Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]-Chapter 175 - Traveling Light

My office was a flurry of activity as everyone seemed to need something right at the same time and my fun few days of forging were exchanged for managing. At least now Vincent was out of his procedure and was in the process of recovering.

I needed a break from my forging spree anyway. The only thing saving me from a mountain of paperwork was the fact we didn't actually have paper.

Some professions could conjure it as part of a skill but those couldn't be used for everyday use. Architects and Engineers could create Blueprints or Designs and have their skills generate the paper, but outside of that, we didn't have it lying around.

We had alternatives, a plant fiber similar to papyrus or treated animal hide, but we tried to use them as little as possible as we didn't have that much.

The foreman needed my approval on something, Abigail needed to run something by me in terms of direction, an altercation arose at one of the dungeons, and the farmers needed help getting the fields ready, along with a few smaller things.

All at the same time.

It was like the world took me looking for something to do to keep my hands busy as a challenge and had everything happen all at once.

While I wasn't discounting cosmic retribution for having free time, there was a more likely solution to why everything was coinciding.

The Spring thaws kickstarted people into motion all at the same time.

Everyone was breaking out of their Winter freeze and activity was on the rise, which came with problems to solve.

The biggest issue, and what took priority right now, was whatever the Farmers needed. They were our future food and no matter how much I wanted to continue construction, food came first.

The current issue I was looking at would have to wait. Translators weren't as important as putting seeds in the ground.

I mean, who even spoke French anyway?

Austin

It was nice to be free. To go where the moment took him without ties holding him back.

It felt like the chain perpetually tied around his leg had been released and he could do anything. His mind didn't even put flying out of the picture like even gravity's hold on him had lessened some degree.

At first, he didn't really have a destination in mind. He just skipped along like he was out for a leisurely stroll he was so giddy. He wasn't lying when he told Chris he would go where the Sun took him, but his feet found their direction soon enough.

During their travels, there were a few times his Profession had pinged him. A slight twinge here or a nudge there to go certain directions. Most didn't seem to hold much importance, but one stood out above the rest.

The one where he tried to convince Chris to detour to it.

He didn't begrudge his cousin for not listening, as Austin knew it was out there in terms of requests, but it was a bummer to be dismissed like that.

It almost made him laugh when he realized the path he was on. Southwest could lead to a lot of places, but the odds it wasn't related to the feeling he had when passing Minneapolis was unlikely.

He guessed he would find out why he felt the urge and if it was anything cool, he would rub it in his face next they met.

He wasn't bitter about it or anything.

The time to get there would take him weeks on foot but that was fine, it wasn't like he had anywhere else to be.

His days of mostly solitude were only broken up when he came across other people. While rare to happen, the occasion arose more times than he thought it would. Canada had a population in the millions and even though most had perished, that still left a lot out there.

The interactions only rose in frequency as he got further South.

The few he ran into looking for security, he sent Christopher's way. The city was in need of people and Austin doubted there was a more secure place around.

He had seen what Chris did every day to make that so.

While some may take his departure as not caring deeply for his family, that was far from the truth. He loved them dearly, but he also knew they would be safe.

As much as Christopher liked to play things down, Austin was rather observant when he wanted to be. While he didn't have a Spirit Anchor himself, he had fought extensively side by side with someone who did.

Funnily enough, he wasn't talking about Chris. He had more experience fighting next to Jonathan.

He had seen the toll using Spiritual energy took on Jon and there were multiple times where he ran out during the waves. Without the power Chris brought for the waves, it fell to Jon to be the vanguard.

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He was well suited defensively to do what was needed of him, but he didn't have the endless energy Chris seemed to and had run out on multiple occasions. Especially during the last few waves.

Austin saw the pain it caused him when he ran out and had even spoken to him about it at one point about how it felt. He was familiar with mana deprivation headaches and Law migraines when he tried to overdo it, but draining the Spirit looked different.

Jonathan's response wasn't sugar-coated, "It's a bone-deep exhaustion. Like your body has no energy and it hurts to even move. Imagine a hydraulic press crushing down on every part of your body."

It wasn't hard to gain a picture of what happened from that... pleasant description.

The headaches of overextending his Law or overdrawing his mana were debilitating enough, Austin had trouble imagining fighting through worse, yet both Chris and Jon did.

The reason he felt so confident in leaving his family behind was because of a few reasons. One being, Chris was probably the strongest person he knew and with him there, Austin's presence wouldn't add much if a fight arose.

Two, he saw the care he took in crafting his domain. Chris spent nearly every waking moment overseeing the castle's construction, pouring more resources into it than Austin had ever seen.

The rare metals and crystals for the wards alone were worth more than the total amount of Reward Points he received!

Other than the expensive and rare materials, Chris poured his Spirit into the stones, saturating them in his power. Austin watched as he pushed his Spirit as far as it would go trying to make the walls that much stronger.

