Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]-Chapter 211- Time for an Upgrade

"Jonathan, my friend, boy is it good to see you." I greeted him and went in for a big hug.

His two little ones were weaving around our legs as they both tried to climb over the other to hug their father.

"It's good to be back." He said with a smile.

His soirée over at Fort Hope had finally come to an end and it was nice to have him back. Without him, Abigail had taken on all the duties of buying and selling what we made or excavated from the dungeon.

She was handling it spectacularly, but I had taken up a portion of the slack to help her out and it was not something I liked doing.

I was familiar with numbers and spreadsheets and had spent a lot of time using them in college, but there were no computers to make it easy. If there had, I wouldn't have hated it so.

No, instead, everything needed to be done the old-fashioned way - On paper. Which took forever without the relevant skills, ones I didn't have. Manually balancing our expense sheet was tedious and long. We spent so much money that the list of receipts was nearly a mountain. I could do it and had done it, but now that he was back, it was something I would happily give away.

"Oh, I see that look in your eye. You just want me to pick back up the paperwork." Jonathan said with a laugh, "I see how it is."

"No, not at all," I said unconvincingly, "But it would be more efficient that way. But enough about that. Settle in and spend some time resting, we have a big day tomorrow."

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He looked puzzled then understood, "So we're doing it then. Even with those who went South not here?"

"I don't see why not. It shouldn't be that hard and the heaviest hitters are still here." I said.

The Healers had finally given their go-ahead. All my bones, muscles, ligaments, and every other part of my body were healed and recovered. All the fractures were fused back together and all the tendons along with them.

The injury that was the quickest to heal was my dislocated shoulder, as funny as that sounded. There wasn't even an arm attached to the joint. The longest was obvious and still wasn't regrown, but next up after that was the bones.

The sheer amount that needed to be healed made it difficult.

But, now that massive amounts of Healing skills and mana had been funneled into me, even my fortified body was forced to mend itself.

Now it was time for some fighting again. It wouldn't be tough, or anywhere close to a fun fight, but that was fine. This battle wasn't for my own amusement, it had reasons bigger than that.

We were finally upgrading our pylon.

I planned to get at least a few upgrades in tomorrow, as I didn't expect the first couple to be that hard. The waves had gotten harder, and the minions sent against us higher level than at first, but the mana level hadn't increased so much that upgrading from Outpost to Village scared me.

The main reason I had waited was for Jonathan to come back. By the time the Wall was in a position to weather an attack and my body didn't shoot flares of pain while moving, he was already on his way back and it wasn't that hard to wait a few extra days.

It was also another reason I couldn't go South to fight with Austin. We weren't planning to shoot through all the pylon upgrades right now, only enough to extend our range and increase our benefits, which was why we still sent people at all.

I felt we had more than enough firepower with those who remained. As I told Jonathan, all our heavy hitters were still here.

Rachel, Jonathan, Hal, and I were the main four, but a few others joined in that evaluation after the Demons. Gabriel grew as well, but not to the extent my mother did, surprisingly.

Even after the fight, she attacked the Dungeons with renewed vigor when we returned. Usually, her Dungeon Delving was subdued and only done as a token effort to level but now she was much more enthusiastic about it. She even upgraded her Wind Law, making it the highest-tiered Wind Law in the city, beating both Hal and me.

Her other Paths weren't as advanced, but she was planning to do a bit more before her evolution. The Wind affinity Body Refining Techniques we had didn't suit her fancy, which made her postpone going down that route.

That was odd to say.

Before her evolution.

That used to be something I thought about constantly as I leveled in the tutorial, but now, I hadn't thought about it in nearly a year. Shooting through four ranks and then stalling would do that.

Some in the City had already capped out at level 50. As sad as that sounded.

They didn't have a Law, go through Body Refining, or Form their Anchor which barred their evolution to E-rank. Some were fine with that. They lived their lives and were content with what they had, doing odd jobs in the city to make money.

Stores still needed clerks and it wasn't a requirement to have the profession. While it made things easier, it wasn't necessary.

