Snowfield Slaughter
After creating Dawn's Snowfield, Suhyun kept tinkering with jewelry designs, but the results were underwhelming.
Exquisite earrings shaped like snowflakes, crafted by a master mage artisan from metal infused with cold mana.
- Injecting mana causes snowflakes to swirl around the wearer.
"What the hell is this? Inject mana and snowflakes swirl around you?"
Suhyun glanced at the pointless decorative option on the snow crystal earrings and tossed them into a wooden box in the corner. No matter how useless the magic tool seemed, he'd show it to Daiyen and have her sell it if possible. If even she said it was worthless, he'd melt it down for arrowheads.
Until Daiyen arrived after coordinating with Eira, the only success in Suhyun's mind was Dawn's Snowfield.
"Suhyun, I have something to discuss."
"You didn't have to come all the way here—could've just messaged me."
Daiyen looked a bit troubled at Suhyun's words. Though they sometimes used casual speech in private, it wouldn't look good to onlookers. Even without an official title, Suhyun was treated as nobility above a baron as a mage tower graduate. And as Nautilus's owner, he needed to project that authority. So in public, Daiyen was always respectful, but Suhyun treated her casually without a care. Daiyen didn't mind—after all, she was human too—but from a professional standpoint, she was about to say it wasn't appropriate when Suhyun tossed her a ring, making her gasp in surprise.
"What's this?"
"What do you think? Pretty, right?"
With a central red ruby surrounded by metal depicting a snowfield, the ring captivated Daiyen's gaze. Completely unlike anything Suhyun had made before, it left her stunned, and Suhyun grinned in satisfaction at her reaction.
"To think you could make something like this!"
When the central ruby caught the light, it flowed along the surrounding gold, evoking the bright sun at dawn over the snowfield. The ring was flawless in its beauty. As the light shifted, the reflections changed: the ruby cast warm hues, while the platinum metal mimicking snow on trees gleamed with an icy chill. Warmth and cold coexisted perfectly in one ring, stealing Daiyen's heart entirely.
"It's yours."
"Pardon?"
"Boosts mana recovery for fatigue relief, and it gives cold resistance—wear it whenever you're heading somewhere chilly."
The unexpected expensive gift made Daiyen's eyes spin. As a merchant, she couldn't even estimate its value. Artisanal artifacts with both aesthetic and practical value were in high demand but scarce supply, sometimes fetching dozens of times their base price. This ring might even trade for gold equal to Daiyen's body weight.
"Ah, uh... thank you."
Rationally, she should argue to sell it immediately, but gratitude spilled from her lips instead. She'd always said sellable goods mattered more than pretty trinkets, but this ring silenced that.
"I also made some jewelry from the produced metal. Check them out and return anything unsellable."
Suppressing the urge to open the wooden box piled by Suhyun's side right then, Daiyen got to the point of her visit.
"Suhyun, Lady Eira has a commission."
"What is it?"
Daiyen hesitated at Suhyun's question, fiddling with the ring he'd given her before speaking.
"A request to subjugate the monster pack near Bostain territory."
As she was about to detail Eira's terms, Suhyun cut in.
"Noble rewards are whatever—I'm no good at profit calcs. Do you think the conditions are worth it?"
Trusting Daiyen's judgment fully, Suhyun's question earned a nod.
"Yes, they're beneficial for Nautilus Merchant Group's growth."
"Then we'll do it."
Hunting in snow-capped mountains was dangerous even for hunters accustomed to snowfield life. You couldn't tell the terrain beneath the snow, and the cold turned sweat inside winter gear into ice, draining stamina and choking hunters. Monsters swimming through snow, bounding atop it, or flying overhead made mountain hunts risky no matter the experience.
But hearing Eira's request, Suhyun instantly devised a safe way to traverse the snowy peaks and hunt monsters.
Monsters living in the snowfield's cold mana all carried it, so bio-metal from their corpses retained it too. Using trees grown absorbing local mana, he created snow skimmers that glided over snow like sleds on ice.
Eira marveled, riding a small floating vessel climbing the mountain against the slope. Made from Suhyun's bio-metal and local timber, the magic craft—part boat, part sled—left minimal traces on deep snow, propelled by mana at high speeds, making hunting effortless.
As Suhyun piloted the skimmer swiftly, Eira leaned out with her mace, smashing monster skulls.
"This is too fun!"
Monsters fleeing over snow used to escape, but now outpacing them, Eira bashed their backsides with a beaming smile.
