Chapter 124: The Yeti

The Frost Valley stretched endlessly in a sea of snow in every direction. The winds howl was low and disorienting across the surrounding that buried Lucas' boots past the ankle with every forced step.

Jagged ice crystals rose at irregular intervals across the landscape— some taller than buildings, reflecting the pale and filtered sunlight in shades of blue and grey that made the whole world feel like it existed behind frosted glass.

Snow fell in slowly and continuous and in way that never seemed to accumulate any further, as though the entire zone existed in some perpetual frozen moment that refused to move forward.

Lucas walked on, his arms wrapped tight around himself as [Ignition] flickered weak but present around his hands in a desperate attempt to stave off the worst of the cold.

He cursed under his breath. "Fuck. Should have hit the Gateway's general direction by now. Or at least something that looks like a landmark."

He pulled up his map again, and the system glitched into existence as it always did. He squinted against the featureless white stretching in every direction, and felt his stomach sink at the confirmation.

[Distance to Gateway: Unable to calculate.]

He deadpanned. "Great. Wonderful…. Lost in a frozen wasteland with a system that's apparently given up on helping."

He sighed, his breath misting over in the cold. "Fuck my life…"

He turned in a slow circle, searching for any landmark or any distinguishing feature in the endless sheet of snow, and found nothing but more snow, more ice, more howling and more directionless wind.

He sighed again, apparently giving up. "Okay. Retrace my steps. Should still be able to find my own trail back. Gotta leave this frozen hell…"

He had barely turned to backtrack when the snow ahead of him erupted.

A massive shape tore free from beneath the drift, towering and covered in white fur.

It's limbs were thick with bulkdy with the muscle beneath matted, in frost crusted fur, its eyes burning a sharp molten red that looked and felt wrong against the creature's otherwise pale and wintry coloring.

It rose to a height that dwarfed anything Lucas had fought so far, breath steaming visibly from jaws lined with teeth that looked like broken icicles.

[Warning: Bora Class Entity Detected.]

[You have encountered a Bora Devil]

[You have encountered The Yeti]

[Main Objective: Slay the beast]

[Survival Probability: 44%]

"Of course it has a name," Lucas muttered, already backing away as he forced [Ignition] to flair brighter around both fists despite the weak struggling flame. "Of course."

The creature roared, a sound that seemed to shake loose actual snow from the nearby ice formations and lunged.

Lucas dodged clear, driving a punch into its exposed flank and felt immediately, that something was wrong.

The flame guttered against the creature's frost hardened hide, sputtering weak and ineffective as the heat began stuttering away into the surrounding cold so fast that his eyes widened in terror.

'The environment is against me. The Cold is eating the flame before it can even do damage.'

The beast slammed the ground he stood on and the force shot Lucas into the air.

"Fuck! That's not fair," he gasped, barely twisting clear in mid air as a massive, clawed swipe that would have taken his head off entirely slashed in front of him. "That's really not fair—"

The Yeti pressed forward relentlessly, each strike carrying enough force to send shockwaves through the packed snow beneath Lucas's boots, and he found himself giving ground steadily, every punch landing weaker than it should have and every burst of [Ignition] fizzling out faster masking the fight increasing harder.

"Fucking hell! The skill isn't mine but I still have to suffer for it? What a load of bullshit!"

He caught a direct blow across his ribs and the impact was enough to send him tumbling into a snowbank as his breath was punched entirely from his lungs.

After a moment, he scrambled back upright just in time to see the creature's massive claw already descending.

He barely rolled clear, snow exploding upward where he'd been a moment earlier, and drove a desperate, flame covered kick into the Yeti's leg. The fire caught, briefly and in a way that was satisfying before the cold swallowed it whole again, leaving barely a scorch mark against fur that should have been thoroughly set ablaze.

"This isn't working," Lucas said, breathless as he was now backing away when the creature bore down on him again. "This really isn't working—"

The Yeti's claw finally connected, catching him across the chest with bone jarring force, and Lucas felt himself lifted entirely off his feet, the world spinning white and cold clawing at him agonizinglyt before he crashed down hard against a hill of packed snow.

He tried to rise but his body wouldn't answer properly, cold and pain tangling together into something that made every limb feel disconnected, and no longer fully his to command.

'Not like this. Not frozen and beaten in the middle of nowhere—'

The Yeti loomed over him, its breath steaming thick against the frozen air, and brought its claw down one final time.

**SPLAT**

[You have died.]

[Regression Activated.]

***

[Player has returned to designated checkpoint.]

[Checkpoint has been restored to the last stable moment prior to death.]

The cold vanished all at once, then crashed into him again. Lucas staggered as the memory of frost covered limbs and crushing claws came crashing back into him all at once.

'It's the environment. I know that. Fire doesn't work right here. I know that too. I need a different approach entirely.'

Ahead, in the same spot as before, the snow began to shift, and the Yeti stirring beneath the drift once more rose again in an explosion of snow and ice.

Lucas forced himself into a ready stance despite the dread already coiling tight in his chest and exhaled to calm himself.

"Alright. Round two," he muttered, watching the massive shape begin to rise. "Let's figure this out properly this time."