Aimless Ascension

Gale and Wang Li trudged through the mountainous terrain, their breath forming frosty clouds in the air. Gale gazed around at the stark landscape, his intuition telling him that something was near.

"There's magic in the wind," Gale muttered as they climbed the white snowy land, the chilly wild rising the more they traveled.

Wang Li clutched to the white animal fur over her robes, shivering in the cold, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"That the wind is magically or rather spiritually augmented," Gale explained. "I don't know the specifics, but I feel like it was emitting from some special place, perhaps the temple we are supposed to look for, perhaps another location."

"Well, that would make it easier, would it not?" Wang Li asked. Although she said that, she wasn't certain about it, since the cold was already unbearable.

"We'll see," Gale said.

The southern lands were more mountainous, full of ups and downs, and thick layers of snow covered the rugged terrain. Within a couple of hours of moving, their pace decreased as the snowy layer made it difficult, along with the chilly wind that rose both in coldness and sweetness.

"You know," Gale said, trying to make small talk. He had cast the radiance spell on Wang Li a couple of times so that she wouldn't get frozen. However, he wasn't in a tiptop state either, although he was far from reaching his limit.

"What?" Wang Li asked, turning her head, finding him not saying anything.

Gale didn't say anything, peering around as if he sensed something.

"Gale?" Wang Li called, alert, finding him serious.

Wang Li scrambled back, her heart racing as the ice golem loomed over her. She "Stand dowwwnnn!" Gale shouted. However, before he could finish, something lurched under their feet and sent them flying in different directions.

Gale sprang into the air, his legs maneuvering to land almost perfectly. Wang Li, on the other hand, wasn't as skilled and fell on her butt with a huge white monster between them.

It seemed to be an ice golem, which had been hiding in the snow so far and now towered over them. The creature's glowing blue eyes flickered with malevolence, and its jagged arms were poised to strike.

Gale gripped his bone sword with both hands as he sprinted towards the ice golem, lest it chose to go after Wang Li first. He felt the cold biting into his bones as he got closer and closer. The golem's breaths became visible, and its eyes glowed brighter as it readied itself to attack.

Wang Li scrambled back, her heart racing as the ice golem loomed over her. She wished she had been more prepared for such an encounter. Gale yelled at the ice golem, and it charged towards him with a deafening roar.

Gale dodged the first swing of the golem's arm, barely avoiding being crushed. He leapt into the air and struck the golem's head with his bone sword. The golem staggered back, but it didn't seem to be hurt.

The ice golem swung its arm again, and Gale dodged to the side, narrowly escaping the attack. Wang Li watched, her eyes wide as the two fought. She felt helpless and scared, wondering if they would make it out alive.

Gale continued to dodge and strike, each hit leaving a small crack on the golem's icy exterior. The golem retaliated with powerful swipes and blasts of icy wind. Gale felt his body grow numb, and his breaths became visible in the cold air.

Wang Li retreated a few steps, keeping herself out of the battle's path, but she kept her weapon ready in case she needed to provide support.

The ice golem charged at Gale, swinging its massive arms in a wide arc. Gale quickly dodged the attack and moved in for a counter-attack. He leapt high into the air, his bone sword glinting in the fading light, and brought it crashing down on the golem's head.

The creature roared in anger and retaliated with a flurry of strikes, each one causing an avalanche of snow to cascade down the mountain.

Gale was quick, though. He ducked, dodged, and parried with grace and precision, landing several well-placed blows on the ice golem's legs.

Sadly, the creature seemed immune to pain, and its attacks only grew more ferocious with each passing moment. Moreover, no matter what damage Gale caused, it simply sucked in more snow from the ground to recover.

At this rate, he knew he had to do something drastic to stop the beast.

"This can't be happening," Wang Li shouted, noticing that Gale was beginning to tire. "Do you have any way to end it?"

"We need to find its core," Gale shouted back. "It's probably in the head or chest. If we destroy that, the golem will be no more."

Wang Li remained on the back of the golem, her bone sword ready to make it difficult for the golem to move.

"Get its attention if you can," Gale shouted after her.

Wang Li plunged her sword into the back of its icy feet, causing it to stagger forward a few steps. Gale seized the opportunity and charged forward, his sword blazing with radiant power. He swung his blade in a wide arc, cleaving through the golem's icy flesh with ease.

But that wasn't enough, he had to destroy the core.

Gale climbed on top of the beast, his sword piercing through its thick icy layers of skin, digging deeper into its head.

The creature let out a final, deafening roar, struggling to throw him off. Gale jabbed his fist into its breaking head as the ice started to crumble. He destroyed the head, but the core wasn't there. However, the golem wasn't able to make a new head either. It couldn't sense them anymore, and could only struggle with Gale on top of it.

The icy golem fell on the ground, rolling over Gale, its enormous weight almost crushing his bones. Thankfully, the snow below was softer. Gale sparked with radiant power, pulling whatever he could from the mostly restricted radiant core.

He didn't know if it was him or Wang Li who was to keep attacking the golem after it fell with her sword, but one of their swords pierced through its core.

Unfortunately, the golem didn't crumble to the ground in a shower of snow and ice as they hoped, but it burst in an explosion, shooting thick, icy chunks in all directions.