Unchosen Champion-Chapter 357: A Winter Wonderland
Coop braced himself, gripping the ship’s railing with as much strength as he could muster through his gloved hands. He had borrowed a full suit of winter clothes, anticipating that the frigid temperatures would be a bit too extreme for his regular apparel, but it seemed like no amount of preparation would have been enough. Even his hands had layers, with thin waterproof gloves beneath thicker fingerless mittens, yet somehow it didn’t seem to help keep the cold away. It was the type of bitter chill that pierced straight to the bone.
Coop squeezed his eyes shut and imagined himself on the western beach of Ghost Reef, dipping his toes in the bath-like warm waters in the middle of the day. The memory of that oppressive heat beating down on his shoulders but also rising up from the sand was only a tiny relief, but it was all he could reasonably do. The cold was abnormal, applying debuffs that implied he would already be on the verge of death without the presence of mana.
Lyriel had a tight hold on the shoulder of his hooded waterproof jacket, looking like a featureless bundle of heavily insulated cloth herself. She didn’t have a single inch of skin exposed since even her eyes were protected by her runed bandana, but he could hear her whispering in confusion about the uninhabitability of planet Earth.
“It doesn’t make sense… This system-forsaken world is accursed… I should have stayed with Malsteron…” She rambled to herself, muffled by the oversized neck warmer and face mask both covering her lips. “As soon as we disembark I will ignite my aura, resources be damned!” She mumbled, drawing a bit more of his attention with her determination.
Coop eyed her suspiciously, deciding that he shouldn’t let her cling so close once they arrived. He didn’t want to be caught in any magical backdraft the Avatar of the System generated in her desperate attempt to escape the cold. Then again, maybe staying a bit close would be an opportunity to gain some warmth as well. Being burned alive just to remember what it meant to be unfrozen was surprisingly tempting.
He watched as debuffs stacked and the system numerated their plight. Icy Chill simply increased its own duration, occasionally leveling itself up to a more detrimental tier, but Frostbite had several distinct stacks, implying that individual parts of Coop would receive damage once the debuff reached specific thresholds. It was similar enough to when he started experimenting with holding his breath that he had to rewire his concerns away from actually freezing to death and instead toward anticipating environmental penalties interpreted by mana. As long as his health and mana pools held, he believed he would be okay.
If he actually froze, it would be a crowd control effect. Frostbite would cause damage and provide lingering handicaps. Icy Chill was an exposure debuff that would apply various effects like Vulnerability, Movement Impairments, and even Accuracy Reductions. Coop was a little worried, but since they were all caused by the environment, he took solace in the fact that it was an even playing field. The potential enemies had been in the environment for even longer than they had been, so they would actually be at a disadvantage.
Unfortunately, their overall progress was slow, forcing them to linger in the harsh environment for longer than he would have liked. The heavily armored galleon smashed through sea ice in an effort to reach their destination, but judging by the shouts of the sailors, it was a struggle just to stay on course, let alone maintain their momentum. The ship lurched as ice crunched against the metal reinforced hull. The wooden planks creaked beneath their feet from the stress being applied by the collisions. As they shoved the ship forward the ratio of water to ice changed, and eventually the rough seas were gradually replaced by entire sheets of snow covered ice.
Doubt gnawed at Coop’s confidence as he heard Matt suggesting they turn back before it was too late. The season just wasn’t conducive to exploration. It was Dan, the anxiety-filled mana reader, of all people, who attempted to ease the other’s distress. He told Matt with confidence that Cap and Grizz had been through worse, and they would make sure they got through this, but Coop caught sight of the more experienced veterans exchanging a look that clearly revealed that this was extreme, even for them. They hadn’t expected their role as Marcus’s honor guard would turn into an Antarctic expedition in the dead of winter.
It was Mika, whose genuine laughter rose above the howling winds, that calmed the intensifying atmosphere, open jacket flapping as he faced forward. The penguin researcher was the only one with his full face still exposed, letting his beard be pulled by the wind. It had already grown to be three times the size it had started as, collecting frost from his breath as they ventured southward, but he seemed completely at ease with the freezing temperatures. It was more like a homecoming than an expedition, at least in his case.
