Chương 280: (275) 4.54. The Cold Shoulder. Two of Them.

Scule and Reginald weren't in any rush to go back out into the frigid tundra, so despite the foul stench from the burning hair, Vin and Lumel decided to stay indoors with them. Lumel dove right back into some insane spell she was working on based on the mana he could see winding around in her core, but Vin was hesitant about how to best spend his own time. He knew he really should start working Dimensional Shift sooner or later. Only… He really didn't want to.

He'd been warned numerous times now that a tier 3 spell would probably take him about a week of constant work in order to perfect the runic formation. Only Dimensional Shift was a Spatial spell on top of that, which was one of the more difficult affinities to learn. Knowing that, there was a good chance the spell would take him even longer than other tier 3 spells. And now, his own words from earlier that day echoed in his mind, back from when he'd mocked Scule for trying to encourage him to learn the spell.

He'd been just poking fun at the petian, but he hadn't really considered what learning that spell would mean. While Scule tended to split his time fairly evenly between whose shoulder he was riding on that day, Reginald all but lived in Vin's front shirt pocket at this point. If Vin were ever in danger and needed to cast Dimensional Shift in order to escape or save himself… Reginald wouldn't be making the trip with him.

The simplest solution of course would be to try and encourage Reginald to simply start sleeping with someone else during their travels, but Vin loved having the little guy around. Not to mention he was arguably the safest one as his divine boon would stop most things before they could harm Reginald, provided Vin was part of the target as well. He'd have to give it some more thought later on, but as things stood, Vin was surprised to come to the realization that he was leaning toward leaving the spell for later.

He'd still learn it one day, of course, but he had so many other potential spells to learn that he wasn't in any rush to do so just yet. Instead, Vin spent the next couple of hours working on finally extracting the full spell from his fire protection amulet he'd been gifted by the dwarves. He'd pulled the tier 0 spell Sense Fire out of it a while back, but that was only a portion of the full tier 1 spell hidden away within.

He took a break when Forpurt returned with some grilled roots and what looked like chicken wings, which Scule dove into with a satisfied gleam in his eyes, before Vin went straight back into the amulet. Seeing as he'd already mastered the root spell and had a similar spell he could cheat off of with Flexible Formations, it didn't take him too much longer before he fully uncovered the runic formation imbued within the amulet and copied it over to his own personal mana.

Just like with Concealment, the spell involved covered his entire body in a super-fine layer of mana imbued with the properties it needed to resist heat. New spell learned! Tier 1 Fire Spell (Protection from Fire). 5, 000 exp gained. Well thank God I still get experience from pulling spells from artifacts, he thought, shivering as the temperature suddenly plummeted as his spell activated. Protection from Fire didn't just make him resistant to flame, but the general warmth in the air as well.

It was why he wasn't actually wearing his amulet during their time within the arctic fragment, and he quickly dropped the runic formation before he caught frostbite. Similar to why he'd been putting off learning Barkskin all this time, Vin couldn't help but feel just a tad wasteful that he'd filled up one of his fire affinity slots with a spell he already had an artifact for.

However, he had more than enough slots for the foreseeable future for each of the different affinities, and there were two good reasons to pick up such a spell. One was that he'd now be able to help his friends in the event they all encountered another blistering fragment they needed to travel through, such as the desert or the Crater. The other was that he had a few ideas for brand-new spells he could create using Protection from Fire as a base.

For example, if he could figure out a way to flip it around and make it Protection from Cold instead, or something similar, then people without any sort of protective magic like Scule would be able to venture into fragments like Forpurt's. But first he needed to get his hands on some ice magic. With that thought in mind, Vin called it an early night, curling up as close to the fire as his nose would let him before drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

The small igloo wasn't large enough for his shimmerwing mattress, and he didn't dare pull out his merider-silk blanket this close to an open flame, which meant he was stuck sleeping on a small cloud he'd summoned with enough mana to last the night. In fact, he actually had to dump in more than normal, simply to strengthen the magic and prevent it from freezing in the low temperatures. Scule and Reginald got their own tiny cloud to curl up on, and Lumel warmly accepted her own as well.

He could tell she was tempted to climb onto his cloud with him and cuddle for warmth, but she was still a bit too shy to join him with Scule and Reginald in the same room. Come morning, Vin awoke to the sound of someone digging their way into their small igloo, and Forpurt's dark eyes blinked as he came across the four of them sleeping on literal clouds.

"Huh… That's a rather interesting spell," he said, peering down at them.

"Regardless, you mentioned yesterday that you wanted to speak with the Shamans. One of them is available and willing to see you, if you're still interested."

"I am very much interested!" Vin said, nodding eagerly.

"You two kids have fun," Scule drawled, rolling over on his tiny cloud and trying to go back to sleep.

"I think I'll just stay by the fire and sleep all day. Come wake me when it's time to go home." If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Rolling his eyes, Vin followed Forpurt out of the igloo with Lumel right behind him, pausing only to pack the snow closed once more. As they walked, Lumel leaned over to him.

"Am I wrong, or is that cloud just about out of mana? My Magic Eyes are telling me it's not going to last more than another half an hour or so."

"If they're lucky," Vin grinned, earning a snort from the pulmon. Nodding at the few capillans they passed on their way through the village, Forpurt led them over to another one of the smaller igloos, which told Vin that the Shaman they were about to speak with was another one of these 'Trusted Ones,' similar to Forpurt himself. Making a mental note to make a good impression, Vin straightened his back and tried to look more like a wandering mage than someone currently freezing their ears off.

