<h4>Chapter 64: gon (1)</h4>


    Henry believed that no help was better than inadequate help, thus he wanted to build the best house in Salgaera based on the memories he had of the time the empire was being built.


    When Henry asked where he could find water, another person said, “If you walk north from here, you will see a hugeke, but it’s not worth the effort.”


    “Is there something wrong with theke?”


    “It’s frozen, and we’ve all tried to break through the ice but failed every time.”


    “Is the ice that thick?”


    “No. In fact, the ice looked very thin.”


    “What?”


    “That’s why it makes us crazy. The ice on theke is as transparent and thin as ss, but it didn’t even crack when we tried breaking it… You’ll know what I mean when you get there.”


    Even though there was ake nearby, the exiles could only drink melted snow for survival. The problem seemed easily resolved, but the vigers all said the same thing.


    “The exiles who lived here before us said that there is a legend that an ice spirit lives in theke.”


    <i>‘Ice spirit?’</i>


    Although it seemed like a legend to ordinary people, the presence of an ice spirit would exin the unbreakable ice. Henry smirked and said, “I will still check it out, just in case.”


    “Since this is your first time in Salgaera, why don’t you take someone as a guide?”


    “That’s not necessary. If theke is as big as you say, I’m sure I’ll be able to find my way there. The weather is cold, so please stay inside.”


    <i>Snap!</i>


    Henry snapped his fingers and a massive, elegant marble table began to rise from the ground. “I brought some food, just in case, so please, grab a bite while I’m at theke.”


    Then, Henry began to take out the various dishes from his trunk and ced them on the table. Although he and Hagler had enjoyed the dishes on the way to Salgaera, there were plenty of leftovers. Henry offered them to their vigers to satiate their hunger while they waited for him to return.


    “Wow…!”


    “Food? Is this really food?”


    “It’s been so long since we’ve had a proper meal!”


    The table was soon covered in food.


    “And this is…”


    After Henry took out thest dish, he began to take out various daily necessities, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, and preserved ham, cing them all in one corner.


    <i>Thud!</i>


    Henry had brought more supplies than anyone expected. He turned the bag upside down and began shaking everything out.


    “S-sir! Wait a moment!” Hagler began to quickly organize the seemingly endless supplies.


    Once the bag was empty, Henry said, “I’ll leave the organizing to you, Hagler.”


    “...Alright.” Hagler sighed quietly at the mountain of food and necessities.


    * * *


    After Henry had traveled a little distance from the mansion, snow started to fall again.


    <i>Swoosh!</i>


    The wind blew so hard that it felt no different from a snowstorm. However, ever since Henry proudly revealed his secret spell, the weather was no longer an issue. He was warm even without a coat, his feet didn’t fall through the snow even without snowshoes on. Magic was such a convenient tool.


    As he walked, Henry observed the distance between theke and the mansion. If he could melt theke, they would have to dig a waterway to bring water to the mansion.


    When Henry arrived at theke, he realized it was much bigger than he expected.


    <i>‘It is really big, indeed.’</i>


    Just as the vigers said, the ice was thin and clear, as if it could break at any moment. Carefully, Henry walked onto the frozenke.


    <i>‘Hmm.’</i>


    The fish that lived in theke started to gather beneath him.


    <i>‘At least I can confirm the quality of the water.’</i>


    The number of fish in theke was enough evidence of the water quality. Henry began to put mana into his feet. When they turned into a destructive force, he stomped on the ice with all his might.


    <i>Thud!</i>


    The force was powerful enough to split a stone floor, but not a single crack appeared on the frozenke. The ice seemed even clearer and more transparent, as if to tease Henry. He nodded.


    <i>‘I can see why the vigers had a hard time, but…’?</i>


    <i>Whoosh!</i>


    As he waved his hand in the air, a huge rock engulfed in mes appeared in front of him. It was the 5th Circle''s fire stone. Henry sent the stone floating in the air until it was little more than a dot. Then, he took a few steps back and canceled the Fly spell on the rock.


    “Haste.”


    He cast an eleration spell on the fire stone, which fell at an even greater speed.


    <i>Crash!</i>


    It was as if a meteor had fallen, and the wholeke vibrated with a tremendous roar.


    “As expected.”


    Half of the fire stone broke through the surface of the ice. It was clear that despite the destructive spell, the ice was too hard to shatterpletely. However, at least Henry had managed to break through it.


    <i>Snap!</i>


    As Henry snapped his fingers, the fire stone disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a hole in the ice. Henry walked up to the hole and stuck his left hand through it to check the water.


