Change: New World

Frozen Heat - Attack

I managed to crawl my way into the ventilation shafts.

It was a tight fit, barely enough room for me to crawl through. Honestly, if a monster came and attacked me at this instant, regardless of level, I would probably die. Plus, to add to that, the heat was already killing me. My back was already drenched in sweat as the heat and humidity amplified through this cramped metallic tunnel.

Damn summer.

I moved painstakingly along the heated surface. It took a great big deal of effort; exaggerated wriggling, and hopeless crawling were among the several things I did, but eventually, I reached a small opening within the ducts.

It was a mesh like opening, held in place by four corner screws that, overlooked a room down below.

Cool air flowed from the bottom, and as I moved closer to look down below, I saw the familiar scene of sleeping Werewolf scouts.

The crisp breeze, which cut through the thick summertime humidity, teased my enflared cheeks as I brought my face closer to the edges of the opening. I was so close, yet so far from escaping this oven like compartment that was currently roasting me from the outside in.

Nevertheless, I held back my rising complaints, and quietly looked down, peering at the scene though the gaps of the wirey mesh.

As expected, the room below was dark, void from any light. The curtains had successfully fulfilled their intended jobs as almost all forms of light were blocked from illuminating the room. In the end, this greatly impaired my vision, as I struggled to make out the finer details of the darkened silhouettes that I saw.

Luckily, humans are surprisingly adept.

In a little less than 2 minutes, my eyes adjusted and as I adapted to the darkened surroundings.

I looked at the room with renewed purpose.

The primary reason why I had decided to make my way here in the first place, was to observe, after all, I wanted to see and confirm with my own eyes, the instant the wolves die. It was a measure of reassurance, in a sense. I didn’t want any lingering survivors to jump out and attack our group the instant we let down our guard.

Although a secondary reason did exist, on that I kept close attention to in the back of my mind.

In short, I was concerned. I was worried that the plan may boil down to failure, and If it was from up here, through the ventilation ducts where I currently looked down from, I could react fast enough to any… unexpected complications that may arise.

If inevitably, the plan were to fail, I needed to be at the right time, and at the right place to ensure our survivability rate remains high.

I gripped the half empty water bottle I had brought along with me. I felt its heated plastic surface with the palm of my hand, as i struggled to refrain from shaking the clear container. The contents of the bottle, which ranged from an odd medley of bolts, magnets, and screws, held the risk of making noise.

I want to keep the room quiet. Although I said that, a faint, sort of hissing sound was produced from the growing amount of dry ice in the room below. Luckily, it was a rather soft, and it didn’t seem like even the wolve’s sensitive ears could pick up on the baily audible noise.

But in regards to the bottle’s contents, the situation would be different. I knew well enough that shaking a bottle full of metal scraps in a place like the ventilation ducts was akin to playing death metal in a nursing home.

A bad idea.

At this point, I don’t really know why I brought this bottle along with me. It was nothing more than a placeholder for a failed dream. Something easily likened to a charm. It had no purpose save for a few flimsy sentimental reasons.

From my vantage point, I observed Cielle’s slow process of moving the dry ice into the quiet ice. She maneuvered the tiny, broken up bits and pieces of solidified carbon dioxide through the small gap created by the slightly opened door.

Pieces of [Dark Gemini] kept the ice elevated during this process, until Cielle gently released her skill, placing the ice softly and inaudibly on the carpeted floor. She scattered the ice around the pack of wolves, just like I instructed, and in no time, almost half of the original dry ice was now scattered across the room. This process was currently ongoing for 10 minutes, and at this point, things were barely halfway done.

I wondered whether Cielle had a large enough mana capacity to follow through with this, but I brushed aside such a worry.

Surprisingly, [Gemini Blue] was a unique magic skill which wasn’t too demanding mana wise. In addition with Cielle’s [Healer] title, the mana consumption was reduced to a great enough extent where my worries turned ceaseless.

Although in hindsight, Cielle’s magic control was pretty amazing. Observing, I marveled at her fluid control, as she maneuvered, mainly through intuition and feeling. Since most of her vision, was blocked out by the room’s wall, and it was pretty much impossible to see through the gap that the door created, Cielle had to rely mainly on her prior knowledge of the room’s layout as well as my previous assessment of the werewolves’ positions.