Rather than start digging at the entrance, Forpurt knocked on the side of the igloo, four times in quick succession. In response, the snow packed in front of the entrance turned to water in an instant, flowing away and revealing a rather old woman holding a carved wooden staff with a giant icicle attached to the top. Like the other capillans, her entire body was covered in thick, dense hair.

Yet unlike the many dark browns and blacks that they'd seen around the village, she was the first one with purely white hair that they'd encountered. His Generalist Mage title informed him that she was in fact a water mage, which was further confirmed by a quick notification from the System. New spell witnessed! Tier 1 Water Spell (Melt).

"Come in," she ordered, her voice brokering no argument.

"I'll leave you in Trusted Hurtheal's hands," Forpurt said, nodding toward the Shaman before turning and walking away. Still focused on that good impression, Vin quickly entered the igloo with Lumel right behind him. Unlike Forpurt's backup igloo he was lending them, it seemed the Shaman primarily lived out of her own. There were dozens of warm furs scattered around, along with large carvings of ice that covered the entire top half of the igloo.

Vin looked around the carvings in wonder, impressed with the craftsmanship. The ice told a story of a once massive village, struggling to survive under an unprecedented wave of snow. As Vin's eyes followed the carvings, he noted how the village seemed to grow steadily smaller with each passing day, until only a small fraction survived. Curiously, the tiny Shamans in the carvings never seemed to stop dancing about, always waving their staffs over their heads.

Almost like they were the ones conjuring down the horrific blizzard in the first place…

"That was the last Deep Snow," Hurtheal said, waving a hand and conjuring a large clump of snow to reseal the igloo.

"Over three-fourths of the village perished from our inability to find food in the powerful blizzard. I did what I could to immortalize those who are no longer with us."

"The artwork is tragic, but beautiful," Lumel said, careful to keep her hood covering her face even as she examined the carving.

"How often do storms like that happen?"

"More often than they should," the Shaman replied, presumably frowning up at the carving as the hair covering her face twitched down.

"The snow gives us much comfort and shelter, but too much of anything is a dangerous thing." Shifting her focus toward Lumel, her probable frown probably deepened, as the hair around her face pulled downward to an even further degree.

"What is it the two of you want? In exchange for saving one of our own from a Ursigon, and with Trusted Forpurt's backing, I agreed to this meeting. But I have never spoken to foreigners before. To be blunt, I find your lack of respect insulting, and his lack of hair unsettling. To keep your eyes hidden from a Trusted One…" She clicked her tongue and slammed her staff down on the hard ground.

"Disrespectful indeed."

"I'm not hiding my eyes out of disrespect," Lumel started, hesitating as she searched for the right words.

"My appearance is… upsetting, to some people. I just didn't want to bother you."

"We were simply hoping to chat about magic with you," Vin offered, trying to draw some of the attention off Lumel.

"Perhaps share a runic formation or two? I've been to many different fragments and have all sorts of spells I can offer in trade."

"You think you have any water-aligned spells you could offer me?" Heartheal asked, her voice raising an octave as her eyes narrowed at them.

"I have been studying magic since long before you were born, hairless child. Even with our unexpected journey to Edregon, I have regained much of my lost power these past few months."

"I know Aqua Sphere, but I thought there might be other spells-" Vin stopped talking as Heartheal waved a hand and a small sphere of water was conjured up in the center of the igloo between the three of them.

"There is nothing regarding the wonders of water that you could ever hope to teach me," the Shaman snapped, growing more angry by the second.

"It is only because you have the backing of Trusted Forpurt that I don't freeze the two of you solid right here and now. Gods know without any hair it wouldn't take long for either of you to freeze to death. Now, before I change my mind, get out of my igloo." Lumel went to try and argue, but Vin saw the sudden, unexpected fury in the woman's eyes, far more than what was appropriate for their current situation.

Either there were things they weren't aware of at play here, or the Shaman was taking her anger about something else out on the two of them. Either way, Vin didn't think sticking around to test the mage was a wise idea. Before Lumel could speak, he quickly spoke over her.

"Thank you for your time, Shaman," he said, standing and taking Lumel's hand in his own.

"Our apologies for intruding. If you ever change your mind, just let Trusted Forpurt know." Lumel was quick enough to realize he must have picked up on something she'd missed, as rather than argue, she simply repeated his sentiment before casting Mass Dimensional Shift and teleporting them a few hundred feet away from the village.

"Alright, why the change of heart?" she asked once they were clear.

"And why was that lady so mad for seemingly no reason?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted, replaying the conversation in his mind.

"Let me preface this by saying I don't think you did anything wrong, but if I had to guess… I think calling the artwork 'beautiful' might have set her off. Combine that with the fact that our appearances unnerved her, both yours and mine, and we probably didn't have a shot to begin with regardless. I got the vibe she was simply looking for any reason at all to kick us out."

"Then why even agree to see us in the first place?" Lumel frowned, throwing a glare back toward the Shaman's igloo.

"Seems like a waste of time."

"I think it's something to do with their whole 'Trusted One' system," he said, scratching his head.

"Because Forpurt is one, she probably had to agree to his request. But that was all. By initially taking us in, she did just that, even if she kicked us out immediately after."

"So basically, these Shamans aren't going to share any magic with us at all," Lumel surmised.

"No," Vin sighed, shaking his head as he stared at the distant igloos.

"No, I don't think they will."