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[Doblado ESP] Apocalipsis La Domadora de Bestias
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10:43Victoria was already there
10:47She'd brought 20 plus workers and they were already mining
10:50I stood at the outer edge and watched them haul out crystal after crystal
10:56Leo pressed its nose to the window
10:58I covered Leo's eyes
11:00Low quality crystals here, let's go find something better
11:04Then, from somewhere inside my head, a voice crackled to life
11:08I stopped walking
11:09Sis, is that you?
11:12You can do telepathy now
11:14Victoria spent serious resources on me
11:17I can project thoughts directly
11:20Sis, take Leo and find somewhere to rest
11:24Once they're done mining and clear out, I'll call you back
11:27I finished the mental exchange and came back to the present moment
11:30A very large, very imperious fox face was approximately two inches from my nose
11:37Leo had both front paws planted on my shoulders
11:41What were you doing just now?
11:44You were mentally cheating on me
11:46I grabbed it by the scruff and I squeezed one soft cheek by way of reprimand
11:51Leo, watch your voculary
11:53I'm not wrong
11:54I can smell the bear on your thorns
11:57Was that the chunky low knife?
11:59I raised an eyebrow
12:00Sharp nose
12:01For your information
12:02Leo continued voice climbing
12:04When a white fox makes a blood pact with someone
12:07That person is their bonded maid
12:08For life
12:09You can't have secret meetings with a brown bear
12:13Yeah, you're a child
12:15Do you even know what partner means?
12:17Leo's eyes immediately filled with tears that refused to actually fall
12:20It waved its tiny paws in what appeared to be an angry, thrashing, swimming motion
12:25I leaned forward and stuck my tongue out at it
12:28A small, damp nose pressed against my cheek
12:30Before I could react, the culprit had already retreated
12:34Voice very small
12:35I kissed you
12:36That means you're mine now
12:38Nobody else is allowed to kiss you there
12:40Leo had just made a move on me
12:42A very small, very smug, very baby-toothed move
12:46I pulled myself together and went to find somewhere to wait
12:48I reclined in the car with the air conditioning running
12:51Watching a nature documentary on the center screen
12:54The documentary put me to sleep almost immediately
12:57When I woke up, it was dark
13:02Right on cue, the bear's voice appeared in my head
13:05Sis, come now, they're gone
13:08Leo was staring up at me, suspicious and accusatory
13:12My conscience flickered
13:13This was exactly the energy of someone who'd just been caught
13:17We were just talking
13:18I'm not listening
13:19I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day
13:22Just as the bear had said, the area was empty
13:25All that remained was a concealment formation to hide the vein's location
13:29The bear deactivated it from inside and poked its head out
13:33Sis, over here!
13:35It had grown enough to speak clearly
13:37The white fox in my arms took one look at the bear and immediately bared its teeth
13:42Leo's going through a phase
13:44The bear took the lead
13:46That thing is a fake, nice snake in the grass
13:49Get your hand off me
13:50I'm going to bite it
13:52I am biting it today
13:53Riley, don't hold me back
13:55It went on like that for a while
13:58I didn't address it
13:59I looked at the bear
14:01Its aura drifted quietly around it, steady and calm
14:04I released Leo and let it jump to the ground
14:07Leo hit the dirt, spun around and stared at me
14:10Its expression said it had not expected me to actually let go
14:14It shuffled forward at approximately the speed of a very indignant caterpillar
14:19Every few steps, it looked back at me
14:21On its fourth look back, it hesitated
14:24You're not stopping me?
14:26What if your little buddy gets actually hurt?
