Primordial Sage: Plight of Immortality

They decided that it was for the best to set off the next day after realizing they needed to make boots even for the wolves and started to make camp at the shore.

Once the wolves were treated, their masters went to them and tried to soothe them.

Meanwhile, others had different work to do.

Everyone started to take out their saved clothes with pained faces and began to cut them. They had them for bad times when the winter became unbearable or when their own clothes were torn, but now they had to use them for the wolves or they wouldn’t be able to cross the sea.

Those who could weave started to make shoes for those who could not, and those who had more clothes and fabric gave them to those who didn’t.

Normally, this wouldn’t happen, and they would exchange it for an appropriate sum of merits or use a method of bartering.

However, now that the tribe was in a precarious situation, individual wealth was set aside, and everyone worked together.

Illyan, who had already completed his task, went to check on Dor, who also stepped on the ice. But before he got closer, he saw Kara taking care of him. That made him feel at peace knowing that Kaoran’s companion was properly taken care of. While the hooves ended up in better condition than the paws of the wolves, it was still probably uncomfortable for the big guy.

When he realized everything was taken care of by others, his sight turned back to the frozen sea. He felt that this kind of cold was too unnatural.

So he decided to check it out. When he came a little farther from the shore, he took out his jagged blade and confirmed its sharpness with a slight touch.

As Degres had taught him how to take care of his weapons, he never had a problem with their condition. With a satisfied nod, he turned his attention back to the ice and with all his strength, he stabbed the blade inside of it.

Once he did so, he started to saw it with the jagged edge. The first thing he noticed was how the ice was much harder than normal, making it harder for him to saw through it to make the hole.

Fortunately, his strength was strong enough for this, and he soon made a big hole. Then he took out some gloves he had prepared and put them on his hands before removing the ice block.

Inside of the hole, he found something interesting. The water was flowing underneath the ice as in any other place, but something about it was peculiar. The deep blue particles were flowing inside of it.

It didn’t take him even a second to realize what those were.

“Cold Energy?”

He was confused for a moment, but before long, his face turned into one of realization. He always wondered where the Cold Energy was going and Kaoran said it was probably from the north.

This confirmed his thoughts. Something was happening in the north, and because of that, the Cold Energy flowed through the Cold Sea to the freshwater far inland.

And those were the diluted droplets only. If it could freeze the entire sea, then who knows how much more concentrated it was and also how much higher the quantity of it was. The fact that the water in Kennera Lake didn’t freeze despite being much colder than the freezing point and this sea being completely frozen showed a lot.

‘But what could cause this?’

He wondered what kind of phenomena could happen that could change the landscape of who knows how big an area.

There was no definite answer to this question. The only thing he could do was to note it and continue on his way. The process of the entire sea being frozen was extremely long, so it was unlikely that there would be any problem at this time.

He shot a look back at Degres and indicated to him with his hand to come over. Degres didn’t waste his time and immediately went to him.

“Did you find something?”

“Yes. The sea is ‘contaminated’ with Cold Energy with a much higher concentration than Kennera Lake. It is so cold that it could even create this abnormal ice. It is harder, colder, and probably it will be harder to melt it back to liquid form even with fire.”

After his explanation, Degres’ face showed a myriad of expressions. Worriness, elation, excitement… And even fear. Bathing in Kennera Lake was still manageable, but this water could put you to death in seconds…

“Are you sure?” In the end, he could only express his doubt. After all, they treated the Cold Energy for generations as a treasure that was priceless. Now, wherever his sight laid, there was ice made from the same, no, from a better source of energy than what they used.

“Yes. This is definitely it. You can try to dilute the seawater with normal water and try its effect. If it really has the same effect, then it is a good opportunity for the tribe to get much stronger. Unfortunately, others will have the same opportunity.”

After saying that, he looked deeply into Degres’ eyes. Imagining that some of the tribe’s enemies like the Blood Crow Alliance got onto this chilled their bodies. This kind of resource that was easy to get was the most dangerous.

“Now that I think about it… There is a big chance that this is how the winter beasts came to be… They could be just normal animals that got mutated. Maybe not in an instant, but throughout the generations… Just like-”

“Just like we rear our wolves with herb medicines…” Degres completed Illyan’s sentence with a lost expression. Those monsters were the culprits of their tribe’s plight and the need to migrate. Knowing that they were so strong thanks to the Cold Energy was the same reason why they could survive for all of those years made him have complicated emotions.

“Don’t think too hard about it, Degres. The water will not disappear anytime soon, I presume. So the tribe should use this opportunity to dilute some of the water and strengthen the bodies of those who are able to submerge within it and not suffer too much. It is essential for them to be battle-ready after it, though.”

