Chapter 65: The Snow Trench And The Blue Discovery!
The men gathered around where Neve had pointed in the forest clearing. It was just in the middle of the small clearing, away from the tall trees.
They started digging immediately, their hands moving fast, pushing snow aside. The cold bit at their skin, but they did not complain. Neve was directing them, and when Neve directed, people listened.
He didn’t know if they were obeying him because he was good at what he did or because they were simply scared of the dragon king’s threat.
They spent the first few minutes pushing through snow before they hit something solid beneath.
Sand.
The bare forest floor underneath all the white.
They continued digging downward, creating a deep trench that went down several feet. The high walls of packed snow around the edges created a natural barrier against the wind. Neve explained it to them as they worked.
"The snow walls keep the wind out," he said. "And the packed snow reflects heat inward. That keeps the core fire hot enough to burn wet waste."
Ryker watched him work with the expression of someone trying to understand how Neve knew these things.
"Is this going to work?" Ryker asked.
"Yes, just watch Ryker," Neve replied. He glanced up at Ryker’s serious face and smiled slightly before looking away.
He could see the number above Ryker’s head. It had not moved from earlier, but it remained present there, like a confirmation of what was building between them.
As if the universe wanted to help him fulfil his first mission, it had sent all of his mates to him in the name of protection. He had to find a way to get closer to them, to improve his relationships, to level up.
"Is this deep enough?" one of the men asked Neve.
Neve looked at the trench they had dug. It was four feet down. That was enough for the amount of trash they needed to burn.
He nodded. "That’s good."
He squatted and started using the snow to build walls around the trench. Making a natural containment for the fire. The men saw what he was doing and continued helping, packing snow into walls, creating the barrier that would reflect heat and keep the fire controlled.
"Please, let’s do it, Neve," one of them said.
"You don’t have to touch the snow," another one added. "It’s cold."
They pleaded with him to let them handle it. Even Ryker pulled him away from the snow work.
Ryker stared at Neve’s palm.
It was reddened. Just from touching snow for a few seconds, the skin had already turned red from the cold.
"You should get warm already," Ryker said, his voice carrying concern.
"I’m not cold," Neve replied. He watched the men continue building the snow wall around the trench. He put his hand inside his clothes to warm it.
That was when the system appeared.
Neve raised an eyebrow when he saw it.
A side mission.
{Survive the murder attempt}
{Reward: Immunity to poison}
Neve flinched slightly at the notification.
He was not particularly concerned about the murder attempt itself. But the reward. The reward was something he could use. Immunity to poison meant he could taste and eat anything without fear. He could consume herbs that were normally deadly. He could understand the world through taste and flavour without the risk.
He loved it.
But who was going to poison him?
He looked around the forest clearing. The men were busy creating the snow fence. Ryker was staring at him, wondering why he had flinched earlier.
Neve asked himself silently.
’Who is going to poison me?’
Immediately, Isabella arrived.
She came through the trees like she had been walking nearby and had simply decided to check on the progress. She was holding something small in her hand. A leather pouch that was different from normal water pouches. Smaller. Designed to keep whatever was inside away from contact with skin.
Neve’s eyes detected what was in it immediately.
His medical knowledge, combined with his heightened perception, identified the substance before his conscious mind fully processed it. The poison of the Golden Poison Frog. An extremely potent contact neurotoxin. One of the most deadly substances on the planet.
It worked by forcing neurological sodium channels to stay open permanently. It froze the nervous system. It stopped the heart and lungs from transmitting signals to the body. It led to rapid, unavoidable cardiovascular failure.
It was a death sentence delivered through skin contact.
Neve smirked and looked away.
So Isabella was going to try to poison him today. Isabella, who had been losing every confrontation, had decided to escalate to murder.
"Is there a problem?" Ryker asked. His protective instinct had activated again.
"A problem?" Neve smiled and shook his head. "I’m fine."
He looked back at the men still working in the snow. His eyes moved across the clearing and caught on something.
Blue.
Something blue mixed in with the white snow and the brown earth they had dug up.
His eyes detected it clearly.
Something was buried here. Something blue that had been hidden under the snow and forest floor for a long time.
"I’m really, really fine," Neve said quietly. "However, things just got interesting."
He stared at the blue thing half-buried in the trench they had dug.
Ryker followed his gaze.
"What is it?" Ryker asked.
Neve did not answer immediately.
He was processing three things at once. Isabella arrived with contact poison meant to kill him. The side mission appearing to test his survival. And now this blue object buried underneath the forest floor in the exact spot where he had decided to teach the men how to burn trash.
Coincidence did not exist in this world, but the system had guided him here.
"Neve?" Ryker pressed.
Neve smiled and turned away from the blue object.
"We should get the trash burning," he said. "Before it gets too dark."
He did not mention the poison, nor did he mention the blue object.
He simply walked back toward the trench and started the process of lighting the carefully constructed fire, aware of every movement Isabella made, aware of the poison in her hands, and of course, aware of the blue thing which was already in his hands.