14:30I glanced at the bear's aura
14:32After absorbing a solid hall of mana crystals
14:35It was running at easily 50 times Leo's current output
14:38Whether Leo would be the one doing the hurting was very much an overwhelming question
14:43It's fine
14:45Show me what you've got
14:46If you win, you'll have my full and undivided attention forever
14:51Leo glanced at the bear
14:53Felt the weight of that aura
14:54Thought about it very carefully
14:56Slowly, reluctantly
14:59It walked back and sat down next to my feet
15:01Fine
15:02You showed good remorse this time
15:05I'll let the secret meeting go
15:08But don't let it happen again
15:10Inside the vein
15:11The bear had divided the crystal stockpile into three piles
15:14One very small pile for itself
15:17A medium small pile
15:19And a pile roughly the size of a small hill
15:22Leo's eyes went green
15:23Literally luminous
15:25This is all I need, sis
15:27A voice in my head
15:29Okay, that chunky thing is definitely not in two
15:32Sis, this one's for your cultivation
15:36And that one's for my little sibling
15:38The bear pointed to the medium pile and the mountain
15:40Riley, it does not have feelings for you
15:43I have been worried for nothing
15:44Run everything through the romance filter, don't you?
15:48I do not
15:48I flicked Leo on the forehead
15:50I said simply
15:51Mana crystals
15:53Leo went quiet and well-behaved immediately
15:56If we take all of this
15:58Won't Victoria figure out it was you?
16:00She does everything I say right now
16:04Full compliance
16:05Victoria stared at the hollowed-out vein
16:08With all the color drained from her face
16:10You used all of it?
16:12You used every single crystal?
16:14The bear sat on its haunches
16:16Eyes wide and guileless
16:17Under the rules of its master-servant bond
16:19It only had to give basic responses
16:22The truth was not required
16:23I don't know
16:24I was asleep all night
16:26Maybe the vein just ran dry on its own
16:28Victoria shook with rage
16:30She brought her entire crew back
16:32And tore the cave apart
16:33Not a single crystal shard remained
16:36She stared at the bear for a long time
16:38Something felt wrong
16:40She could tell
16:41But the bond formation read completely normal
16:43The bear's cultivation aura showed no irregularity
16:46She had no choice but to swallow it
16:48Useless!
16:49She snapped
16:50I just left you for a moment
16:52And you couldn't even hold off a bunch of stones
16:54The bear let its ears droop
16:56Internally, it was ecstatic
16:58It sent a message to me
16:59Sis!
17:00She tried to hit me just now
17:02The bonds punished her for it
17:04Hidden in the brush nearby
17:06I pressed my face into Leo's fur
17:08To muffle my laughter
17:10Good
17:10She tried to steal from us
17:12The traitor earned it
17:12I tugged one of its ears
17:14Don't call the bear that
17:15It's our teammate
17:17It looked away
17:18But its tail quietly curled around my wrist
17:21Warm and soft
17:22And completely involuntary
17:24Once Victoria and her crew were gone
17:26We slipped into the cave
17:27The bear had already bundled the crystal stockpile with vines
17:31Multiple bundles
17:32Organized and ready
17:33Sis!
17:34These should keep the little one fed for a while
17:38Leo's eyes locked on the pile
17:39And did not move
17:40And started crunching
17:42The sound echoed through the cave
17:43Like someone eating gravel
17:45We loaded the crystals into the car
17:47They filled most of the trunk
17:48The bear couldn't come with us
17:49It had to stay and keep up the performance
17:51Before we left it said
17:53Sis!
17:54The apocalypse is ten days out!
17:55Stock up on supplies!
