Shovels In Spades

Madison approached the edge of Mr Barrier's shield and then drew her longsword, Family. Daz watched on with Katy, Kathy, and Ellie, in fascination.

'I wonder how she'll remove the snow,' Daz thought. 'An old skill that's been improved like her Laceration or Divine Cross? Maybe she's gotten a new skill or two that's even more powerful...'

Madison's stance was firm and unyielding as if she were a mountain facing off against the forces of nature.

Daz could even feel the Embers within him stirring upon watching her. 'The Ember of Edges and the Ember of Swinging, huh? My Ember of Digging is resonating with them a bit. This should be a sight to behold.'

And what a sight it was. The air around Madison hummed as power swelled from within her sword. She swung Family and the world shook.

The snow outside of the barrier flew every-which-way and for the first time since coming to this strange place, Daz could see his surroundings perfectly clearly.

Hundreds of buildings surrounded them from all angles, all of which were only a single story tall. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they were all made entirely out of a glassy ice that to the untrained eye looked rather ordinary if not beautiful.

With his Mana Sensitivity, however, Daz could feel the magic flowing through the walls. It was a strong current of a white, almost traceless yet extremely deep well of magic.

He could now also feel several beings much like the one he had killed just outside of the walls staring at him and his group.

"There's a lot of those things lingering around here, The Owned," he said as he slowly looked around. "They're hiding in the buildings just watching us. I couldn't sense them before though. I think the snow blocks my ability to detect magic."

"You can do that? Detect magic, I mean," Ellie asked in surprise.

Daz nodded. "It's a stat. Makes me more sensitive to magic. Anyway, the snow's picking up again already. Let's head to that palace off in the distance, shall we?" he asked, pointing at the distant structure of ice that didn't pale in comparison whatsoever when compared to Castle Skip regarding, size, scale and grandeur.

"Sounds like a plan," Ellie agreed as she moved all of her robots back into the barrier. "No point letting more get destroyed by those things."

Daz nodded, agreeing with her decision. They then immediately began following the main road towards a distant building that was far larger than the rest and was likely the home of whoever was running this place - The Owner.

As they walked towards what was quite clearly a palace upon closer inspection, Daz spoke to Madison. "That was incredible. Did you do that with just Embers? If so, I'd love to train with you. My skill with my Ember of Digging is pretty lacking in comparison."

While he had gained beginner-level mastery of the Ember of Digging it really wasn't meant for combat. At least, not his understanding of it. He could dig a hole with great speed, skill, and delicacy but honestly, without Hamson or his Quintessential Shovel Arts, it was a very frail asset for fighting with.

If he could get some enlightenment from a few spars with Madison, then that would be fantastic. Madison nodded happily.

"Mmm, would, love, to," she said before adding, "but, not, just, Embers. Alteration, too."

"Ah, I see. What did you alter, exactly?" Madison's esper power was incredibly versatile with a big enough imagination powering it.

In light of that, Daz couldn't even begin to think of what she might have changed to so explosively move the snow away.

"Snow, weight. Sword, force. Wind, pressure, direction," she explained.

Daz nodded. "That makes sense... Still, to clear such a massive area... How draining was that?"

"Very," Madison admitted.

"I see. Well, just relax then. Nothing can get through Mr Barrier so now that we know where we're going, reaching the palace and maybe even the throne room should be effortless," Daz said.

As if to agree with him, the little blue furball atop his fiancée's head purred happily.

Daz smiled a little at that before saying, "I'll be just outside the barrier. Snow or not, it's still insanely chilly out there and it'd be a waste not to level up my Cold Resistance skill."

The young twins wore looks of childish concern on their faces. "But the monsters..." Katy mumbled. Kathy mirrored her and said, "It's dangerous..."

Daz chuckled faintly. "Not for me. Besides, even if the storm is picking up again, I'll be right next to the barrier this time. There's no need to worry about me."

"Be careful," both girls said in unison.

"I will. Maddy would kill me if I died, after all," Daz joked to which Madison pouted with her eyes.

Just as the snowstorm was about to return to its full force, Daz's group had reached the bottom of a winding staircase.

This staircase of dark-blue ice led straight to the palace and it was overflowing with that deep white magic he had sensed in the buildings earlier.

Thankfully, Daz hadn't been attacked on the way there. Presumably, The Owned either feared him or had been ordered to simply watch them for now.

He felt the latter was more likely given that they were soulless and seemed to run on a baseline instinct of some sort. Regardless, the lack of action had helped Daz focus on his Cold Resistance.