Naturally, this was an extremely difficult task to manage, but somehow or another, she remedied these problems with her precision control.

It was a dangerous game of guess and prediction, but Cielle’s fore knowledge more than made up for that risk.

This left me some bit of comfort. Seeing Cielle’s control, I wasn’t as worried as before. My previous anxiety concerning this topic quickly dissipated as I repositioned myself to look back down at the monsters below.

At first, I seriously did start to believe that a quiet victory was well within our grasps. The wolves were still quietly sleeping, and the ice was slowly accumulating, as well as the subsequent white mist and carbon dioxide.

But that sort of hopeful thinking was quickly questioned, as from what I observed, I quickly came to the conclusion that such a conveniently easy victory will happen.

In the computer lab below, I could see… slight movement among the pack of wolves.

It wasn’t anything major or anything, in fact, I doubted what I saw was real or not in the first place, but after a bit of squinting and glaring, I confirmed what that the “slight movement” wasn’t some form of visual illusion, but was indeed reality.

The wolves were… moving. Small, almost imperceptible motion, like a slight twitch in their leg, or a shake of their hides.

I don’t know whether such gestures were common symptoms to carbon monoxide poisoning or that thing Hina had said - Hypercapnia- but I seriously doubted they’d… react so soon.

Wasn’t it a bit too early?

The room wasn’t even filled all the way yet, and not to mention the door wasn’t sealed. And while the carbon dioxide did start to build up, I had some serious doubts as to whether or not it was enough to arouse such symptoms.

As I continued to monitor the scene below with an ever growing frown, my eyes were instantly drawn towards an even greater source of motion.

A rough shaking, and a slight turn of the head brought my full attention. This leap in movement came none other from the back of the room.

There, the Alpha Wolf, nestled alongside well placed broken computers, and ravaged office chairs, moved its head with more than a slight twitch. It’s mouth almost unconsciously snarled as its face contorted in discomfort. Its eyes were still closed, but unsurprisingly, its nose wriggled annoyingly.

Rather, the noses of several wolves were currently moving about frantically.

I broke out into a cold sweat.

The annoying heat from earlier instantly forgotten, as a shiver of anxiety buzzed through my system, bringing my senses into full alert.

This anxiety was only made worse by my foggy understanding of the situation.

All I knew was that the monsters were reacting to the dry ice earlier than expected and this concerned me. I didn’t exactly know why though. The ice was supposedly odorless and Cielle had cautioned herself to not make any excessive noise during the transfer.

What exactly where the wolves reacting to?!

I unscrewed the mesh like opening of the ventilation duct with the tip of Efhermet’s blade. Once it came loose, I quickly caught it before it fell to the floor below, and moved it aside as I poked my head out from the confines of the shafts.

Instantly, a wave of cool air greeted my sweat streaked face, as I silently gasped out in joy.

I squinted through the darkness, and from my new vantage point, strained to get a better grasp on the situation.

I sniffed the air cautiously, only to leave me even more perturbed. The room smelled the same as when I first cracked the door open; a mix of dried blood and wet dog. It wasn’t a pleasant stench, but still, I thoroughly inhaled the room.

I was looking for something… out of the ordinary.

Something more artificial. Chemically. Anything that indicated that dry ice was emitting some sort of odor. As I did so, stray conjecture floated across my mind; maybe the ice wasn’t as pure as I first thought. Maybe some other chemical or substance was emitting a stench as the ice slowly melted.

But this conclusion was quickly refuted.

There wasn’t anything that my average-sensitivity nose could pick up. To me, it was just a mess of wet dog and rotting blood.

….

[But that didn’t mean these wolves smelled the same thing I did..]

Such a thought was the first thing that jolted my attention back towards the Alpha Wolf.

My eyes instantly darted towards the blackened snout of the alpha wolf. Through the haze of darkness and quickly gathering white mist, I could make out the ever growing frantic wriggling of that black bulb that adorned its ferocious face.