17:56Be careful
17:58Don't let her spot the cracks in your act
18:02The bear grinned in its easy, unbothered way
18:04She does whatever I tell her
18:06We're fine
18:07We drove back
18:08Leo sat in the passenger seat
18:09With a crystal in both paws
18:11Crunching contentedly
18:12Like a squirrel that had found
18:14An entire winter's worth of food
18:16In one afternoon
18:18Mmm
18:19Watching it
18:20I thought about the bear in my past life
18:22Always saving the best of everything for me
18:25The shape of that care was different now
18:27But the feeling was the same
18:29Back in the city
18:30I skipped my apartment
18:31And went straight to the largest supermarket
18:33I loaded two carts with everything useful
18:37Compressed ration bars
18:38Canned goods
18:39Bottled water
18:42Instant food
18:43Leo rode in the cart
18:45Pointing
18:45More of those chocolate ones
18:47And the meat jerky
18:48The spiced kind
18:49I loaded both
18:50The store staff watched me with visible unease
18:53I didn't slow down
18:54In ten days
18:55None of this would matter to them anyway
18:57Beyond food and water
18:58I grabbed thermal underlayers
19:01Sleeping bags
19:01Flashlights
19:02Batteries
19:03Lighters
19:04A few sharp kitchen knives
19:05A hand axe
19:06Anything with practical value
19:07In sustained sub-zero conditions
19:09Too full cart
19:11I drove home to my apartment
19:12And spent an hour
19:13Hauling everything upstairs
19:14The living room
19:15The bedroom
19:16The balcony
19:17All of it stacked floor to ceiling
19:19Leo sprawled across a pile of chocolate bars
19:21Its tail swayed slowly
19:23I collapsed onto the couch
19:25Completely winded
19:28Not bad
19:29You actually know how to shop
19:33These are retinif only
19:34Our survival supplies
19:36The next several days
19:38I took Leo to different locations every day
19:40And kept stocking up
19:41The pharmacy
19:42Cold medicine
19:43Fever reducers
19:44Antibiotics
19:45Bandages
19:46Antiseptic
19:47The outdoor supply store
19:49A tent
19:50Climbing rope
19:51Anti-slip boots
19:52A hardware store for gas canisters
19:54And basic tools
19:55My apartment ran out of space
19:57I rented the unit next door
19:59And the one upstairs
20:00Both became storage
20:02Victoria texted a few times
20:04Cheerful and fake
20:05Asking how I was doing
20:07Casually mentioning that her brown bear
20:09Had broken through to tier 2
20:11I sent her three word replies
20:13I already knew
20:14Everything the bear showed her
20:16Was deliberate
20:17Every breakthrough was calculated theater
20:20Designed to keep her compliant
20:22Leo's growth was outpacing
20:24Everything I'd projected
20:25It ate crystals
20:27Slept
20:28And woke up noticeably larger each time
20:30It had started out the size of a kitten
20:32Now it was halfway to the size of a medium dog
20:36Its fur had deepened to a white so pure
20:39It was almost blinding
20:41And its eyes had shifted from pale
20:43To a vivid, saturated crimson
20:45The kind of beauty that made it hard to look away
20:48Its cultivation aura was also deepening fast
20:51Something close to tier 3 was stirring at the edges
20:55I was combing through Leo's fur when it went still
20:58Something's happening
21:02In my bloodline
21:03There's pressure building
21:05My pulse jumped
21:07The white fox in my past life
21:09Had never awakened any ability at all
21:11It died before it had the chance
21:13Was this what happened
21:15When you gave a white fox proper resources
21:17And a blood pact?
21:19An early awakening?
21:20Don't force it
21:22I said quietly
21:23Let it come on its own
21:25Leo closed its eyes
21:26A soft white light kindled across its fur
21:29The mana crystals around it began losing their glow
21:33All that energy pouring steadily into Leo's body
21:36A small spiral of concentrated mana formed around it
21:40Rotating slowly
21:42Its fur stood up along its spine
21:44Its tail filled out further
21:46The individual hairs catching the light like fiber optic threads
21:50An hour passed
21:52The light faded
21:53Leo opened its eyes
21:55And there was something new in them
21:57I awakened
21:58What did you get?
