Yuurei was happy to see that people were acting normal around them. They didn’t avoid the group like they were plagued with a disease. It seemed like they just needed a way to be able to trust these people. The horde of monsters couldn’t have come at a better time. Still, with everything settled the townsfolks were back on to doing what they had to do for the rest of the day.

The light mage was next to his friends as he figured they could continue on with what they were trying to accomplish earlier.

“Let’s see if we can get some answers now. Same plan as before and we will meet at the tavern.” He said to everyone.

Yuurei would walk over a lonely woman who was carrying a bunch of stuff. He would go over to the woman with a smile on his face.

“Can I help you out with those bags?’ He asked her.

She would look at him and she knew that he was one of the new people who had entered the town. She would hand him the bags as he was happy to help.

“Thank you for helping the town and for helping me.” She said to Yuurei.

He would take the bags and would start walking with her as he was glad to assist.

“Does this town always get hordes of monsters running around?” He asked curious to hear her answer.

“A matter of fact, we do. It’s why we’re prepared and know that we let anybody in any building when the alarm goes off. It's why we have watchtowers so that they can let us know in advance.” She said to Yuurei.

He would nod as he understood that, but hopefully the three of them had dealt with all the monsters who threatened this town.

303

Brone Heavyaxe watched as the town returned to normal as if a horde of nightmarish creatures had not just rushed through the town. He found this rather odd, though it wasn't entirely surprising, a few known dwarf clans in the mountains constantly deal with trogg raids, so such things became normal for the dwarves.

Yuurei announced the plan and the dwarf shrugged. "Stay safe, lass" he told Kailani before heading back to the bakery.

When Brone finally walked into the bakery, he was greeted by the baker once again, though he was much more joyful, "I heard you and your friends took care of the creatures" his smile was wide.

"Word gets around fast" Brone laughed as he walked up to the counter.

"Small town" the baker continued to stack bread, "You finished your loaf?"

"Was halfway through eating it, but lost it in the rush, hope ye can forgive me" Brone was a bit bashful about losing the loaf, he couldn't remember what happened to it, all he could remember was grabbing his axes and rushing to find the enemy.

"Don't worry about it, ridding of those creatures cover more than enough" the baker laughed as he began to start baking more bread.

"Where do they come from?"

"Don't know, it's as if the darkness spawns them"

"Are they just mindless hordes or is someone behind this?"

The baker avoided eye contact as he remain silent for a good while, "Someone." Hearing that, Brone felt he might have found soemthing.

256

The wood elf was still curious about the strange monsters they had fought, the way they acted and responded so unlike any creatures she had previously fought, it was almost as if someone had programmed them to be mindless killing machines. A worrying thought, to say the least.

Thankfully, after clearing out the beasts, the locals seemed a little more talkative, at least they were a grateful bunch. If they had continued to treat them like lesser beings after dealing with their little monster problem for them, she might have actually raised her voice at someone. Once more the group split off into their three groups, with the plan to meet up in the tavern.

With Nimbus still huddled in the hood of her cloak she began approaching people in the marketplace, which was once more bustling with life, albeit a little slower than before as people began to reemerge from the buildings. Striking up conversations with a few different stall owners, the wood elf would discover that those creatures had been a problem for quite a while at this point, although no one knew where they came from or where they went after raiding the township.

Anyone that had tried to do anything had ended up overwhelmed and torn to shreds, so they had given up trying to fight them off, instead, they resorted to simply hiding from them when they came. The townsfolk were clearly not fighters, but it was a little surprising that not even the town's guard had been able to deal with the monster problem. Nor had they requested outside help from any of the magic guilds. Something didn't quite add up.

Yuurei continued to walk with the woman as they were walking towards her home. The people smiled at Yuurei which was different from the reactions he got earlier. He would smile back at them and when they got to the woman’s house, he would put all of her stuff in front of her house. She would smile at him as she was happy that he had helped.

“If you want you can come and I can make you some tea?” She said to him with a smile on his face.

He would smile as he blushed a bit from her invitation to come in. He would rub the back of his head as he looked at her.

