"Wait — what if —"

I gasped, fully knowing what I must do. I calmed myself.

The talon and Quinette drew farther apart from me, the wind howling in my ears.

I caught a glimpse of Quinette’s face, twisted in horror. I didn’t wait for her help.

Mana moved through my bones, gathering at my foot, building its force. I stabilized myself, keeping my hands open to slow my fall.

I took a deep breath, then hissed. My breath misted.

With my eyes shut. I tightened focus.

Boom. Ice gathered beneath my foot, then exploded.

By forcing much mana, the ice construct couldn’t contain it, then exploded. It boosted me upward, but destroyed my sandal in the process.

I continued the process, flashing light. Blue flashes shot out like fireworks behind me, crackling with sparks of ice.

But it was mana exhausting. I just had to hold on till I could reach.

My eyes were locked on the talon, shooting closer. Its head craned backwards.

I hardened my face. Swoosh. Swung my blade at the talon. It twisted away.

This time, I didn’t let it go unhurt. Switched to my second dagger, hooking it at the side — it evaded too. I carved into the flesh through its tough scales, leaving a deep wound as it fled, with crimson gushing out.

And an ugly shriek.

I grinned. "So that ugly shriek last night was yours. How disturbing you are."

I stopped the technique. The ice stopped, bursting under my feet as propellers.

And continued my drop down to the ground.

Without needing to alert Quinette. She dived down, caught my arms, and swung, sending me back up at the talon.

A smirk crept on my lips and dived upwards.

Quinette flapped her wings, trailing behind me. We were way above the clouds. The sky was blue, with a mix of purple, like an artful painting. The sun was higher — a spotlight on our battle.

The talon stopped fleeing. It charged toward us, with its mouth fully open wide, about to sweep me into it. Its jagged teeth, little tiny needles, were on display. With a violent shriek.

I was fully in momentum.

And needed to evade it. I readied to wrench myself out of the way.

Quinette swooped in. She dashed past me, leaving me behind in the gust of her wind.

She bodied the talon at its sides, hitting it in its gills, forcing it to the side.

It brushed past. Missed by an inch.

I took the chance, stabbing my dagger, hooked, on its hard scales. It shrieked. It yanked me with the force, flying around while I held onto my dagger, forced to fly along it.

It circled through the air, trying to shake me off, but I kept my grip tight on the hilt.

I strained, pulling myself up. Stabbed my second dagger into the talon, earning another shriek from the talon, and a violent twist and turns.

It became more dizzy. My grip burned on my blade, still didn’t slipped out of my hand.

I stayed on the beast.

"Walter!" Quinette screamed my name, then followed up with severing magic, rained at the talon.

It evaded the attack, wrenching out of the way. It whipped closer to the attack, pushing me closer to Quinette’s attack.

The dark sickle drew closer. I unhooked my dagger to avoid the attack.

I slid down the talon’s back, dragged my dagger along the talon, gouging it open.

It shrieked, snapped its tail. I hooked myself back to its tail before getting snapped away.

I sliced its fin, removing its balance in the air. It flew higher, snaking into the sky, the sky turning darker.

Quinette followed by. She hadn’t attacked. I saw the hesitation in her eyes — after her attack almost hit me, I couldn’t blame her.

"Quinette, don’t follow. All I need from you is one strike. Stay on the ground, I’ll pull the talon down."

"No, that’s dangerous. I better follow. I can strike." She gripped her blade and swung, cutting at the talon.

It swung its tail, pushing me towards Quinette’s blade.

I held my breath, pushing my head back. Like time slowed, I watched the blade sweep — a hair from my throat.

Fortunate enough it didn’t meet with me.

Quinette froze. That attack would have slit my throat.

"I told you not to attack. Stay down and prepare the attack. You hear me?" I said, getting pulled away by the talon.

Quinette obeyed finally, returning back to land.

With my dagger, I stabbed, pulled it off, then stabbed with my other dagger, using it as a hook to climb up the body.

I reached the head of the talon, standing. I raised up, keeping my footing on it.

