Chapter 283: The Art of Freezing Time (Part 1)
Whirring…
The Heart of Winter, a magical artifact created by the Ice Dragon Tyrannus in a distant past, was bestowed upon the Magenta Royal Family as a gift.
Yet, the Heart of Winter considered itself unfortunate, always confined due to its immense power, concealed within the deepest vaults of the palace, never witnessing the world’s light.
It was unhappy.
If only it were a simple object like other ordinary treasures, not burdened with even a faint consciousness, it wouldn’t have felt misfortune, even if trapped for thousands, tens of thousands of years.
But that was not its fate.
For it possessed a consciousness, albeit faint, and was aware of its plight, feeling stifled, longing for freedom, and seeking an opportunity.
And finally, today, it found one.
Whirring! Thump! Thump!
The artifact, a mere 2-centimeter orb, the Heart of Winter, vibrated rhythmically, out of excitement, believing it had finally found the one who would release it into the world—a human who had recently caught its interest, one with a heart akin to a dragon’s.
Thus, it was curious, intrigued, and today, it even felt fondness towards this human who had been enduring its chill, sparking a desire within it—what if they became one? Such thoughts began to emerge.
Whirring…
The cold emitted by the Heart of Winter intensified, focusing all its chill onto an intriguing human named Lloyd, to subjugate him, to conquer his heart, to take over his body, and to use his body to gain freedom.
An unmerciful and indescribable storm of cold was unleashed upon Lloyd, causing him great agony.
“…Gwaaaah!”
Lloyd, startled, his energy at its lowest, had just carried the royal magician, six armored royal guards, and nineteen burly laborers out of the mine, and climbed a 45-meter high vertical shaft ladder while carrying them. Exhausted, he had distributed his warm mana, created by the Asrahan technique, to them all, sparingly using any for himself and relying solely on his physical strength and stamina for all these tasks. Now, completely drained and legs giving out, he faced an overwhelming storm of cold.
“This is insane! Why is it getting colder!”
Overwhelmed by a sense of crisis, feeling as though a bag of frozen beef broth had been dropped on his foot, he contemplated that giving up now might leave him in a state neither alive nor dead.
“I can’t collapse here.”
Lloyd bit his lip, realizing the worst possible timing was right in front of the coolant injection room, the closest point to the rampaging Heart of Winter, making it the coldest spot in the mine.
If he collapsed here, if he ran out of energy and fell, if he passed out as if asleep, “It’d be the end.”
The worst-case scenario unfolded in his weary mind, imagining lying here, unconscious, exposed to temperatures well below freezing for hours, possibly avoiding death from hypothermia or freezing, but certainly not from severe frostbite all over his body, especially on his exposed face and hands.
“The skin would all freeze, tissues destroyed, muscles underneath as well, all flesh would necrotize.”
He would suffer widespread and severe skin damage, enduring irreversible after-effects.
“I don’t want that.”
Lloyd shivered at the thought of possibly having to amputate both hands and having his face utterly ruined. In the worst case, he could die from infections and complications due to the extensive skin damage.
“That, I cannot accept.”
Lloyd shook his head, struggling to maintain consciousness, but it wasn’t easy with depleted energy and drained mana, the Asrahan technique operating only in power-saving mode. His consciousness blurred increasingly, and eventually, he collapsed, unknowingly kneeling. Even then, the thought of not falling over made him stretch out his hands, touching the ground.
That moment, “…Eh!” his palm felt a sharp pain, bloodied, perhaps cut by ice, briefly bringing his mind back to clarity, realizing, “This could be my last chance.”
His energy kept depleting, the cold storm hitting hard. If things continued, his consciousness would blur again soon, gradually moving towards unconsciousness, maybe even passing out.
That couldn’t happen.
“I have to do something.”
Lloyd decided, calculated, anticipated, decided, and acted.
Ding-dong.
[Activating Asrahan Technique Option 5: Rapid Recharge.]
[Drawing a massive amount of mana from random targets nearby.]
Immediately, he activated the Rapid Recharge option, gritting his teeth, “This is the best I can do now.”
