Strangers to Comrades || Hika & Deca || Secondary Training

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

Help, with what?

Someone kind of asked me to train them in Ice Magic...

You teaching Ice Magic? Oh dear. They are really scraping the bottom of the barrel, aren't they?

Damn it, Mom! Just...help me, alright?

Of course.

From that point on, Deniel spent a majority of his three days for preparation withing a meditative state so that he could also get a grip on Ice Magic as well. He didn't want to turn down Sabertooth's Guild Master, but wasn't about to lie to her either. Thus he dedicated himself to learning a basis of Ice Magic as well as how to teach it and evolve it. Luckily for him, his mother was a very patient and skillful woman, having utilized Ice Devil Slayer Magic for hundreds of years. Just as Deniel figured, similar to Take Over Magic, there were physical steps a person must indulge themselves in before attempting to figure out how a Magic works; a way to prepare their body, so to say. And even more fortunate was the fact that Deniel's body had already adapted to these circumstances and criteria, which would make him all the more effective as a teacher.

The three days had gone by in a flash for Deniel, who was also quite anticipated, though not nearly as much as Sabertooth's Guild Master. The journey to Iceberg was a brief and simple one for him, having traveled to the icy continent once before. It seemed all too familiar to him, and never before did he figure that he would have to visit this domain once again. He observed his surroundings, and found it to be the exact spot that he had chosen. Not too far from where he stood, about twenty meters or so, was a large dead tree that seemed to be withering and wilting away as the years went on. And adjacent to Deniel was an oval rock that stuck right out of the snow, and that is why he had chosen this location; those two distinctions could work to his benefit in finding it. Of course everything else was just ice and snow.

It was not long after he arrived that Sabertooth's Guild Master did, and it was fortunate. The sooner they started the training, the easier it would be for both him and her. Giving her a wave for a greeting, he seemed to be wearing the exact same cloak and clothes he had been three days ago. Though shortly after greeting her did he take off his cloak almost right away, letting it drop down onto the snow. The jacket he was wearing underneath was short sleeved, so it didn't seem to provide any warmth, but even that was about to come off. "I'm glad you can make it. And right now I'd like to get started with the first step. We can discuss anything else afterwards...so....take off your clothes." He was very blunt about what he said, as he knew it would have been even more awkward if he just hesitated on it or dodged around it. He decided the best move would just to say it straight up. After that, off his came his jacket, with his shirt shortly following. "If you want to use Ice Magic, you're going to need to tolerate insane cold temperatures. So.....off with em'. Undergarments can stay." After that, off came his boots, and then the cropped trousers that he wore. He left all of them in the snow, though the cloak was on the bottom with everything else stacked on top. And he was left standing with no clothes on, aside from grey boxers he wore underneath himself.

"Though of course you could just leave and we could forget it."

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

Luckily he wasn't standing there in his underwear by himself in the biting cold for too long. Surprisingly she obeyed his command and stripped herself of clothes, which meant that she was serious with going on with this. He was almost surprised that she didn't ask any questions or protest, but the blush on her face said it all that she was embarrassed in the least bit. At least the blush might help keep her warm. One could wonder how a person could survive in weather like this with little to no clothing, and in fact it was impossible for almost anyone. And that is where Ice Wizards could come in; they were able to tolerate insanely cold temperatures because of the ice Magic already existing within them, or the ability to. And that is why Deniel was able to do it; not only because of his genetics from his mother, but also because he had learned a bit of Ice Magic himself. During the three days he spent training with his mother, he trained his body very swiftly to tolerate this cold temperature. Already he had been somewhat used to it because he had visited Iceberg before, and the gene toleration was already in him, it just took a bit of practice. Another reason for his swiftness was because he was a Nephalem; his body developed much faster than almost any other being's for the sole reason of survival. He cannot reproduce, so the individual of himself must do whatever it takes to survive as long as possible.

She wasn't shivering, and she looked at him as to what to do next. Nodding his head, he crossed his arms, "Well, looks like you are cut out to be an Ice Mage. At least so far. You not shivering is a very good sign." He stretched his arms up for a moment, yawning in the process and wiping his eyes shortly afterwards. This was mostly to show just how callous he was about the weather. "Of course ten seconds of this won't do. You're going to need to sustain this for hours. So don't count on putting your clothes back on anytime soon." Lifting up both of his arms towards his chest, and holding his palms up to the sky as if he were shrugging, small bits of an icy cold air started to gather around his palms. "And before this training is over, you should be able to do whatever you wish with Ice." In each of Deniel's hands, ice manifested itself out of the chilly air surrounding it into two katanas made completely of ice. He swung each of them once, before shattering them at his will. The ice from them crumbled straight for the ground, but before they could hit it, they reshaped themselves together into an even larger sword, one that Deniel had to hold with both hands. And in a few seconds, the ice melted and dissipated into the wind as a chilly air.

