System Breaker: Surviving Apocalypse with Nine-Tailed Kitsune-Chapter 11: Bridge

Perhaps it was due to the shivering cold, but the lightheadedness that Damon experienced was gone now. His skin ached from the chilling cold, and his lips were already cracked as they began to descend down the path they first appeared on.

Kitsune hid beneath his hoodie as he stumbled down the icy path. He used his tachi like a walking stick, stabbing it into the ice in an attempt not to slip and fall over the edge to his death.

’It couldn’t have been a warm place?’

"It’s not so bad in here," Kitsune giggled, tucking herself deep inside his hoodie.

Damon let out an annoyed sigh, directed more at the weather than the Kitsune, as he almost lost his footing for a second.

’How do you know so much about Rifts anyway-?’

Damon’s question was cut short as the cliff face beside them suddenly shattered, and a large figure stepped out of it, like ice given form.

Its lower limbs looked almost as thick as a tree trunk, and its torso was almost as wide as the narrow path they stood on.

The monster let out a deafening roar that seemed to echo through the entire mountain peak. Then, as its red eyes landed on Damon, it charged forward.

There was no space to evade. For a moment, Damon considered whether he could block the monstrous creature, but hesitated.

Then, with no other option, he raised his left arm toward the monster’s leg.

A sharp tug struck his abdomen as he coalesced his mana into a shard of black ice. The moment he sent the ability forward, blood escaped his lips in a rough cough.

The monster’s leg shattered, enough so to send it over the edge, its body hurtling into the chasm below.

Damon, however, couldn’t see any of it as his vision swayed and his body collapsed to the ground.

He grimaced at the intensifying pain in his abdomen for a little while, until a sudden notification flashed across his mind.

[You have slain a Level 15 Ice Golem.]

[New Monster Index bonus: +2 Strength, +2 Mana, +2 Vitality]

[You have reached Level 12. You have received 1 Stat Point.]

And with that, his consciousness slipped away.

***

Damon jolted awake with a slow gasp. When his eyes fluttered open, he saw strands of silver white hair dancing above him, with a pair of crimson feline eyes staring straight at him.

"Morning," Kitsune’s voice purred as she saw him awake.

Only now did he also feel a soft hand run through his hair as he realised his head was on her thighs.

Damon lurched forward as his eyes scanned his surroundings.

They were in a small cavern, barely enough to hide from the wind, which found its way inside. To the side, he saw the opening through which they had most likely entered.

’Where are we?’ He asked as he turned back to Kitsune, his eyes trailing across her as he studied her true form.

"I worked hard to get you here," she pouted, then suddenly leaned forward toward him, "Shouldn’t you give me a reward?" she asked as her arms moved toward him.

Caught off guard, he lost balance for a moment and fell on his back, with Kitsune falling on top of his chest. The strands of her hair brushed against his face as she stared right at him.

’How are you, in this form?’

"I can keep this for about a minute a day,..." She paused for a moment, as if sensing something, "...speaking of which-" She barely finished the sentence as he turned back into her fox form.

"Ughh, this is so annoying! I spent an hour dragging you in my fox form and couldn’t even get a reward."

’What reward is she talking about?’ Damon thought to himself, though she could hear his every thought.

’Wait an hour? How long was I out for?’

"I dragged you for an hour, then you were out for maybe an hour more."

’Two hours... wait, if I was out for two hours, how come you were in your true form right when I woke up?’ he asked.

"How else? I turned when I sensed you were about to wake up."

’Huh? You wasted the only minute in your true form just to catch me off guard when I woke up? You could’ve saved it for when we’re in danger!’

"Wasted? I saw how you gazed all over me." Her giggling echoed in his head, "I think you were quite happy."

Damon let out a defeated sigh as he realised there was no winning against her in the game of wits.

’We need to keep going. I don’t wanna be stuck in this cold any longer." He finally said, lifting himself up from the floor.

With his skin dull from the cold, Damon left the comfort of the tight cavern and stepped into the blizzard outside.

The air cleared a little, compared to what it was when they first arrived here, but it was still hard to see through the snow hurtling through the air.

For the next stretch, the path turned out a lot more quiet than he would’ve expected. Nothing but ice and snow lingered ahead. Damon almost lost his footing a couple of times, despite using his tachi for support, but he continued ahead, and soon he came to a halt as something appeared behind the fog.

Between the two cliff edges of the twin mountain peaks was a bridge, if you could call it that. A couple of lines of ropes stretched from one path to another, with pieces of wood hanging from them below. Half of the steps were ruined, half hanging or completely missing, but the other half looked stable, at least in comparison.

"You’re thinking of crossing it?"

’It would save us a lot of time,’ Damon replied.

The bridge would directly lead them toward the second mountain peak, where the rift core was located. Otherwise, they would need to descend even lower, who knows for how long.

’Better than freezing to death, I guess?’

Damon slowly approached the bridge, shaking the ropes connecting to the edge to check their stability.

’Not bad,’ he thought.

Then, with a hesitant step, he walked onto the first, stable piece of wood, shifting his entire weight on it.

’Hah,’ he almost chuckled for a moment, standing on the bridge. ’See, it’s not that bad-’ he didn’t get to finish the sentence as a deafening crack cut through the mountains and the side of the bridge he was on snapped off, sending it hurtling through the air.