    <i>Shiver.</i>


    “Huh?”


    Henry’s left arm began to tremble as if he were cold, even though he had blocked off any coldness with magic.


    <i>‘What’s going on?’</i>


    This wasn’t deliberate. It felt as if his arm were shaking on its own due to something else. Henry thought that maybe the Elyragon egg in his left forearm had something to do with it.


    <i>‘Can it be?’</i>


    At the same time, the ice spirit that the vigers had mentioned came to his mind. The egg of Elyragon was the highest form of water spirit, and although there was no proof that the two were connected apart from their rtionship to water, Henry had a strong hunch that there was something there.


    <i>Crackle!</i>


    “What?”


    When Henry took his arm out, and the hole began to freeze over again right away. It was unbelievable. The ice returned as if nothing had happened, almost like theke was rejecting Henry’s hand. However, the trembling of his left arm stopped.


    <i>‘I see. So that’s how it is.’</i>


    Henry grew even more certain of what was going on. He smirked and raised his right hand. “Fire stone.”


    <i>Whoosh!</i>


    There was no need to hold back now that things had grown more interesting. Henry was very certain now, and he created twenty small meteors instead of just one. He had to use up a great deal of mana but he could recover it after some time passed, so he didn’t hold back.


    The meteors soared up into the sky at a fast speed, going up so high that they were even harder to see than the previous meteor. Henry then moved his hand downward and said, “Haste.”


    <i>Boom, boom, boom!</i>


    Henry watched the meteors falling and smashing the ice from the sky. It looked like the world wasing to an end as the ming stones hailed down and shook the ground. A thick fog formed over the ice from the impacts.


    <i>Shiver.</i>


    When the fog settled down a few momentster and theke was visible once more, Henry’s arm began to tremble again even though he was far away from theke.


    <i>‘It worked.’</i>


    Theke waspletely destroyed, and the impact had even blown the fish out of the water, leaving them to die in the snow.


    <i>Flop.</i>


    Henrynded back on the ground and as he got closer to theke, his arm trembled once more, this time even harder. The shattered ice began to freeze up again, but it would take more time to restore itself since the entireke had been destroyed, giving Henry a short window.


    He stomped his foot, and mana rose like smoke to wrap around Henry’s whole body. He cast a spell that allowed him to breathe underwater and keep his body dry before hurrying into the water and immersing himself into theke before the ice covered the surface again.


    <i>Crackle!</i>


    Shortly after Henry dove in, theke’s surface froze and hardened like an iron fortress.


    * * *


    <i>Gurgle, gurgle!</i>


    Every time Henry exhaled, bubbles rose to the surface.


    It was as bright as day underwater since the sunlight could prate through the clear and transparent ice surface. Henry used magic to make his body heavier and began to slowly sink to the bottom. Theke was deeper than he had expected.


    <i>‘Light.’</i>


    As he sank lower, it also started to get dark, so he used a spell to brighten his surroundings. Just as he reached the bottom of theke, Henry’s left arm trembled uncontrobly. It shook more than it had onnd.


    <i>Shiverrr…</i>


    Henry clenched his fists to calm the trembling. However, he began to use the intensity of the trembling to help him choose a direction. Dozens of fish interested in Henry’s light came and went, and while searching the bottom of theke, he witnessed an intriguing sight.


    <i>‘Frost?’</i>


    Frost began to cover his left arm. It was a strange phenomenon. How could there be frost underwater? In addition, when the frost began to form, his trembling came to a stop.


    <i>‘It looks like it’s around here.’</i>


    That wasn’t the only strange thing. Even though Henry’s arm was covered in frost, it didn’t feel cold or stiff, and it didn’t seem like he had frostbite.


    When Henry’s left arm looked like it was wrapped with spider webs, the frost stopped increasing. Henry then felt all of his mana concentrating on his left forearm.


    <i>‘Huh?’</i>


    It was a huge suctioning force that not only sucked in his mana but also the water around his forearm, creating a massive whirlpool.


    “<i>Argh…!</i>”


    His left arm devoured everything around it as though it were quicksand. Henry felt a tremendous pain that he had never felt before. It felt as if his forearm would fall off at any moment.


    As the whirlpool got stronger, the egg inside his arm also began to struggle even more.


    <i>‘I have to take it out!’</i>


    By the time the pain reached its peak, Henry instinctively felt that he had to take out the egg, but then–


    <i>Boom!</i>


    Henry’s forearm exploded.