Sion walked for almost an entire day, the little light from the cloudy day already fading again.
Luckily, he hadn't encountered any more beasts. Sion kept walking in the same direction, sometimes leaving marks on trees in case he lost his way.
The forest looked the same everywhere he looked.
Just tall trees and snow in every direction. The sunlight didn't reach this place properly, and because of that, it was always cloudy.
The snow kept falling, seemingly endlessly. During the day, there wasn't much, but as night fell, it grew heavier and heavier.
But for Sion, this was a comfortable environment. In fact, he had never been more comfortable than he was now. The snow didn't bother him at all, not even when walking.
Because the forest had a thick layer of soft snow, it would be difficult to walk normally. But Sion had an idea when he realized this.
After walking for half the day, Sion lifted one of his feet until it was above the snow, then put it back down, but this time his foot didn't sink. It was as if the snow had hardened for him. So his journey continued more easily.
"It's already getting dark. I've been walking all day, but I don't feel tired. In fact, I feel even better, it seems that if I continue in this place, I will become continuously stronger." Sion felt the ice energy inside his body constantly increasing, it was a very slow speed, but at least it was something.
Sion discovered a few things during his walk. Instead of just walking around, he also focused on learning more about the powers his physique and his new race had given him. The more he knew about his strength and was used to it, the better.
As the day went on, he realized that he didn't feel hungry, tired, or sleepy even though he had been walking all day, so he had unusual stamina, and the cold didn't affect him at all.
He could create ice using the energy of his physique, it was a translucent, almost blue ice. The more energy he put into it, the colder the ice crystal became, and its color became even closer to blue.
He tried to create other things with the ice and quickly succeeded. Soon, ice swords, spears, and daggers appeared and disappeared from his hand. The energy of the ice transformed into his imagination, but there was still a limit; if it was something too complex, the creation failed.
The snow was different. No energy came out of him to control it. The snow simply obeyed him, but only within three meters of him.
With the snow, he could create things even more complex than ice. It molded itself perfectly to his thoughts, but its power seemed less than that of ice.
"Well, even though I'm not tired, the night is more dangerous, since I can't see as far, and who knows what other beasts are around here."
"I've decided I'm going to stay here for today." Sion then raised his hands as a command sounded inside his mind.
'Move away'
Quickly, all the snow beneath his feet moved away in all directions, revealing the true forest floor to Sion for the first time.
On the ground was a hard layer of ice before reaching the actual earth.
'Come together'
With another order, the abundant snow that had moved away covered Sion, burying him beneath the snow. So that it wouldn't fall on top of his head, Sion hardened a small layer of snow, forming a small dome that he could spend the night in peacefully.
As soon as the snow hardened, Sion felt a slight headache, then he understood.
"It seems that manipulating snow also requires something, but I don't know what it is yet. I have to learn more about this world. Well, I'll sleep until morning and then continue."
Sion felt mentally exhausted after controlling so much snow, so he quickly fell asleep.
…
..
.
After a few hours, Sion woke up, fully recovered. With just one thought, the hardened snow returned to normal, and with another thought, all the snow cleared a path for him to leave.
Without wasting any time, he continued on his journey.
After walking for a while, he suddenly noticed something a few meters ahead under a tree.
"Hmmm? Are those footprints?"
Without thinking twice, Sion quickened his pace toward the marks in the snow.
"Three people? No, four, but these two footprints are the same… It's practically impossible to leave footprints in the forest since the snow would quickly cover them. But these are under this tree, so they haven't completely disappeared yet."
"If there are people's footsteps here, that means I may not be so far from civilization in this world. I'm going in the right direction."
After discovering the footprints, Sion tried even harder, his steps quickening. As he ran through the forest, he sometimes heard roars, but they were far away. He didn't know if he was lucky or unlucky, as he wanted to test the things he had learned about his abilities, but nothing alive had appeared in his path again.
Night fell again, but Sion didn't care and kept running. The snow and the constant cold energy of the forest were automatically absorbed by his body, not letting him get tired from running.
Sion ran for over a whole day until he finally started to get tired.
"It seems that this is the limit, the energy my body is recovering is no longer enough to replenish what has been spent…"
"Well, I'll rest for a few hours and then continue. It seems that I'm reaching the end of the forest, the icy energy is becoming scarce, and the snow continues to get weaker..."
*******************************
At a considerable distance from Sion, Deacon Fei and the three disciples were sitting around a campfire.
