Frostfire Legacy

Chapter 4: Wandering the Forest

Aster gazed at the scene spread before him.

The giant snake, which was rushing toward him just a few seconds earlier, was frozen completely solid, turning into a massive ice sculpture. Of course, it wasn't only the snake; even the entire room got covered in frost.

For a moment, he thought that the entire laboratory had returned to its previous clean, white appearance!

Still, he was bewildered. In just a few moments, after he closed his eyes while thinking he was about to get eaten alive, everything was suddenly frozen in place!

"Wait, I'm barefooted!"

Fearing that the icy, frozen floor would cause his feet to become frostbitten, Aster exclaimed as he lifted them. However, he also realized something peculiar at the same time. "It's... not cold?"

Hoarfrost was all around him right now, making him feel as though he were in an industrial freezer. With just a casual glance, the temperature around him should at least reach minus 30 °C! But forget about getting frostbitten; he wasn't even feeling the chill in the air.

Curious, he patted the icy floor. As he expected, it was not cold to the touch. Rather, it was as warm as room temperature. A strange phenomenon was currently occurring to him firsthand.

As an experiment, he tried to spit, expecting nothing to happen. However, as soon as it moved a meter away from him, the meteor-shaped liquid froze mid-air, the mist around it turning into thick fog before dropping straight down and scattering into shards.

"This is real!" He exclaimed in shock before touching and checking his body all over.

He was wearing a plain white patient robe, but other than that, nothing else. Not even underwear. He raised a brow in wonder, muttering, "I can't feel the cold?"

Baffled, he stood still for a while before taking another deep breath.

*Huff!*

Thinking about things he couldn't understand would only waste his time; instead, he turned around, facing the fire exit. He was about to try and undo the bolt again, but realized that even that got frozen solid.

Aster weaved his way through the vines blocking the path and looked around. His lips gradually turned into a deep frown. "When did the city transform into a thick forest?" He mused, looking in all directions.

Although he could navigate the entire city even while blindfolded, like it was the back of his hand, he didn't even know where to go after seeing the state of this place.

Traces of familiar buildings could still be seen, but they were already destroyed, turning into a pile of rubble covered in moss and vines.

Turning around, even the laboratory he got out from was in the same state. Reduced into rubble and washed by an unknown amount of time.

A wave of sentimentality came upon Aster, but he quickly shook his head. He decided to think about such emotional things later, when he was already safe and sound. First and foremost, he should head to where the nearest civilization could be found.

He stopped to think for a while.

Assuming that a sizeable amount of time passed and that, for some reason, the city had to be evacuated, he started to predict where the people would head.

"... North."

The land to the north should have a higher capability to support life, capable of even allowing farming and such, and become completely self-sustainable. More than that, the land there was at a higher elevation than where he was currently standing, so it was less susceptible to floods.

After rationalizing, he didn't waste time and took a careful step forward... and as if Lady Luck were laughing at him, he managed to step on a sharp pebble first thing.

"What rotten luck!" He cursed as he bent down, checking his wound. "This might get infected..." He worried but couldn't find anything to use to wrap his wound.

Having no choice, he could only repurpose his patient gown. Aster took it off once before ripping out a portion and wrapping it around his hips. The rest of it he slit into two equal parts and wrapped around his feet, using them like impromptu shoes.

After he had double-checked that he was adequately protecting his dignity and that his feet were no longer hurting from stepping on sharp pebbles, he began to walk to the left and then straight ahead.

His plan: go to the north and reach civilization!