Cassia attempted to deflect the draugr's sword with her own, but the moment it touched, just like the floor, it broke like glass.

CRACK!

Her entire arms trembled, eyes widening as she felt its weight, as if a bull itself was trying to attack her sword.

BREAK!

The entire sword broke into two, the draugr laughing as it saw Cassia's terrified face. It was a being of sheer and unimaginable power.

Cassia immediately took a step back, now disarmed, even her armor, created by the best blacksmiths of Vesuvian, couldn't survive a single hit from the creature.

She had no choice; she had to run, to retreat.

But the moment she turned, the draugr laughed once more, tattoos from its necrotic skin glowing like runes, the ruin responding to its magic as the entrance to the ruin immediately closed.

The exit was replaced by an empty void, one that led to nothing, but would surely result in nothing good.

Cassia had no choice but to stand and fight; either that or continue evading it across the ruin until she finds an opening.

"Daughter of bear... weak..."

The draugr taunted, its sword like death itself as it moved once more.

BANG!

Cassia barely managed to dodge as the draugr's sword instead met a stony pillar, the ruin's foundation cracking just like the floor.

Every hit, every movement, was significantly destroying the building they were currently in, but strangely enough.

The ruin didn't collapse, as if held together by a strange force.

Cassia's chest heaved. The draugr circled her like a predator savoring the hunt, its eyes empty voids, yet somehow piercing straight through her.

"Daughter of bear… your ancestors tremble beneath you," it hissed, voice like ice cracking on a frozen lake.

And once again it attacked.

But Cassia noticed something odd: every step it took, the floor cracked... it meant the creature itself was heavy.

Heavier than its size could have suggested.

But... it was enough, enough to give her hope to survive.

"Die!"

SWISH!

The draugr sprinted towards Cassia; in skill, they were fairly even, only their strength was different.

So she had to use its overconfidence in its own strength against it.

The moment it got close, Cassia moved to the side, kicking it straight in the knees. It barely did any damage, but it was enough to cause it to trip and fall to the frosted floor.

And just like she suspected, the moment the creature fell, a huge crater appeared; its own weight was its enemy.

"Cowardly tricks... snow... kin!"

The draugr stood up, delivering a powerful full-circle swing.

Cassia managed to duck just in time, lunging at the draugr and hitting it as hard as she could with her shoulder.

THUD!

The draugr fell to its back, caught off guard, and just like that, the floor completely gave out.

And just like the void that now replaced the entrance, the ruin's floor collapsed, causing the draugr to fall into an endless void, all the while screaming curses and profanity.

"By... the gods..."

Cassia breathed wildly, falling to her knees as her entire body trembled.

She didn't know if that would work, but surprisingly, it did, giving her a fresh wave of relief and pride.

CRACK!

Suddenly, the frost in the floor hummed, the icy texture slowly and subtly changing into runic symbols, a long-lost language that she couldn't decipher.

But it clearly meant something.

"This ruin... this isn't the same place, is it?"

She asked. She was now in a completely different realm entirely.

But at least, there was now another path, one directly in the middle of the ruin that led to a long hallway illuminated by blue torchlight.

Cassia forced herself up, wiping the sweat off her face, but not before realizing that it wasn't even sweat anymore.

It was pure ice... the temperature was below freezing, yet she still stood fine.

She had a uniquely incredible resistance to the cold, but even this was completely out of her league; something clearly wants her to stay alive.

"Myths and their tendency to give vague hints..." She irritably remarked. "Why can't they just be straightforward for once?"

Her tone subtly mimicked Justinian, a personality she gained from spending so close to him all this time.

The hallway beyond was fairly empty, the walls lined with ancient carvings and architecture of kings and jarls long gone; they weren't from the Thirell line at all, so why would the scroll that held the sword of an old Thirell ruler be contained in a ruin like this?

Despite the questions that swirled around Cassia's mind, she knew she had to advance.

As she walked, the carvings began to change, turned now into full-fledged statues of the kings; it was a good sign she was getting somewhere.

And even better? Those same statues were holding real swords... a good replacement for her broken weapon.

"Hmph!"

She groaned, pulling a sword out of a statue's grasp, and eventually succeeded, along with breaking its stony hand, but she could barely give a damn about defiling some ancient dead king's statue.

"I have nothing against you, but you don't really need this."

Her breath steadied once she felt the weight of the borrowed blade in her hand. It was colder than normal steel, almost humming, faint traces of ancient magic clinging to it like frost on bark.

Cassia continued down the hall.

With every step, the air grew sharper, colder, but her body reacted as though she were wading into warm water. The cold no longer bit at her; it clung to her, embraced her, as if recognizing something sleeping within her blood.

The torches flickered.

Not with flame, but with blue fire, flames that gave no heat yet lit the path ahead with clarity that felt unnatural.

The hall widened.

A chamber revealed itself ahead, tall and solemn, shaped like the ribs of a frozen beast. Pillars of pale ice stretched into the roof above, glowing faintly with runes she couldn't understand… yet.

Cassia stepped inside.

The door behind her sealed instantly, ice spreading across the stone. She didn't flinch.

"I suppose that means I'm going the right way."

Her voice echoed strangely, bouncing off the chamber in too many directions.

Then a pulse.

Gentle, like the heartbeat of something enormous sleeping beneath the earth.

Cassia's chest tightened.

There, at the far end of the chamber, embedded in a slab of solid ice, stood a pedestal. And on it.

A blade.

Not rusted.

Not tarnished.

Not forgotten.

But pristine.

Winterfang.

The sword of Uriel Thirell.

The blade shone like a frozen star, filled with swirling lights like trapped snowstorms. Its hilt was simple, unadorned, forged for a warrior, not a king. Frost crept along the pedestal, crawling like fingers toward Cassia's boots.

She took one step forward.

The chamber reacted instantly.

Ghostly blue flames erupted along the walls. Runes ignited overhead, swirling in a circle like a constellation being rewritten.

Cassia lifted her sword instinctively.

A voice whispered.

Not from a person.

Not from a ghost.

From everywhere.

"…Daughter of frost, heir of winter's oath, why do you approach?"

Cassia swallowed hard. Her fingers tightened on the makeshift sword.

"I'm here to—"

Her voice cracked.

"I... I don't know."

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