Every time I thought about those people, I couldn't help the pity I felt. It was wrong to pity them, and I tried not to, but their worldview was so different than my own that it was hard not to.

To each their own.

The people dedicated to their Craft were different. Well, the rules still applied to them, if they had a Law they could advance, but they also had another way to move forward.

The books called it Inspiration, but it was essentially being skilled. If a Crafter was able to make something above their rank, they would be able to advance.

How something was considered 'above their rank' was up to The System but the general rule applied. Get really good at your craft, and you would be able to advance.

It was insanely rare, apparently, and only happened to the most genius of geniuses, but it was still an option, even if it couldn't be counted on.

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Most would still have to rely on the other requirements.

And the requirements to reach E-rank was the First step on any of the Paths, which wasn't that hard in my opinion, but maybe I was biased.

Looking back on it, it seemed too easy that the only thing required was one step. At the time of my evolution, I had a Tier 2 Law, a Body of Wood, and my Anchor Formed. A Step on all of the paths and a Second step for my Law.

Then again, I received a Legendary Class because of it, so maybe it wasn't too easy.

To evolve further and reach D-rank, a Second Step was needed. Either a Lesser Law, a Body of Stone, or a One Star Core. Anchors were weird. The fact that Spirit didn't have as many Steps as Body and Mind made every stage mean more.

Only having a Spirit Anchor was enough to reach E-rank and D-rank as in the eyes of The System, forming one counted as two Steps.

Requirements I already met.

Rachel also met them, and now my mother as well. I could feel Gabriel was close to a Lesser Law and so was Hal. I wouldn't doubt it if Austin was in the same boat.

It was something to think about now that people were closing in on level 100.

I had a lot of smithing and engraving in my future. I was not going to lose out on the extra stats for evolving at the same time.

Plus I needed Frost Giant parts.

And I needed to advance my Bloodline.

And I...

There was still a lot to do.

The list never ended.

It was a good day for a fight.

The Sun was high and the breeze carried the first hints of a chill. It was a good day for some bloodshed. Monster bloodshed, obviously. The poor saps that the System brought to face us for our pylon upgrade were in for a world of pain.

Even without my morning coffee, as I silently cried having to go without for so long, a pep was in my step.

I had gone through the higher floors of the Dungeon since the Demon fight but those were nothing against what I could do. Bumbling through them blindfolded and unarmored would still leave me the one out on top.

Still, I wasn't allowed to push it nor did I want to increase the time it took to recover, but today was different.

Today I could do whatever I wanted.

Well, I still couldn't give someone two thumbs up, but I could fight without worrying about reopening my wounds. Which was something to be excited about.

It was with a singing voice that I called out to Jonathan, "Gear up, buddy, it's time!"

He had been catching up on his work and his office was next to mine, which made gathering him up my first stop. He grunted in approval while placing pieces of parchment back into place.

"And get your Wife for me!"

I left him to it and ventured to my next stop, which was Hal's room. The man was a late sleeper as he had the night shift most of the time.

Knock, Knock.

"Hal-ison, it's time to wake up sweetie!" I intoned in my most motherly tone.

A groan and a thud was the only response, as he threw something against the door.

He would be up and geared in no time, and I was off to my next stop.

Both Gabriel and my Mother were already up and with a quick word, they were moving in the right direction and there were only a few more to find.

Everyone knew what the plan was, and I didn't need to go around gathering everyone, but I had nothing better to do. Plus I found it fun.

I got to skip around the Castle bothering people, what else could I ask for?

Eliciting little Anna's help only made it better, as I could sick her on the people who were moving too slowly. Having a small girl poking at them got them to move their feet.

The rest were gathered in much the same way but someone was hiding from me. Well, she wasn't hiding on purpose but she wasn't where I expected her to be, causing me to go on a little search through the Castle.

Which came up empty.

Then I asked around in the City, which also came up empty.

What the hell? Is she purposely hiding from me?

She knew what we were doing so that shouldn't be the case, but for whatever reason, I couldn't find her. Giving up, I went to find Vincent instead.