Deacon Fei then began to explain.
"Tomorrow morning, we will leave this forest, then we will be near the city of Coldri."
"Let me recap our mission. The city of Coldri is the most remote city in the kingdom, but it is a place of great importance to the sect and the entire kingdom. Because it is close to the frozen forest, there are many veins of ice spirit stones at the edge of the forest."
"Something essential for those who cultivate ice Qi to increase the speed of their cultivation, and because of this importance, a trusted ruler took charge of the place."
"But the ruler mysteriously disappeared a month ago, as if a ghost had snatched him away. There was no trace of him."
"An external elder of the sect who also helped in the city is now in charge, so a mission has been sent especially for you, Mei Li."
"Me?" Mei Li asked in surprise, having no idea what the elder was talking about.
"Yes, you have a special talent, have you forgotten? Eyes that can see what we cannot. The external elder, after thinking it through, thought it was worth a try. If you can find any trace of him, countless rewards await you when we return to the sect." Deacon Fei said with a smile.
Mei Li was very happy to hear about the rewards, but a disparaging smile appeared on her face.
"Deacon Fei, you know, even though I have special eyes, I can't use them yet. Since that time they activated on their own in the sect tournament, it's as if they've disappeared…" Mei Li said with concern.
"The elder knows that, but he still called you. I heard that he once found some ancient records about special talents. Perhaps he has a way to make you use your eyes."
After hearing the deacon's words, a great hope arose in Mei Li.
'If I can use my eyes again… the sect will see me again as a genius to train. Many of the resources will be sent to me again.
"I'll make it somehow, I promise!" Mei Li said, no longer disparaging, but anxious.
****************************
Sion rested for six hours, it was still the middle of the night when he decided to continue on.
"It took me longer to recover because of the scarce energy. I'm probably reaching the edge of the forest."
Then after a few more hours.
Sion had stopped running, the large makeshift cloak still wrapped around his body. It was less cold, in fact, he was beginning to feel a slight warmth. Sion gradually felt the surrounding energy continuing to diminish. The snow was still falling, but it was very light. The ground, once entirely white, now began to reveal dark rocks and frozen soil.
"I'm close!"
After another hour, crossing between the branches of the tall trees in front of him, Sion saw sunlight for the first time. He had finally arrived.
As he got closer, he felt a strange instinct rising from within his chest.
It told him to stop.
The feeling was a warning that he should not leave where he was.
Sion stopped walking for just a second.
But.
"I don't care. I have to get out of here!"
Then, ignoring what his instincts were telling him, Sion took the final step out of the forest.
The sunlight instantly touched his skin, a slight burning sensation ran through his entire body. A weakness and an irritating discomfort also appeared, it was as if the world was telling Sion that he didn't belong here.
"Tsk. What the sh-
Before Sion could get angry, a familiar noise popped into his mind.
'Ding!'
[Warning! Innate solar weakness of the race has been triggered. The Universal Will has been automatically activated.
All discomfort disappeared instantly, as if it had never existed.
Sion widened his eyes in surprise.
"It seems I wished for something really useful. Don't let me be restricted, not even by my race."
Before he could continue thinking, the sound rang out again.
'Ding!'
[Warning! New types of unknown energies have been detected. The Adaptive Core has been automatically activated.]
Suddenly, Sion felt as if his perception had expanded slightly.
Sion felt the surrounding air change. It was no longer just cold; something stirred inside his body. His adaptive core quickly absorbed the new energies.
Then Sion understood.
"In the forest, for some reason… there was only one type of energy. It was dense, cold, and sharp, like the one that runs through my body and veins."
"But here…"
"I feel many… there are many types of energies. All in balance."
Sion closed his eyes, extending his hand to try to communicate with the energies, but they were simply absorbed by his body. As they were absorbed, Sion felt several types of feelings other than the usual cutting cold.
"But… it's so weak. Even though there are many types of energy and they are in balance, compared to the forest, they are several times more diluted…"
Sion thought, without quite understanding, his entire body was slowly absorbing these new energies, adjusting his body to his new reality without him noticing, silently changing inside.
Then Sion looked ahead and saw something in the sky that instantly caught his attention, seeming to come from behind the two mountains in front of him.
"Is that smoke?" Behind the mountains, it was as if many bonfires were burning, a sign that there were many people there.
"Hahaha, now it's really starting. I'm finally going to find out more about this world." Sion said excitedly as he ran toward the mountains.
"My new life begins here!"