According to Mika, the debuffs weren’t even applying to him yet, thanks to what he called acclimation, but sounded like a series of titles that he had stacked in the first months of the assimilation. The cold didn’t bother him or Matt, though in the latter’s case, he was hyper vigilant toward it anyway. He mumbled that he was afraid of losing his hair again, though Coop wasn’t sure if that was entirely due to stress or the cold.
Eventually, the ship’s forward momentum completely ceased. Massive chunks of broken ice had wedged themselves against the hull, making it seem like they had been riding a spaceship that crash-landed in the frozen wilderness. When Coop leaned over the side, he turned back to see a miles long path of rough waters, exactly as wide as the ship, carved into a solid white expanse.
The vast, desolate landscape stretched all the way around him, a seemingly endless world of snow and ice. It was devoid of any discernible landmarks, but visibility was rather limited, so he had some hope for finding more interesting features if he explored a bit further. It was definitely the type of place where he could end up lost without distinct features. Even his limited understanding of cardinal directions would barely help, especially if he wandered beyond the south pole, so he was hoping for identifiable shapes, structures, or anything.
The sun was a pale distant orb, offering barely the memory of warmth if it had the wherewithal to peek over the horizon at any point. Its feeble rays struggled to penetrate the thick, swirling clouds of frozen vapor, leaving them in a perpetual twilight, even during what should have been the day.
The relentless winds whistled as they carried snow horizontally across the flat surfaces, causing small drifts to build and break, somewhat like frozen tumbleweeds of spun ice. Any time enough resistance built up, the constant rushing air would break it down, smoothing the surface once again.
The world was more gray than white, thanks to the lack of proper light in the polar night, but pink and red illumination danced on reflective surfaces. Despite the harsh conditions, Coop found it within himself to admire the breathtaking natural phenomenon of the aurora australis, as it twisted across the dark sky. The color was rather intense, but Coop suspected that was partially because of the red-tinged mana that was permeating the atmosphere and the fact that they were already within an oppressive Fallen Zone. The murky climate was vaguely familiar, though it was barely more prominent than the frigid natural environment. Otherwise, it would have felt like hell had frozen over, with the red skies and thick ice.
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Coop failed to detect a single Primal Construct, which wasn’t unlike his experience north of Neptune’s Bridge and his first foray into a Fallen Zone, but that hadn’t been a completely accurate survey of the domain. The edges of the domain were meant to be full of Elite and Field Boss level monsters, desperately pushing to claim more and more ground, expanding their territory until they reached their limits. Coop had skipped that portion the first time around, but not this time.
He raised an eyebrow as he reconsidered his own assessment of their location. Perhaps the climate had already halted the efforts of the Primal Constructs. Their absence demonstrated that expansion may have been impossible, but if that was the case, how would they have established themselves in the first place?
“You sure this is a Fallen Zone?” He shouted toward Marcus, raising his voice to carry over the blowing wind.
“Before winter set in, the penguins were contending with the exact same scenario as Champion Hali and her settlement.” Marcus responded confidently, despite relaying second-hand information. “Maybe the invaders are hibernating.” He suggested, guessing at the Primal Construct habits.
Mika perked up at his words, hopping away from the mast he had half climbed to get to a better vantage point. “Actually!” He excitedly spoke as he landed. “The first Field Boss we encountered had established itself underground, deep beneath the ice within a frozen canyon, to the point that we thought it was an ancient creature that had come from below. I believe it’s possible they’ve found some caverns within the ice, away from the sea.” He glanced at his companion for confirmation. “Isn’t that right Matt?”
“...I guess.” The other researcher reluctantly agreed.
Coop nodded, considering the situation their group found themselves in. He was realizing that they would have to hike part of the way no matter what. The ship wouldn’t be making any more progress on the frozen sea, and he had no idea how much ice actually separated them from the coast. Even if they made it to the shore, it seemed like they would have plenty of ground to cover.
It was hard for someone like Coop to remember, because Antarctica was basically just the icy pole at the bottom of a globe in his imagination, but it was an entire continent. In fact, before mana manipulated their planet, Antarctica was larger than Europe and nearly the size of South America. He didn’t know what the rankings were after mana had its way, but regardless, Coop had to recognize the frozen continent wasn’t a place they could easily cross on foot.
He glanced over at Gibson and his party, deciding that he would have to aggressively mistjump to make any proper progress in this scenario. “You all can stay here and hold down the fort. If I need help, I’ll come right back.”
