The further north Kieran traveled, the more the world seemed to forget warmth ever existed.
The trees grew thinner. The snow deepened. Each step was slower, heavier, more deliberate—boots crunching beneath ice-crusted undergrowth while his breath curled like smoke before him. The system guided him still, faint pulses from the pendant directing him toward something he didn't yet understand. Not by map, but by instinct.
"Host Status: Mana Circulation stabilized. Arcane Core: 6%. Warning: External anomaly detected."
The message chimed in his mind like a drop of cold water slipping down his spine.
He stopped.
A sound broke the wind.
Snap.
Too deliberate. Too rhythmic to be a branch giving way under snow. Too controlled to be an animal.
He lowered into a crouch behind a tree and closed his eyes.
He reached inward—not to reason or memory, but to that newly awakened pressure beneath his skin. The one the system called mana. Like blood, but lighter. Like thought, but hotter. It stirred with each heartbeat.
"Spell Imprint Available – 'Mystic Veil' (Low-Rank Illusion): Incomplete."
"Do you wish to force-cast?"
His lips parted. "Do it."
The moment he whispered those words, the pendant burned against his chest. His breath caught—and the air around his body shimmered.
Kieran felt the mana rip from his core like a current, twisting the light around him. The system hadn't taught him how to perfectly cast it, but even half-formed, the spell was enough to blur his silhouette—like heat on stone.
Not invisibility. Just enough to confuse.
From the shadows ahead, movement stirred.
He sank lower into the snow, careful not to breathe.
Then he saw it.
Lumbering through the mist—half-dragging, half-stalking—came figures. At first glance, they could've been human. Tall. Humanoid. Bare-chested despite the cold.
But then came the details.
Skin—icy grey. Lips—blue and cracked. Eyes—glowing a pale, corpse-light blue.
Wights.
Not stories. Not the tall tales told by Old Nan. Real.
There were four of them. Two carried rusted weapons—bent daggers and broken spears. One still wore the black tatters of a Night's Watch cloak, the sigil faded and soaked in dry blood.
The fourth had no face.
Just a bare skull, frozen flesh clinging to bone.
Kieran's heart pounded in his ears.
Run.
But something in him refused.
Instead, he inhaled deeply—and stood.
The illusion snapped. The air shimmered as the spell failed, and the moment he moved, the wights screeched—a horrid sound, sharp and wrong, like bones grinding together.
They charged.
Kieran raised a hand.
"Combat Protocol Engaged. Emergency Spell Slot Opened – Unstable Arcane Discharge (WARNING: Risk of recoil damage). Proceed?"
"Yes!"
The pendant flared violently—white-hot like the sun. His palm lit with a sphere of pure force, unstable and shifting, arcs of violet lightning coiling around his wrist like serpents.
He didn't wait.
He thrust it forward.
The blast exploded outward like a cannon shot—no elegance, no finesse, just raw, surging energy. The nearest wight was ripped apart, fragments of frostbitten bone and frozen flesh scattering through the air like snowflakes.
The other three staggered.
Kieran screamed as his arm convulsed, the veins glowing briefly beneath his skin before fading. Blood leaked from his nose. His ears rang. He dropped to one knee—but didn't collapse.
Not yet.
The remaining wights advanced. Less coordinated now, more primal.
The second spell wasn't ready. He could feel the mana drain crawling through his limbs like icewater. If they reached him before—
Too late.
The one with the Night's Watch cloak lunged forward, blade raised.
And time slowed.
No—he slowed it.
A ring of blue symbols flared into being before his eyes. Runes. Ancient. He hadn't cast them—but they'd appeared all the same.
"Arcane Echo Triggered – Temporal Ripple Activated (3 seconds)."
His body moved as if weightless. He twisted, grabbed the falling blade, redirected it—and slammed his shoulder into the wight's chest. The creature staggered. Time snapped back to normal—and Kieran followed with a savage downward strike of his palm.
The mana hadn't recovered, but instinct took over.
The creature's head shattered against the stone with a wet crack.
Blood. Cold. Black. No scream. Just silence.
The third came at him from the side.
This time, Kieran was too slow.
Claws raked across his shoulder—tearing through cloth and skin. He cried out and lashed back with an arc of raw mana, like a whip of light. It struck the wight in the side, knocking it off-balance but not down.
Pain blinded him. His body screamed. But the fear? The panic?
It was gone.
Replaced by something else. Something cold. Steady.
Focus.
He stood straight, blood dripping from his arm.
"You're not taking me."
He stepped forward, hand glowing faintly, and drove a shimmering strike into the creature's chest. Not brute force this time. Precision. Magic sharpened like a blade.
The wight convulsed—and crumbled.
The last one turned to flee.
But he wasn't done.
Kieran raised both hands, focused every fragment of will into a point between his palms, and spoke aloud without knowing why:
"Bind, break, and scatter."
A glyph snapped into existence—and a beam of compressed light punched through the final creature's skull.
The world went quiet.
Kieran stood in the silence, breathing raggedly. His vision blurred. He fell to one knee again, hand pressed to the snow.
Blood pooled beneath him.
"Combat complete. Vital signs critical. Initiating recovery protocol."
"Spell unlocked: Temporal Ripple (Basic). Arcane Mastery: 9%. Mana Reserve: 4%."
The voice was faint. Distant. But comforting.
The snow began to fall again, heavier now.
He curled up beside the twisted bodies, surrounded by broken bones and still-burning energy, and let himself fade into unconsciousness.
He did not dream this time.
Only floated—in silence, in peace.
When he woke, the world was colder, but quieter. His wound had closed, partly. The system had preserved him. Not fully healed, but enough to live.
The pendant no longer pulsed erratically.
It hummed. Alive.
So was he.
He sat up, trembling.
And he smiled.
"I'm not powerless anymore."
--------------
Please spend some power stones for support, Thankss!