"I decided to use a bit of weaponry just for show. Of course I would never use that in a combat scenario. Now then...feeling the freeze yet?"

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

"I see." Each word he spoke and every breath that he took came out as an icy patch of air that he exhaled, one that would remain in the air for a mere moment or two before dissipating. She was probably more or less impressed by his ability to use Ice, but it wasn't entirely what it seemed to be; he only learned what he could as a demonstration for this training. He would never be able to delve too deep into Ice Magic and use it, for too much of his actual Magic Power would be consumed if attempting to have three entirely separate forms of Magic. Or it would just be a waste of time; he could perhaps learn an infinite number of Magic and types but only for temporary and non-combat use. For all else, he stuck with the two forms that he knew already. "Well, once you begin to seriously get used to it, let me know. Then we can begin the real test." He suddenly threw himself backwards as if laying down on something; and just as he did, something did appear. Just beneath the sheet of snow that covered up the ground emerged a thin rectangular prism of ice, one that levitated itself right up into the air to catch Deniel's fall. Using it as if it were some kind of bed or platform, he laid down on it with his hands folded behind his head.

The thin sheet of ice started to float around Hikarki, with Deniel's legs dangling off of the end of it. "This is quite fun, actually." A brief chuckle escaped him, with his shoulders shrugging up and down with each bit of laughter. He was having a bit of fun with his temporary Magic that he managed to teach himself. He planned to forget it sooner or later, but Ice Magic did seem to be fun. He gave a brief twirl of his hand, and within it he managed to create a strawberry out of ice. Of course he wasn't going to eat it, but he did enjoy looking at it. He laughed again at the strawberry, and with a whip of his hand it vanished into the frosty air. Deciding to secretly make things a little bit tougher on Hikari to get used to the cold, he concentrated a much higher quantity of Magic Power with the small bits of Ice Magic that was inside of him right now, and managed to intensify the icy winds surrounding them. Of course this was not all for the land of Iceberg, but a couple of meters or so it seemed to be almost like a snowstorm. "Oh my. Seems as though things have gotten a little more difficult for you..." He said a little bit nonchalantly, making it a little obvious that he was the one who changed it, but that would be left up to interpretation by her. And survival.

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

"Hahahah. Isn't this unfortunate?" The sheet of ice beneath Deniel quickly melted into water before freezing once again, but instead of solid ice, it fell to the ground as a small patch of snow that he now stood upon. He didn't seem bothered by the chilly air one bit, he didn't cross his arms nor did the slightest shiver befall upon his body; no shaking, no teeth chattering, not even a curling of his fingers and toes. He thanked his mother now more than ever for the inheritance her existence bequeathed upon him: cold temperature tolerance. And it did not work one way either, for Deniel could not only tolerate freezing temperatures, but also boiling and melting points of some substances. His body was, is, and will forever be a tool meant for the survival of himself as long as possible. Every little thing counted.

She seemed to be surprised by the abrupt temperature change, but she was in no way fazed or unable to continue as a result from it. This proved to be promising, and certainly in her favor. In fact, he believed that she was now ready to move on towards the next step. "Well, I suppose a little icy wind isn't too much of an issue for you. That's good. However, your true trial is about to begin." Deniel then gathered up his clothing in a bundle, and faced north. "North of here a couple of hundred meters you will find a blizzard. An endless one. And one that's impossible to navigate through unless you know what is on the other side and where it is at." He stared back at her, just to make sure that she was still paying attention, for every last bit of information on this next portion was absolutely vital. "I know how to navigate through. Your task is to follow me, though you won't be directly behind. I'll leave markings and footprints to assist you on your journey, but ultimately you will need to get through. If you can't...you'll die."

He looked back North, and began to tread upon the snow with one step at a time. "Once on the other side, you will be at the Icecrown Citadel. From there, your training will continue and eventually conclude. Are you ready?"