22:00Leo tilted its chin up
22:01Tail flicking with casual superiority
22:04A small, perfectly formed spike of ice materialized from empty air
22:09And dropped to the floor with a clean, crystalline tap
22:13Ice manipulation
22:14And void storage
22:16I stared
22:17Ice manipulation
22:19In an ice apocalypse
22:21An ice affinity ability wasn't just useful
22:24It was like being native to the environment everyone else was trying to survive
22:28And void storage
22:30One of the rarest abilities in existence
22:33In my past life
22:35People with spatial abilities could name their price at any base
22:38Every faction wanted them
22:41Leo
22:42I said
22:43And pulled it into a hug
22:44I kissed the top of its head without thinking
22:46Leo's ears went crimson
22:48Its entire body locked up for half a second
22:51Then it twisted away
22:53Deeply offended
22:54Stop doing that
22:57Its tail, however
22:59Had already wrapped around my wrist again
23:01The same involuntary habit
23:03I smiled and squeezed its cheek
23:06My little highness is absolutely terrifying
23:09We're going to be fine out there
23:11Leo made a dismissive sound
23:13And climbed back into my lap to resume eating crystals
23:17Three days out from the apocalypse
23:19The temperature had already started dropping
23:21Daytime lows were hitting negative 15
23:24People on the street moved fast
23:27Buried in their puffer coats
23:29News coverage was starting to pick up on the anomalous cold snaps
23:33Experts offered competing theories
23:35Extreme weather pattern
23:37Greenhouse rebound effect
23:39Nobody said what was actually happening
23:42Nobody saw what was coming
23:44Victoria called
23:46She sounded casual and then deliberately didn't
23:49Riley
23:50My bear just hit tier 3 peak
23:52Almost to tier 4
23:53I'll be able to take care of myself once things get rough
23:57A pause
23:58A pause
23:58Pointed
23:59How about you?
24:00Has your little fox even hit tier 1 yet?
24:04It's fine
24:05Tier 3, roughly
24:07Silence on the other end
24:09Then a short, dismissive laugh
24:11Riley
24:12You don't have to make things up
24:14White fox maturation timelines are long
24:17There's no world where it's already tier 3
24:19Another pause
24:21Look, if things get too hard, you can come to me
24:24You can work for me
24:25I'll keep you alive
24:27I hung up
24:29Leo was lying next to me
24:30Expression flat
24:32She thinks tier 3 peak is impressive
24:34It said
24:35When I hit tier 4, I could end her
24:38I scratched behind its ear
24:41Don't get careless
24:42Victoria is reckless, but her family has real reach
24:46When the apocalypse hits, she'll have numbers
24:49We play it smart
24:50Leo pressed its nose down onto its paws
24:52Still eating crystals
24:54Those last 3 days, I didn't go out
24:57I stayed home with Leo, and we trained together
25:00Leo had already gotten a solid handle on his boy's storage
25:03The space inside wasn't enormous
25:05Roughly the size of a basketball court
25:08But more than sufficient for supplies
25:10We loaded the majority of what I'd stockpiled into the boy
25:13My own cultivation was moving faster than I'd expected
25:16The blood pack shared mana flow between us
25:19And with the crystals on top of that
25:21I'd pushed to tier 2 mid-level
25:23Not close to Leo or Bear
25:25But solidly mid-range for a human practitioner
25:28The night before the apocalypse
25:30The temperature had already dropped to negative 30
25:33Outside, the snow came in heavy diagonal sheets
25:36And the wind sounded like something screaming
25:39I stood at the window and looked at the city disappearing under white
25:42In my past life, I had been so afraid
25:45So completely alone
25:47This time, I had the bear
25:49And I had Leo
25:51That was enough
25:52Leo came and pressed against my leg
25:54Its head reached my hip now
25:56Stop stressing
25:57Stressing
25:58It's sad
25:58I'm here
26:00Nobody touches you
26:01I crouched down and pulled it close
26:03I know
26:04We're going to make it
26:06The bear checked in through telepathy
26:07Sis, Victoria and her people
26:09Have retreated to her family's underground facility
26:13Good supplies
26:14Good infrastructure
