Bīngxuě jīnglíng
Rosario walked in front of Senarre and Vera, following closely behind him. They walked through the paved sidewalks, roads with trolleys running on tracks in the center, crisscrossed the city. Snow was plowed against the sides of the sidewalks, making it easily walkable. “Vera, why are you here?” “Ryvr ordered me to serve as your bodyguard and tour guide.” “I already know this place. I grew up here, you know that.” Vera grinned, “I wasn't talking to you, little lorea” His eyebrow twitched. He inhaled calmly and exhaled a trail of heat visible in the cold air. Senarre said, “So what are we doing out here today?” Rosario, still walking, said, "There's an underground shopping plaza here with clothes, leather goods, and the like. The food court is good too, but the main event, in my opinion the clothing stores.” he turned a corner, leading her to a large atrium with glass ceilings he held the door open for them and they walked in in front of him Stores lined the interior wall to wall the smell of leather from leatherworkers goods stores” Senarre looked around in awe “wow who would have thought there'd be such a large bazar here during the winter.” Rosario kept walking with the two women in tow. “Theres a store here that sells really good Edo tea.” Senarre looked at him, confused, “Edo tea?” Rosario excitedly turned to her, “It's from Ayame’s homeland. When my brother first took her as a concubine, he came to visit in Dreynas a couple of times, and she brought tea as a gift for Mom Hana and I.” “What’s it look like? I'll keep an eye out.” He said without even turning away from scanning the stores, “It's a fine green powder.”
They walked by a stand with a large opening. A man stood in front of a portable cart serving food. Behind him, there was a white tarp and a Slime in the shape of a voluptuous woman standing unclothed with a large lamp shining onto her bust, the refracting light hitting a large grill placed beneath her cooking meat. Senarre, in shock, said, “That cannot be sanitary, can it?” Rosario turned to her, “Actually, Myoxgastria Megalofauna are very sanitary, the one there is one of the intelligent kind, they are cool creatures. I had to take a class on them one time for some credits, and they brought in one to teach us directly about their physiology. They are pretty much all brain, all digestive and reproductive system.” She turned away from staring at the slime. “Cool, the meat she's cooking up any good?” Rosario turned to Senarre, “It's good the little bits of slime that drop off of her because of the heat give it a minty flavour, not too bad, wanna try some?” He ran off before her answer, came back with some meat on a stick, and took a bite. “Just like I remember it.” He handed over to Senarre, who reluctantly took a bite of the meat on the stick. “Surprisingly good.”
“They can be very intelligent, like I said, based on the size and the shape of the one there; it's probably a couple of hundred years old.” They kept walking. Senarre ran over to a store that smelled like leather. Rosario and Vera, following closely behind, stopped as she looked around the store. She picked up a western-style hat and inspected it carefully, and with a flick of a wrist, she threw it into the air, and it came to rest on her head. She then posed with one hand on the hat and one hand pointing outwards, her left leg crossed behind her right in a “Yeah i like this one.” A little old man came running over Welcome to Wally’s Western Wear. Can I help you find anything? She put the hat back on the shelf that she got it from and walked over to a duster coat and ran her fingers over it. “This is nice,” the little old man said, “Nice coat.” The little old man ran off into a corner of the store, boxes on shelves, and pulled down a small box. He opened it and pulled out a black and white woolen poncho woven with designs of a man holding a woman's body. The figure depicted a man with jagged armor holding an elven woman’s body in his arms. Rosarios Vison flashed images of him carrying an elven woman's body in the same way as the image; feelings of grief, hatred, and rage filled his mind. He raised his hand to his head, feeling a splitting pain in it, gritting his teeth, “Are you ok, Little Lorea?” Vera said, waving her hand in front of his face, he pulled his hand down his right eye, which flickered Purple-crimson then back to pale green before remaining Purple-crimson. “Whoa, what's up with your eye?” Senarre walked over, wearing the poncho as she tossed the little old man a handful of wadded-up bills. She pulled the hat off the shelf and put it on her head. “thanks”
She walked over to Rosario. “Why's your eye like that?” He rubbed it, and it didn't fade away, one green and the other Crimson-purple “Don't know i saw a flash in my vision like the ones back in Serinissima Senarre scratched her chin. “We should go see Carmilla.”