Lucy and Morian's skimmers followed, recovering shattered-skulled corpses while scouting during hunts.
Local hunters from the logging camp, mainly snow hunters, boarded one by one to scout terrain and trace monster origins. Their expressions darkened.
"Numbers seem higher than expected."
Bostain's hunters were experts, tracking even snow-covered traces to predict monster types and ages via mana. Combining traces, they estimated passersby—and it exceeded imagination.
"How much food is in this snowfield for them to keep breeding like this?"
Farming was tough, hunting scarce; northerners imported grain to barely feed few folk. What fueled monster booms? Eira wondered aloud.
"Recent warmth probably boosted their numbers then."
"Damn it, we said cull them in warm spells, but they ignored it—now this."
Monster surges hit lumberjacks and hunters first. A huntmaster, serving Bostain since the previous lord's exile for the same warning, muttered. Eira apologized.
"I'm sorry—it's all our fault."
"No, milady. You've funded hunts from your own purse."
"Still, as family, I can't escape the blame."
Lucy and Morian uncomfortably silent amid the heavy talk, but Suhyun pressed.
"So, how many?"
"Goblins around 300, three tribes estimated. Trolls, five packs or more."
"And traces of a large monster too."
They hesitated, deeming it excessive, but Suhyun shrugged nonchalantly.
"More than thought, but nothing we can't handle."
Eira and retainers glanced surprised at Suhyun. They'd seen him annihilate packs with three spells and craft snow runners, but his casual tone shocked them.
Guided to a goblin village, they understood his confidence.
At the small basin village, Suhyun poured flask liquid on a tiny metal statue, chanting.
"The cow drinks water and it becomes milk, the snake drinks water and it becomes poison. The snake drinks poison, so that poison grows ever deadlier."
The tiny statue writhed, impossibly holding vast venom, baring fangs to drip one drop.
"Poison spreads like plague, forming mist; all within shall be poisoned."
⟨ Poison Cloud ⟩
Poison Cloud
The drop soaked into snow, venom-hued mist slowly sinking toward the goblin basin. Thick and visible at first, it dispersed invisibly, undetectable by village arrival.
Invisible poison, but effects were clear: healthy goblins wept blood, spewing from orifices before collapsing; nearby ones followed identically.
Eira shivered at the sight.
"What poison is that?"
"Melting Blood Toxin—organs liquefy, they vomit blood and die."
From shade-dwelling snakes with potent yin venom, deadly but easily antidoted. Yang energy dissolved it readily—for humans. Cold-aligned frost goblins lacked yang; shamans using spells worsened spread, mistaking for curse.
Gruesome by normal standards, but Eira smiled watching them die.
"Hmph, perfect end for those daily venom-spitters."
Overlapping hunter ranges most, hard to spot fleeing into snow—now helplessly spewing blood. Eira and retainers inwardly cheered.
"Is that poison easy to get?"
"You think normal poison does this?"
"Milady, poisons are hard to acquire, maintain, and deploy—especially fast-acting ones."
The experienced huntmaster's words deflated Eira.
"Turned injection toxin airborne via magic. Mana low, it won't harm unless touching wounds. No lunatic just sprays instant-kill poison."
Suhyun's explanation slumped Eira further.
"Sigh, thought it was a great hunt method... magic's essential, huh?"
"Good mages use optimal spells in prime conditions. If it looks easy, credit the master's skill."
Confirming spent mana, they checked goblin village for kills and loot, then hit others.
Suhyun massacred variably: lake goblins weakened ice, smashed to drown, finished afloat. Cliff dwellers triggered avalanche, burying village in snow.
Goblins survived snowfields long via tricks, but futile against Suhyun. Cold-water swimmers drowned under refrozen ice, glaring through transparently. Wall-walkers crushed by wave-like snow, or heads split emerging.
Trolls, useful, Suhyun dismembered for Nautilus larder.
Watching limbs sever per spell, Eira pondered Suhyun.
Assumed womanizer from female Nautilus crew, but no leers nearby. Eira knew her beauty: academy suitors aplenty, imperial princess taught men's beastly lust beneath facades.
She'd dreamed romance novels, pure love—but noble duty meant political marriage. Sold for beauty, ignoring her soul, birthing heirs. So she'd traded her body too.
Initially disinterested, hunting with Suhyun changed that. Not mindless chargers, but efficient, merciless—irresistibly appealing.
'Just need a good body now.'
Soon, Eira eyed Suhyun piloting ahead, licking lips through his clothes.