Chapter 164: A Superhuman Effort

It roared around her with such intensity that she felt as though she were climbing the hill against an invisible force, one that stubbornly tried to push her back down.

But Blanche gritted her teeth.

Then she placed one foot in front of the other.

Again.

And again.

Until the slope finally began to soften, revealing, behind the white curtain of the storm, the first ghostly silhouettes of the summit.

It took her time to distinguish her quest window through the wind and snowflakes.

\---

Twelfth Level: Discovery Part 2/5.

Objective: Spend time in the nearest village.

Time: Five hours.

Reward: Dark Mage ability unlocked.

\---

An ability? What...?

Blanche did not have time to dwell on it.

Her familiar, the enormous black panther — now more white than black — suddenly appeared beside her.

Fortunately, he had warned her beforehand, otherwise he would not have survived the spell that had almost formed instinctively in her mind.

You cannot climb like this, he growled mentally. Stay close to me and hold onto the harness. There are gloves underneath. We will move slowly.

Thanks to Phénix, she endured the assaults of winter slightly better.

The faint warmth transmitted by her familiar spread gently throughout her body, like the quiet embers of a carefully tended fireplace. Without him, Blanche was certain she would have lost all feeling in her fingers and toes long ago.

Even the wind seemed slightly diverted around her.

The gusts continued to roar with impressive violence, but part of their force slid against this protection, sparing her from the worst of their attacks. It was not enough to make them disappear, only enough to make them bearable.

Phénix was doing everything he could.

And it was probably saving her life.

Her insulated gloves still preserved a little warmth around her numb hands. Despite their thickness, she could feel the cold slowly creeping toward her joints, stiffening her fingers as the minutes passed. Every time she tightened her grip on her bag straps or adjusted her hood, a painful tingling reminded her that the ice was gradually taking over.

Her legs were beginning to protest as well.

The snow sometimes reached her thighs, turning every step into a genuine feat of strength. She had to lift her knees high, pull with her hips, regain her balance before repeating the same exhausting movement over and over.

Her boots grew heavier and heavier, weighed down by wet snow.

Her breathing became shorter.

And yet, she continued.

One step.

Then another.

Again.

Always.

Very quickly, distance lost all meaning.

The three kilometers separating her from her destination seemed endless.

Every hundred meters stretched on forever.

Every climb revealed another climb.

Every flat section hid another slope.

Under those conditions, three kilometers were no longer three.

They became ten.

Maybe more.

Time itself seemed to slow beneath the weight of the snow, the wind, and exhaustion.

There was nothing left but the stubborn rhythm of her steps, the endless roar of the storm, and the silent certainty that giving up simply was not an option.

Blinded, she closed her eyes, trusting her demon.

One step at a time.

The gate is there! Just a little more!

Phénix immediately moved closer to her, spreading around her body the small amount of warmth he had left.

Leaning against the heavy iron gate, Blanche closed her eyes for a moment, letting her head fall back against the freezing metal.

Despite her familiar's protection, the cold had finally seeped everywhere.

It seemed to have passed through her clothes, her skin, her muscles, until it settled deep within her bones.

She was shaking uncontrollably now.

Her teeth chattered despite all her efforts to keep them clenched.

With one final surge of determination, she lifted a hand toward the keypad.

Her fingers refused to obey.

They had become so stiff that she could barely distinguish the buttons beneath her numb fingertips.

She pressed once.

The wrong number.

A second time.

Still wrong.

She frowned, trying to focus, but the numbers danced before her blurred vision, distorted by the snow gathering on her eyelashes.

She inhaled deeply.

Tried a third time.

Her finger slid helplessly across the keypad.

Nothing.

A nervous, almost desperate laugh nearly escaped her.

After surviving a storm like this...

She was going to be defeated by a simple code.

Then, in an almost unreal click, the electric lock sounded.

The gate opened slightly.

As if by miracle.

Blanche did not even have time to understand.

A figure immediately rushed out from inside.

Large hands wrapped around her with unusual urgency, pulling her gently but firmly away from the storm before the gate closed behind them with a dull metallic sound.

She immediately felt human warmth surround her.

A real warmth, infinitely more comforting than Phénix's magical one.

Then came that scent.

Woody.

Deep.

Musk, mixed with a fresh citrus note so distinctive that she could have recognized it among thousands.

Her savior.

She did not even need to look up.

His scent was enough.

Her body, tense for hours against the cold, seemed to understand before her mind did that it no longer needed to fight.

All the accumulated tension collapsed at once.

Her shoulders relaxed.

Her fingers finally released the strap of her bag.

Her legs, which had been held upright purely by stubbornness, suddenly refused to carry her any further.

They gave out.

Completely.

But she did not fall.

The arms holding her tightened immediately, absorbing her entire weight with effortless ease.

Blanche let out a trembling breath.

For the first time since the storm had begun...

She finally felt safe.

"Argy!" Aaron shouted.

A few minutes later, as her body slowly warmed, Argy healed her aching legs.

Exhausted, Blanche sank into a restorative sleep, haunted by visions of the abominable snowman, Glaciator, and the ice elves, all beneath a frozen and merciless storm.