“Thank you for the invitation to your home. I’m sure it’s lovely, but I need to continue gathering information. Do you have any idea if I can find a vampire around here, there were rumors saying that a vampire lived around these parts? Do you think you can tell me?” He asked to hope for some answers.

The woman would look at him as she was shocked to hear his words. He was straightforward, and she would be flustered with what he said. She looked away because she didn’t want to tell him anything that was relative to that.

“I can’t say that I know anything about something as a vampire living around here. Still, if I did, I think it’s best that you didn’t get that information. You don’t need to get yourself killed for something as chasing after monsters of such threat.” She said as she would pick up her stuff and enter the house.

She would wave goodbye to Yuurei as she would close the door. He would think about what she said, and he could only think about what these people truly knew about the vampire.

Yuurei continued moving through the city as he was trying to get answers, but it seemed like he couldn’t get them. His best bet was to head over to the Tavern and see what information the others had gotten.

346

Brone leaned onto the counter and asked "Who is this someone?"

"Trust me when I tell you that I cannot say, even if I wanted to" the baker's voice was serious as he gave him a concerned look, "I think it's best that you give up on whatever it is you are searching for if it is leading to trouble such as this" what kept Brone from hearing that statement as a threat was the tone of voice that seemed empathetic.

"And what trouble may that be?" Brone still pushed on, hoping to grab any bit of information. The baker simply shook his head as he went back to tending to the bread, "Alright then" the dwarf let out a deep sigh, he knew he couldn't just force the baker to talk, so he figured he'd move on, "Stay safe" he departed as the two of them said their goodbyes.

Brone would head in the direction of the tavern, all the while asking civilians in the street if there was any word of who could be behind the monsters. Some people answered truthfully that they didn't know, however most of them just avoided the question, whether politely or just rudely rushed away. All Brone knew from all this was whoever was behind these creatures attacking, they struck fear into the town.

The dwarf found himself within the taproom of the tavern. The bartender from before had different attitude towards him, waving him down to offer a drink, to which Brone accepted, though when he asked about the creatures, the bartender too was hesitant and didn't provide anything.

271

Despite her best efforts, any time the wood elf brought up the topic of vampires in the area, the locals still seemed a little on edge. They either simply stated they didn't know anything, or straight up ignored her question. It seemed, that while they were definitely on friendlier terms than they had been previously, they were still hesitant to divulge anything to do with the group's actual quest.

There was definitely something going on, but with everyone shutting them out, Kailani and Nimbus found they couldn't gather any important information to further their investigation. The wind mage could only conclude that there was definitely a higher power at work, keeping all the people from opening up to them. Perhaps they were being threatened in some way.

Regardless, seeing as her attempts had proven fruitless, she'd head over the tavern. Perhaps one of the other had been more successful in prying information from the townsfolk.

Yuurei would arrive at the Tavern and when he looked around, he would see that Brone was at the counter with possibly would be his second or third drink of the day. He would approach the dwarf and he would sit next to him and he would look at the bartender.

“Whiskey on ice.” He would say this and the bartender would get to work.

He would look over to Brone with a smile on his face.

“I’m assuming you didn’t get any information either?” He asked the dwarf.

At this point, he would get his drink from the bartender, and he would grab ahold of it, and he would smell his drink before he would take a sip of his drink. He would close his eyes as he would enjoy the taste of it all. It wouldn’t take long but someone would approach them when they saw the appearance of the outsides. When he got close to them, he would cough a bit to get their attention.

“I see you two are the outsiders that came into town and kill all the monsters that came into town. I also heard you guys been asking a lot of questions, but it seems like you’re missing the third one, so I will wait for them to show up so I can give you my proposition.” He said as he was looking around to see where the girl was and if she was entering this tavern.

244

At this point Brone was already tired of asking questions. This was tedious and led to nowhere. He figured he would sit in the tavern and have a few rounds of drinks before Yuurei showed up. The moment he heard the light mage's voice, he nearly jumped and choke on his drink. After a moment of a coughing session, Brone regained his composure, "Just got here, matter of fact" he downed his drink and lightly tapped on the bar to let the bartender know he was ready for another round, "And no, didn't get a damn thing except that someone is behind the uglies we just rid the town of" he shrugged his shoulders.

