Night, Castaway Island, Alnilam Peak

  Orien was beginning to feel some of those blows he got earlier on his body, but they felt negligible compared to the pain he suffered while practicing his body refinement.

  'I know that soon I'll have to start perceiving and comprehending the cold in order to raise my affinity for ice. I am much more confident now that I don't have to multitask and focus on the Qi inside of me,’ he thought to himself.

  Without Wisp telling him, once he finished eating his dinner, he poured most of the water on himself, embracing the cool night air.

  Brrrrrrrrr. Orien couldn't help but laugh after the trembling began, "Wisp, this is a really crude way to raise my ice affinity, isn't it? I don't know anything about the outside world, but hearing some of the things you talk about, it seems this is truly ridiculous, huh?"

  "Hah! You get it? But alas, our options are very minimal. It's already amazing that we are able to practice raising your ice affinity in such a manner. Then again, I am a bit eccentric with my methods, hehe,” Wisp would have been licking his lips with a cruel expression if he had a face right now.

  Orien didn’t know it, but a very long time ago, this expression inspired fear from many youngsters that Wisp whipped into shape.

  Orien nodded with a smile. This was indeed all possible because of Wisp's guidance.

  He began to shiver really badly after about an hour, and he thoroughly ingrained the feeling into his mind. He didn't groan or grunt this time, but he couldn't help his teeth chattering.

  He remembered his dream, the dream of being encased in ice. He thought back to his conversation with Wisp at the start, when Wisp asked him why he wanted ice to be the affinity that he aimed for.

  ‘It is because of how I am inside. As a baby, I remember my mom said that I always preferred the cold. I always loved the winter and the snow as well. More than that, though, it is my personality. I know it's not normal, but sometimes I feel... a certain lack of empathy. No mercy. I feel the extent of cruelty that I'm capable of. I can feel... how cold I am. How much colder I could be,’ Orien’s thoughts went deep into his past.

  Orien felt like he was on the very cusp of understanding something important, but he was very distracted by the cold, and it was hard to maintain a proper train of thought. What he didn't know was that a seed was planted in his mind, and he would soon understand why.

  He was not sure when it was, but he eventually passed out. Whatever dreams he had tonight, he couldn’t remember them.

  If he did dream, though, he could bet he was probably inside of a block of ice again.

  Eventually, the second day came to an end. The third day started... and ended. The fourth, fifth, and sixth day went by as well. Orien's schedule differed slightly each day, but not nearly as much as the first day when he consumed the half pill.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The only other notable incident was around the fourth day, during Orien’s body refinement training. He was still somewhat paranoid, thinking that perhaps Lars would come back or even recruit more fellows to attack him together.

  ‘I should have just gone to Haruki’s house and left my message with his family. Now I don’t have any sense of comfort...’ Orien thought with a hint of frustration.

  “Orien! Quickly, hide! Climb a tree, dig a hole, do something! There’s a crowd of people on their way up to the peak and it looks like they’re looking for you! Hurrrryyy, goooo!!!” Wisp started to shout all of a sudden, and Orien nearly jumped out of his skin.

  He didn’t have the time to pack away his things, so he grabbed what he deemed was important and quickly ran over to the side. He climbed up into a tree and peered out towards the beaten path from his camouflage.

  He waited... and he waited.

  Just when he thought it was safe to come down from the tree, he saw multiple silhouettes appear over the horizon, coming from the peak pathway. “One, two, three... holy shit, there’s like twelve people, Wisp! I’m a dead man, they’re gonna find me!”

  Beads of sweat began to roll down Orien’s neck as he considered the possibility of him successfully staying hidden or bolting down an unmarked path and hoping he wouldn’t fall from a cliff and die.

  Before he could think any further... Squint. He squinted his eyes, only to see that the group consisted of mostly middle-aged women and one middle-aged man.

  The crowd then proceeded to take sips from their gourd, followed by shouting and singing a few motivational phrases and songs before heading back down the pathway at an even pace.

  Orien was speechless as he clung to the branch.

  “Wahahaha!! Woooooooo, get a load of this guy!” Wisp laughed harder than ever before.

  Orien’s face reddened with embarrassment and anger as he realized that Wisp had tricked him. What Wisp described as a group of people was actually a group of mothers and middle-aged women staying fit with a trainer.

  “You old piece of shit!!” Orien bellowed and made his way down the tree.

  “Why the hell would you play a prank like that?! What would you have done if I bolted into the tree line, never to be seen again, huh??” Orien was practically blowing steam out of his nose.

  “Waaahahaha, lighten up, lad. Haven’t I earned some entertainment by now? You should have seen your face!” Wisp spun around as though he was having the time of his life.

  Orien’s memory was sharp at times, and he wouldn’t forget about that incident that happened a few days ago. He shook his head, still annoyed and vowed that he would have to pull a prank on Wisp someday.

  "Looks like it's been a week already. I feel like I'm a lot stronger already, but that probably sounds like a big joke to you, huh, Wisp?" Orien asked.

  "Mmhmm, you're right about that, but I won't discredit you, kid. You've been training just as I instructed you, very good work,” Wisp praised Orien’s efforts.

  Orien smiled.

  'I feel like I have been smiling a lot lately,’ He thought. He didn't feel all the gloom that had been cast over him for the past few years.

  Orien turned to Wisp and said, "I'll have to head down to resupply and get some more water. I think I can just stash some of my belongings up here since I'll be back today. What will you do, Wisp?"

  "I'll tag along, of course. I would love a change of scenery,” Wisp said before continuing, “Who knows, maybe I'll get to go on a panty raid while we’re out.”

  Orien rubbed his eyes and the two descended the peak, Orien walking with a bit more power in his stride.