“Up to you, Champion.” Gibson responded while the others in his party nodded.
Between the extremely high level phantom sailors, who were already pushing beyond level 1,000 thanks to their unique constitutions, Gibson’s party who were all at or near the top of the leaderboards, and the small squad of Cap, Grizz, and Dan, he doubted even Siege Bosses would pose the ship much of a threat. Even Marcus had not slacked on his levels, though he was ‘only’ level 400.
Mika and Matthew were the weakest of them all, both below what Coop considered the baseline of matching levels with days thanks to the constant presence of their penguin allies, but they were both acclimated to the environment, and more importantly, he was also ignoring the presence of the Avatar of the System herself. Her presence alone dragged their average level so far up beyond the rest that regular threats should be inconsequential. Coop thought he could easily move on his own without any concern.
“I am going with you.” Lyriel spoke up, leaving no room for argument just as Coop decided on a plan that had her doing the opposite.
“I want to go too!” Mika pointed out, apparently unconcerned about his level.
“Please, please don’t make me go.” Matt begged, half under his breath.
Coop hummed to himself, considering how to arrange for everyone’s preferences. Lyriel wouldn’t force him to slow down as much as the others, but Mika would be another story. Either they wouldn’t be able to use their movement abilities to go at his pace or either Gibson or Cap’s groups would have to protect him separately.
Coop shook his head, deciding that it was too much risk to satisfy his curiosity. “Sorry Doc. I don’t think you can keep up, and neither can anyone that would be able to escort you.” He concluded.
“Aww…” Mika sighed before perking up. “What if we made a sled? Or maybe enticed some penguins to participate?”
Coop briefly considered tying him to Lyriel so she could drag him across the snow, but quickly decided it was a bad idea for a variety of reasons. He shook his head.
“I’ll tell you all about what I find when I get back.” He offered as a consolation for staying behind.
Coop was surprised by his insistence, but standing around in the cold wasn’t exactly a fun time for the Champion, so he cut the discussion short, ready to get moving.
“I understand.” Mika conceded, though he was apparently wracking his brain for more suggestions to avoid being left in the future.
Coop threw his spear into the snowy ground, making sure it was solid, then mistjumped right out of his clothes. He was off the ship and onto the ice before Mika could come up with more ideas.
Coop was immediately confronted with how much colder it was to stand directly on the surface, and not just because he was down to his skivvies like some nutcase doing a polar plunge. The debuffs he had collected were increasing their stack counts as if mocking the fact that he should have already frozen to death.
He unconsciously flexed his chest and lats, warding off a shiver as he inhaled. It was a thoughtless action as if he could fight off the cold with simple effort, but it actually seemed to work a bit. Unfortunately, as soon as he released the tension in his muscles the cold came right back. He shook his head at the absurdity of the whole scenario.
Lyriel landed near him, displacing the snow without quite touching the ground, and immediately ignited her aura. Mana exploded from her form, generating a cylinder all the way around her, shooting into the clouds, as she floated above the ice. She sighed like she had sunk into a hot tub, but the ice directly beneath her hadn’t even melted so Coop couldn’t imagine it was that warm. He flexed again, embracing his own small reprieve, but feeling a bit jealous either way.
“Can I get in there with you?” Coop wondered, only half joking, though they would have needed to snuggle pretty close.
She faced him, as if she was thinking about it before responding. “I wouldn’t be opposed, but you would have to survive the mana field. Are you sure you can?”
“I’m not.” He admitted begrudgingly. He yanked his spear from the ground instead of giving it a shot. “Let’s get moving.” He suggested as he launched the spear straight south. It seemed like he would be able to ward off the numbing cold as long as he stayed in motion.
That Lyriel had also shed her additional layers, appearing in her usual dress and blindfold combination, told him something about those steeped in mana. Even the more practical elements of clothing had been eschewed in favor of mana-based solutions. “Let the madness continue.” Coop muttered to himself.
Lyriel didn’t wait for him to mistjump, gliding in the direction he had thrown his spear a bit too much like Sunny would have if Coop was playing with the retriever back home. Her movement was enough of an agreement for him. They set off on a trek through the frozen wasteland that was the current iteration of Antarctica, not like the rigorously prepared explorers of the twentieth century, but as characters playing the game the system had provided.