He didn't want to complain about the quest, mainly do to the fact that seeking this vampire lord was Yuurei's quest for so long, so the half-elf was technically his client and he didn't want to lower his hopes, "Maybe we just need a break, maybe I should have kept one of those uglies alive so we could beat the answer out of them" he suggested the idea, though it was too late, given that all the monsters were dead, and he suspected they weren't able to speak the common language, or dwarven, anyway.

Suddenly a man approached them ominously, possibly offering information, "I don't have any money for ye, buddy, go bother someone else" Brone shooed at the man with a simple wave of his hand, he had compassion for beggers who were down on their luck and struggling, but he was easily annoyed by beggers who seem like con artists.

270

The warmth of the hearth warmed Kailani the moment she stepped into the tavern, despite her warm clothing, it only did so much against the chilling cold of the mountains. Enjoying it for the briefest of moments, she was tempted to make a beeline over to the fireplace but stopped as she noticed her friends had already arrived.

"Oh hey, guys." The wood elf greeted a little more somberly than her usual cheerful self as she pulled up a stool next to them, "I hope you lot did better than Nimbus and I, the townsfolk still don't seem overly keen to share, huh?" She sighed, stretching a little as she went to flag down the bartender for a drink. It was at this moment she'd finally notice the stranger beside them.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't interrupt you, did I?" She'd ask, a little worried she'd been incredibly rude to the stranger.

Yuurei would hear his words and he would nod as if he understood that people knew something but didn’t want to share the information. He shook his head because he wasn’t going to take a break on this. He had gone too long trying to figure out where this vampire was located, and he wasn’t going to stop until he got answers.

When the man approached, Yuurei would look at Brone as he would shoo him away, which made Yuurei chuckle a bit with his actions.

“Let’s see what the man has to say. It might be good for us.” He said as Kailani would show up soon after.

She was quick to make it to them and he heard her voice and shook his head because it seemed like they struck out three for three.

“Nope it seems like we all hit a dead end here.” He said to Kailani as the guy who was waiting for her to show up would cough a bit.

He heard Kailani speak and he would shake his head showing her that she didn’t interrupt him at all.

“No, I was actually waiting for you to show up. So my proposition for you three is simple. You guys want an answer about some Vampire that lives around these parts, and I want to test your might. This thing also is an annoyance for the people of Tantibus, so it would do us all good if you guys can take care of this matter and in return, I will tell you everything you need to know about this Vampire and how to get to them.” He paused as he wondered what they would say.

Yuurei would hear him as he didn’t know how he knew about them asking questions about the vampire, but it seemed like he was good at networking. It wasn’t just that, but it seemed like he was getting them to work. The light mage wanted to strangle him and get information out of him but decided to do the town a nice deed, so they would be safe in the future.

“Sure we’ll help you just tell us where to go.” He said to the man.

“I need you three to head east from Tantibus and. There is a huge monster that is of annoyance to the people in this town. It makes it harder for us to travel through these snowy plains and into other territories in the east. If you can get rid of that thing, and bring back proof I will tell you everything that this town isn’t telling you.” He said to the group.

“Fine we will do this, but I hope you aren’t lying to us. I want and need this information, so don’t play games.” He said as he took his whole shot in one go and would put the glass down as he got up from the seat and started heading east.

489

Brone stopped his shooing as Yuurei asked for the three to hear the man out. Like receiving a gift out of the blue, the three Blue Pegasus members got what they were searching for, information, albeit there was a catch which the dwarf was going to complain about, but judging Yuurei's expression, it seem he wasn't the only one upset about the 'strings attached'. Brone took another swig of his drink as they listened to the side-quest the man was offering.

"'Huge monster'? Huh?" Brone made sure his helmet was sitting upon his head correctly fastened, "That's fine by me, I don't suppose there's any reason to hold back on slaying the thing" he said as he took another swig, trying to finish the drink before they got back on their feet to head out and deal with the new objective.