Rosario Senarre and Vera walked into the library, large shelves flanked on either side of them in rows extending for what felt like forever, walls upon walls of books. Rosario shouted out, “Carmilla?” She dropped down from the ceiling, her hair messy. “You called?” “What happened to you?” Senarre asked her, she scratched her “I haven't left here in a couple of days, been too busy with research.” She walked around frantically before pulling Senarre close in a hug. “Can I please have some of your blood? I'm dying of hunger. I think I haven't eaten since waterfront” Senarre frowned and said, “sure we need your help.” She rolled up her sleeve, allowing her to bite down on her arm. Her teeth bit down, and she began suckling on the nectar of life. She stopped and wiped her mouth. “Thank you very much, you are very nutritious, your mana pool is very high, and the presence of lipid-derived hormones in your blood lends it a very nice taste. Oh, and you might just be fine disinfecting that with soap and water. My saliva contains some lysozyme to combat infections in prey.” She ran her hands through her hair. “Now what seems to be the problem?” Rosario walked over his eye, still glowing a purple-crimson. She walked over and touched the side of his face. “Hmm.” She walked around him again, she walked up to him, nearing his neck and sniffing deeply, “Something's changed, you don't smell the same. I need a lab, something going on inside you, not sure what, but something.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Ryvr sat looking over maps with pieces in his study. He pressed 2 fingers to his neck, “Stormchaser to Skeleton key hows the region?” The radio on his neck clicked back, “All clear in the region, no movement from QG forces or the other fleets.” He scratched his chin, lost in thought. Carmilla opened the door to his study, standing there, her hair in a mess. “I need a lab.” He rubbed his forehead. “Get me a list of what you need, and I'll have Fsoc source it.” She handed over a crumpled-up napkin. “Here, this is everything I need.” Vera, Rosario, and Senarre caught up with her. Ryvr said, changing his tone to sound more like a leader, “Peralta, can you please deliver this down to Fsoc HQ down in town?” She shook her head, “Yes, sir.” Vera walked out of the door and ran down the hall. Ryvr stood up and walked out from behind his desk. He walked around, circling Rosario, looking carefully into his eye. He scratched his chin, “Hmm,” he raised his hand and brought it down flat like a strike with the side of the hand, small sparks of gold electricity jumping off his hand. Rosario flinched. Ryvr leaned over, looking at his neck, “fascinating.” Where his hand was supposed to strike a fine layer of black stones has manifested as armor. Rosario said, “What was that for?” Ryvr pulled his finger in and flicked at the stone. A small cut appeared on his finger. “Just an experiment, can you manifest a sword for me?” Rosario extended his arm, attempting to generate a sword, but stopped halfway. “No dice, I can't make a full one; this is as far as it goes.” He let go, causing the blade of blackstones to fall to the ground and disintegrate into dust. Ryvr struck the other side of his neck again, stopping just short of making contact, and an armor of stones formed once more. “Can you make shapes other than a sword?” “Don't know, never tried it.” He walked over to Senarre. “Gunslinger, I need to train one-on-one with my brother tomorrow. You can have the day off, if you like. I could have Vera take you to tour Fsoc headquarters; they have a gunsmith there that would love to take a peek at your prized weapons.” Her face lit up. “That's all you needed to say.”
Ryvr walked out of the office and up the stairs. He turned left and down the hall to a room with large double doors that had a sign that read “West Wing Observatory.” He opened the door, and a woman with long, silky black hair sat at a table. A small figure leaped from a shelf behind him and landed on his shoulders. A long scaly body with four legs hung from his shoulder, and onto his back, a small head with horns and whiskers nuzzled his neck. He raised his hand and gave the little creature a scratch on its head. It purred like a cat, “Good to see you feeling better, Fēngbào cháo.” The small animal started hacking like a cat coughing up a furball. A bolt of lightning flew out of its mouth. Ryvr held out his hand and caught it in his hand, folding it into a ball before closing his hand around it, causing it to dissipate into smoke. “Still not all the way better, but we're getting there, it looks like,” the little dragon wrapped itself around him like a shawl. He walked over and placed his hand on the woman's shoulder, looking over it and seeing her writing on a piece of parchment with a brush and black ink.
He stopped for a second and read the characters on the paper, “Fēngbào zhī shén zài bīngxuě nǚwáng de bāngzhù xià zhànshèngle xié'è, bìng wēnnuǎnle tā de xīn.” he pulled out a chair next to her and sat next to her, the small dragon still around his neck. “You writing a story again?” Xue turned to look at him with her gray eyes and smiled, “Something like that.” “What's it about?” “A story about a god of storms and a princess who is an ice demon.” Ryvr pulled her close, “Which one am I?” She traced her fingers across his face, letting them rest on his scar. “You know which one you are based on the fact that a baby Loong is resting on your shoulders, God of Storms.” he smiled smugly, “Would a God of Storms do this?” he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him, running his face past her closely before nibbling on the top of her ear. “Are we doing this here?” she said. He pulled back and said, “no we can't not without the others, you know, I treat you all equally, I came to ask a favor and try to fluster you, but that's irrelevant.” She appeared unmoved, no response to his perceived advance. “And what might that favor of yours be?” The small Loong on his shoulder reoriented itself, its head now resting on top of his. “I would like your assistance in training my brother. Can you still use the archdemon's powers?”
She stood up, raised her hands, and said, “Bīngxuě jīnglíng.” The temperature in the room rapidly shifted, plates of ice formed on her hands and cut through the clothes she was wearing, venous patterns traced across her skin until they reached her eyes, their storm gray gave way to a brilliant, vibrant blue. The plates moved to cover her skin, covering her briefly exposed body in brilliant armor of ice adorned with intricate carvings of Loong and warriors with spears; her hair shifted to being tied behind her head in a long ponytail. She held out her hand behind her, a spear of jagged ice formed from her hand, she tapped its shaft on the ground, causing it to refine into a bladed implement. His green eyes wide, “It's still as beautiful as the day I saw it first.” She blushed, breaking her composure. “Can you make other stuff with the ice still?” She held out her hand and created a small statue of him from it. He picked it up and turned it around and said, “I think you got my hands wrong.” She smiled and said, “I know every square centimeter of your body, trust me i did not get it wrong.” he raised his hand to his face, and playfully said, "You'll make me blush, anyways whats the limit on the demon's power?” Xue formed a small clock with her ice and said, “None, not since I consumed her, we are one and the same, two beings as one, thanks to you.” He stood up the loong on his shoulder, shifting with his movement.” Good, then can you do me the favor of training my brother?” She held her hand up to her face gracefully. “What do I get in return?” He thought for a moment, “Anything?” She grinned but suppressed the expression “Anything you say?” He said back to her, “Anything.” She smiled wickedly, “Then tell the other to meet in the bathhouse tonight.” He frowned, “Two nights in a row?” She raised her hand and generated the shape of a heart of ice. “You know the heat from the bathhouse so warms my frozen heart.” He frowned and stood up. “Ok, and your heart isn't ice anymore i made sure of it.” he winked.
He turned and began to walk out of the observatory, but stopped picking up the little Loong and placing him back up on the bookshelf with the cat bed that he was previously sleeping on.