Ding! Level up! +16 Attribute points! +6 Command Attribute +4 Regeneration Attribute, +3 Strength and Recovery Attributes, +2 Agility and Power Attributes, +1 Perception and Resilience Attribute!

  I didn’t receive any achievements for this level up, but I would for the next. A little rearranging of my planned attribute placement was in order but not right now. As the numbers threatened to draw my attention, I felt Tag’s helpful assistance take the mental issue from my thoughts, leaving me with just the fight. The cool air against my now exposed skin was pushed away as the levelling gains took hold. I began to run.

  The rejuvenating energies of a level up made me feel floaty and reckless as I bounded over ice and snow. My wounds closed, none of them amounting to much more than a bruise or scratch anyway. The mana within my body went wild, refilling from some unknown vessel and dancing its way into the waiting Jingu Bang. I would normally have wasted a fair amount of the energy from levelling, but I was happy to see that the staff was absorbing any runoff Spirit which didn’t make its way into me. Clever little thing, I cooed mentally.

  Within moments, it was over and both myself and the Jingu Bang were stronger than even a few seconds before. I laughed deeply despite myself, despite the frozen air with aggressively cold mana entering my lungs. The System had brought trials and suffering but fuck me if it wasn’t fun, too. Spinning like a top, I crashed into the reforming Ice Elemental before it could prepare itself.

  The main body cracked, but didn’t shatter. Damn thing was tough, the high from levelling fading quickly as my arms were jarred. The crystalline torso was sent bouncing and rolling a good distance all the same but the feeling of invincibility vanished as it did so. Turning to face the approaching Snow Elemental, I let the excitement flow off of me like melting water. I embraced the cool air and calmed. “Let’s do this,” I spoke to the silent world.

  Despite its minivan size, the mass of sharp whips atop the spider’s body did not make a sound. With the stomping Ice Elemental gone and the screaming winds from the defeated Sleet Elemental dying with it, the quiet approach of the snow monster across the tundra was eerie. The hushed battlefield seemed to suck in a breath alongside me and my grip tightened on the Jingu Bang.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The instant my waiting form entered the creature’s range, it struck. At least, that’s what it tried. I had a range of my own. I met its attacks by spinning the staff like a rotor. My attention was pushed to the maximum and my muscles started to shake under the frenzied aggression. However, while the assault was chaotic, my blocking was not. There was instinct and violence within the elemental, but not true intelligence.

  Shards of ice and snow were smashed away with each collision. Some of the magically potent debris still reached me, stealing warmth where it touched me. I endured the cold by sending mana coursing through the affected areas to combat the invading energies. Despite my efforts, I began to lose health just from the cold even without taking direct hits.

  Still, I refused to change tactics. I felt on the verge of understanding something between myself and the staff in my hands as I reacted faster and faster. For its part, the elemental’s attacks increased in both amount and speed. My blocks came with more efficiency each clash, and the elemental responded by trying to overwhelm me. Behind me, I heard the Ice Elemental lumbering over but I didn’t turn. My war of attrition wasn’t over, and I refused to give up.

  The Jingu Bang encouraged me from within my grip. It almost burned with the energies inside. My own mana was filling it nearly as much as I had against the Scorpion Queen. It had also soaked up a bunch of ambient “heat” mana from its time baking in the desert. I wasn’t entirely certain what effects this sunbathing session had upon the staff beyond warmth, but even if it had just been a portable air conditioner I would take it against this cold. The reaction within the staff felt interestingly like…

  Stop this foolishness. An imperious voice, muted yet forceful, told me to end this farce and simply use my skills. Any single one would be enough to tip the balance in my favour, after all. Then again, The Dragon had been noticeably absent since my escape from Reysault’s poison. For it to get involved now, as I was on the cusp of a discovery annoyed me. I knew I was being reckless. It was intentional. Letting anger flare, I felt the Spirit within my body react to the emotion. Like mana, a small amount of the strange energy was always flowing within me, while the larger wells of each rested within my central core.

  The two magical energies joined together, becoming more than the sum of their parts. I didn’t feel as though I lost anything like I would if I used a skill. The mana was just… different. The change wasn’t only shown within my mana channels, though. My speed dropped and my strength rose. The amount was small, but noticeable. The change surprised me and meant I took a few actual hits from the Snow Elemental. At the same time however, my power had grown and now an enraged swipe with the Jingu Bang could finally break through the elemental’s guard too. Half of its snow spider body was scattered away, and I created some space just as the more durable ice giant crashed into the fight once more.