As Yuurei was making his way out the tavern, Brone finished his ale, slid it back to the bartender and hurried to catch up to the half-elf, "Don't worry, we'll finish off the thing quickly and be back before it gets too dark" he said, trying to make light of the situation. He knew this wouldn't be too difficult, it was just tedious and time consuming. The dwarf could only imagine how it felt to be so close to your goal while being delayed.

228

The wood elf was a little suspicious of a stranger suddenly offering up information in return for work after hearing all three of them had had no luck getting anything out of the townsfolk. It just all sounded a little too good to be true, although she had noticed the people were less on edge since they dealt with the creatures earlier. Perhaps dealing with another pest in their way would help them open up a little more even if this guy didn't keep his word.

Naturally, Yuurei had been quick to jump on the chance to further his personal investigation. The wind mage sighed, well even if they didn't get anything out of this, they could at least help the townsfolk with the creature that had been causing them issues. It was the right thing to do and most likely within their power. She just prayed for the stranger's sake that he was a man of his word, or he was going to have to deal with the light mage's fury. Something she'd been meaning to bring up with him honestly, it was getting a little out of hand at times, but perhaps Yuurei's internal rage would settle down once he had some closure.

Looking longingly at the alcohol on the shelf behind the bartender, the wood elf would sigh once more. With a push of her stool away from the bar, she'd hop on her feet, following the others out the door. Her drink would have to wait until they returned.

Now that they had a lead, they couldn’t let it go. The three of them were no longer in the town they had helped. He treaded quickly as his feet continued to sink into the snow, but he kept moving through. He was just glad that these two didn’t question him and he even smiled because of what Brone had said to him as he was glad that they were here to help him through it all. While walking through all of this he would look over to them and hoped that this monster wasn’t too much for them to handle.

”Once we finish taking care of this creature and get back to town we will take a break before moving on. We spent quite some time here just getting information.” He said to them as they would soon find themselves within the monster’s territory.

While they walked around the group would see a few bones sticking out of the snow as it seemed like they were walking through a graveyard of some sort. It wouldn’t take long but Yuurei would spot a huge shadow that would cover up whatever rod the sun that shining down on them. When he looked to see what was causing it his eyes widened when he saw how big this monster was. The Yeti would notice that it had a company of five people as it would let out a roar as it would stand on both its feet.

Yuurei would jump back as this was the thing that they had to take out. Still, a smirk would appear on his face because he accepted the challenge. The Yeti would start and Yuurei would open both his hands as the fight was happening. The light mage would have two magic circles appear above his hands before all the stars came out and enter his body. While he was doing this the Yeti would attack them slamming its hands at them. He would dodge the attack and felt the vibration of the attack when he landed on the snow.

”Renji gauntlet.” He said as the exceed would open his bag and a gauntlet would appear on his right hand.

Now that he was battle-ready, he started rushing towards the Yeti as his mana poured into his gauntlet and its effect would activate making him even faster than he was before. He would leap into the air, and he would launch an attack on the Yeti. It would connect on the creature’s chest as it would scream from the pain before smacking Yuurei away from him.

The berserker would be sent flying into the snow, and he would cough up blood from the hit of that monster. He would quickly get up from the floor as he wasn’t going to have this monster continuously attack him. The group wouldn’t notice right away but the Yeti had created an avalanche moving their way as well.

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Brone trekked through the snow, though he didn't complain, "I remember when my da took me and my cousins hunting in the snowy peak, looking for game, oh the cold wind was embracing" the dwarf chuckled. Out of the town and onward on the path heading east, as far as they knew, the amount of snow made it difficult to spot and keep on track of the road. Brone agreed with Yuurei about taking a break, they had traveled to the town, investigated, fought a horde of monstrous creatures and now heading to take down some large monster, "Ye think the big bad is just like the uglies we fought back in town?" the dwarf asked, though before anyone could answer him, the yeti let out a loud roar, "Ye, I heared ye!" Brone drew his battleaxes.