Lloyd was certain. Rapid Recharge, an option like a black hole, absorbing mana from the surroundings, anticipated absorbing a tremendous amount of cold emitted by the Heart of Winter. Then?
“The absorbed cold will affect my Mana Heart or Circles, as it has before, like when I stole mana from the king, the undead Mastodon, the Hell Knight, the Bone Dragon. Something unexpected, a new option, will emerge. A variable is created.”
That variable would help him, even if such an option didn’t appear, it didn’t matter.
“At least, my empty Mana Heart will be filled.”
Literally, a rapid recharge, replenishing the empty Mana Heart, allowing him to regain his strength, inject vitality into his exhausted muscles, and escape from here with Ppodongi, Banguli, the foreman waiting inside.
“So… please let this work!”
Lloyd sincerely hoped, his consciousness entering a state of oblivion, his awareness fading amid the roar of his three mana circles.
Kiiiing-!
A vortex of mana formed around him, a voracious, brutal absorption of mana began, targeting everything within range: the concrete on the floor, the rock bolts embedded in the concrete, the rocks surrounding the rock bolts, and even the storm of cold swirling around him.
Whirring…
The Heart of Winter, taken aback by this onslaught, had been in the midst of trying to conquer the human’s heart, pouring a storm of cold onto him intensively. But now, the human was actively absorbing the cold?
It seemed insane, perhaps a death wish, it thought. But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t so.
Whirring…
The human was absorbing its cold, converting it into his own, digesting all the mana within the cold, filling up his Mana Heart.
Whirr!
The Heart of Winter laughed, the more it knew, the more intriguing the human became. On one hand, it felt pity and fondness for the human, like a giant witnessing a child blocking its path with a toothpick.
Of course, even though the human was desperately absorbing the cold, the amount being absorbed was just a fraction of its entirety, like trying to scoop out a gigantic iceberg with a spoon.
That was why, as if to say, try if you dare, go ahead, absorb all you can, the Heart of Winter unleashed an even more powerful storm of cold, a storm that overwhelmed Lloyd’s rapid recharge absorption rate.
The result was devastating.
Fizzling… Crackle, crackle!
Lloyd, lost in the trance of rapid recharge, was instantly covered in frost, his skin beginning to freeze in real-time, gradually, yet assuredly, his exposed face and hands beginning the process of frostbite, the cold he couldn’t absorb fast enough began to damage his skin, an overwhelmingly hopeless battle, no, before a battle, it was a futile resistance, a hopeless struggle, a defiance doomed to fail.
Thus, Lloyd’s entire body gradually became encased in frost and ice shards.
Javier arrived on the scene just as Lloyd’s lower half was being trapped in an ice column.
“…Lord Lloyd?”
Javier, who had penetrated the cold to descend into the mine, was shocked. He had left the dueling king and rushed here, feeling an ominous premonition all the way. Upon arriving, he quickly learned the situation and descended into the mine, hoping against hope that Lloyd would be safe and sound.
But upon arrival, “… …”
Lloyd was already halfway trapped in an ice column.
Javier realized the situation immediately, ‘There’s no hope this way.’
The Asrahan technique allowed him to see the flow of the situation. He could feel all of Lloyd’s mana absorption, a frenzied absorption of mana, yet, the storm’s mana volume was too overwhelming.
Thus, Lloyd was being overwhelmed, surrounded by the unabsorbed cold.
In that moment, Javier stepped forward without hesitation, entered Lloyd’s rapid recharge range, instantly becoming a target of the absorption.
Whoosh-!
Mana began to leak from the Mana Hearts in all his cells, yet, Javier was unfazed, immediately countered with the Asrahan technique, reversed the flow of his three mana circles, twisting the flow of rapid recharge absorption, neutralizing it, thus, he became an exception among the targets.
He didn’t stop there, one more step, he approached Lloyd, extended a hand, touched Lloyd’s shoulder, closed his eyes, concentrated, his Mana Heart, his three mana circles, he awakened them, conformed to their flow, rode the flow of Lloyd’s turbulent mana circles.