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

The first steps on Hikari's long journey had only just begun. And even in the freezing temperatures of their current location, in which the wind of icy cold snow and frozen water was still blowing to a point where most would consider it a little bit of a snowstorm or a blizzard, was nothing compared to what she was about to face. Just as Deniel initially indicated, it was a hundred meters or so ahead of them directly north, and would take a little bit to reach the destination. Along the way he didn't make much of an attempt to converse with her, as he found the temptation to reveal the way through all to consuming for him; the last thing he wanted was for her to fail and die, but at the same time there would be no rigor in the trial if he gave away all of the secrets. Attempting to from the demonic side of his blood, he looked straight forward and said not a word. But there was one necessary thing that he had to say for her to figure it out: "Follow the path of the afterlife." His bare feel made quite hefty footprints within the snow, intentional by him just to make sure that she didn't get lost behind him. One of his habitual characteristics he found was that he had a relatively fast walking pace; he walked almost everywhere that he visited, all around Fiore, and thus he had developed a walking speed that was faster than most others, but was still under no definition of power walking or running. Unusual to some.

Just as he and his mentor had begun to near the blizzard that he has spoke of, signs of it could already be occurring in the journey towards it. The wind had begun to pick up more and more with every couple of meters that the traversed in addition to the temperatures still dropping more than they already were, mostly due to the pick up activity of the wind. Sight for the both of them could be obstructed more and more as time wore on, and it would only get worse once they reached the pinnacle. And eventually, just as they had reached the point in which Deniel would refer to as the actual blizzard, the trial had begun.

His body would immediately faze away from the site of Hikari into the denseness of the snowstorm. It had become so thick that a person could most likely only see around them within a few centimeters, maybe even barely their own feet if they could concentrate hard enough. The ice was thick within the air, and the snow as abundant. Deep prints within it could be made with one measly step, due to the sheer amount of quantity that was beneath their feet. Who knew just how far above the actual ground they were? It was all buried beneath the thick sheet of ice and snow.

For Deniel himself, the top portion of his hair had immediately been covered up in a small sheet of snow, and has become so thick with the frozen liquid that it all brushed itself down in a very messy fashion, and the top of his head looked as if he were some kind of snow cone. His bare feet took hefty steps within the snow, but he hurried along. He knew the navigational path to get through his merciless blizzard as to arrive there long before Hikari did so that he may prepare her for the next stage. The key of the challenge was for her to follow within his footsteps, although he would not make that a hundred percent easy. After attaining a certain point within the blizzard, Deniel performed an action of...splitting his footprints into three. He created a miniature fork in which his normal footprints would carry on ahead in a straight line, but at a certain point of it, he created two separate, brief footprint tracks that only carried on for a few steps or so before connecting back to the first.

The first, the one that went in a straight line was obviously his boots. The second on to the left and then going back to the center was also in the shape of a combat boot, but it lacked the same shape as Deniel's regular ones. Though it seemed the size of the foot underneath was the same as Deniel's...perhaps a little bigger. And the third, well....that was probably the most unusual. Veering off to the right Hikari could see another footprint, once again about the same time as Deniel's only a little bigger, but this one made a much deeper print into the ground, and its frontal part was cut off by a small gap between the heel. Whatever the case of the two unusual footprints, the sign Deniel was attempting to show Hikari was that there were three different footprints that she had to follow. Whichever one she chose would be either her salvation, or undoing.

He continued on a couple of meters away from the little sign that he created for her, and began the first puzzle, in which the three sets of footprints all went off in entirely separate directions. The left one belonging to the Black Devil, the middle to himself, and the right to the White Angel. The first one was when the Black Devil's boot prints had lead the correct way, the first stage of the afterlife. The other two? If she followed them she would arrive at a dead end in which she would find a corpse of a previous traveler, frozen in the barren snow after being lost for who knows how many days? Obviously it wouldn't be Deniel if she could make a fair judgment as to whether or not he had been frozen for quite some time. Following the Black Devil would lead to the third fork, in which Deniel's regular footprints had gone the correct way. And at last the White Angel. All paths conjured by the mentor were in no way straight lines; he twisted, he turned, he made sharp turns, he even sometimes backtracked just for the sake of dragging it on. The turns where necessary when applied, for getting to the Icecrown Citadel was an immensely difficult task, one only a single mortal has ever accomplished: Deniel. The journey was harsh, and the path was set to follow or die.