The half-elf was already on the move and the moment he got his magical gauntlet he moved in for the strike, all the while, Brone rushed in as well, excited, his blood pumping for the battle. As he closed the distance, Yuurei landed a hit, but not without taking a hit back which surprised the dwarf, "Clan Technique: Go for the Shins!" Brone yelled as he slammed the iron axe into the yeti's leg, causing it to jerk and slightly buckle, then he followed it up with the steel axe, slamming it into the same spot. The force of the blow forced the yeti to drop to one knee.

The dwarf laughed as he ran around the large creature to keep in it's blind side. Unfortunately for the dwarf, due to his yelling, he wasn't able to hear the beginning of the avalanche.

284

Kailani's soft steps left barely a trace in the snow as the group moved through the mountains towards the creature's territory. The wood elf was glad to hear they could take a break after they returned, it would be unwise to travel around here during the night if these were the kind of monsters that came out during the day, the thought of what might appear under the cover of darkness made her skin crawl.

As they found themselves deeper into the creature's known territory the piles of bones of various other creatures caused the wood elf to frown. If one being was capable of so much destruction how come no one had alerted the magic guilds? Surely sending in some top tier mages earlier to eliminate the threat would have been a wise choice. Then again with how little the town trusted outsiders perhaps they didn't trust the magic guilds either.

As a shadow crept over the five explorers, Kailani's eyes shot up to see the ice-spiked creature, its golden eyes glowing in their direction with a hunger she could feel. The wind mage was quick to cast a spell on herself to lunge out of the way of the monster's incoming hands, landing lithely on her feet as the impact shook the ground beneath them.

Now that the group was separated slightly from its attempt to smack them, Kailani had the opportunity to click her fingers, sending her mana to her dwarven friend to boost his speed as she had done in the previous battle. However, mid-cast her eyes widened as the light mage was sent flying into the snow.

"Yuuuu!" Kailani cried, as panic set in as she saw the snow stained red from the blood he coughed up. Not wanting to give the creature another chance to harm her best friend she'd cast yet another spell, granting Yuurei wings so he could fight the monster before them with much more ease.


Notes:
Cast B-Rank Flight Spell on Yuurei
Cast B-Rank Speed Spell on Brone
Cast D-Rank Lunge to Dodge

While he was standing on his feet, he would shake his head as he wasn’t enjoying the pain. Still, he heard Kailani’s yell and he would crack his neck because he couldn’t make her cry. He figured that he would tell her that he was fine.

“I’m okay just some blood. I’ll live.” He said to her as he gave her a thumbs up.

Yuurei would look forward to the Yeti as he would see that Brone had knocked him down on one knee before gaining the Yeti’s attention as it roar in pain. That was good, but what was better was when he felt the wind behind him. He would look over to see the wings that were made for him, and he would smile because he enjoyed these more than Kailani would know.

Now that he had the means to move in the sky, he shouldn’t get hit like he did last time. The Yeti wasn’t happy that’s someone so small would be able to damage him like that. He would start slamming down on the ground now afraid of them all as snow would continue to go into the air and distort their line of sight. The light mage wasn’t happy about this, so he decided to go up in the air to make sure that he could get a better view of things.

He had gone up in the air, which was only five meters, but it was still enough for him to see above the debris of snow that was created by the Yeti. He shook his head because it looked like the two of them hitting him was enough to take it to the brink of death. It wouldn’t take long, but he noticed something else. Now that he was in the sky he could also see something else. It wasn’t clear to him at first, but he could see snow from the distance traveling towards him. He didn’t understand it at first, but it would soon come for him to realize that what he saw was an avalanche.

“Guys! There seems to be an avalanche coming this way! I think you guys should take cover! It’s coming from the east side!” He shouted as the snow would come from the side near the mountain.

While they would have to avoid the avalanche, Yuurei soar straight towards the Yeti as it was looking around for the Dwarf and at the same time it was slamming its fist around the floor. He wouldn’t care as he would make his way to the face of the creature as he would launch a haymaker with his right arm as he would punch it with all his might. He would hit the Yeti right on the face as it would fall to the ground and a tooth would fly out of its mouth. Still, with the monster taken down their next threat was on the way.

