The fourth floor was a vast and seemingly endless frozen wasteland. Jeze felt that there was nothing else but cold white snow for as far as she could see. This was far colder than anything she experienced back home in Narcadia. For the Proven, they acted like it was a normal winter.
“Come on, Jezie, it is not so bad. You will get used to it, ya?” Helga encouraged. The stocky blonde warrior maiden gave the smaller girl a pat on the shoulder that nearly sent Jeze flipping head over heels.
“This is very bad,” Mikal growled. The dark-haired Healer’s teeth chattered. He was taller than the wiry Jeze, but compared to the other Frostsworn, he was small. Where they were thick with muscle, Mikal was lean.
“Mikal! What would the Frozen All Father say about your complaints?” Rolfe admonished. The giant Protector’s voice boomed through the howling winds that buffeted them with every step. Wisps of his blonde hair could be seen under his steel Frostsworn helm that also covered his cheeks and nose. Jeze thought to herself If not for their grins, Rolfe and Helga would be very intimidating.
“The All Father believes that the cold provides strength and resilience,” Dunar, the brown-haired Leader with gray eyes, added.
Dunar was nearly as tall as Rolfe and equally muscular. He trudged through the snow easily with measured strides alongside Rolfe and Helga. The three appeared unbothered by the cold and difficult terrain. A shield was strapped to Dunar’s left arm, which was wrapped with Runic bandages to aid in its healing. The Leader had lost his arm in a fight against a Cultist armed with a Demon sword on the third floor, but Mikal was able to reattach it through the Life aspect.
“The All Father also provides hope. His realm is filled with forests, ice lakes, and life! Here? It is nothing but despair. This is Niflheim! The realm of the lost and hopeless,” Mikal growled.
“And Ice giants, ya? I hope we can test ourselves against them!” Helga boomed. Her thick hands patted her two-handed Dane axe. The mighty weapon had a new rune-covered haft after it was damaged on the third floor. Helga itched to test her repaired weapon in a real-life and death combat.
“For Glory!” Rolfe boomed as he banged his spear against his round shield. He, Dunar, and Helga all had new shields.
“Hurrah!” The others, even Mikal, chanted back.
The cheer warmed Jeze’s body like a hot fire. She felt reinvigorated and trudged through the snow like a Dire Wolf alongside her companions. Jeze looked up at her tall companions
“This realm is within your stories?” She asked.
Dunar glanced around and shrugged his broad shoulders. Rolfe and Helga nodded. Mikal answered, “This is the realm of the Harsh Winter. It is when hope is lost, then all is lost.”
Helga laughed, “Oh ho! Don’t be so gloomy, Mikal.”
“But, it is true. We are in the realm of hopelessness,” Mikal responded.
“Why would the Frozen All Father allow such a realm to exist?” Jeze prodded with a smirk on her face.
The teenager wanted to stir a little trouble with the religious Healer and it worked! Mikal glared at her, and his lips trembled as he prepared a response. With a pang, Jeze missed Ziplocke. The Goblin would have enjoyed the look on Mikal’s face. Before the Healer could retort, Dunar spoke first.
“It is an important lesson,” the Leader said in his deep voice and continued, “The Frozen Palace of the All-Father is as Mikal says. A cold winter but with lush forests and lakes. Here, in Niflheim, there is nothing but frozen tundra. The story goes that even in the coldest of winters, we can survive if we believe we can. We put the work in, and the beauty of the harsh cold will show itself. But, once we lose hope. Then all is lost, and we fail to see the forests and the lakes. We only see the frozen tundra.”
Mikal’s eyes were moist, and he quietly said, “And then we die. Thank you, Dunar, for the reminder. I will not give up. I will see the forests and the lakes.”
Jeze noticed the resolve that formed on the faces of the Frostsworn. They lived hard lives in the Frozen North and needed these stories to keep going. A story and a lesson can go a long way. The team heard a familiar ping that came from Dunar’s scroll case, which hung at his hip.
“Someone created a Safe room?” Jeze asked.
To her, the forests and lakes were starting to be visible. There was hope! Perseverance and effort were not easy, but with it, all obstacles can be overcome. Even this frozen wasteland! Jeze felt hope and the tale of Niflheim made sense to her.
Helga moaned. The warrior maiden did not want safety. She craved a fight! Dunar retrieved his Communication Scroll. It was made from the rubberlike skin of a Rover, a multi-tentacle Demon that thrived on ambushes. The scroll incorporated the most advanced Rune magic known and allowed Adventurer teams to communicate with each other. But they only worked when the innate magical defenses of the Wandering Spire were circumvented. This occurred when a team repurposed a portal and created a Safe Room. The repurposed portals led to the outside, and adventurers could use them to return to the Safe Zone.
Each floor held dozens of Monster Portals, a one-way Exit portal to the outside, and a single Floor Portal to the next level. The innate defenses of the Spire had the Floor portals send adventurers to random locations on the next level. Only teams of five could travel together to a random location. The sixth person will appear somewhere else, and each floor is enormous wit,h many miles of treacherous monster riddled terrain.
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All monster and exit portals could be repurposed into two-way Exit portals. The Adventurer’s Guild created Safe Zone Squads that consisted of teams trained in the Portal aspect that can adjust the Runes around the Portals, also known as Thresholds, and convert them into Exit Portals. The area around an Exit Portal was called a Safe Zone. Jeze doubted that there would be any rooms here in this frozen tundra. Maybe caves? She acknowledged to herself. She could see what could be considered mountains in the distance. Or were her eyes playing tricks on herself? Jeze shook the thoughts out of her head when she realized that her teammates were having a discussion.
Dunar studied his scroll as his team hounded him with questions. The Leader looked up and replied, “It’s our friends, the Spirit Walkers.”
