Still rubbing my arms, I finally noticed just how ridiculously cold it was.
The wind howled across the mountain, carrying tiny snowflakes that pelted my face like nature had decided to throw frozen sand. Endless white stretched in every direction. Snow-covered pines stood like silent soldiers below, while jagged peaks vanished into thick gray clouds.
"By the way, shouldn't I be getting a mission or something?"
A familiar rectangle blinked into existence.
[Mission?]
"Yeah. You know... every system story ever? Complete a quest, get absurdly overpowered, accidentally become a god by chapter twenty."
[Gasp.]
"Did you just type 'gasp?'."
[You really think that highly of me?]
"I mean... you hired me to save the world."
[Didn't I already tell you? I'm just a very, very strong person. I'm not omnipotent.]
The words shifted.
[Besides, haven't I already given you everything you need? I even threw in a bonus.]
[You're awfully greedy.... But why not?]
"..."
What kind of cosmic contract was this chatty?, another window popped up.
[Mission: Escape the Pursuers]
[Reward: Full Body Restoration, $10,000,000 USD]
"Meh"
[Meh?]
"I don't need this."
[Not Barry's body, yours, Your original body will be completely restored to its physical peak.]
"Still don't need it."
The rectangle was silent for a moment, then-
[...Unsatisfactory?, how greedy.]
[Haha.]
[Unfortunately, breaking the Tapestry of Fate creates more unintended consequences. I can't hand out rewards whenever I feel like it.]
I frowned.
"Wait, does that mean the only rewards you can actually give me are things from my original world?"
[Yes!, you catch on fast.]
Ohhh that's suprising
"So your powers are surprisingly limited."
[Please stop making me sound lame.]
Ignoring the existentially insecure cosmic rectangle, I crouched down and scooped up a handful of pristine snow, tossing it into my mouth.
Crunch.
My eyes widened.
It exploded across my tongue like thousands of tiny needles before melting almost instantly, each crystal collapsing into icy water that spread through my mouth.
...
..
.
"Whoa."
There was a faint mineral sweetness I couldn't describe, followed by the crisp feeling of water so cold it almost burned.
"This is incredible."
Objectively speaking... I was eating frozen water, but I'd spent my entire life without a sense of taste, to someone who had lived in silence, this was hearing music for the first time.
To someone born blind, this was seeing color.
Who cared if the flavor was basically just...
Snow.
It was my first taste, and hell it taste good, I shoveled another handful into my mouth.
"Five stars..."
Another handful.
"Actually..."
Crunch.
"Six stars..."
[...Are you rating snow?]
I nodded. "Absolutely."
[It's frozen water.]
"It's gourmet frozen water."
[...You're unbelievable]
"I've been tasting things for, what, five minutes?, everything's a delicacy."
I scooped up another handful.
The rectangle was quiet for a second.
[...Makes sense.]
I reached for a fourth handful.
[Btw don't eat the yellow one.]
"There are yellow ones?"
.....
"Ah, right... I should probably get back to the main point." I said that while stuffing another handful of snow into my Inventory.
Priorities.
The Inventory was exactly what you'd expect a transparent floating rectangle with an absurd amount of storage space.
Which was already proving useful.
Because I had somehow managed to store an alarming amount of snow.
"I'm going to."
"Pause for effect"
"Steal The WINTER" I laughed at my own antic,
You never know when emergency gourmet snow might come in handy.
Anyway.
I more or less knew what was in my Profile already, but I wanted to check the supposed bonus.
The Profile was basically a complete summary of my combat capability.
[Profile]
Name : Barry Wunderlich (Shorten)
Occupied by: Cassius Tyche
Health : Undamaged
Sanity : Sane
Status effect : Hypothermia (Low)
[Stats]
STR- 10
SPD - 10
DUR - 10
AGI - 3
INT - 38
Mana - 0
[Skills]
None
"...Yeah."
Skills in this game were magical abilities.
Barry's solution to almost every problem was significantly less showy, and straightforward.