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Brone kept in the yeti's blind spot as the monster was dropped to one knee. The dwarf waited with his axes ready, knowing the moment the yeti attempt to stand back up, he would be hit the back of his shin again, forcing him back down, however unfortunately for him, the yeti had another tactic. The large monster began slamming it's fist onto the ground, causing snow to be kicked up, impairing sight about him, "Damn thing" Brone cursed under his breath, trying to keep his foe in his line of sight, however to no avail.

Suddenly, Brone saw a silhouette coming through the mist of snow, a huge fist was coming his way and just before he turn, he felt something envelope him. He managed to dash out of the way just in time. Only after Brone got out of range of the yeti and out of the field of falling snow that he was able to process that Kailani had empowered his speed with her spell, "My thanks, lass!" he called out to her.

The constant rumbling of the yeti's fists hitting the ground round him had stopped and the next thing the dwarf saw was the yeti falling as the snowy mist dissipated, with Yuurei flying above the defeated foe. Brone cheered with his axes raised high. His cheering was soon stopped by Yuurei's announcement. The dwarf was going to question whether his friend was sure about the avalanche but the new rumbling became noticeable. "Take cover!" Brone looked about but couldn't see anything that could support him, no trees, no large rocky structures.... but the yeti was still there.

Brone dashed with his increased speed and made it between the yeti's legs. A spot the dwarf didn't want to be anywhere near, but the thick thighs and the rest of the body would soften the blow of the wave of snow that would be come crashing in. Worse case scenario he would be buried without any bruising, he only hoped he would be able to climb out when the snow settles.

348

Kailani wasn't convinced that Yuurei was as 'fine' as he claimed. The wood elf was already setting about summoning a circle on both herself and him as she unleashed her mana, causing the air to rush around the light mage, closing off what wounds it could in an attempt to heal him. All while sustaining the two spells on her party members. As long as the fight didn't go on for too long she figured she could hold both long enough for them to take out the gigantic snow beast.

The wind mage was starting to grow confident until the creature started to fling snow around, making it difficult to see what was happening behind the icy cold veil. She heard the light mage cry out from above, but couldn't get a clear fix on him or where the avalanche he'd yelled about was coming from. As the snow started to settle around the fallen beast, she was glad the monster was at least taken care of through the combined efforts of the two males.

Her lilac eyes scanned the mountains nearby until she finally spied the raging sea of snow surging towards them. Brone had already discovered the only nearby cover, using the speed granted to him to hide as safely as he could and with the light mage in the air, he would more than likely remain safe, leaving the wood elf and the feline in her hood the only two without any safety measures.

Following the dwarf's lead, she'd click and flick her wrist, causing the air to rapidly swirl around her feet, propelling her forward in an instant as she dashed to take cover beside her stout friend. Praying she'd make it in time before the wave of snow washed over them.


Notes:
Speed Buff/Flight still active
B-Rank Heal on Yuu
B-Rank Dash Used on Self

Yuurei would look at the two as he would see that Brone had made his way towards the Yeti that had been taken care of. That was good, but he looked over to Kailani who had looked around. It seemed like she wanted to know which direction, the avalanche was covering. His eyes widen as he saw her now making her way to the dead Yeti. He wasn’t sure if she would make it on time, so he decided to interfere. The light mage wasn’t going to take any chances on having something bad happen to any of his friends. He would soar through the air with all his speed as he was doing the entire time and he would fly towards Kailani and scoop her off the ground and into the air.

He was holding her like a princess with one of his arms scooped under her legs, and the other arm behind her upper back. The light mage would move as high as he could into the air as he watched the avalanche cover up the area that they were standing there. He would sigh with relief as he was glad that Kailani was safe. Yuurei looked at her as he blushed a bit because of how close they were but at the same time he was happy she was okay.

“Thank god you’re safe. I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it on time. Do you think you can smell Brone or the dead Yeti from here?” He said as he was moving around the area.

