An unnatural cold crept into everyone’s bones on the Western front as a silent figure in sweatpants walked past the front lines with a casual stroll. An Asian man, with the most exhausted look anyone’s ever seen, walked slowly towards the rampaging goblin horde. He casually put up a hand to catch his yawn as it crept out of his mouth.

  A shout of warning erupted from the backlines to retreat. The troops all raced back to the first barricades as the world literally started to freeze.

  “That sleepy freak! Fire Mages put up a barrier of heat around the front lines stat!” shouted Joshua with a booming voice.

  “It’s Zero, get back!” waving his hand in a hurried rush.

  “Uuuggggh, what a pain!” murmured Zero, as he casually lowered his hoodie. “The old man told me to put on a show for morale while he’s gone. Guess I owe him a few.” he lazily spouted as he slowly strode towards the oncoming horde.

  Grug, one of the goblins, fought for the magic voice. In every generation, the tribe got to fight when the God Voice spoke. Every chief from all the tribes had followed the voice and it made them stronger when they returned. Most died, but they were weak. If you came back, you got all the wives or husbands you wanted. You get all the spoils. Grug wanted everything. He’d just kill these fleshies.

  His war party descended on the small flesh man like a swarm. As one of his brothers neared him, he stopped moving. Grug thought that he must be a stupid one, stopping like that.

  “You go help and kill the stinky man!” he yelled to another member of his party. “Stab his gut!”

  A particularly nasty looking goblin with a hatchet stabbed towards Zero’s neck.

  “God, do you need to be so loud!” said Zero putting his right finger in his ear as each of the approaching goblins aimed for his life.

  “Minor Ice Age.” He spoke softly as cold air and moisture seemed to continue to radiate from his body in all directions. The more mana he focused on the skill, the longer this would last.

  Minor Ice Age [Channeled]

  This skill unleashes a torrent of hyper-concentrated freezing air fueled by rapidly draining mana reserves.

  Frigid winds blast outwards from the user with rapid depletion of mana.

  Area and Temperature add a multiplicative effect to the skills cost.

  The old man had asked him to hold out as long as possible, and that’s what he’d do. He hoped this was enough to pay him back.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  This world had been hell. Shiro truly thought that he wanted to be brought to another world or gain powers, just like in all his shows growing up. One hour into this hellish lifestyle changed his mind immediately. Powers weren’t worth a quiet day and a good show. He started calling himself Zero, as it was the only freedom left to him now. His ice powers mimicked his favorite anime character from the ghost show when he was a kid, through its use he felt nostalgic.

  “Damnit, how long has it been. I’m starting to feel a bit woozy here. They just left me out here alone?” he spat, starting to lose consciousness from the mana expenditure.

  A message popped in front of him.

  Attention: Minor Ice Age is attempting to be shared and boosted using Mana-Bound Contract by Alexander Evans. Your power will be doubled, and your mana price will be halved each. A log of your memory to this point will be saved. Do you Consent?

  “I consent!” Zero yelled out through gritted teeth.

  Instant cooling relief filled his body as his mana replenished. With this he knew he could hold out for another 2 minutes easily. That was when the power hit Zero like a truck. “Oh, this is nice!” he said as the wave of ecstasy washed over him.

  “If that’s the case, why don’t we finish all of this off now!” said Zero cackling aloud while caught up in the rapture of power. He decided to push the extra he had gained out in a massive cold wave. This was something new he’d been wanting to try but never had the available mana. He always passed out at the attempt.

  “Flash Freeze.” he said gleefully. And the world went white.

  Flash Freeze [Active]

  Instantly infuses super cooled moisture into the air or ground to below freezing. Further causes structural integrity for shattering blows.

  Warning: Proximity can cause extreme collateral damage.

  One of the first things survivors say when you get in The Killing Fields, speak to the old man about power recommendations. Of course, Zero would never ask anyone for help. They seemed just as lost as he did. Everyone wanted to be strong, but one wrong move and your power could turn on you. Too much smoke from fire can kill the user as quick as any blade.

  The old man had approached him, completely unprompted, to offer up advice. He asked Zero if he understood the production of ice.

  “I know it changes from water, like anyone else.” responded Zero in a mocking tone.

  “What exactly are you controlling?” Threads asked. “Do you control ice or does that include all forms of water?”

  And many, many more questions. Zero didn’t know the answers. The old bastard was just curious. The man patted his back and told him that he did a good job after witnessing his fight in the early days. Told him to visit a library and study, claiming he loved the same character. He then waved his hand and casually strolled off to help someone else.

  After that Zero learned and studied whenever possible. No one had offered suggestions until that day, they just all called him strong and solo.

  As he viewed the results of his new skill, Zero could only think of one thing. “He’s never gonna shut up about this.” he laughed with a coppery taste starting to fill his mouth.

  Something had touched his neck, but none of that mattered anymore. He dumped the rest of his mana into the Flash Freeze skill. The dusty plains went completely silent, save a cracking sound. The ground was littered with frozen shards of ice as the wind blew. People remarked that it looked like a glacier had touched down in front of the boy.

  Zero, had single handedly eradicated an entire goblin war party. People rushed to catch the young boy before he passed out. Mere inches from his neck, a particularly nasty looking goblin’s body cracked and split in two.

  Grug had fought for glory. He had almost pushed his blade through the little fleshies neck. His loss doomed his entire clan and as he died, he cursed them.

  He missed his tribe’s cave within the forests of Beastholm. He often saw other beast people, but they were people of the land. Humans always brought problems.

  With his dying breath, he prayed to his mighty God, Ursus, to avenge his people.