Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

A somber atmosphere has weighed heavily over Quake City during the last 2 weeks. Over 90% of the residents of the city are either confirmed dead or missing and presumed dead. All of this is just from a single expedition into 'Hell's Pit'.

Although the Mercenaries were warned of the dangers before the expedition started, most thought that it wouldn't be so bad. It wasn't until the Branch Head returned did the remaining residents learn that nearly everyone who dove into the chasm died.

To make matters worse, those who did survive received so few Contribution Points that they could've just done a normal mission and gotten the same amount without the dangers involved.

The survivors couldn't even complain about the Mercenary Association's complete disregard for their lives as they were too weak to even get past the receptionist, Robin!

Robin was also able to make substantial progress in her cultivation and battle prowess during her time in Hell's Pit, so beating her up was even less likely.

She was able to make it to Stage 8 of the Core Formation Realm due to the density of the Qi. She just needs to consolidate her current cultivation and soon she'll be able to enter Stage 9 which would make her quite the talent using normal standards.

Unfortunately, she was the only one in the group to make any progress in her cultivation as Mira is holding back her breakthrough until she possesses all of the required items. Meanwhile, Rhydian needs a massive amount of energy in order to break through so although she did make some progress, it wasn't much.

Mira felt it was truly a shame that she couldn't make use of such a dense amount of Qi, but she knew that creating the best Core she possibly can is infinitely better than a few days of cultivation in an energy-rich environment.

That being said, the two weeks she spent waiting for the Branch Head weren't in vain. She used this time to dive into Hell's Pit a few more times to become more proficient with her Evolved Ice Wings, or the new name, Paragon Wings.

She felt that name suited the ability best because of how multi-purpose they are. They can be used as weapons, shields, bombs, or actual wings. They can basically do anything and as she grows stronger so will her Paragon Wings.

However, the main reason for calling them such is that these wings don't necessarily need to be made out of ice. She learned that she can use Yin Magma, Fire, and Lightning to make her wings, they just won't be as strong because her understanding of those elements isn't nearly as high as it is for ice. It also takes much longer to form them when she uses other elements so right now it's not very efficient, but hopefully, these variants will be more useful in the future.

When Mira heard from one of Elenei's long-range voice transmissions that the Branch Head finally returned to the Mercenary Association, Mira stopped what she was doing and made a beeline for the building.

She didn't want to waste another day of waiting as she had F.LD.I.L Item Trials to pass and who knows how long she'll be stuck doing that!

Of course, Mira has tried receiving her mission rewards from Robin and cashing in the Contribution Points, but it seems that all the arrays and formations that are tied to her Bronze Rank Token are offline because the Branch Head isn't there.

Luckily, Robin was able to tell her how many points she was going to receive from this expedition and Mira was ecstatic when she heard the number!

She would finally have enough Contribution Points to buy everything that she needed to buy from the Mercenary Association and then some!

How could she not be happy about that? Now she didn't have to waste any more of her time doing shitty missions!

Now that the Branch Head was back, Mira was finally able to cash in!

Not long after Mira left Hell's Pit, Mira made her way inside the Mercenary Association building. She walked up to Robin, who gave her a nod and a smile to which she nodded back, and tossed her Bronze Rank Token onto the counter.

Robin smiled wryly but knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted her Contribution Points for the expedition.

Without saying anything, Robin took Mira's token, and accurately counted up the Contribution Points, before adding them to her Token and then returning it.

Mira took it without hesitation and gave Robin a deep look before giving her a slight nod and walking off. Robin was a little speechless by Mira's behavior, but she wasn't too bothered by it. She knew that Mira rarely ever said anything. In fact, over the last almost year that she's known Mira, she's barely heard her talk and almost never received a nod from her.

The only time the two ever really talked was during their time in Hell's Pit, but that was mostly the two of them trying to coordinate during fights.

So, when she received a nod from Mira, she felt a little bit of happiness surge in her heart knowing full well what Mira meant.