The yeti would take the full impact of the avalanche, but it meant that Brone would be pushed wherever the body of the Yeti was moving to. Of course, it would come to a stop eventually, and the reason Yuurei didn’t go for Brone was that he was used to the cold, and they weren’t. Still, he would hope to be able to find the dwarf so they could get back to town.

334

Brone fastened his axes onto his back, then he punched the right thigh of the yeti, to make sure both that the yeti was really done for and to see whether or not it was tough enough to handle the pressure of the sea of snow. It seemed sturdy enough. Then he worried about his friends, so he looked about to see Yuurei flying about, then right before he could poke his head out from between the yeti's thighs, Kailani arrived in flashed as if she just suddenly flew. The wind she ridden on whipped up snow, covering the dwarf.

"Glad ye made it" Brone wiped the snow from his face, "Keep close, the giant monster will act as a barricade, but the snow may end up burying us, the thighs have enough heat to keep us warm until Yuurei can help bury us out" Brone explained, it seemed he was knowledgeable in this situation mainly because he was taught this type of survival strategy by his father and uncle, though this was the first time he had ever dealt with it. The dwarf moved closer towards the yeti's crotch in order to give Kailani more space. Then he gave a good punch into the monster's crotch to make sure it was truly done for, "Alright, we won't have to worry about the idjit getting back up-" Brone turned to look at Kailani and realized the elf vanished. He looked about and saw Yuurei flying away with the elf in hand, a picture one from the local cathedral would have painted, 'Angelic Salvation' Brone would call it.

Brone stared up at the Half-elf, hoping to lock eyes with him, to show him his expression of how upsetting this situation was.

Brone's expression:

The sea of snow came in hard. Brone leaned in against the inner thigh, bracing for the impact, which initially worked, but the pressure was too great and ended up pushing the entire yeti as well. Both the yeti and the dwarf tumbled away, burying into the snow as it continued to rush down the mountain side.

350

Kailani had been bracing herself for the incoming avalanche when suddenly she felt even lighter on her feet than she regularly did. It took the wood elf a good couple of seconds to register what had occurred. She'd blink a couple of times, her face turning crimson as it dawned on her that Yuurei had chosen to quite literally sweep her off her feet, whisking her out of harm's way and into the sky with him thanks to the wings on his back.

The suddenness of his rescue had left her brain in a bit of a scramble as she suddenly recalled the dwarf that had been left alone below. Turning to look down, her lilac eyes barely managed to spot him just before the wave of snow hit, washing him away beneath the surface along with the yeti he had used for protection. The wind mage felt her stomach lurch as panic set in over her friend. While she was sure he was alive for now, they'd need to work fast.

"I'm not a dog you know!" She scowled at Yuurei's request, but she was already sniffing around, trying to catch his scent. Her nose wasn't perfect enough to pinpoint him, but as they moved across the area, she'd find herself picking up the odour of the yeti first, "Stop, stop, somewhere around here, I can smell the yeti." Her voice was panicked as she prepared to leap out of Yuurei's arms the moment they landed. Sniffing around she'd eventually pick up the dwarf's scent as well, meaning he was within at least ten or twenty meters, give or take.

"I think Brone must be here somewhere." She cried out. The dragon slayer didn't waste any time as she used her magic to draw in the air ultimately giving herself a pair of dragon clawed hands as she began swiping at the snow, digging down as fast as she could in a panicked frenzy.

Yuurei would look over to where Brone was located last, but he had been swept by the snow that hit the yeti and him. He felt bad, but he could only take one of them before that snowfall came. Still, the comment from Kailani made the light mage laugh because he knew that much, but she had a heightened sense of smell due to her new magic. While moving around it wouldn’t take long for Kailani to pick up the scent of the dirty big Yeti and he would land onto the snow as she would look and move around. It wouldn’t take long for her to start digging up the snow.

He decided to help her out as well. He was sure that Brone was fine, and he would soon start digging around the same location that she had been digging in. His movements as quick as he could as he was making sure that his friend wouldn’t suffocate. That was when he bumped into something, and it was the big Yeti’s body that was revealed first. Yuurei had made sure to grip a hold of the huge beast and using his strength from his magic and his gauntlet he would find himself picking the whole yeti up before dropping it on top of the snow.

