Crafting Gear From Monster Genes

Unlike Kreyn and Groza, Varyn, Diaro, and Norma had long been aware of the observatory’s underground level.

They had many theories about what might be down there, and Kreyn had a few of his own. When he saw the gates, he was prepared for a sudden monster attack, another defense system, or even a powerful explosion.

But... He couldn’t have imagined that they would be met by such intense cold.

He and Varyn barely avoided it, while everyone else turned into ice statues.

"No... Something’s not right here..." Kreyn muttered as his eyes trembled.

He turned to look at Diaro, Norma, and Groza once more. They were completely frozen solid. He did not doubt that.

"Why?" He stared at Varyn. "Why were we the only ones able to withstand the frost wave?"

Varyn’s lips trembled as she looked back and forth between Kreyn and the others. She was usually composed and serious, but now she was as helpless as a little girl.

"This... K-Kreyn! We have to help them, we have to do something, o-otherwise...!"

SLAP!

A sharp slap landed on Varyn’s cheek as her head snapped to the side.

A burning sensation spread across her skin, and considering how cold she was, it actually warmed her up a bit, bringing blood rushing to her face.

Then, Kreyn took her by the chin as their eyes met.

"Look at me and pull yourself together, for God’s sake! You kill monsters and fight giant robots, but you’ve decided to panic now?"

Varyn gulped as he continued, pointing at the others:

"They’re alive, at least for now. We need to figure out two things: why this didn’t happen to us, and how to stop this cold!"

"Y-Yes!" Varyn clenched her fists. "You’re right! We... We have to close the gate right now! Together, we’ll have enough strength!"

Kreyn smirked.

"That’s what I wanted to hear."

They turned to do just that when a loud crack rang out.

Right before their eyes, the support rods had frozen so thoroughly that they snapped under their own weight as the gate crashed to the ground, shaking the entire floor.

"Fuck..." Kreyn muttered. "Well, it seems this wasn’t part of the plan of whoever set this up, if it was even intended this way at all."

Kreyn took a few seconds to think, and soon his eyes snapped open in realization.

"Wait, I think I figure out what’s going on."

"Ah?"

Kreyn pointed at Diaro.

"He’s an ordinary human. He doesn’t have as much energy as we do. It would be logical to assume that’s why he froze, but what about the others? If it’s all about energy, then Groza, and especially Norma, shouldn’t freeze."

He looked at his arms.

"It’s just you and me left, and... only we have mutations."

Varyn’s pupils dilated.

"You think that’s what it’s all about?"

Kreyn nodded deeply.

"Yes. I’m sure of it. There can be no other explanation. I don’t know how our mutations protect us, but thanks to them, we didn’t turn into ice statues."

After that, Kreyn walked over to Norma and... tried to pull the sword from her belt.

"Hey!" Varyn protested. "What the hell are you doing? You could hurt her!"

However, Kreyn kept tugging at the sword, hoping the ice would crack soon.

"I’m not touching her hands or fingers. She’ll be fine, and we need something to fight with! You’d better help me!"

"I won’t do that! We’re strong enough without her sword!"

Thump!

Kreyn’s grip slipped as he collapsed to the ground.

"Kha!"

But the sword on Norma’s belt didn’t even budge.

"Damn it!" Kreyn slammed his fist into the ground.

Varyn smirked, but then her expression turned serious again as she looked toward the passageway.

"We have to keep going and explore the underground level. This cold... I’ve gotten used to it a little, but even we won’t be able to withstand it for long. We have to find out what’s going on there."

A few moments later, Kreyn nodded deeply.

He didn’t know how much time they had, but he didn’t want to come back and find three shattered statues and chunks of ice floating in blood.

"Yes. It affects us just as much as it does them. Sooner or later, they’ll reach their limit. This cold..." Kreyn narrowed his eyes. "It’s coming from somewhere."

Step.

Varyn stepped forward, regaining her military-like confidence.

Kreyn, in turn, cast one last glance at Groza and followed her.

It wasn’t what he’d expected from the underground level, but at least something unusual was here. That much was certain.

Kreyn had only one question left:

’Do we have more than an hour to solve this problem, or... in an hour, will only Varyn and I be left of our team?’

He shook his head and stepped across the threshold.

Ahead of them lay only iron walls and a narrow passage leading to a dead end. But was it really a dead end?

Tap.

Kreyn touched the wall as his eyes widened. He jerked his hand back, looking at the scrap of skin left on the surface.

In a heartbeat, the scrap of skin turned into an ice crystal, frozen solid right through.

"Did they build a passage where there’s nothing but iron walls? It feels even colder here..." Kreyn was confused.

At that very moment, Varyn’s voice rang out.

"Kreyn, you have to see this."

He walked over to Varyn, who was standing at the dead end, or so it seemed to him from a distance.

"What the...?"

Before them was a shaft leading deep down. There was no staircase, no elevator, and no handles of any kind: just four walls, a frosty breeze blowing in their faces, and a blue light at the very end.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Kreyn scratched the back of his head as bits of ice fell from the tips of his hair.

"Maybe there’s a secret passage or something like that? If we fall in there, then—"

Clasp.

Varyn grabbed his wrist as she stepped forward.

"Don’t worry about it. We’ll just jump down."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Kreyn exclaimed as he tried to grab the edge, but it was already too late.

They were in the middle of the shaft, rapidly approaching the bottom.

Luckily for Kreyn, Varyn wasn’t a nutcase, she thought it all through.

SLASH!

Her mutated sword plunged into the wall as she held Kreyn’s shoulder tightly with her other hand.

Sparks shot out, immediately turning to steam due to the low temperature, as they gradually slowed down until they came to a complete stop.

"Hmm..."

Kreyn looked up and then down. They’d managed to slow down just in time.

"You know, it wasn’t such a smart plan to keep this a secret. You could’ve warned me."

"Pffft." Varyn snorted. "You’re the one saying that? It only took me two tasks with you to realize that you always wait until the last moment to act."

Kreyn rolled his eyes before pushing her hand away and jumping down. It was no more than two meters to the bottom.

THUD!

A dull thud from his boots echoed as he turned toward the next passageway.

It was no longer a dead-end tunnel, and Kreyn quickly began to regret it.

"What the hell..."

Before his eyes lay a multitude of frozen, ice-covered pods with silhouettes encased inside.

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