They traveled far across the tundra, its desolate, icy plains stretching endlessly before the lone caravan.

  Not a sign of life could be seen, only the skeletons of dead trees from the nearby forest.

  As the sun edged closer to nightfall, setting up camp became inevitable. The caravan, however, halted suddenly in the middle of nowhere.

  "What's going on?" Sieg muttered.

  "Oi oi, what's the catch?!" broad shouldered man yelled at the rider.

  Then the rider of the caravan announced urgently, "There's something stalking us! Far above the slopes!" All passengers within the caravan were immediately alerted, they began gathering their weapons, preparing to fight the upcoming adversary, and they prayed that it wasn't anything too dangerous.

  Sieg, along with the male and female sorcerer where the first to come out, broad shouldered man came to the front of the caravan to check ahead, while intellectual man and scrawny man stayed inside.

  "Over there!" the rider yelled pointing west of the caravan.

  "I can't see shit." Sieg tried to squint his eyes to see far, but it did nothing.

  "Hmm, candidate, you're looking east, not west…" the female sorcerer tried to say, in a non-insulting manner.

  Sieg was in fact embarrassed…

  The male sorcerer chimed in, "I believe that he's merely checking every possible angle for enemies."

  "Yeah, exactly!" Sieg responded, appreciating the male sorcerer's assist in saving his dignity. They even shook hands, while the female sorcerer witnessed a male friendship bloom in the snow.

  Then the intellectual man inside asked the broad-shouldered man and the rider about the enemy's appearance.

  "It looked human, but a lot paler and skinnier, with bloodied mouths no less!" the rider yelled back, and scrawny man panicked, screaming, "Those are ghouls! GHOULS!"

  Then as those words left the scrawny man's mouth, multiple entities emerged from the distance, running down the slop in a hungered fashion, their screams were echoing throughout the cold air, seeking fresh flesh.

  "THE HORSES PROTECT THE HORSES! THEY'LL AIM FOR THE MOST MEATY CREATURE! WE CAN'T LOSE THE HORSES!" another yell coming from the intellectual man.

  Thankfully I'm not meaty. Sieg thought to himself.

  "You and You! Never leave the inside the caravan!" female sorcerer ordered intellectual man and scrawny man, they both agreed, they brought out rifles but not to assist them, but to shoot at ghouls who dared enter the Caravan's behind.

  "I need assistance here!" yelled broad shouldered man, as most of the skinny-white and frantic ghouls were rushing for the location of the two horses.

  Sieg, on the other hand, knew he had to take control. The male and female sorcerers were looking at him, as if testing him. After all, he was the one in charge. With quick thinking, Sieg decided it was best to leave the female sorcerer to protect the rear of the caravan alone.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Can you do that?" Sieg asked. He knew she was an Elite 4 Ascendant, yet all he could see was a girl, and that simple, human view was interfering with his judgment.

  "You can count this side on me," the female sorcerer said confidently. Before Sieg's eyes, she manifested two intricate silver-ice daggers, spinning them elegantly before holding them like an assassin.

  This was her [Basic Art]: Frozen Stilettos.

  Sieg saw her behind, especially her back muscles, then an entire future flashed before his eyes — one wife, 4 children, a house in some rich neighborhood, and good morning with her on his side.

  The slum boy shook his head to clear his delusions, then turned his attention to the male sorcerer. "Let's protect the front. I know you're strong; I saw what you can do."

  Then just as those words were said, male sorcerer manifested a flaming katana and even showed it off by doing tricks with it.

  Fucking show off. Sieg thought bitterly.

  This was the male sorcerer's [Basic-Art]: Scorched Steel.

  "Let's go," the male sorcerer said, flicking his head toward the location of the horses. Sieg began to follow, but he gave the female sorcerer one last glance, and she waved her hand at him.

  "Take care, candidate—"

  In that moment, Sieg knew he had to focus; his face was unusually sharper and more detailed.

  The male sorcerer was somehow relaxed on the task at hand, stretching his arms while walking toward the broad-shouldered man, who appeared shocked at the male sorcerer's weapon.

  "Are you really a mercenary?" the broad-shouldered man asked. The male sorcerer simply made it clear that it was none of his business.

  Behind them, Sieg drew out Cryostalgia, his gaze catching some approaching ghouls in the distance. It helped that most of the ghouls were coming from the west side, and one was already approaching the slum boy with savagery burning in its eyes.

  However, the broad-shouldered man gave Sieg's weapon a curious look and was amazed, but because of the Male Sorcerer's words, he decided it was best not to pry.

  Clearly, these people wielded weapons beyond his understanding. Still, the broad-shouldered man had a headache as he tried to remember if he had ever seen such weapons in his life.

  "I'm not as afraid as I expected to be… I'm getting used to it," Sieg murmured bravely.

  Something else caught his attention, the ghouls weren't showing any stats, just like the knight statues he had faced moments ago.

  That left Sieg confused, a small frown forming as he tried to make sense of it.

  He shook his head, then dismissed the thought, forcing his focus back on the fight.

  "Hey! Look out!" the broad-shouldered man yelled at Sieg as he saw a ghoul nearing him. But before he could try to assist, he was stopped by the male sorcerer, who blocked his way with one arm.

  "Let him fight—" the male sorcerer demanded, and the broad-shouldered man backed down.

  Broad-shouldered man couldn't realistically keep up with them, so he stayed back, focusing on the ghouls that had managed to break through and preventing them from reaching the horses.

  A loud gunshot.

  The rider also wanted to contribute, he had a rifle and was shooting at the ghouls to assist them.

  Sieg calmed himself and focused his nerves. This reminded him of the smiling man, but the difference was that now he was more than trained, not just physically but mentally, to not be easily intimidated.

  ? [Mini Permafrost Slash Performed.]

  "It worked…" Sieg wanted to know if it's possible to use Permafrost Slash without 'firing' it and just leave it sitting on Cryostalgia's steel.

  The first approaching ghoul faltered at Sieg's hands; its skin was freezing solid, and the slum double checked the status of his mind, then was satisfied that this variant of Permafrost Slash didn't even take that much sanity to perform.

  Then more ghouls came from the west, a group of at least six. Sieg planned to unleash a wave of Permafrost Slash in their direction.

  The male sorcerer watched in amusement, and in an instant, he vanished, leaving behind a trail of heat before reappearing in front of Sieg.

  Where did this guy came from?!

  Using his special talent, [Inferno Step], the male sorcerer performed the teleportation feat and followed it with a violent wave of fire from his frontal horizontal slash, scorching the ghouls in its path.

  "There's no need to waste your sanity. I'll handle the groups; you focus on the single stragglers," advised the male sorcerer, while in front of him blazed an inferno that caught the awestruck reactions of broad-shouldered man and rider.

  The reason male sorcerer did this was to gauge Sieg's reaction.

  Would he feel inferior? Bitter? Annoyed?

  But Mister Knight didn't raise a loser…

  "I appreciate it. I'll handle what I can, then," Sieg replied, readying himself for the next wave.

  The male sorcerer liked that answer…

  Chapter End.