[... it can’t be…]

After hard gazed scrutinizing, I came to a rather terrible conclusion, one I would have much rather refuted.

Somehow or another, these dog like creatures could sniff out the odorless stench of solidified carbon dioxide.

It wasn’t really all that surprising, canines in particular had pretty well developed sense of smell. That’s why dogs were often utilized by police to sniff out drugs and such.

It was an obvious thing, but...

I… I hadn’t considered that.

[Damn it.]

I grounded my teeth as I lamented.

I wasn’t even sure whether solidified Carbon Dioxide emitted an odor. I wasn’t even sure that regular dogs or wolves could sniff out Dry ice. But none of that mattered.

I was too grounded in reality.

I was too grounded in reality, that I completely forgot that these creatures were anything but. They weren’t restricted to the rules of my reality. These fanciful creatures may have been capable of sniffing out what was normally considered odorless. Their noses may have been several times more sensitive than what I was normally accustomed to. For all I knew, these monsters were something capable of other worldly things with enough ease and comfortability that it would even shock the most deranged of fanatics.

My current world was one of both fantasy and reality. Unless I fully grasped this concept, I’d truly be in a disadvantage.

I lamented over this misfortunate miscalculation, as the Alpha Wolf, and some of the other Werewolf Scouts, began to visibly rustle in their sleep.

Their noses continually twitched with ever increasing severity.

At this point, for all I knew, apart from the "odorless" odor of dry ice, they were probably now sniffing me out as well. After all, I had accumulated quite the perspiration and stench in this dingy metal coffin.

I gulped down, willing myself to bury the piling anxiety. I glared at them with intensity, almost hoping that they would stay asleep, but alas, this reality isn’t so agreeable.

In a little less than 30 seconds, the Alpha wolf’s eyes were now half open, still sleepy, yet unmistakably alert by now.

I hesitated for a moment, before I moved into action.

The original plan was now an utter failure.

The wolves would all wake up in no time, and would instantly take action. We had already lost the luxury of a quiet victory.

I gripped the edge of the opening, and slowly dangled my body into the room. My feet pointed downwards, directly below the middle of the pile of groggy Werewolves.

As I pushed my body out from the opening, the empty bottle of water fell harmlessly downwards. Despite the subsequent noise it made upon impact, it rolled harmlessly away from the congregated pack.

I held in bated breath, while I waited. After a while, I let loose an almost audible sigh of relief upon realizing that the clanging of metal scraps hadn’t woken up the wolves.

[Although, not like it matters at this point…]

If these creatures were going to wake up soon anyways, I might as well throw in a surprise attack while I’m at it.

I glared at the Alpha that rested further ways back, and inwardly, I decided that the creature would serve as my personal way point.

Slowly but with deliberate motion, a rocked my lower body forward. Starting with my feet, my body swung towards the Alpha. Like that, my body continued rocking back and forth; forward, backward, forward, backward.

I repeated this set of actions until I deemed it sufficient, where, at this point, I finally let loose my grip. I used my body’s generated momentum to move me across the room, aiming directly towards the half groggy Alpha wolf, who, luckily, still hadn’t noticed me.

With a determined glare, I looked down at the massive wolf, as my body quickly gained speed due to the effects of gravity. At my current rate, I would land directly on top of the beast. I’d have exactly one opportunity to land a surprise blow.

I gritted my teeth as, in the briefest instant of time, I deliberated my options.

[Should I use dissect?

Where do I aim? Its foreleg? Do I aim to reduce its speed with an early amputation? Maybe it would be best to go for the head? Can I penetrate through its skull?

Damn it which one should I do?]

Caught in a brief spite of indecision, my overthinking left me no room for a rational hit.

[Screw it! Just hit wherever!]

With such a thought, I gripped Efhermet with both of my sweat laden hands as I aimed randomly at the Wolf’s main body. In the end, I drove the end of my sharpened blade deep into the monster’s side, directly below its right armpit.

As the blade sunk deeper and deeper due to the added force of my inertia, the Alpha male let out a blood curdling screech of pain.

I quickly yanked the blade out from the new wound and leapt back away from the wolf.