The next morning, the vige was deserted.


    It was not an exaggeration—literally no one was on the streets, whereas it had been a lively ce filled with elves just the day before. Now, why, exactly, did this sudden change take ce? The answer was simple.


    The Winter Storm had arrived.


    "Ah... I should''ve known," I muttered, standing underneath the canopy of the inn''s roof, shielding my face from the horrible blizzard. "I jinxed itst night... shit."


    Even though I was wearing the best armor that could be found in this vige with 5 years spent on its creation, it did little to fight back against this bone-chilling cold. I felt as if my very blood cells were freezing up, but thankfully, the Chaos energy in my body kept me warm. The other two girls, however...


    They walked out beside me in their respective armor sets—which, quite frankly, looked a little weird on them, but I was not one to judge. They both cloaked themselves in an aura of their own mana, Ling Xin using Shadow Magic while Axilia used Death/Necromancy Magic. This would slowly use up their mana over time, but it was well worth it to stay warm in this climate.


    "You sure you want to do this, future husband?" Ling Xin asked, a yful smile on her lips.


    "Well, it''s not like this is going to get any better tomorrow," I muttered. "Let''s go. We should make the most out of the time we have before night falls."


    The two girls nodded and followed after me, with Lorelei and Yami resting within my Space Locket just to be safe. I once used the Space Locket to surprise attack an enemy by suddenly summoning an old man, so yes, I knew living beings could be stored in there with no long-term harmful effects.


    Slowly, we headed for the vige gates, where a single guard stood. Poor guy, forced to still be stationed out here to watch for any sign of danger while everyone else is in thefort and warmth of their own homes.


    "Y-You three... are heading out in this storm...?" He asked upon seeing us, voice quivering from the cold.


    I nodded firmly. "Let us pass."


    "A-Are you crazy?! That''s suicide!" He shouted, eyes widening in surprise.


    "Suicide it may be, but it does not concern you," I replied with a voice cold enough to match this weather. "Let us pass, or I''ll barge my way through."


    The soldier, hearing this, gulped, and slowly opened the gates, just wide enough to let the three of us pass. As we did, he shut the door behind him again, and beyond the howls of the snowstorm, I could hear him faintly mutter:


    "Poor fools... they won''tst an hour."


    <em>Sorry, pal. I know you were just trying to protect us. Hate to break it to you, but we''llst way more than an hour. And we''ll be getting out of this ce, alive.</em>


    *****


    Outside, the blizzard was even worse.


    Without the protection of the tall walls of the vige, things were looking bleak. The snowstorm made it incredibly difficult to see, and every time the snowkes hit my face, I would groan in pain.


    "This armor is made of tough hide belonging to some sort of beast," Ling Xin noted. "It should be warm enough to face off against even the coldest of winters, but this is... beyond anything I could''ve imagined."


    "Yeah, well... at least it''s not hail," I said with a grin.


    But that grin soon froze the second after I said those words. Not because of the freezing weather... but because of the feeling that something small and hard justnded on my trapper hat.


    And another one. And another. Then, one hit my face. It hurt like hell. It didn''t take a genius to knew what was up.


    "... You''ve got to be kidding me."


    "Well... best keep your mouth quiet for the rest of this journey," Ling Xin giggled,pletely unaffected by the dangerous situation they were in.


    "Tch... hurry, follow me to the trees!" I yelled, then plowed on forward through the snowstorm. The wind direction, quite unfortunately, was against them, but this was the only direction they could go in. If they tried circling behind the vige, they would only be hiking up the mountains and getting further and further away from their goal.


    Soon, facing the hailstorm, we finally made it behind some cover. We had entered a boreal forest zone, with trees that were most definitely <em>not </em>evesting. Severaly severed from their stumps due to the snowstorm, and more were picked clean of any leaves and thin branches. It was like the entire biome was tilted, blown this way by the blizzard.


    Thankfully, behind the trees, the snowstorm was easened a little, and we could afford to take a short rest.


    "Hah... starting to regret the decision yet, my future husband?" Ling Xin chided teasingly, a smile on her face.


    "Funny," I replied coldly. "Surprised you can even still smile with those flushed cheeks of yours. They''re almost as red as when I came- uh, never mind. Too vulgar."


    "Well, we certainly can''t do it out here, but once we get back..." Ling Xin shed me a wink that filled out the rest of that sentence. Axilia, catching the meaning, also proposed to do the same.


    But then, suddenly, we heard a loud, beastly roar that shook thend itself. Several, actually. They sounded extremely distant, but the fact that they could still reach us here loud and clear despite the thundering snowstorm and echoless world of winter said a lot. They were either small creatures with powerful lungs (hopefully) or enormous creatures with a voice to match (probably).


    "... Well. If we run into those things, that would be a problem," I muttered as the floor began shaking violently, like an earthquake. But this wasn''t the result of two tes beneath the''s surface colliding with one another. No—this was simply the product of few sets of massive footsteps.


    "Tch... c''mon. Navigate through the forest. If we''re spotted out in the open, we''re dead meat."


    I applied a Speed Boost to both myself and the two girls using Blessing Magic, and also increased our stamina and vision as well. This made the conditions a bit more bearable, but only a bit.


    As we slowly made our way through the forest, the footsteps became louder and louder, like they were heading towards us. I could hear the sound of trees ahead of us copsing like pencils being stood upright, and the ground shaking didn''t exactly help our nerves. Still, I had been through worse before. Hell, I had been through death itself. I hadn''t really died, but I was ready to ept it.


    <em>"Master, they''reing. Lorelei rmends hiding."</em>


    <em></em>I nodded and ducked to one side, crouching behind the thickness of some trees near the border of the forest. The two girls, not wanting to get separated from me, followed. The thunderous footsteps neared, and I could see the trees just ahead of where we had been going to crushed beneath the wed feet of some massive animal.


    Then, I looked up. And what I saw was something others would''ve deemed ridiculous.


    "... Dinosaurs?" I muttered. "I thought those were wiped out millions of years ago..."


    "Indeed, it was a dinosaur. The massive creature was as tall as a 30-story building but could demolish one with ease, and it looked like a T-Rex. Kinda. There was fur covering its entire body for warmth, as if it had evolved from dinosaurs throughout the years and adapted to the cold weathers of this region. What was their name now? Hell, I don''t know. I don''t think anyone does.


    The creature ced its foot right next to us, crushing the trees where we had been mere moments before. I gulped, hoping to not get discovered, and let out a deep sigh of relief once it passed by. The two girls too exhaled, relieved beyond words.


    But there was one problem. At this rate... it was going to head for the vige...


    I observed it closely as it neared the vige walls, but... this was expected.


    "Huh... it''s not trying to damage or wreck anything?" Ling Xin murmured, just as surprised as I was. "It''s almost as if... it''s lonely."


    "That look in its eyes..." I muttered, focusing my gaze onto the dinosaur''s pupils. "It''s not one of hostility. It''s more like... a mncholy longing?"


    As more and more creatures passed by, none turned their attention to us. Instead, they all gathered around the vige walls with that same longing feeling in their eyes, as if wanting the vigers'' attention and affection.


    <em>Lorelei, can you ess those beasts'' souls?</em>


    <em>"Lorelei can, master. However... these creatures are not capable of intelligent thought. Only feelings. And from what Lorelei can see... those feelings are a mixture of loneliness, longing, and sadness. No sign of hostility anywhere.</em>


    <em></em><em>Huh... </em>I stroked my chin as I inspected these beasts further. <em>Just what was going on....?</em>