Thus, his three mana circles connected with Lloyd’s raging ones, they began to surge together, Javier’s three, Lloyd’s three, as if six mana circles had become one, they rotated, resonated, amplified, the effect of multiplying 3 by 3 emerged, a total of ninefold amplification occurred.
Between the amplifications, explosive activation and, overwhelming absorption, tore through everything around, shredded, devoured.
Kiiiiiing-!
A different dimension of absorption began, a rapid recharge powered by nine mana circles, Javier went a step further, with his other hand, he touched Lloyd’s back, linking the two men’s Mana Hearts, Lloyd’s expert-level Mana Heart in his heart, Javier’s grandmaster-level Mana Heart across 60 trillion cells, one large, united heart, and 60 trillion dispersed ones.
These opposing Mana Heart systems linked up, connected, and resonated, forming a multi-Mana Heart system, supporting the nine mana circles, digesting the unprecedented rapid recharge mana absorption, refining it, making it their own, systematically, filling an empty barn with grain, not missing a single drop of mana, diligently yet fiercely, savagely yet meticulously, overpowering, dominating, reigning.
Throughout, Javier thought, ‘I don’t know much about you.’
Suddenly, his gaze fell on Lloyd’s back, Lloyd, lost in oblivion, unresponsive to his touch and aid, the eldest son of the Frontiera family, yet an imposter, an intruder from another world, now the sole pillar of the family, the hope to avert the crisis looming over the family and save his lords, the Earl and Countess.
Thus, he was now willingly offering his help, ‘I don’t know how you view the family. What you think of your lords. How you see me. Or if you’re just using us all along, deceiving everyone for a long time. I understand nothing. However-‘
However, he simply hoped, ‘I hope that my assistance now, and all the countless choices of the past and today, don’t lead to regret.’
Javier concentrated even more, the linked circles and Mana Heart, he poured all his strength into every link, absorption, and amplification, Lloyd, lost in oblivion, instinctively responded to this aid.
Whether the Heart of Winter was a magical artifact or whatever it was created by a dragon didn’t matter, he was now blindly focused, simply absorbing, devouring, making it his own, dominating.
Before such tyrannical absorption, the Heart of Winter began to recede.
Whirring…
The 2-centimeter magical artifact, the Heart of Winter, vibrated rhythmically, more intrigued than ever, for the first time, it encountered a human who could overpower it, a human it had been interested in from the start, with a heart similar to a dragon’s, curious, and now, terrifying yet endearing.
This human, although with another’s help, was swallowing up its entire storm of cold as if to dominate it, watching him, a new impulse surged, what if it became a part of this human?
Just meld into him and see the world, it seemed entirely possible, this human seemed fully capable of possessing it, then, there seemed no need to forcibly control and command a human body, such thoughts emerged.
Whirring…
The Heart of Winter began to release all its essence, just as Lloyd’s absorption reached its peak, it offered up its essence and core, everything, to merge with this human, to embed itself in his heart, to become a part of him, to experience the freedom that lay ahead.
Voluntarily and amiably, it offered all its essence of cold to Lloyd, like extending a handshake, courteously and cautiously, Lloyd’s Mana Heart readily accepted this handshake.
Whirring…
A magical artifact harboring the power of a season, the Heart of Winter, Lloyd’s Mana Heart, executing a miraculous absorption with the help of a grandmaster, merged with it.
In that moment, Ding-dong.
[Asrahan Technique Skill Option 5: Rapid Recharge has ended.]
Kiiiiing…
Lloyd’s surging mana circles calmed, the ferocious rotation eased, the storm of cold that had engulfed the surroundings disappeared, and the royal artifact, the Heart of Winter, was no more.
A new message appeared before Lloyd, [You have absorbed the self-aware magical artifact, the Heart of Winter.]
[The seasonal power it held has melded into your Mana Heart, significantly impacting your Mana Heart skills.]
[A new Mana Heart skill option has been unlocked.]
[Mana Heart Skill Exclusive Option 5: Time Freeze]
