in a few hours, and carving them directly into the ice only made things easier. The formation didn't have to be permanent, so I didn't even have to fill the grooves with anything, either, only carve the shape after purifying the ice.

After that, I sat in the middle and did the same thing I had when igniting my Mana Heart. Gathered as much mana as I could.

The same feeling of ice creeping through my veins assaulted me, but it wasn't as harsh this time. I was using a similar amount of energy, but it was... muted. Less destructive.

My body had adapted to it, and it wasn't as volatile. My control over it had also increased.

Inside my core sat the vibrant sphere of purplish blue liquid, and I sent all the energy I gathered straight into it. Usually, this would grow the Bloodline essence and strengthen it, but it was already at its limit.

Instead, the pressure inside the liquid just kept growing as the energy I was funneling into it had nowhere to go.

It was... relatively easy. My Mana Heart had required a similar amount of energy, except during that process, I had to control it all while also moving my mana pool. I didn't have to do either of those things for this. I just had to gather as much as I could and inject it into the Bloodline.

The pressure built and built, and I began to feel a slight strain on my Spirit. The force was small and easily countered without even needing to call on my Anchor. My Spirit, on its own, was strong and robust enough to withstand it. As I continued to force mana into it, I felt the tipping point approach. All of a sudden, the deep purple liquid rippled with power. The color deepened, the glow grew more radiant, and the the power it held sharply rose.

The liquid rippled again, and the same process occurred. And again.

Like a dam breaking, power surged through my body all at once. A bone-deep chill spread with the rush of power, and I could feel my body react to contain all of it. At this point, if I hadn't been strong enough, I would have exploded like an overfilled balloon of gore. While there was a slight pain from the rush, it came nowhere close to the other times where I'd nearly ripped my body apart. Compared to the lengths I went to during fighting the Orc War Leader.

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The apex soon broke, and the surge of power fell away. In its wake was left a sphere of liquid much more impressive than before. The purple was deeper, the subtle blues it held were more vibrant, and it was easy to tell that the Bloodline Essence was on a much higher Tier than it once had been.

While there wasn't a line on my Status dedicated to my Bloodline, it wasn't hard to imagine what it might say.

Bloodline Evolved:
Bloodline of the Frostborn -> Bloodline of the Jotun

After the effects subsided, I wasted no time in testing my new achievement.

Calling on my Bloodline was the same as ever, but the Bloodline essence that burned through my veins was on a level I'd never felt before. The changes were also on another level. The half a foot of growth from before turned into two feet, my skin whitened until it went over the edge and turned a pleasant shade of pale blue, and I could guess that my hair shifted to a pure white. My muscles grew in size and density, and I could feel my bones shift, growing into something hard to imagine. The power they contained made it feel like I could jump off a mountain and come out without any breaking.

If I'd fought the bear now, it felt like I could hold my own and end up fine on the other side, rather than the heavy wounds I'd sustained.

When I picked up my hammer to give it a few test swings, I was surprised to feel that the weapon had undergone a similar shift. The shaft had lengthened to match my new stature, and the ice at its head filled with an energy similar to the one burning through my veins.

It was like the Bloodline essence had cycled through my hammer, along with the rest of my circulatory system, even though I hadn't been holding it. Its heft had also increased, making it feel like I was swinging with the same resistance, even though I had just grown in strength.

This wasn't the first time I'd noticed odd changes with the weapon. My hammer mimicked my in odd ways that were hard to describe. Currently, it was altered to match the changes when burning my Bloodline, but it also changed with [Weight of the Arctic]. As my stats ramped up from the skill, the hammer also grew in weight to match it. It was hard to tell, but I assumed it changed with [Glacial Presence] as well.

Is the skill evolving?

It was easy to forget that my hammer was summoned from a skill, rather than it being an item in its own right, and [Frostbound Hammer] had been with me since evolving to E-rank.

The only thing I could think of was the line in the skill's description that said 'bound to you by frost'. That had to mean more than I thought if it was being affected by things like my Bloodline and other skills.

Something to think about on the road.

With my Bloodline evolved, it was time to return to Frostheim. There was an uneasy feeling I had creeping up on me that made me hesitant to stay up here any longer.

I wasn't sure if it was because of the beasts that were moving around and getting ready for Winter to arrive, or if there was something that was causing it from back home, but I'd learned to trust my instincts when it came to things like this.

Something was coming, and it worried me enough to make a hasty return.

Marcus Shieldwell

The day he had been dreading was coming ever closer. Ever since the Assembly had ended and all of the Faction Leaders had made their way home, he'd felt a shift in the tides. Metaphorically, but that didn't mean that the shift wasn't real. [Tide of Battle] was more than it let on, and the skill had led him to survive things Marcus wouldn't have otherwise. It let him feel the battlefield in a way that was impossible to miss, and this was one of the first times it had shifted without him knowing why.

When he first claimed the skill, it was easy to feel it ebb and flow when fighting the mantis abominations. Every day, the tide would flow in and out depending on how the battle had gone and if they had lost anybody. If they'd had a good day, the tide would flow in their favor, and if they'd had a bad day, it would flow in the opposite.

The skill had been meant for singular battles, but that didn't mean it couldn't do anything else. Marcus had learned early that one of the best ways to grow was to push your skills. Not only in the obvious ways, but push them in directions that they otherwise wouldn't.

Now, [Tide of Battle], after a few upgrades, was something of an early warning system that something was building against him, and he had an inkling of what that might be. The fact that the subtle shift had started the day before the Assembly first began, it wasn't hard to imagine the cause.

That it was now showing more movement on a much grander scale, it only made that possibility more likely.

Mikayla and Tasunka were going to attack him.

He wasn't sure when, and he wasn't sure where, but he knew it was inevitable. Ever since word of the River Heart was spread, he'd known this day would come. The treasure was too valuable for it not to. Marcus wouldn't be surprised if Vanessa was facing similar machinations for her eternal flame. Christopher as well. Those who knew of his strength wouldn't dare think of having designs on his Glacial Seed, but those who only heard rumors and snippets? They would make their funeral arrangements without even knowing it.

Now he had to decide if what he and his Faction had prepared would be enough. The Twins was reinforced and fortified constantly; the surrounding lands where villages had grown were vulnerable, but the battle shouldn't involve them overly much.

If they were after the treasure, they would have to assault the Twins for it. Razing the villages was just cruel and unnecessary.

At first, Marcus had thought to defend them. It wasn't like his army was weak; he'd made sure it wasn't, but with two Factions arrayed against him, trying to spread himself thin defending them was impossible.

It would be too easy for his men to be outmaneuvered and surrounded. Especially with the cavalry of The Reservation. Their speed was something he couldn't match. He didn't have the number of horses or cavalrymen to compete, and even so, they weren't at the same caliber.

No, if he stood any chance of facing down the two Factions, he'd have to do it with the defensive advantage. Even then, he wasn't sure what tricks they'd have up their sleeve.

Right now, he had a decision to make.

Should he call on Frostheim, or should he weather the storm alone.

He knew they would come; that wasn't what made him hesitate, it was what he would give up in doing so. Not only would they claim more slots of the treasure he so desperately wanted to keep, but it would also show he was incapable of defending it himself.

He wanted, no, needed to show all of the Factions that he was capable of standing on his own two feet, and he wasn't a vassal of Frostheim.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.