The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

The Exalt Beast looked similar to George's Sapphire Hedgehog back when it used up all its quills during the battle in the Floating Islands of Edin. Its back was bare of the long icy quills flying all over the room. Instead, little stubs were sticking out and growing gradually; it was regenerating its quills.

The porcupine was large compared to the Sapphire Hedgehog, as tall as Oscar's legs. It was a subspecies of hedgehog that dwelled in icy regions and thrived under cover of snow and ice. It often burrowed itself in the snow, awaiting unsuspecting victims to step on its spiky exterior.

Other times, it used heavy snowfall to move around and shoot its quills from the cover of the white blanket. The Pavilion brought these porcupines to use the white mist as its cover, but their antics did not deter Oscar, who beelined for the porcupine.

"Kyu?!" The porcupine let out a surprised yelp at Oscar's wild charge, felt fear from seeing Oscar's frenzied face full of malice, and tried to make a run for it, but its speed was nothing compared to Oscar's Adamasreis dash.

Oscar smiled with savagery taking hold of his eyes. His bloodshot eyes glowed slightly with the use of Prinstyct. No matter where this porcupine ran to, Oscar would see its intent and follow without letting it out of his sight. "You and your fellow porcupines have been rampant for quite some time. Let me repay that favor for Mary and me."

His blue Ein spiraled around his forearm, condensing into a thick steel drill. The spired tip gleamed with the light reflected from the ice as it pierced through the white mist toward the porcupine.

The helpless porcupine had no defense against Oscar's spell; it could have had options if it had some usable quills, but it was slow and completely exposed. A fountain of blood spewed from the large puncture caused by the steel drill; it pierced into the porcupine, protruding out the other side of the beast—the blood splattered over the blueish-icy floor and surrounding pillars.

"KYU!"

Sounds of other porcupines echoed across the icy crater in response to their companion's predicament, but there was nothing they could do until their quills recovered.

Oscar stared at the lifeless body of the slain porcupine and gave it a small bow; although it was an enemy, he had no ill will against it, having to kill it out of necessity. He picked up Mary's spear and followed the thread tied to it back to where Mary was currently recuperating.

"One down. How is your Ein?" Oscar untied his buckler's thread from Mary's spear and returned to his position by her side. He looked warily around despite there being one minute left on their estimated timer. He knew more than others about how desperation could cause a shift even for these porcupines.

"Not fully recovered, but enough to do another two minutes for the next session." Mary stretched her arms before picking up her spear.

Oscar didn't say anything but gave her a slightly worried glance. 'She talks as if it's nothing, but I can tell the constant throwing is taxing her. To disperse the white mist, she puts an incredible amount of Ein in each throw. It's similar to when I use my drill with 'Shattering Wave' consecutively.'

Mary didn't notice Oscar's expression while she checked her spear. Her face tensed as she heard some whistling through the air. "Incoming!"

Oscar and Mary stuck their backs to the icy pillar. Their hands moved fast as their buckler and spear deflected and shattered many of the quills coming their way.

"There are fewer quills than before." Oscar smiled as more icy quills fell before his obsidian buckler. "If we keep this up, the quills won't bother us as much, letting us move freely during their offense."

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"That's assuming I throw my spears in the correct places. We might be here all day if I can't find them." Mary scoffed at Oscar's confidence, but she also wore a small smile at their alleviated situation.

Five minutes passed. The last of the quills were scattered away by Oscar and Mary. Oscar nodded at Mary after tying his thread to her spear.

Once more, Mary charged her spear with tremendous lightning and sent it flying into the white mist. The pair kept their eyes on the spear that resounded with thunder across the icy crater.

Oscar didn't hold much expectation for the first few attempts, but his eyes widened in pleasant surprise as Mary's first throw showed a small glimpse of a creature. His feet pushed onward with incredible force, arriving at the location instantly. Once again, the icy crater was dyed with red blood.

"That was very lucky." Oscar returned with blood splashed over his white fur coat and Mary's spear in hand.

"Then let's continue." Mary gripped her spear tightly and threw it. However, she didn't have much luck in the rest of her tries, whiffing through the air. She clicked her tongue in annoyance at her failure.

"Recover." Oscar tapped the icy ground, indicating Mary to sit down and relax. "Taking out two in such a short time is already good."

After another session of rest, Oscar and Mary defended against the quills, half as numerous as they were from the start. Oscar turned to Mary and said, "Judging from the intensity, I think there are two porcupines left."

But Mary didn't have too much luck after the two consecutive successes. Sometimes she had to spend the entire session of five minutes of respite to focus on recovering rather than throwing her spear. But persistence always had a way of paying off.

After an entire hour of finding nothing, Mary finally forced another porcupine to reveal itself from the cover of the white mist. Oscar was delighted at the opportunity that came after a long time and made short work of the porcupine.

"The quills will start up again in three minutes. Take my buckler." Oscar gave his buckler to Mary, considering that it would cover much of her small stature. "When the quills start, they should indicate a general direction despite how they reflect off the ice. I'll rush in to finish this while you fortify yourself."

"Alright." Mary held Oscar's buckler, huddling behind it like a child running under the sheets from thunder.

The quills started once more. Oscar filled his hands and forearms with Adamasreis and destroyed the incoming quills. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the quills generally came from the right.

He rushed out in that direction and felt the quills were more directed toward him. The porcupine noticed Oscar's movements and focused more of its attacks on Oscar. His feet exploded with power, dashing around and weaving around the icy pillars.

"Where is it?" Oscar continued to deflect more quills. Then he noticed the quills were far more direct, not reflecting off anything. "There!"

He charged straight ahead into the flurry of quills. There was a porcupine with a nice bed of icy-tipped quills. It looked shocked at Oscar's fearless rush and tried to run.

"It's over." Oscar killed the last porcupine. As he did, the ground under him hummed and vibrated like a string instrument. The white mist began to clear up, allowing him to see the icy pillars and crater walls clearly as he did before descending into it. "I was getting sick of seeing fog everywhere."

"You did it!" Mary sprang up from her pillar and came over to Oscar, tossing his buckler back. "I'm glad to see clearly again."

The crater trembled once more, but this time like the effects of an earthquake. Oscar and Mary ran around the outer edge of the crater toward the side where the Frost Orb was housed. They watched as a set of obsidian stairs moved and extended outward to allow them to access upstairs.

Oscar stepped upstairs with Mary following him. They arrived in a small icy chamber with a stone pedestal. Floating atop the pedestal was a glowing orb that shone a bright blue.

"Oscar, do you feel it?" Mary stared at her hands in a daze, feeling a sense of warmth returning to them.

"Yes. For some reason, the cold is lessened near it. I'm touching this ice, but my hand doesn't feel the usual overwhelming chill." Oscar rubbed the ice with wonderment. "Let's recover before we take it. I read traps usually activate after a treasure is taken."

"From what?" Mary raised her eyebrow in puzzlement.

"Stories." Oscar laughed and sat down to meditate.

Mary laughed weakly, feeling it weird for Oscar to base his actions on fictional situations.

After fully recovering, Oscar slowly approached the Frost Orb as Mary kept watch. The blueish glow diminished with each of Oscar's encroaching steps. With careful hands, Oscar took the Frost Orb from its pedestal.

His eyes trembled, feeling a vast warmth that filled his body as if nothing cold would ever affect him.

Mary also gazed with interest at the Frost Orb.

However, their victory was run short. The caverns began to shake as icicles fell. The strong ice that Oscar could not even crack began to break and tumble over.

Oscar cursed inwardly.

"The cavern is collapsing! We need to escape!"

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