He remembered that Brone was in between the beast’s thighs, so he made sure to check there and see if the dwarf was fine.

“I’m sorry I didn’t save you too Brone. I thought you had a way better chance to live through the avalanche without it bothering you since you don’t mind the cold and all.” He said hoping he was still in between the Yeti’s thighs.

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It was loud and the world was spinning. All Brone could do was hold onto the thighs of the yeti, white fur gripped tightly by dwarven hands. Eventually the wave slowed and then came to a complete stop. Snow was everywhere, and even though snow was looser than dirt and water, there was a chance of air, so long as he didn't breath in the snow. He pulled his right hand towards his mouth, which was trouble at first, but once he pushed enough snow from his mouth in order to make a small air pocket while preventing loose snow from being inhaled, but he had to make sure he steadied his breathing.

As he got a big enough air pocket made, he began trying to figure out which way was up. The snow as pressing against him and with the cold, he needed to keep himself pressed against the fur of the yeti thigh to keep him warm enough while he figured out a way out of this situation, but before he could think of anything, the yeti began to move. The dwarf cursed, believing the yeti was still alive, so he gripped tightly onto the fur, but tried not to move, hoping the monster wasn't aware of him. Once the yeti would pull himself free, the dwarf will strike.

Breaking through the snow and seeing the light of day, Brone released his grip and tumbled onto the surface of the snow, then he whipped around and drew his iron axe. He then realized Yuurei had pulled the dead yeti free, "Oy, that was a hell of an avalanche" he said. As Yuurei apologized, Brone laughed while patting away the snow from his body, "Don't worry about, I'm sure I had a few minutes before my body gave out underneath" he waved them off, "Let's head back, I need a cup of coffee" though Brone was use to the cold, going through such an event reminded him of the deepest winter.

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Kailani's heart was still racing as they dug down far enough to find the yeti at first. Upon finally freeing Brone, she'd rush over and embrace him in a big hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay? Are you cold? Do you need a Nimbus under your clothes to warm you up?" She'd ask, her eyes full of worry for him.

"HEY! Whose warmth are you offering?" The exceed pipped up, popping his head out of her hood, to which she waved him off.

"Nothing my sweet Nim." she tutted, as she summoned forth a warm gentle healing breeze beneath the dwarf, ensuring Brone wouldn't have any lasting injuries or frostbite. Her eyes then glared over towards the light mage.

"Next time choose Brone over me, or grab us both!" she huffed, "I can at least use magic to protect myself for longer." She added with a small 'hmph' ready to return back to the town. She strongly disagreed with Yuurei's opinion on who would have had an easier time beneath the snow.

"Grab the proof or whatever." The wind mage added, already storming off back the way they came.

Yuurei was glad to see that Brone was fine and breathing. He wouldn’t want to lose a good friend because of his decision. He joked it off when he heard the apology, but he did feel bad about this. Still, now that they were done here, Brone wanted to get some coffee instead of good ale. He looked over to Kailani who had gone back and forth with Nimbus, but then he saw her looking at him. She had told him off and apparently, he got in trouble for doing what he thought was right. He would rub the back of his head as he didn’t know what to say. He was speechless as he watched both walk off towards the town.

“I should have left them both? This is weird, but I guess she’s going to be mad at me for a while.” He said to himself and Renji as he had gone over to the Yeti. And pulled a tooth out of the creature.

He shook his head because she was upset with him, but she couldn’t explain her feelings to him. Still, now that he was done with getting the proof he started walking after his friends. It wouldn’t take long for them to make it back to the town and they had gone to the tavern where they first met the guy. He would be waiting for them there, and Yuurei would put the tooth in front of him.

“I got the proof that your Yeti problems are over. So do tell me everything that you know.” He said to the guy as he waited for an answer.

Yuurei wouldn’t look at Kailani because he didn’t know what to say to her. Still, at least one thing came out of this, and it was that he was going to get the answers he was looking for.

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[EXIT]