Mira, on the other hand, directly went to the shop and hurriedly bought the rest of her items before anyone else could take them. Luckily, they were all still there and she didn't need to look elsewhere for them.

She was even able to buy a few items that will help Rhydian in her cultivation with her leftover Contribution Points.

Mira decided it would probably be for the best if she spends them all today as she can't see herself coming back to the Mercenary Association anytime soon. She also felt a little uncomfortable staying here because she did technically rob them blind of a resource that would allow their Association to rise in power.

She didn't feel bad or anything, but she just didn't want to get caught for some inexplicable reason. With her luck, getting captured by them for something they have no evidence of is entirely possible.

With those thoughts in her mind, Mira hurriedly spent the rest of her Contribution Points on things that Maria or Celaine might be able to use or maybe just random items she can toss into her Infinity Garden.

After buying everything she needed, Mira left the shop and was about to leave the building before she felt an odd sensation in her heart which caused her to stop. She didn't know what this feeling was, but when she looked around the room and made eye contact with Robin, she instinctively knew what she needed to do.

So, with a little hesitation, Mira started walking over to Robin, startling the poor girl.

The two didn't say anything as they just stared at each other as Mira continued closing in on her.

When Mira was a few feet away from Robin, she said,"You're a good kid, Robin. I can see that you're an extremely talented and intelligent girl so don't sell yourself short. You're much more capable than what you think you are. Try not to waste the rest of your time doing this. Find a teacher or someone that can help you further your Wind Dao and try to get into more fights to further our combat prowess. Stay true to yourself. I'll see you, hopefully a much stronger version of you, later." With that said, Mira turned around to leave not waiting for a response from Robin.

To be honest, Mira quite liked the girl as she is basically a more mature version of Maria. Well, maybe not quite, but she gave Mira a similar feeling. A feeling she's only felt around Maria.

Unfortunately, their paths are different and Mira knew that she shouldn't get too attached to someone she was going to surpass in the near future. Although this was extremely cold of her, Mira would always put herself first and hanging out with Robin would only halt her progress.

Still, she felt like she should say something before she left for good. She hoped that with these words Robin would have an easier time surviving in this harsh world and maybe one day, they'll meet in the future.

Mira felt that the likelihood of this happening was abysmally small, but maybe after hearing her words Robin will finally start using her talent and intelligence properly instead of just being a pretty face for an organization that doesn't care about her.

Robin was immediately stunned and speechless when she heard Mira's words. Those words, that were normally as cold as ice, seemed just a tad gentler and infused with a bit of warmth. Her words also left quite the impact on her psyche for a multitude of reasons.

Tears started forming in the corner of her eyes and her fists clenched so hard that her nails dug into her palm. She wanted to run up and give Mira a hug, knowing that this might very well be the last time she sees her, but she stopped herself from doing so.

'I'll give you a hug the next time I see you. Thank you for your words Mira, I truly needed them.' Robin's eyes soon became firm as dozens of thoughts started running through her head.

***

On the Fifth Floor of the Mercenary Association building, the Branch Head had kept a close eye on Mira ever since she entered the building. Lately, he's had this nagging feeling that one of the Mercenaries in this city is somehow related to the small bird that stole his treasure.

So, he's been thoroughly checking every person who walks into the Mercenary Association. He has his suspicions and although Mira wasn't his prime suspect, he's had this weird feeling regarding her.

When she entered the building, he thoroughly analyzed every centimeter of her body and even checked her aura and spatial ring!

Unfortunately, all of his checks came out normal. She didn't have anything useful in her Spatial Ring, there were no signs of that bird in her aura, and the last thing that dispelled his suspicions was that she actually showed up!

He was sure that whoever or whatever stole the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source was already long gone by now.

"Sigh, it looks like I'll have to continue searching for the person responsible for this. Hopefully, I can find them before having to report back to Headquarters… Sigh…"

***

Mira spent the next day riding Rhydian out of the city until they got far enough away that nobody would even have any hopes of sensing Elenei's aura.

Only then did Mira finally call for Elenei to return so she can collect her loot and finally start the F.LD.I.L Item Trials!