The air slowly grew heavy. Chilling, from the light sky into something darker.

I launched off the talon, midair. I twisted, looking down at the talon as it shrieked to snap at me.

From this height, the mountains below looked insignificant. I was unable to sight Quinette’s figure.

Then her mana flared.

A symbol.

I drove my dagger into its jaw. It didn’t pierce through — hooking into its bones. Then I pulled it down.

Explosive ice pushed me down, giving me a boost as I dived down. The talon tried to shake me off, but my blade was hooked in its jaw properly, cutting through the air.

Quinette was below, stance lowered, her hand ready on her hilt. The ground trembled below her from her power, then silenced.

"Severing magic. Explosive Severance."

The trembling resumed, but more violent. The ground dented beneath her.

I grunted, yanking the beast to the ground.

Boom. It crashed into the ground, body smashed. The earth exploded, leaving a crater. The force sent a mix of debris and snow, blasted around the area in mist.

I landed on its body, the fleshy side cushioning the fall. Its face, which had collided face first, was wrecked. Blood dripping from its face, a missing eye, a slack jaw.

Still it wasn’t dead. It pushed me off and shrieked.

The mist cleared instantly. I landed in a calm stance, a grin on my lips, as I flexed my arm.

"It’s all yours now, Quinette."

Quinette swung her blade. A large cut shot to the talon, it collided with the beast. It retained motionless. The cut didn’t show any effect at first, then hundreds of slashes sprayed out from Quinette’s only strike. Crimson drifted in the air.

It stopped. The talon staggered, then boom — it burst out from the overloaded mana in the attack.

Crimson sprayed in the air, coloring the area in blood. The air smelled heavily metallic.

I exhaled.

I raised a thumb at Quinette. She nodded, then clicked her blade back to its sheath.

"Now time to absorb the fragment," I said, walking to its body.

---

[Mana fragment: 148/500]

I stood beside the talon’s head, covered in crimson, eye dilated, as it lay motionless.

I held my palm on the beast for a moment. Though already done with absorbing the fragment, it wasn’t enough, but was a huge progress.

"Anything wrong?"

Quinette asked, leaning in.

"No, just... very hot."

"...?"

My palm placed on the talon, could feel the heat of the talon. Buring against my palm. Its blood was steaming.

It was unusual, but I could only imagine that its system kept functional against the cold.

"If I drink it I can gain its core." I dipped a finger into the talon’s flesh.

"Hey! What are you doing."

I didn’t reply, just let a drop fall to my mouth. The taste of metal twisted in my mouth. I swallowed.

[Evolution skill unlocked]

Boiling blood (passive) — immunity to cold

Well, it didn’t give me much. But it was a skill I could transfer through blood.

With Quinette still fighting the cold, it would be more beneficial to her.

My robe whipped. I walked up to Quinette. I showed my palm to her and dragged my dagger through my palm, drawing a red line. Blood seeped out.

"Here. Drink. You know how bloodline power transfer works."

Quinette crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes. "And what magic do you want to transfer to me?"

"Boiling blood. Keep you warm by regulating your blood temperature to match the cold. Do you want me to use my other method?"

"..." Her face reddened. The scene played in her eyes. She straightened, her hands beside her. "Fine, I’m only doing this once. It better be effective."

I cupped the blood to her lips, turning my blood into her mouth. She swallowed. Her mana flared in response. Her breath calmed.

It took some moments before the result kicked in.

"It actually worked." Quinette moved her hand through her body. "I don’t feel cold."

I touched the base of her neck. She froze on contact, but I was just testing her temperature. It had risen, but only because it was matching the cold, and wasn’t harmful.

Finally, a problem was solved. I didn’t have to worry about the cold for the both of us.

"Walter..."

I pulled my hand away from her neck. "Don’t worry, just checking your temperature."

"Not that."

I then traced her eyes to behind me, looking up at the sky.

They filled the sky, dancing around with their scales catching the sunlight. They shrieked collectively.

A large group of talons.

I craned my neck, releasing stiff muscles. "Perfect, we don’t have to go looking."