Aimless Ascension

It took him about a couple of an hour to build the igloo, but his job wasn't done with that. Since the world was magical, he might as well sprinkle a little of his magic into it.

Well, considering the restriction, he might only be able to sprinkle a little of his magic. Of course, Gale knew no-nonsense as he scribed in some useful script formations in the igloo, to make sure it was toucher, and wouldn't just start to melt if they made it inside the igloo.

It was in the third hour, Gale discovered that there was something magical about the weather. Of course, his keen senses were restricted for him to find out more.

He had to swirl the inconsiderate amount of Qi every now and then to not freeze up.

"We're going to live in this?" Wang Li said after she was done with making the fire.

"Go inside and check," Gale told her. He was on top of the igloo, laying out script formation. He needed to finish that and lay a few alarm scripts to be done with the security formation.

Leaving the blind girl near the fire, Wang Li moved into the igloo. The entrance was a narrow hole, so she had to enter by crawling in on her four limbs. The space seemed even smaller in the inside, wondering how the three of them would maintain privacy in such a close space.

It was already evening when Vale came back. Thankfully, the hound completed his task to the beast of his abilities, pulling a huge white boar with him.

Wang Li caressed Vale lovingly after he dropped the dead boar on the snow.

"Can you dismantle the boar?" Gale asked her, still on top of the ice house.

Wang Li nodded.

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"Do it, keep all the fur intact, it will be useful later."

After she rested Vale, the hound crept from there to the direction he came from.

"He probably hunted more than one animal," Gale told her as she busied herself skinning the ice boar.

By the time, Wang Li was done with skinning and dismantling the boar, there was a heap of corpses next to the house, containing six more huge animals, another boar, two white bears, and three stags.

Wang Li sighed, looking at the work. It would be midnight when she would be done with that.

"I'll take the rest from here," Gale offered her, dropping next to her. "You can roast some meat."

"Thank you." Wang Li already collected a substantial amount of meat to roast for the night. She was ready to cook when she found Ai breaking into a constant fit of coughing.

"You're cold," Wang Li said, resting the meat to help the girl. "You should go inside the house.

"I'm fine," Ai said, though she certainly didn't look like it.

Gale raised his head from the work. He managed a lesser recovery spell of his radiant power and used that on her, touching her forehead.

"Stay near the fire, or go in the house," Gale advised her. "Also, keep revolving your Qi."

"I'm fine," Ai said again through her cough. "Just my bad luck working up. I'll be fine after the night's sleep."

Still, Gale worked on with his purifying spell on the skinned boar fur constantly to make it usable quickly. To do that, he had to completely empty his Qi reserves, but after the purification spell and the warm light energy, the fur was bacteria and disease free. It wasn't even smelling anymore.

He wrapped the fur around Ai. Not only that, she carried her closer to the fire. He found the frail girl's face read with that contact, though that could just be the cold.

Gale let out an exasperated sigh, feeling the weakness. Thankfully, Vale was there to protect everyone.

"Are you alright?" Wang Li asked.

Gale was a little startled to find, she was asking him, not the blind girl.

"I'm fine, just exhausted my Qi," Gale told her. His Qi recovering speed was a lot lower too with the restriction, but it wasn't just that. Apparently, the Radiance spells just didn't work with mana, it exhausted his spirit and essence as well.

"I guess we wouldn't get fur clothing today," he muttered and got back to skinning the dead animals.

As the night fell on the land, the air grew even colder, wind rising in their paces. Wang Li moved into the igloo with Ai after she was done with roasting.

Half an hour later, Gale entered with Vale with seven copper cores in his hands. "Seven core even before the day ends," he told Wang Li, who was the only one awake at that point. "Not a bad start. I guess the trial hadn't calculated Vale's ability too well."

"Of course, Vale's a good boy," Wang Li said, caressing Vale in her both arm, and also warming herself up with his fur.

Gale smiled and closed the entrance with another skinned fur, so that cold wind couldn't enter the igloo.

"Phew, now it's much better," Wang Li said. She was at the other end of the igloo, Ai resting in the middle, while Gale was on another side. Vale was with Wang Li, who didn't seem to want to let go of his warm fur any time soon.

Gale had laid tree logs as their bed, but it was still cold and uncomfortable to sleep in. Still better than snow he figured.

He fidgeted there for a few minutes until he heard Wang Li.

"Good night," the innkeeper said, laying with Vale in her arms.

Gale shook his head and literally had to go into deep meditation for the rest.

***

Wang Li awoke late in the middle of the night with terrible pressure in her bladder. Well, she was awake for a while, the pressure in her bladder keeping her awake. She just doesn't want to be an inconvenience in the middle of the night.

But now, she wouldn't wait no more.

She couldn't see much in the darkness, and couldn't go out alone. She considered waking Vale for a moment to accompany her, yet she found the hound had walked out when she was sleeping to move next to the other side of his master. Ai, on the other hand, wrapped his arms around the furry dog to keep herself warm.

Wang Li let out a breath and moved out on her four limbs. She couldn't go out alone in the middle of the night because of the darkness and wild animal. And. . . Just then, a voice entered her ears.

"Do you need something?" Gale asked, sitting up.

Wang Li gritted her teeth, the pressure was just too much.

"I need to pee."

Gale didn't say something for a while, causing Wang Li to grunt audibly.

"It might be dangerous out there in the night," Gale offered at last. "Let me accompany you."

Now it was for Wang Li to go silent. Perhaps that pressure wasn't too much.

"Wang Li?" Gale asked, finding her not answering for a while.

"Fine," Wang Li agreed as she sighed. She was the first to move, crawling on her four limbs. Gale trailed right behind her, in a similar fashion.