SSS Rank: Spellcraft Sovereign-Chapter 116: Drift (4)

The forest got quieter the deeper they walked.

Lucen didn’t like it.

The cold had teeth now. Wind moved wrong, like it curled between trees looking for something warm to bite.

Even the snow felt heavier. Not deeper. Just... more there. Denser.

His boots sank less with each step, like the ground had turned from powder to stone.

"Feels staged," he muttered.

Varik didn’t answer.

Lucen adjusted his gloves. Checked his mana bar.

[138 / 148]

Not bad.

He stepped over a frost-covered log. Tall, rotted out. Didn’t think twice.

Then his system pinged hard.

[Environmental Trigger Detected]

[Warning: Summoning Glyph Activated – Type Unknown]

Lucen blinked.

"What?"

The ground beneath the log flared blue.

A circle pulsed outward, fast, wide. Sharp lines carved themselves into the snow.

And then everything went quiet.

The air stopped moving.

Varik stopped walking.

Lucen said, "You knew, didn’t you."

Varik tilted his head slightly. "You stepped on it."

Lucen backed off three steps. "I didn’t see it."

"Then maybe next time, look harder."

Lucen opened his mouth to retort—

Then the growl hit.

Not from the trees.

From above.

Lucen looked up. freeweɓnovel-cøm

And immediately regretted it.

The wolf dropped down like a glacier falling out of orbit.

Snow blasted outward on impact. A full ten feet long, maybe more, white as death, fur glowing faint from mana veins under the skin. Its claws dug into the frost. Eyes burned ice-blue. No collar. No chain. No sign it’d ever been controlled.

It just existed.

And it was pissed.

Lucen took three more steps back.

"...That’s not a normal summon."

Varik, still off to the side, didn’t blink. "Looks territorial."

The wolf growled again.

Snow vibrated.

Lucen snapped his fingers, [Threadmask] cast instantly, his image splitting.

The wolf didn’t buy it.

It lunged straight at the real one.

Lucen dropped low, skidded sideways, cast [Shockweave Bolt] as he rolled.

The arc hit, barely slowed it.

Lucen cast again, [Ignition Burst] aimed at the front leg. It hit, singed fur. The wolf yelped, once, but didn’t stop.

"Great," Lucen muttered. "It has pain receptors. Awesome."

He backpedaled fast, cast [Frost Spire] behind him as a backup barrier.

The wolf leapt over it.

Lucen triggered [Soundlash] at the top of its jump.

Mid-air shockwave cracked across the trees.

The wolf twisted. Hit the ground off-balance. Skidded. Bark exploded as it slammed into a tree.

Lucen cast [Crater Bloom] at the point of contact.

Boom.

Snow and fur went flying.

He didn’t wait.

[Piercing Flare], straight into the shoulder.

The beam carved through, but the wolf twisted sideways and lunged again. Blood now. Real blood. Mana-enhanced, but red all the same.

Lucen ducked, rolled under the bite.

"Come on!" he shouted. "You’re a damn ice dog, not a tank!"

Varik’s voice, from the edge:

"You’re doing fine."

Lucen flipped him off mid-dodge.

Then triggered [Burn Logic] under the wolf’s belly, raw flame erupted upward.

The wolf howled.

And finally dropped.

Hard.

Lucen backed off five steps, hands shaking slightly.

Breath fogged out of him in short bursts.

[Mana: 41 / 148]

’Burned a lot. Worth it.’

The wolf’s body shimmered slightly, then disintegrated, pure drift logic. Mana into frost into dust.

His system pinged:

[EXP Gained: 106]

[Sub-class Bonus: +12.4]

[Entity Logged: "Summoned Frost Alpha"]

[Danger Rating: High]

Lucen exhaled.

Then looked at Varik.

"You seriously weren’t gonna help?"

Varik shrugged once. "Wasn’t my fight."

"You’re the worst chaperone."

Varik smirked.

Lucen shook his head, dusted frost off his coat.

Then muttered, "Let’s just keep moving before the floor tries to kill me again."

They kept walking.

—

The forest started to change.

Not suddenly. Just... subtly.

Trees thinned. Roots got more structured. Like someone had managed the forest instead of letting it grow wild.

Lucen caught it first.

"These lines aren’t natural."

Varik walked behind him, hands still in his coat pockets.

"I noticed."

Lucen glanced back. "You ever seen a drift do symmetry?"

"Not in Tier Five."

’Great.’

Lucen adjusted his coat collar and pressed forward.

Then the snow ahead shifted.

Not loud. Not dramatic.

Just two shapes stepping into view like they’d always been there.

Tall.

Pale.

Not ice-pale—actual skin tone. Pale with gray undertones. Eyes sharp. Ears long. Robes tight at the arms, loose around the waist. No shoes. No armor.

One of them lifted a hand.

Lucen raised his own, fingers twitching toward a spell.

Then the taller one spoke.

"Don’t."

Lucen blinked.

"...Wait, what?"

The figure stepped forward. Voice clear. Dry. Unaccented.

"We’re not interested in fighting. Not yet."

Lucen’s brain did a short loop.

’Did that guy just talk?’

He didn’t cast. Not yet.

Varik didn’t move.

The shorter figure stepped up beside the speaker.

"Your spells are messy," she said. "But not inefficient."

Lucen stared. "You’ve been watching?"

"We always watch."

Lucen pointed. "You’re not monsters."

"No," the taller one said. "We’re elves."

Varik raised an eyebrow. Just slightly.

Lucen shot him a look. "You knew this was here?"

"Nope."

The elf woman stepped forward. Her robes moved like wind bent around them instead of through them.

"You’re not from the guilds," she said. "No markings. No crest."

Lucen tilted his head. "And you’re not dead. So clearly we’re all doing new things today."

The male elf looked at Varik. "And him?"

Varik met the stare. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t speak.

Lucen crossed his arms.

"You guys usually... talk to people? In drifts?"

"No," the elf said. "But this is not a normal drift."

Lucen exhaled. "Yeah, I figured when the wolf tried to cave my chest in."

"We summoned that one," the woman added.

Lucen blinked. "Why?"

"To see if you were a waste of breath."

Lucen tilted his head again. "Cool. So, what—now you offer tea and riddles?"

"No," she said. "Now we ask why you’re really here."

Lucen glanced back at Varik.

Still quiet.

Lucen sighed.

"Alright," he said, turning back. "Let’s play straight. I walked into a Tier Five rift and stepped on a summon glyph. You all show up in robes and sass, and now you’re asking me why I’m here?"

"You crossed into a managed zone," the man said. "This forest’s magic is ours. The drift merely rents it."

Lucen made a face. "That’s not how magic works."

"It is here."

Lucen considered that.

Then asked, "Are you gonna try and stop me?"

"Are you going to keep throwing fire at every problem?"

Lucen raised one finger. "Okay, that’s fair."

The female elf stepped to the side.

The trees behind her shifted, slowly revealing a wide circular path, bordered by old carved stone. Half-covered in ice.

"The core lies beyond," she said. "But nothing there will greet you kindly."

Lucen muttered, "Shocker."

The male added, "Step carefully. Or don’t. Either way, it’ll be educational."

Then they both turned and walked away.

No fade.

No vanish.

Just... walked. Disappeared into the trees like they were never there.

Lucen stood there in silence.

Then turned back to Varik.

"You sure you didn’t know about that?"

Varik looked at him.

And said, "Now I’m interested."

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