Every day, he would expend everything in the tank only to wake up and do it again the next. Knowing the exhaustion it caused, Austin couldn't help but respect his dedication.

It was a subtle thing, but Austin could feel the difference. The stone had an everlasting quality that they lacked before. Like the blocks themselves projected the sense they would last till the ends of time.

At first, he thought it was his imagination. Like he was seeing things just because he had witnessed the sheer amount of energy being pushed into the stone and his mind made something up rather than believe it did nothing.

It wasn't until others started to feel it that he knew it was true. Rachel was the first to feel it with Gabriel close behind. Jon claimed to know the whole time but the feeling was clear.

They all claimed that the feeling came from what Chris was doing but no one said anything about it. To acknowledge it was unnecessary. Instead, they did all they could to help his efforts.

Knowing all that Austin did made his decision to leave easier, even if he felt the pangs of loneliness every once in a while. While a part of him wished for a companion to come along for his adventure, he knew what the answer would be if he asked.

Christopher and he wanted different things out of life, and that was alright. Where Austin wanted adventure and intrigue, Chris wanted the opposite.

The castle was more than just a home to him. It was his flag in the sand. He placed it there as if to say 'Here I Stand' and proclaim it to all the world. It would be what he called home for centuries and he was fine with living a more... sedentary life.

Rooted in place, if you wished to be poetic. Or, Austin thought with a smirk, frozen in place.

Ah, enough about them. Think of what lies ahead.

Austin found himself thinking of what he had left behind more often than he cared for. This was supposed to be an adventure! Part sightseeing, part action! Not bemoaning what he had left behind.

As time progressed, the days started to blend together. The forests and plains all looked the same and it was days of walking to get anywhere exciting.

He continued pointing the people he ran into toward Frostheim, even though Winter's End sounded cooler.

He ran into a few dungeons here or there, but besides that, his adventure was uneventful. Which was how an adventure should never be. The whole point was to be eventful.

He noticed time slipping by when he bumped into the shores of Lake Superior days before he thought he would. He didn't walk any faster so he must have lost time along the way.

He attributed the quicker trip to his meditations.

Ever since he left, the feeling he once had was coming back. When he first returned to Earth, he felt a cresting feeling deep inside his chest.

He knew what it was, but he didn't wish to jinx it by saying it aloud, or even thinking it.

At the time, it hadn't fully formed even when he tried everything he could to make it so. He didn't hear the question, there wasn't a grasping power looking for something to hold onto.

While disappointing, he let the feeling go. Forcing it was no help to anybody.

Austin had thought the feeling would come back during their journey. He first felt it while exploring the new world, why wouldn't it come back while they trekked through most of North America?

To his great surprise and sadness, it didn't come back.

Not until now.

Once he felt it rising again, he spent most of his walking time meditating on it. While others would sit in one place and dive into deep introspection, that never felt right to him.

Movement loosened the body and rattled things free in the head. If he wanted to find out his Anchor, he needed to jar it loose through movement. His inability to sit still had nothing to do with it. Not at all.

As he ruminated on what it could be and went over all the cool phrases in his head, he arrived at the border in no time. Or what used to be the border.

It was frustrating he wasn't any closer to an answer, but it took Chris days to come up with his. Patience was never his forte, but he tried his best.

He had narrowed it down, though. It had something to do with light, as that thought had the most resonance with his Spirit.

It being related to his affinity was no surprise but it did simplify things. Neither Chris's nor Jon's had anything to do with their affinities. Well, technically Jon's Anchor sounded like what he expected from someone with an Earth affinity but it was different.

Like, come on. 'You have to get through me first' could be the name of a skill that conjured a stone wall and Austin would believe it.

Christopher's came from his idea of a warrior. While Austin enjoyed fights and thought they were fun, he didn't idolize them as his cousin did.

No, his would be something cool, he could feel it.

'Let there be light' sounded cool, and so did 'Then there was light.' Similar, but different.

With great humor, he tried the phrases 'Cruel Sun' and 'Strongest under the Sun', but neither came close to any sort of resonance. Not even faintly.

His Pride was wounded but he kept trying other things. He did so until his Profession started giving him the feeling again. Different than the one in his core and felt of untapped excitement waiting to be let out.

It was hard to ignore the first time he passed through the area and he had thought of breaking off alone. He didn't go through with it, obviously, but he did think about it.

Adjusting his course required zero hesitation and a smile crept on his face as he marched toward the feeling.

He wasn't sure, exactly, where he was but he knew he was getting close to the Twin Cities. The feeling was rising with every footfall closer and it grew as the days passed.

Which was what made what he ran into all the more aggravating.

His path was blocked.

A swarm of insects as tall as he was flew this way and that, blocking his path forward.

Where was his personal walking blizzard when he needed it? But no, he had to do this the hard way.

Unslinging the spear from his pack, he let his skills go without restraint. There was no reason to hold back due to losing control of his mana.

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There was no one to make fun of his glow here and he could be as bright as he wanted.