The Winter Whale's Territory
“Whoa… good heavens…”
Pru-ruk—
Nightmare glanced around restlessly, making no effort to hide his irritation. Overnight he had changed so completely that a crowd had gathered just to gawk at him.
Scholars who studied monsters in particular had asked my permission to examine him up close, but I shook my head and refused. Even if I had agreed, I doubted Nightmare would have let anyone poke and prod him. In the end the scholars and a throng of adventurers had no choice but to watch from a respectful distance.
“Haaah…”
I let out a long sigh and looked at him. The transformation was almost certainly caused by the Crystal Dragon’s heart I had been carrying. I had tucked the strange, mana-rich organ carefully into my bag for later study—only for him to snatch it out and devour it whole.
How on earth had he managed to eat something that hard?
I stroked his head, running my fingers through the glittering mane. At first glance the mane looked as solid as crystal, yet the moment my hand touched it the hardness melted away, returning to the soft texture I remembered.
“Nothing hurts?”
Pwi-hing—
As if answering, he stamped his front and hind legs in turn. Just to be sure I unwrapped the bandage on his hind leg; the wound had closed without leaving so much as a scar.
I replaced the snapped leather straps of the bridle and saddle with new ones and settled them onto his back. The crystals that had sprouted during last night’s change must have sliced the old straps clean through.
“Celion.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m going to take a quick run around the area.”
“On that guy?”
“Yes. I want to check how Nightmare’s doing.”
“You’re not going far, right?”
“No.”
“Go on, then.”
With the team leader’s permission secured, I hopped lightly into the saddle. His size hadn’t changed, so the view from his back felt exactly the same as before.
A horn, though… Don’t tell me he’s turning into a unicorn?
The moment I took the reins, Nightmare began pawing the ground, radiating the confidence of a creature ready to run at any second. When I gave a light tug he exploded forward as if he had been waiting for the signal. Wind slammed into my cheeks; I had no choice but to flatten myself against his neck. The sudden acceleration was so fierce that the scenery stretched into streaks and a thunderous boom rolled out behind us.
Every time his hooves struck the earth my vision jolted. Nightmare himself was clearly startled by his own burst of speed. Yet the unstable posture steadied almost at once. The howling wind fell silent, but the pace never slowed.
Tak-a-gak—!
Perhaps because of the crystals growing from his feet, the sound of his hooves was completely different from before.
I put him through every test I could think of while we raced: sharp turns at full speed, climbing a mountain of jagged crystal. Nightmare answered every demand without complaint. The razor-edged crystals underfoot left him unscathed; his pure-white crystal legs simply stretched out and shattered them all.
Even when he charged up a steep crystal hill he refused to slow. I tried pulling the reins sideways, but he ignored me as though he had unfinished business at the summit. I could have forced the issue with a harder yank, yet for the moment I simply watched what he would do.
Tak—!
At the very edge of the hill Nightmare launched himself into empty air without the slightest hesitation. Had the excitement finally gotten the better of him?
I braced my core for the coming impact.
But he did not fall.
Tak—! Tak—! Tak—!
The familiar hoofbeats rang in my ears. When I looked down in a daze I saw something impossible: every time Nightmare’s legs reached forward, pure-white crystal platforms bloomed beneath them.
Tak—!
The instant his hoof met the floating crystal it shattered with the same ringing sound, scattering into white powder that trailed behind him like footprints left in the sky—or a long, luminous tail of light.
Tak—!
Another platform formed and broke; his body dipped slightly. Five steps in total. That was all the sky would grant him. Beyond that he seemed to decide enough was enough, scattering white crystal dust as he settled back to the ground.
His speed never dropped. For a long while afterward Nightmare simply kept galloping around the base camp, testing his new power.
“H-hey! I have something urgent to discuss!”
“That horse’s foal…!”
When we returned to base camp Nightmare received an even more fervent welcome. Because I had stayed within sight as Celion requested, everyone had witnessed the horse that ran across the sky.
The moment anyone drew too near, Nightmare lowered his horn and slammed a hoof into the ground. Mana gathered at his feet and a sharp white crystal spike erupted.
Jjeo-jeok—!
It was not large, but the tip was wickedly pointed—a clear warning that the next step closer would be met with violence.
“Hah…”
Only then did the adventurers and scholars back off a little. I gave an awkward smile and stroked Nightmare’s mane.
“A horse that flies…”
“There’ll be chaos when we get back to the Empire…”
“Ceris, was it? Back home I have a stallion of excellent bloodline. If we were to…”
Adventurers and scholars kept seeking us out. One even tried to sneak a stallion over while I slept, hoping to breed it with Nightmare. Naturally the attempt failed. The man ended up with a gaping hole in his gut from Nightmare’s horn, and the stallion’s head was caved in by a single rear kick.
Only after blood had been spilled did the crowd finally quiet down.
A week passed. People grew used to Nightmare’s strangeness, and with that familiarity came peace. He sprawled on his belly chewing any crystal that rolled within reach; ever since the change he treated the local crystals as food, just like the monsters here.
Of all the visitors, only Celion never asked about Nightmare’s bloodline. Every night she came to me with questions about mana control. The only answer I could give was the same vague one: move it by instinct. She listened to that non-answer for an entire week and kept training anyway. If anyone asked whether she had made real progress I would have had to tilt my head. She still could not draw her mana outside her body.
“Ceris.”
Celion appeared again today, but this time for a different reason. I glanced at Nightmare lounging on the ground and answered.
“What is it?”
“I’m sending an expedition beyond the crystal plains. You’re coming, right?”
“Already looking past this place?”
“The scholars are impatient. They want as much data as possible before we head home.”
“You’ll be going too, Celion?”
“Of course.”
“All right. Count me in.”
The expedition numbered twenty, including Celion and me. Somewhat surprisingly, Noel was among them as well. Loaded with as much food and water as we could carry, we left the base camp behind.
On these barren plains there was nothing to forage unless we found a monster, and water was just as scarce. We had no choice but to ration carefully.
Celion had been named temporary leader. The entire way she scattered red dye on the ground, marking our path. For a full week we walked through endless desolation and beautiful crystal. Then the landscape began to change. New things appeared on the once-barren earth, and the occasional monsters we met no longer carried crystals in their bodies.
“This place…”
“Winter…?”
Celion, walking ahead, brushed her fingers through the pure-white snow piled on the ground and murmured. She was right: we had entered a winter region blanketed in snow.
What a strange land. Only a few steps separated a snow-covered zone from one completely free of it.
Nightmare took one look at the white expanse, climbed onto it, and began playfully stamping. Each time his hard legs tapped the ground a deep crater formed and snow mixed with soil flew into the air.
At that moment white flakes began drifting down from the sky. Celion looked up, pulled her long hood lower, and spoke.
“We move before the snow gets worse. Anyone who finds a cave suitable for a base camp reports it at once.”
Just as we prepared to set out, the snow crunched underfoot—and Nightmare and I both looked up at the same instant.
It appeared without a sound. A colossal eye peered down through the clouds as though surveying the earth; the vast body trailing behind it looked like a floating mountain.
A massive fin followed, stirring a fierce wind that summoned still more white snow.
Shwaaaaa—!
Faced with a monster beyond all comprehension, every one of us froze solid.
Having announced its presence, the colossal whale vanished once more beyond the clouds, carrying snow and wind with it.
Thud—
Several adventurers’ legs gave out and they sank to the ground. No one mocked them.
“…We should move.”
The long silence finally broke. Still staring blankly at the sky, the expedition at last forced itself to step into the raging blizzard.
The great whale’s cry faded swiftly into the distance.