Not all of the ice pillars that made up the frozen forest were flows that fell from above. Many of them were formed like stalagmites, from the freezing of dripping water, while many more had once been flows, but had lost their tops.
It was to the largest of the latter that they went. The stalagmitesâ bases were too large for their purposes, so Caleb set Bog to work digging out the bottom of a freestanding ice pillar until it began to creak higher up. Afterwards, they ran back to the clearing, keeping the pillar just within Calebâs Imperium Ventorumâs range.
Once they were ready, Caleb closed his eyes and felt for the winds that filled this frozen forest. He found more than he expected, and he grabbed hold of the strongest of these and pushed it. Sixty meters away, a gentle breeze turned into a gale directed right at their weakened pillar. Nothing happened, and Caleb was forced to up the power of his Imperium. It began with a mana drain of 40 per second, but when it became apparent that was not enough, Caleb pushed with everything he had. He strained with all his mind, and in under a second, his mana was completely exhausted once more, but not without effect.
A loud crack echoed through the cavern, followed by the sound of giant ice pillars crashing together, which in turn caused more cracks. On and on it continued, ice pillars falling into their neighbors and bringing them down together in a rough line away from the stairway.
From their vantage point, they saw all the troglodytes turn their attention to the falling ice. While Caleb thought the distraction would prove effectiveâshould it work at allâhe hadnât expected the amount of chaos heâd ended up causing.
All the troglodytes ran towards the falling ice, some of the robe-clad individuals performing magics and conjuring ice elementals out of the pillars around them. To a man, they all fled their posts, running for the collapsing pillars.
The pair didnât dwell on their good fortune and made their way for the stairway, walking through the water and staying low and out of sight. As they went, Caleb had a theory about why the distraction had proven more effective than first expected. The neat line of falling pillars didnât stay neat for long. Eventually they began to fall in all directions, and one of those directions was directly toward the stairs.
âRun!â Caleb called to Bog.
They threw away any caution and ran full out for their target. Caleb had eaten more mushrooms, and he used all the meager mana he had to propel them forward with the wind. Distantly his mind it was strange that he could propel himself with the wind, but couldnât push the metal breastplate attached to his back.
As they reached the stairs, they realized that not all the guards had been drawn away. Two troglodytes and a giant dog-shaped elemental made out of ice stood watch on the far side of the pillar where the stairs began. It was the elemental that detected them first, the two more humanlike guards transfixed by the destruction taking place all around them.
The ice elemental let out a hiss-filled fleck of ice that struck the ground with the sound of frozen rain. It didnât want for the guards to turn before it ran straight at Caleb with its surprising speed. Bog leaped ahead to intercept, his body already beginning to glow with his internal flame.
The iron dragon crashed into the dog of ice and they tumbled over into the water, Bog ripping chunks out of its body while it froze the water around Bog to restrict his movements.
Caleb ran at the two remaining guards, throwing his hammer with an Arcane Power Attack powered by only his stamina. The hammer struck the back of the armored enemyâs head, crushing its helmet and causing it to fall forward into the water. His control over his stamina might not rival that of his mana, but any multiplicative effect on his gear-enhanced strength of 15 would mean a devastating blow.
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Using the last wisp of his mana, he pulled his hammer back to his left hand, thrusting his spear into the side of the second guard as it tuned to face him. This one wore the snow-white robes of the more magically inclined.
Calebâs spear had only barely touched the flesh of the troglodyte when he saw mana flare around his target. Ice erupted from beneath the fabric and threw his spear back and out of his grip while spraying ice shards at him. The shards peppered his body, but his leather winter gear and helmet turned the potentially piercing projectiles into nuisances, save for one that made it through his face opening and cut a long gouge along his cheek.
Bereft of his spear, Caleb continued his charge and tackled the ice caster into the water.
Bog and Caleb both wrestled in the frigid water against enemies far more suited to the environment than themselves. Bog tried to flare his body heat, but something was limiting the temperature he could reach, and through the bond, Caleb sensed his confusion. While his heat couldnât give him an upper hand, he could generate enough to counter the cold attacks of the ice elemental. With that, it came down to strength, and a being of iron and would defeat one of ice any dayâit just took time, as the ice elemental kept healing its wounds using the water around them.
Caleb was less suited to this underwater battle than Bog, as he had no counter to the cold. But where Bog and the elemental were closely matched in strength if not durability, Caleb had the advantage in strength. This creature was like him, with enhanced mental stats, but where Caleb had enchantment-enhanced strength, his enemy did not. In short order, Caleb had gained the upper hand, and he sat on his foe holding him underwater, looking around for signs of any other foes.
Frost Troglodyte (uncommon) has been slain.
The message appeared an instant after the struggling ceased, followed shortly by Bogâs bellow of triumph as his opponent dissolved, the elemental losing coherence with the death of its master. They didnât have time to think or celebrate, however.
They slew the guard just as the pillars around the clearing began to fall. One by one they toppled, sometimes harmlessly into the water, more often taking a neighbor with and continuing the collapse.
Around and around, up and up they went, safely scaling the staircase until eventually their luck ran out. A giant pillar going all the way to the top of the chamber was struck by two of its neighbors, cracking it in the center. The top half remained hanging from above while the bottom toppled toward them.
They braced for impact as the pillar struck their own a dozen meters below them. Caleb grasped desperately for the wind, expecting a fall, but while the pillar shook violently, they werenât thrown off. That is not to say that the stairs were unharmed. Where the pillar had struck the stairs, the stairs had given way and fallen out, but much like the top of the pillar that had destroyed them, the top half of the stairs dangled freely from above.
âRun faster!â Caleb shouted, and they did.
By the time they reached the top, Caleb was exhausted, leaning on Bog for support. The top of the stairs opened up to the stone ledge of a familiar style of cave. Caleb didnât know where they were, but he knew they were close to the trap theyâd sprung that had brought them into this situation.
At the top, a group of troglodytes stared at them in confused terror as they took in the destruction and the two figures running up from it. While Caleb was physically exhausted, heâd recovered enough mana that he could pull the troglodytes toward them. A gust arose out of nowhere, taking all five onlookers by surprise and sending them tumbling over the edge.
They didnât stop running, briefly revitalized as they reached the safety of solid stone. When they were thirty meters away from the ledge, Caleb got and ignored the kill notifications for those heâd just pushed to their deaths. Their exhausted run became a jog, and then that jog a lumbering gait. They continued up the icelit tunnels, past more traps like the one theyâd fallen for. To Bogâs credit, the little dragon had learned, and Caleb didnât even need to warn Bog to ignore the ore they both sensed within.
After an hour of aimless running, the body heat of his exertions and the little warmth Bog could spare fighting against the cold of the cavern, they reached a familiar and sprung trap. Once there, Bog took the lead, following his nose and tracing the scents of metals he recognized from their first journey down here.
When they finally made it back to their camp, Caleb had just enough presence of mind to light the woodstove before he fell asleep on the floor in front of it.