  Though it made me roll my eyes to acquiesce to the Dragon, I released my tight hold over Mana Manipulation. It didn’t make me less annoyed to realise that the Dragon had pushed me at exactly the right moment for the slight breakthrough. I needed a better understanding of what just happened more than I needed to be stubborn. In an instant, both the battlefield and my own body were laid bare for me. As I suspected, whatever was happening within me, it was the same as the Jingu Bang. Though it remained silent, I could feel the smugness exuding from the Aspect.

  The elementals weren’t stopping, which was fine with me. This was a great workout and it would be cathartic to destroy something right now. Even better than that, despite my torn clothing, I wasn’t feeling the cold at all anymore. The angry mana within me, along with the heat of the Jingu Bang, was enough to keep me warm. I rolled my neck and released some tension as I let the enemies approach once more.

  I didn’t keep my tight hold over Mana Manipulation any longer. This was barely a fight when I was holding back. The enemies facing me weren’t at their best anymore either. The Snow Elemental was not as aggressive as before, interestingly. Each destroyed tentacle during our fight so far had cost it some health or mana. It felt weaker than when the battle started. I sighed. The Dragon wasn’t wrong. The Tower, its ridiculously long shadow beginning to loom over me, was the real goal.

  With the clear trepidation from the Snow Elemental, it was the larger ice one who reached me first. “Unlucky,” I remarked to the magical creature. It didn’t seem interested in conversation, choosing instead to swing its arm back for a haymaker. I moved far faster, mirroring its movement slightly as I brought the Jingu Bang behind my back and then lashed it forward as I activated a skill.

  Infusion was the recreated upgrade to Haste. In some ways, it was less useful. Haste had made everything about me faster. My perception, my movements, even my thinking, all of it combining to create the effect of slowing down the world around me. Infusion wasn’t like that. Until now, I had thought Infusion was more of a general attribute booster. I could travel faster with the huge leaps from Infusion strengthened legs, but it wasn’t technically the same. With the slightly altered mana inside of me fueling the skill, I realised that I had been missing a large portion of the ability’s nuance.

  I didn’t enter the muted world of Haste, but the effects of Infusion could be seen all over as my weapon sailed through the wintry air to meet the Ice Elemental. There was a density enforced upon the area around me as the power of Infusion touched not just my own body, but the space around me. I had been containing much of this by instinct, and it had meant the effects were almost too much for me. This usage felt much more natural.

  Even as I demolished the Ice Elemental’s attacking arm, I was paying more attention to how Infusion altered the world. Tag had some helpful insights in the moment, and plans to learn more as I fought. All I needed to know was what it did, not how it worked. By leaning on one of my attributes, in this case Strength, a sphere of control appeared around me. I needed physical power, so I infused the world with the idea that I was the strongest.

  I expected it was possible for a suspecting enemy to combat this ability, but the surprised Ice Elemental didn’t stand a chance. Instead of its attack jarring my arm, it felt as though I batted away a beach ball. I wasn’t sure how it felt on the other side, though. The beach ball in this case was absolutely shattered, shards of ice tinkling to the ground with the sound of a massive chandelier falling.

  Not bad, I noted, looking at the expenditure for the impressive Infusion effect. Generally, the larger the result, the more mana was needed to create it. Any attack costing sixty mana was going to be strong but the outcome here was still shocking. With a single colossal blow, the Ice Elemental had been annihilated, and I knew for certain that I could be more efficient with the usage. Or, more potent if I wanted to…

  A Magic Missile finished the thing off, smashing its core. With just my angry Snow Elemental friend left, I decided to test out a few more uses of Infusion. Practising alone was one thing, but having someone to work with was better by far. The Snow Elemental was a more than willing partner, happy to throw itself at me. Perhaps it wanted revenge for its allies.

  I died just like they did. With the battle over, I quickly threw together an igloo after looting the ended elementals. I changed my clothes and enjoyed the fading warmth of the Jingu Bang and myself while my resources recovered. Nothing too interesting from the loot, but I was happy with the level up and my increased understanding of Infusion.

  Next up, placing my attributes and then reaching the Tower.