Way of the Knights

---

It took him another 6 months to finally arrive at the Northern Continent. 

The moment he arrived, he was greeted with a dense cold air and a vast blanket of snow. Everything was covered in snow, well at least a great majority of it. The cold breeze was refreshing, yet it also contained the scent of savageness. 

He could feel the brutality in the air and smell the faint scent of blood, he's still at the edge of the continent yet he could also feel the dreadful situation of this land. Vendrick looked up, staring at the think clouds looming all over the continent. There are some rays of sunshine that managed to seep through the clouds, allowing the continent to somewhat brighten up but aside from that, nothing. 

Observing for a while, Vendrick could already tell that this Winter won't be letting up anytime soon, in fact, he has this feeling that it will never go away. Still, this is none of his concerns for now. He has a mission to finish, therefore he didn't stay at the edge of the continent for very long and started travelling towards the depths of the Northern Continent. 

Vendrick didn't bother to hide much. He simply travelled as swiftly as he could. He could sense that the temperature got lower as he went deeper to the north but it didn't matter to him since he's completely unaffected by it. 

He could also sense the feral demonic beasts hiding at their own lairs. Most of them weren't particularly dangerous so he ignored them. The stronger ones were hibernating in their own caves and lairs, the weaker ones were wise enough to never enter their lair since it would simply spell death for them. 

Due to this arrangement, Vendrick encountered no troubles getting deeper into the continent. Sure, he might've trespassed some lairs of the stronger beasts who were hibernating but he suppressed his presence well enough to not disturb them, the weaker ones simply avoided them since he let out a sliver of his own animosity. 

His target here is the Winter Troll King. Vendrick could somehow tell that searching for this troll might take him sometime but he didn't mind it. He has some time to spare, for now he simply just wandered the Northern Continent, completely unbothered by the cold temperature around him. 

The Northern Continent has an awful lot of mountains, this was something he discovered from his observations so far. Interestingly enough, majority of those mountains are actually home to the hibernating Demonic Beasts. Some mountains had a cave system in its interior, some doesn't. Some beasts preferred to hibernate inside the caves, some preferred to do it on the peak of the mountain. 

Vendrick also noted that as he went deeper into the continent, his surroundings are getting darker. The clouds are thicker and darker here for some reason, the kind that doesn't allow light to pass through any longer. It's also colder here of course and from where he currently was, Vendrick could see a Hail Storm ahead. 

The Hailstorm behaved rather strange. Just like the winter here, it didn't show signs of weakening or stopping. Additionally, it was stationary. Vendrick had been observing it for a few hours at this point and not even once did he see it moving from the spot of experience any changes in its intensity. 

The Hailstorm was strong and relentless. Vendrick could already see hints of its abnormality. If he entered the place where the Hailstorm reigns, he wouldn't be so surprised to know that he'll see some of the stronger demonic beasts active in there. 

That being said, Vendrick is not in a hurry. 

He took his time and rested. He had gotten used to the isolation. Loneliness isn't a foreign element on his life, he rather enjoyed the peace it brings if he's being honest. Of course, there's no way it'll beat the warmth of being with his family but still...

Vendrick also enjoyed the cold breeze of the winter here, coupled with the boundless blanket of pristine white snow. If this place was a little brighter, then it'd be perfect on his opinion. 

He set up camp inside a formation. At this point, he knew that he's strong enough that the demonic beasts would leave him alone but he just wanted to turn-off his alertness from time to time so he still decided to set up the formation so that he could relax without getting disturbed.

He enjoyed a warm bowl of hearty soup and slept afterwards. He chose to camp out for a few days since he felt rather spent from travelling. He was also observing the Hailstorm from time to time and found out that it is indeed not showing any signs of stopping. 

Vendrick could already tell where this is going. Was he bothered by it? No. In fact, this made things a bit simpler for him. For now, Vendrick didn't care about anything else other than relaxing. 

---

"Alright. Time to get back to work." Vendrick muttered as he cleaned up his camp. 

After retrieving his supplies and the formation as well, he started walking towards the Hailstorm. Where else would he go if not there? All signs of abnormality was pointing towards that place so he might as well see what's up with it. 

As he got near the Hailstorm, he could feel the temperature drop dangerously. He wasn't affected by it of course but still that's red flag already, even though it's to be expected. 

It wasn't just the cold though. The moment he went close, he could feel dozens of eyes staring at him. He was unbothered but he could feel that those gazes didn't hold even a sliver of kind intentions, still that wasn't enough to stop him on his tracks. 

Vendrick entered the hailstorm, and as soon as he did, all of his expectations were met. 

Dozens of silhouettes appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. Demonic Beasts ranging from all sorts of sizes and shapes came rushing at him, baring their fangs covered in drool. 

"Oh my, such a warm welcome for such a cold place. I'm so touched that I feel like crying." Vendrick smirked. 

From that point, time seemingly went still. From Vendrick's point of view, everything happened in slow motion while he was completely unaffected. Vendrick entered partial transformation, his arms turned into dragon claws. 

He disappeared from where he was, turning into a blur as he ripped out the flesh of everything around him. Vendrick did everything so fast that none of the demonic beasts felt their severe injuries, by the time their aware of it, that thought already became their last. 

Vendrick re-appeared at another location, evading the spurts of blood gushing out of their bodies dyeing the white snow with a red tint. It didn't take long before the blood turned solid due to the temperature around him. 

He continued trekking through the Hailstorm. The visibility around this area was horrible but like always, Vendrick was completely unbothered by it. He could see everything as clear as day even without the assistance of his ocular technique. 

During his travels, he would be attacked by incredibly aggressive and starving demonic beasts but he killed them all easily. If anything, he wasn't really interested in these beasts, he was looking for his target but so far, he hasn't seen even a shadow of it. 

He has a lead though. The beast might think that its clever but in front of Vendrick, it's nothing more than a stupid beast. As if Vendrick would miss the pair of eyes that remained on him from the very moment he stepped into the hailstorm! The beast might think that Vendrick was unaware of its spying but oh, he is. And he's using it to track it down. 

The direction was coming to the eye of the storm, very typical, unoriginal even. 

Still, Vendrick decided to humor the beast. He purposefully changed course randomly, even going to spots where he could feel the presence of a few demonic beasts. He will kill them, go closer to the eye of the storm and go of course again. He's doing this to play with the beast that's still observing him. 

After killing at least a hundred of starving demonic beasts around without even breaking a sweat. He finally arrived at the eye of the storm. 

The moment he entered, he felt the presence of a strong predator and a ruler. At the center if it all, sat a humongous beast on a throne made out of bones and rotting flesh, emanating with an unbearable stench. 

A giant with pale blue skin, facial features that only a mother could love, a big round belly, and a savage aura. This was the Winter Troll King. 

The beast wasn't alone. Vendrick saw a few demonic beasts behind it, all females so they're probably its concubines. There is a giant shard of rock beside the throne, if anything Vendrick would say that the giant rock shard is more like a club that the troll king used to pommel its enemies. 

"Welcome to my kingdom, Puny Human."

"Thank you, Ugly." 

"!!!"