Walk up.
Press the Attack button.
Repeat.
Over and over again, repeat until the enemy stopped existing.
the Attack button didn't even get touch, by the other playable character, except for Barry, he just beat people to death with whatever happened to be in his hands.
[Masteries]
Dagger Mastery - 6
A high level of proficiency with daggers.
Bat Mastery - 8
An otherworldly weapon known as a "baseball bat." You wield it with terrifying expertise.
All Type Of Combat - 9
A master among masters in combat.
[Traits]
Heavenly Restriction Body.
A body devoid of mana, rejecting all supernatural phenomena.
Consumption.
You possess an unsightly tendency to consume excessively. Food, knowledge, power, attention... your appetite rarely knows restraint.
Watcher Eyes.
Heyo.
"There you are... what does it do?." I asked.
[You'll figure it out don't worry.]
"Right."
Back to the actual problem.
The floating rectangle kindly reminded me.
[Mission: Escape the Pursuers.]
"Probably shouldn't keep standing around reading menus in the middle of a mountain."
I opened the map and placed a marker.
A supply carriage bound for the kingdom where the academy was located would be passing through there. If I remembered correctly, it was carrying food and other supplies.
The blizzard was only getting stronger, if I was lucky... Which I am it'll get even worse.
With surprising ease, I climbed the nearest pine tree and peered through the curtain of falling snow, Somehow I was able to spot them
"There they are." What an op eye.
The three mercenaries hired to kill Barry.... They were still doing a grid search, completely off marked of where I actually I'm.
Not exactly the reunion I wanted.
Still.
The fact that I'd climbed a tree without my right leg screaming in protest?
"Nice."
Barry's body was working perfectly, i shifted my attention back to the group.
One swordman, one archer, both Tier One.
I could handle either of them.
One at a time
Then there was the last one.
A woman.
Tier Two.
Wind magic.
"Yeah, absolutely not."
The gap between tiers was enormous. There were only seven tiers in total, and each one was leagues above the last.
I wasn't beating her, not when she also had three hunting hounds beside her.
"Four against one..."
I shook my head.
"That's assisted suicide."
I'd never really thought about it before, but seeing them in person made me curious.
The swordsman and the archer were obviously commoners, they only used mana to reinforce their bodies, due to illiteracy.
But her...
Who was she?
Barry killed her eventually that much I remembered but beyond that, almost nothing.
She definitely wasn't a noble.
More importantly...
She didn't seem particularly close to the other two, she kept her distance, and even the hunting hounds what were they called again?
A small window appeared.
[Purus.]
"Oh purus, Right."
Suddenly Transparent windows appeared above each of their heads.
stat, skills, mastery, traits.
How do I even react to this?, there's no such thing as an analysis magic, this good.
[Good, right?.]
"Yea..."
One of the Purus suddenly lifted its nose
Suddenly, all three of them stopped.
...
Then, in perfect unison, they turned.
Toward my direction.
"Oh, shit, they did a 90, Time to dip."
I jumped off the pine tree, rolling to minimize damage.
While running, I quickly stripped off everything heavy my coat, scabbard, spare gear, anything that would slow me down and tossed it all into my Inventory.
As I did, my hand brushed against something tucked inside Barry's coat.
A whistle.
"...Guess this was safe after all."
Rimecrow Whistle
Produces a sound audible only to Rimecrows. Can be used to relay directions, issue alerts, or divert enemies.
Without hesitating, I put it to my lips and blew.
... I can hear it.
A few seconds later, the air above me stirred.
A pure-white crow, nearly the size of an eagle, swooped down from the blizzard. A small leather harness was strapped around its body.
"...How do I use this?"
I blew the whistle again.
This time, the bird descended and landed beside me.
"Ah."
While still running, I quickly unclasped the harness and slipped it off.
The Rimecrow gave a single caw before spreading its wings and soaring high into the storm once more.
I'll figure it out, what's a better teacher than the immediate threat of death.