And at long last, having only a few minutes pass for Deniel, he reached the end of his trail to the Icecrown Citadel. Exiting the snowstorm, one would find themselves in a place of almost serene winds, there was little snowfall, the temperatures were warmer compared to the blizzard, and there was no blinding blizzard ahead of them. But what they would be met with was a frozen wooden bridge, and across the chasm that it would provide passage was one of the most enormous buildings Hikari perhaps ever laid eyes on, more than likely to rival that of her own Guild Hall's. A citadel, just as Deniel had described it. Several stories high with its own base, and possessing a multitude of towers that scraped straight up towards the sky, one of them towards the center piercing through the clouds. And to compliment for its own name: the entire citadel was covered in a thick sheet of ice. Upon reaching the citadel that perhaps he would call home...he entered so that he may prepare her for the next phase of her trial.

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

The Icecrown Citadel. It had not even been a year and already he returned to this wretched location. Though the view of the massive palace was quite extraordinary, and the structure itself was magnificent, there was a dark undertone to it all. This place--in life--was one of the most successful and luxurious buildings to exist on Earthland. Though almost a thousand years later it was already forgotten, cursed with an endless blizzard as a trap, and having the blood of thousands stained within the insides. Not quite literally stained, but one would see exactly what would happen if they ventured far enough. There was no doubt in his mind that Hikari was close behind, thus he found it necessary to venture fourth in a hurry. In spite of only coming through once, the Nephalem recalled all of the locations in which he needed to travel to ascend to his destination. Clothing himself upon entering the citadel's location, the Nephalem ran fourth straight into the building with the main doors shutting behind him almost immediately. Down the hallway that held his reflection he went, straight into the first main room that resembled a church in some ways. Ahead was a staircase leading up to the second balcony floor of this building, but the true destination would be the double doors leading further ahead. Almost bursting them down with enormous force, the Nephalem entered down yet another long hallway towards the next room: the living room. The frozen fireplace, the patch of blood, the single chair, and the shattered ice over the image...all of it came back to him. And he ignored every last bit of it. It was in the past now...wasn't it?

Taking left in this room, he proceeded up the staircase within the next one, traveling straight upwards into the enormous dome-like room. The Ball Room. The double doors exiting the ball room...the hallway that was almost exactly like a house's. It was almost unbelievable that he was treading through all of this so swiftly, not with any guards or trips in his way unlike last time. To the dining room, that connected to the library and the kitchen. Up the spiral staircase... to the next hallway, in the master's room. He pushed a brick on the fireplace, and the hidden staircase was unveiled. Traveling up that, he ascended into the room of the Frozen Throne.

It was a circular shaped room, and unlike the rest of the building--which had a sheet of ice over it--this one was purely made of ice. Walking over the surface, Deniel knew what lay beneath. There was blood stain in the middle of the room...he almost couldn't bear to look. Traveling to the throne right at the end of the room, the Nephalem ascended to its steps and sat down upon the chair. Or rather throne, more appropriately.

Immediately he felt a rush of immense power course through his veins, the power that felt infinitely divine. He could see every room in the Citadel, command every wall and corner, and know all that was happening within... it was magnificent. And of course from this, he knew that Hikari had already been there. In fact she was looking around, a bit lost and confused. Now that his position had been established, it was high time that he began to guide her through the next course of he training.

Suddenly, the image of Deniel from his shoulders up would be displayed upon the walls of the Icecrown Citadel, coming off of the thick sheet of ice. "Welcome, Hikari...to the Icecrown Citadel. You are most likely wondering why I brought you here. And this is to test your ability to survive and think. You managed to get through that blistering cold blizzard, and I congratulate you for that. However, you training is not yet complete. You have all of the necessary components to utilize Ice Magic...now you must actually make it so. How do you do that? You must figure out yourself. Within this Citadel, there will be monsters created from my imagination, as well as puzzles and traps. You are to get through each of these using only Ice Magic. Dare violate that, and you will try all over again." Concentrating a bit of energy into the room she was in, Deniel opened up a secret passage on the very far end on the second floor. Within it was a staircase made of pure ice that spiraled upwards into a hidden tower, and would lead to her first challenge. "Travel there. Your first test awaits. Defeat the beast."

Deniel recalled that within the room she was about to travel in, his first task was to defeat the Knight of Chasity...quite simple for him. Though perhaps not for her with an entirely new Magic. Judging this factor, Deniel decided that the first one not be that much of a fearsome beast. A simple Ice Golem, would do...

Waiting in the room that Hikari had yet to enter was a creature made of pure ice; a frigid ice monster that appeared to be around twenty feet in its height. Though big and scary, it hopefully wouldn't prove much of a challenge to a Sabertooth Guild Master. Hopefully.

Notes