“Ya? It would be good to see them again!” Helga exclaimed.
Jeze nodded in agreement. Rolfe thumped his shield.
Mikal muttered, “I hope it is nearby. I am done with this depressing cold and this, Niflheim.”
Jeze looked to her shoulder and sighed. She still has not gotten used to Ziplocke’s treachery and missed the Goblin’s witty remarks. He would have laughed at the misery on Mikal’s face and teased the Healer. But Jez was eager to see her Spirit Walker friends, Rainia and her brother Ahanu.
“Proven, be alert!” Dunar barked.
This snapped everyone back to attention.
“Remember, there are those that are working with the Demons. We must not lose focus,” Dunar added.
“Ya,” Helga replied, more subdued.
“And monsters!” Rolfe added.
Jeze snarled as she scanned the vast white wasteland that surrounded them. Val and the Cultists were somewhere out there. They were scheming and plotting to free the Fiendish Lord trapped at the top of the Spire. Jeze vowed to not let that happen! The Proven trekked through the deep snow over ravines and climbed frozen cliffs. They didn’t encounter any Ice Giants, to the dismay of Rolfe and Helga. But, their travels were not without danger. A rockslide nearly dragged them down into a deep, frozen abyss. Through strength, skill, and determination, they avoided that dark fate, but Rolfe lost their Rune-covered cooking pot. The giant Protector looked forlornly down as their pot disappeared into the depths below.
“We can purchase another one at the Safe Zone,” Dunar assured his friend.
Mikal snorted. “But, in the meantime, we have nothing to cook our food or heat our water.”
“Hush you!” Jeze scolded the Healer and poked him in the ribs.
“Ow! But it’s true. How much further, Dunar? It could be many more miles, no?” Mikal winced and asked.
Dunar paused to update his maps and compared his findings to what was shared by other teams on the Communication Scroll. The Leader was a skilled cartographer and Jeze was impressed by how he created a map from a seemingly desolate landscape. Rolfe bowed his head, and Jeze felt that he looked sad. Helga rubbed the large man’s broad shoulders and glared at Mikal.
“I speak only the truth,” the Healer replied.
Dunar looked around and drew on his maps. Finally, he put the scrolls away and answered, “I do not know. We need to keep traveling.”
Mikal groaned. Jeze had to agree with the Healer. She was cold, hungry, and tired. They have been marching and climbing for nearly a week. It felt like a week at least, Jeze reflected. It was impossible to tell time as there was no sunrise or sunsets. The area was bathed in a continuous pale glow of a perpetually overcast sky. The Proven marched on through snow, and ice.
In the distance Jeze’ sharp eyes caught something. Something that was different among the seemingly endless frozen white and gray. The scrambling of tiny figures in the distance. Jeze squinted and then her eyes went wide.
“There’s the Safe Zone, and they are fighting!” She cried.
The others paused to look. Mikal shook his head, “How is that a Safe Zone?” The Healer asked.
“No time to think about that. It is the Spirit Walkers, and they need our help. Proven, form up!” Dunar roared as he replaced his Communication Scroll with his sword.
“Finally,” Rolfe said.
“Ya, about time!” Helga exclaimed.
The Proven ran as fast as they could through the deep snow. For normal people, this would have been exhausting, but for an Adventurer-ranked team, it was as easy as walking on a dirt trail. The much taller Rolfe, Helga, and Dunar made sure to maintain a pace where they would not leave Jeze and Mikal behind. The team rushed down a steep hill as they neared the Safe Zone portal. The shimmering purple Threshold was located in the middle of a flat plane covered in ice. The first thing Jeze thought about was that they were running on a frozen lake.
“Be careful,” Dunar cautioned as Helga nearly slipped and fell.
One last ridge and they would be in the fight. Being closer, Jeze noticed that the monsters attacking the Safe Zone were large mishappend creatures that hobbled and walked like humans, but had big warty heads and powerful sinewy bodies.
“Yes! Ice Giants!” Rolfe exclaimed.
The immense humanoids made Rolfe and Helga look like children in comparison. Four Ice Giants fought against the defending adventurers that emerged from the Threshold, and more monsters lumbered through the deep snow to join the battle. Jeze watched as the creatures Summoned and Shaped the water aspect to form ice boulders that they hurled at the defenders.
“We can cut off the attack,” Dunar said and pointed with his sword.
The arriving Ice Giants were in between the Proven and the Safe Zone.
“Would that be wise?” Mikal cautioned and added, “A single Ice Giants is considered Tier Five.”
The Tiers were a way for the Adventurer Guild to classify challenges. Tier Five was within the realm of the Adventurer Rank, which was the level of the Proven. But, a group of Tier Five monsters could be considered Tier Six or higher.
“Not wise, but it would be glorious, ya?” Helga responded.
“Jeze got to face an Ogre,” Rolfe reminded them. That was a Tier Six monster.
“I had help,” Jeze said.
“It does not matter the danger. We are here, and the Adventurers down there need our help,” Dunar replied and then raised his sword. “We will rise to the challenge!” The Leader roared.
Despite the odds they were rushing up against, Dunar’s words inspired Jeze and the Proven. They crested the final ridge and overlooked the Ice Giants.
Jeze wondered, “Where are the Ice Giants coming from?”
She could not see any tracks in the deep snow and it looked like the Ice Giants just appeared out of thin air. That can’t be right, Jeze thought to herself and squinted to see more. There! Among the approaching Ice Giants was a smaller human sized figure.
“Cultists,” Jeze growled.
Dunar shouted, “For Glory!”
“Hurrah!” The rest chanted back, and Rolfe banged his spear against his shield.
Their booming announcement caused both adventurers and Ice Giants to pause and glance in their direction. The Proven charged into battle.