Illyan explained this to Degres since if most of the warriors took a bigger bite than they could swallow they would be unable to defend against unexpected dangers. This wasn’t their valley where they hid from any kind of dangers. Danger lurked everywhere.

After this conversation, he went to pitch his tent that he always had on his back with his backpack. As he was already used to this from several weeks’ worth of experience, he built it soon after.

He then pondered whether he should also use diluted water to strengthen his body. It was one of its kind sources of energy that was actually so easy to absorb.

Kaoran explained to him that most of the natural energies in the world were mostly dangerous to any living being that wanted to get its power.

However, the Cold Energy was different. You just needed to enter it, and it would naturally be attracted to your body. This was an advantage that only the Bakur Tribe had in these lands.

Nothing was free in the world, making it extremely hard for any of the tribes here to gather some substantial power.

Most of the tribes here were either just barbarians who wouldn’t bow down to anyone or wanted to live life full of freedom or those who were banished here or escaped here from the other places.

The thing that they had in common was their lack of talent and power. Thousands of years passed yet the best talent in the Bakur Tribe was Kaoran, a Novice stage shaman. That made this place isolated from the rest of the world.

Those living here couldn’t survive outside, while those outside didn’t care for this barren and talentless place.

And yet despite all of this, the Bakur Tribe prospered more than ever. They found renewable resources that were easy to absorb for even children without talent.

What was this Cold Energy? Nobody knew. But Kaoran said that it was so unique that this place would be invaded by many forces outside. And he was speaking about Kennera Lake and not the Sea.

Illyan could already imagine the havoc that was happening underwater where all the water beings live. The Cold Energy must have killed every weak one, disrupting the ecosystem while the stronger ones got even stronger. Stronger so much that they could fight against their own predators, destroying the food chain.

Unfortunately, even this kind of energy had its limits.

It was observed that when anyone entered the Kennera Lake for a second time, the result of absorption was always diminishing.

If you didn’t merge with the Cold Energy properly the next time, you wouldn’t be able to absorb anything as your body was still saturated from last time. However, even if you perfectly merge with every last bit of the energy, the second time was always much worse in results than the first one.

That was the reason why Kaoran could enter the lake so often without a problem. His body was already unable to absorb even one particle of the Cold Energy since he was baptized several times over the years for the merits he did.

That made this energy desirable but not irresistible for someone beyond some stage.

Usually, the amount was different from person to person, and there was still no definitive answer for why it was like this and why it was so different from other kinds of energies.

‘If I am to guess then affinity should play some role, right?’

Affinity for Spiritual Energy was one of his weaknesses. However, did the affinity towards the Cold Energy also play some role?

Maybe even that eye at the bottom of Kennera Lake was somehow connected to it.

But Illyan stopped thinking too deeply about it. He didn’t have any answers he was seeking but instead he got more questions. Of course, he did not feel bad about it. Instead, it made him even more eager to find out more.

In the end, he chose to use some of the diluted water for a little.

He didn’t even consider using less diluted water than others despite his regeneration as he was certain he would regret it immediately.

Using his power recklessly could kill him even quicker than not having it at all. Or at least, that would be the case if he had a normal life back when he was a child.

All in all, they decided to try again the next day to cross the sea, and nobody knew how long it would take them to get to another land.

He would have other opportunities to baptize himself again.

He went to the sea again and with some tools that were baptized in the valley, he scooped up some of the water from the hole that he made and collected it. Then he collected snow and boiled it before mixing it.

Satisfied with his creation, he now wondered how to use it. He had it in a bucket, so he couldn’t bathe in it, and just splashing it on himself would be a waste.

He found a spot further from the tribe and sat down on the ground, watching the sunset falling on the frozen sea with a dazed expression.

‘Should I just drink it?’

Since the Cold Energy was diluted, it should work without any problems. He knew how the stomach worked, so theoretically the Cold Energy should spread across his entire body if nothing wrong happens.

“Just a sip won’t hurt. Even if it did, it won't be a problem to heal it.” After muttering this to himself, he took the bucket and took a gulp from it.

A cold feeling spread in his mouth right into his gullet before entering his stomach. From the feeling, he could track exactly where the Cold Energy was, and it felt quite comfortable.

He waited for a few minutes while enjoying the scenery before he finally felt the cold spreading to his other body parts.

A small smirk appeared on his face as he took another sip from the bucket. Then he went to find others to show them this new method before the sun fell down and he would go meditate into his tent.