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Chapter 363: Frozen World

Suddenly, a metallic fragment from the ship\'s walls split open from the uniform structure it once was, revealing white smoke particles from the slight cracks it now had. And, like a closed castle bridge descending upon a flowing moat, the separated chunk of the wall expanded out and dropped towards the ground with an audible thud, unveiling what lied ahead with a furious wind that aggressively struck their visage.

Yet, instead of covering their faces, they took their first steps forward, moving from the hard metal of the ship toward the pale, fluffy ground of the outside world, particles of white softly striking their face showering them gently from up above.

The sky was a colour so familiar yet foreign to their eyes, a bright, icy blue that possessed a certain charm to its fuzzy, cloudy nature.

The ground itself was covered in a blanket of white coating a mountainous and rocky terrain. The trees were all dead bar a few exceptions, they looked similar to those found on earth, but their swirly nature and light blue tree bark set them apart.

Past the rugged terrain, raging wind and the thick fog ahead laid a frozen waterfall overlooking a downwards slope, one that held a thick, large glowing sign that made itself known within the storm, like a beacon drawing travellers near.

They were all speechless, mesmerized by the allure of something that they should have found mundane.

What was in front of them seemed like something they would find on earth. It was a mountainous snowstorm. However, it was unlike anything they could find at home. No, it was far too mystical, almost as though magic was thick and fresh in the air.

"Wow… This place is… Damn… If only it wasn\'t so foggy…" Regrit was the first to open his mouth as he marvelled at the new world ahead.

"Or cold…" Hikari softly whispered from the side. Her armour did seem a fair amount lighter than that of her peers.

"Ah! Oh… Ummm… Is that better Hikari?" Regrit raised his hands, slight flickers and sparks escaping his fingertips before it turned into a small flame that he brought closer to her shivering body.

"Y-yes… Thank you very much…" She beamed radiantly in his direction.

"N-no problem…"

"Don\'t worry young Hikari, we shall find a place to stay out of this snowstorm. A home where we can sleep and rest on this journey will be our first priority. I do not believe that our ship has more fuel, and if our journey leads us far from our destination, there will be no room for us to backtrack here for regular rest." Artorias looked back and smiled brightly towards the shivering Hikari, making her smile back at his kindness only to go blank and shake her head a split second later.

"Anyways, where exactly are we supposed to go? Can we just set up the teleporter here and get things over with?" Elizabeth abruptly commented.

"Sadly not, it is not so easy mistress Eleonora. The planet where we reside is on the very edge of our teleporting capabilities. In order to properly set up a hub of teleportation, we must first reach the absolute highest peak of this planet."

"Huh? And where exactly is that? This planet is probably huge! Are we really gonna scour this entire block of ice looking for the highest peak?" Kai interjected.

"Well, knowing the school systems, we must not be too far away from the highest peak analyzed through the ship\'s sensors. How close exactly I too have no idea." Artorias responded.

"Let\'s just go to the glowing sign over there, that\'s the only clue we have. The sign will probably lead to some sort of civilization. The instructors told us that the locals aren\'t hostile, so, with these translation devices, we could probably just ask them where the highest peak of the planet is. Plus, it would be good if we could set up a base of operations there for Hikari to rest." Moby finally spoke, his hands placed firmly on his lips.

"Precisely what I was thinking! Excellent analysis Kane! Let us move forward!" Artorias nodded and pointed his blade towards the glowing sign ahead. He led the way through the unforgiving tundra, going at a respectable pace in order to survive the less than pleasant terrain.

However, they were not even a quarter of the way to the sign when a sudden rumbling was heard from the ground underneath them…

"Hey… What\'s that sound?" Regrit asked.

"Not sure, but get out quick!!" Moby yelled, the rumbling getting ever louder until the very ground beneath their feet began to crumble.

They all panicked and instinctively jumped to safety.

"Hahaha! Not bad!" It was fairly, easy, they comfortably dodged certain doom.

But, their happy nature turned completely dire when they looked back towards where they once were, only to be met by a massive abyss that seemed to have no bottom, that along with a certain figure missing in the distance.

"Well… There goes our ship… That avalanche just dumped it in the hole... No looking back now… And it\'s all because this gentleman right here and his little princess thought it would be a good idea to bring so much sudden heat to a clearly unstable, unknown environment…" Elizabeth almost felt like crying, she bore no anger, but instead an unparalleled disappointment and a feeling of forlorn.

"Hey stop being so pissy! There was no fuel on that ship anyways, it was pretty much useless! And besides, It might not have been my fault! If you knew it was so bad why didn\'t you speak out about it!?"

"I know it\'s your fault because it was clear as day! And, it was only the examiners that told us that the fuel was empty, for all we know they had some extra! Now, our only way out of here is to complete our mission! And I didn\'t speak out about it because I was told that you weren\'t that bad and that I should put at least some trust in you! God!"

"SILENCE! BOTH OF YOU!!" Artorias\'s roar pierced deeply into their hearts, leaving them with no words. "Had I not warned you to not quarrel amongst yourselves like children! We are on a mission! We know not of what truly transpired, even if it were Regrit\'s fault, he was doing it all to help a fellow team member! For all we knew, this was all a planned event by the examiners so they could pit us against each other and evaluate us as a team! If that were the case, from how it appears, we had failed that initial test! Take this as a final warning! We have no room for such petty drama, focus on the mission at hand! I have a bad feeling about what lies ahead… It is the unknown… There is a certain feeling in the air… Like death lies around every corner… Any slip-up could be the difference between success and certain failure… Remember that very well..."