He needed some levels in his class anyway and this was the perfect opportunity for the Hammerman.

Unlike someone else, he was easy to find as I only had to follow the sounds of smithing.

His forge inside where the Inner Wall would eventually be built was finished long ago and he had been working in it ever since. Sometimes even sleeping in it, much to his wife's annoyance.

The heat was annoying but didn't bother me much as I pushed open the door.

I did reign in my enthusiasm and held back from startling the man with my shouting, as he was in the middle of hammering out a piece of metal.

It looked to be an axe head but it was only half finished and could still turn into something else. Halberd maybe?

I didn't see the shaft he was going to use lying around so it made it hard to guess.

Entering the stuffy place let me see he wasn't alone. My wayward Aunt was here as well, making my search throughout the Castle and City pointless.

Rachel was sitting with her legs crossed an arm's length away from the forge. Her eyes closed and she was doing... something. Sitting that close to the Spirit Fire while it was in use was dangerous to just about everyone but her.

I could do it and so could Vinny, but anyone besides the people in this room would burn. Gabriel might be able to battle against it with his affinity but he wouldn't last long at its current intensity. His mana would run out and he would be unable to protect himself.

Vincent's forging was ignored as I tried to puzzle out what she was doing. I hadn't known she was here and it was a bit of a surprise to see her.

Focusing my eyes, I watched for the telltale signs of Mana Manipulation but didn't see any.

Odd.

Is she studying the fire for her Law?

There was no way for me to see if she was comprehending something from the flame. It wasn't like the process gave off mana for me to see.

If she were comprehending an Ice Law, then I could have felt it resonate with my own but that wasn't the case.

Looking deeper didn't reveal anything different. I still couldn't sense any mana moving unnaturally.

I could feel the enchantments I had made feeding the Spirit Fire, which gave off waves of Fire Mana and Heat. Vinny was using the heat but the Fire mana was free to bounce around the room.

Some would be siphoned back into the enchantments through a Gathering Formation but most was left to linger in the air. Some would be absorbed, naturally, by the objects in the room.

The metal anvil, various smithing tools, the furniture, even Vincent, Rachel, and I. It was natural to pull in mana and everyone did it subconsciously. Vincent more than Rachel as he was actively using it during his craft.

Rachel and I were full which meant we pulled in less. I limited the amount I pulled in as Fire mana, especially Fire mana this pure, was a bitch for my affinity to cleanse.

Most of what I took in leaked back out as I didn't wish to keep it.

It was still hard to keep any absorption from happening. It felt unnatural and the sensation was hard to get over.

While Fire Mana leaked out of me, it also leaked out of Rachel.

Double odd.

If she was doing something with the mana then it wouldn't be leaking out of her.

Wait...

The mana she was taking in was less than she was giving off! It was minuscule and insanely hard to catch, but she was doing something with it.

Fire mana would be absorbed, and then less would come out.

The pounding of metal on metal faded away as I directed all of my limited perception on what she was doing.

Fire mana would be absorbed, and then less would come out.

Fire mana would be absorbed, and then less would come out.

She was... cycling it? Or something?

Pure fire mana would go in and less pure fire mana would come out.

Pure fire mana would go in and less pure fire mana would come out.

"Ah hah!" I exclaimed, breaking Rachel out of her meditation.

I hadn't meant to be so loud but I got excited after I figured out what she was doing.

"Took you long enough," Vincent said from right next to me causing me to jump.

I missed it when he stopped forging and he scared me from being so close without me realizing.

"What was that for?! I was in the middle of something!" Rachel was unpleased by my interruption.

"I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to." I apologized before going into why I was there, "But, now that you're free, it's time for the upgrade!"

She sighed in acknowledgment.

Turning to Vincent, "You too, buddy. I know you need the levels."

Vincent grunted but didn't deny it.

"Be on the Wall in 30!" I said before leaving.

Rachel was once again ahead of me in doing something I had put off.

When did she find the time to Purify her Bloodline?

It was cheating! She didn't have any responsibilities!