Moving around the mountain's summit wasn't all that much easier compared to moving across it. Sure, we didn't have to climb up all the way, but that mostly meant we were moving up and down the slope, picking our way depending on the local circumstances. To make matters worse, some fresh snow had fallen in the last few days, making it entirely possible that a wrong step would set off an avalanche, potentially pulling the one setting it off down the slope with it. While our bodies were superhumanly tough thanks to the system, I wouldn't want to test if they were tough enough to withstand an experience like that. Nor would I want to have to go down into the valley after an avalanche and try digging out the one carried away.

So, the watchword, as so often in these mountains, was prudence. Watch where you step, make sure the thing you step on is durable enough to withstand the weight you put on it, and look around to make sure no predator decides to use a moment of inattention to turn one of us into its midnight snack. No grave threats, no great heroics, just the slow, careful plod around a mountain.

The rugged landscape drove home just how difficult and dangerous these mountains could be and how tough the people who had climbed them before the change were. We, with bodies enhanced far beyond that of any human, had to be careful and occasionally resort to magic, reshaping the world around us on a decently large scale, while trying to climb up here. And yet, I was relatively confident that this mountain had originally been climbed over a hundred years ago, without the benefit of modern technology and certainly without magic or the system. Which was, quite frankly, a little insane and a testament to human ingenuity and endurance.

By now, I had also figured out why the weather around the mountain was as horrible as it was. I had heard jokes about having to go uphill both ways on the path to school, but here, we had to constantly endure the wind trying to blow us off the mountain.

The cause of that, as far as I could tell, was the very reason for our presence here. The Nexus was constantly spewing Ice Astral Power into the air, causing the weather around the mountain's summit to be, quite frankly, disastrous. As the air cooled in the area around the mountain, it got denser and sank down its slopes, causing a permanent wind to blow away from the mountain. The wind wasn't all that powerful, but it was strong enough to make things a little more complicated. Furthermore, due to the air flowing away, fresh air was drawn in, mainly from above, bringing with it a surprising amount of moisture. That moisture, in turn, was condensed and froze into snow and hail before getting swept up by the wind and adding to the misery.

Finally, after a few horrible hours of hiking, climbing and occasionally sliding around on slick ice, we managed to get into an area that was unusual. We had seen a few crevices before, but this one here was different than the rest, mostly because I could feel a massive amount of Ice Astral Power flow out of it, the air itself froze to the point that small clouds formed.

"This is it," I told the others, looking into the narrow crevice. "Do you want to stay up here? I'm not sure how well you'd do when climbing down there," I admitted, reaching out to feel the amount of Astral Power coming from the crevice. From what I could tell, I'd be able to endure it without issue, my Ice Affinity was strong enough, but Luna and Lia? They might have problems, especially Luna. Silva, on the other hand, wouldn't have any trouble with the Ice Astral Power but given that the crevice was almost vertical and seemed to be made of a mixture of Ice and Rock, she would have problems with gravity. Canines, despite their many amazing attributes, were horrible climbers.

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"We could use a rope," Lia suggested, though her heart wasn't in the suggestion.

"We could, but this crevice is too narrow to fight anyway. If there's trouble down there, I'll immediately turn around and get away from the trouble. For that, my cloak is a massive advantage that neither of you has," I told them, mentally cursing my failure to make them some sort of levitation equipment.

"True," Luna nodded, "How long do you think you'll need?" she asked, glancing down into the dark crevice.

"No idea, if I'm honest. It depends on how deep this crevice is, how long it takes me to find the Nexus and if I need to do something special to take control of it," I shrugged, uncertain what waited for me in that crevice. For a moment, I was deeply grateful that I had such a high Darkness affinity to go with my Ice affinity; otherwise, the prospect of making my way down into a crevice that appeared to be entirely and utterly lightless would have been even more intimidating.

"I'll set up a shelter for you, just in case the Sun comes up while I'm down there," I added, reaching out to some nearby rock and drawing it out. Some of the Ice around it cracked a little, only for the rock to break instead. It made me blink in disbelief as I stared at the broken rock. That was not what I had expected, but given the massive amount of Ice Astral Power flowing out of the crevice, I should have.

Working the Ice around the area to accommodate the rocky shelter took more time than I would have liked. The Ice was seriously difficult to work with, due to the amount of power already involved here, but with some stubbornness and a refusal to give up, it eventually worked out just fine.

After my family had a place to stay while I was climbing down into the lightless abyss, I did just that. I considered climbing down, but the walls were completely smooth Ice, meaning I would have to constantly use magic to make handholds, which would be quite challenging thanks to the absurd amount of power the Nexus had vented into the environment, infusing the Ice and making it hard to work with. So, instead of using my hands and changing the wall, I let my cloak billow around me, using it to levitate myself slowly into the darkness.

Just a metre or two down from the surface, what little light had been able to make its way into this crevice was gone entirely, leaving me in absolute darkness. Thankfully, my affinity was strong enough to let me perceive the darkness itself, allowing me to feel and see, for lack of a better word, the world like that. After a moment to acclimatise, I realised that I could also perceive the Ice making up the crevice, and even the presence of Ice Astral Power in the air, the realisation bringing a grin to my face.

This might just be where I was at my most powerful, the sheer amount of Ice and Darkness in the air massively increasing my ability to draw power from the Astral River. If I wanted to, I would probably be able to cast magic until my body gave out, reshaping the world around me as I pleased. Just as I had on Mundus, raising a massive tower, a fortress and a monument to myself.

It made me wonder what had happened to that tower after I died on Mundus. Had Nidhöggr decided to keep my tower, turning it into his own domain, or had one of my companions on Mundus taken charge of it? Something to wonder about later, for now, I had to continue my descent.

Looking up, I was unable to see how far away the opening to the surface was, disorienting me for a moment as the darkness seemed to close in on me, until I closed my eyes, letting my other senses take over. Magic was all around me, and while some of my ability to perceive it was bound to my sight, I mainly perceived magic as scents and tastes, not as something I could see. Here, with the overwhelming amount of Darkness and Ice, my magical sight was essentially useless, instead, I started to map the world by scent and feel. It gave me an adequate measure of my surroundings, allowing me to avoid crashing into the smooth walls. If there had been obstacles on my way down, it might have been a little more comfortable, simply because it would give me some idea of the distance I had travelled down but there was nothing.

My world consisted of nothing but endless darkness and a constant stream of Ice Astral Power, flowing up from below me.

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