26:15I've already made some adjustments to them
26:17To figure out what that means once the apocalypse hits
26:21Good work
26:21Stay safe
26:23I didn't sleep
26:24When morning came, the world outside had ended
26:27Negative 50 degrees
26:29The window panes had cracked from the cold
26:31Ice flowers blooming across the glass
26:33Outside, cars had frozen into sculptures
26:36People who had been caught in the streets were down and still
26:39The power grid was gone
26:40Communication networks were gone
26:42The city was silent
26:43The ice apocalypse had arrived
26:45I layered on everything I had
26:47Pulled on my hat and gloves
26:48Held Leo against my chest
26:50And walked out of the apartment
26:51The wind hit my face like something solid
26:54A burning cold that cut through even the layers
26:56But Leo and I both had cultivation auras as a buffer
26:59Leo's ice manipulation shaved off another layer of the cold on top of that
27:04We could bear it
27:05The streets were a wreck
27:06Abandoned vehicles everywhere
27:07Frozen bodies half buried in the drifts
27:10Mutant beasts prowled the snow between the cars
27:13Eyes sharp and predatory
27:15Tracking us as we passed
27:16The apocalypse had done something to the wildlife
27:18The extreme cold triggered genetic shifts
27:21And what came out the other side was faster
27:24Meaner
27:24And far more adapted to the temperature than anything that had existed before
27:28Leo dropped out of my arms
27:30Its body expanded in one smooth motion
27:32Doubling in size
27:34The white fur settled
27:35Dense and wind resistant
27:37Its eyes locked onto the nearest creature
27:39With the calm of something that had already decided the outcome
27:42You're looking at my person
27:43Bad call
27:45Its tail swept sideways
27:47Six ice spikes launched simultaneously
27:49They punched through the throats of the closest mutants before any of them could react
27:54The bodies dropped and were still
27:55Completely ridiculous
27:57Completely dramatic
27:58Completely reliable
27:59We moved toward the city center
28:01That was where the survivor base was
28:02In my past life the government had organized several large scale shelters in the weeks after the apocalypse hit
28:08The central base was the biggest and the safest
28:11Two hours on foot
28:12Then the base appeared through the blizzard
28:15A ring of steel walls rising over ten meters
28:18Soldiers posted on the upper walkways with rifles scanning the perimeter
28:22A crowd of survivors was already queued at the gate
28:25We joined the line
28:26The couple ahead of us had a baby pressed to the woman's chest
28:30The baby was crying
28:31The woman's face was hollow
28:33The man looked like he hadn't slept in days
28:36The woman said to the soldier at the checkpoint
28:38She hasn't eaten in three days
28:40The soldier's expression didn't move
28:42Entry requires a resource payment
28:44Ten pounds of food, five bottles of water, or one warm garment
28:49No exceptions
28:50The man's voice cracked
28:52Everything we had was taken by a mutant pack
28:55We have nothing left
28:58Please
28:59Policy is policy
29:01The woman started crying
29:02The baby cried laughing
29:04I'd been there before
29:05I knew what it felt like when every door was shut
29:08And there was nothing left to bargain with
29:11I reached into my pack and pulled out two cans and a water bottle
29:14I held them out to the couple
29:16Use these for your entry, fate
29:18They turned around
29:19The woman looked at me
29:21You're a good person
29:23You're a good
29:23I smiled and didn't say anything
29:25Leo made an irritated noise beside me
29:28You're going to keep doing this, aren't you?
29:31Helping complete strangers
29:32We might need a stranger's help someday too
29:35Leo said nothing more
29:37But it didn't argue
29:39When we reached the checkpoint
29:40The soldier looked at Leo and went wary
29:43Handed over five pounds of rations
29:45Is that enough?
29:47The soldier checked it
29:48Nodded
29:49You can go in
29:50We were almost through the gate
29:52When a familiar voice called from behind us
29:55Riley!
29:56I turned
29:57Victoria was pushing through the crowd
29:59Surrounded by a cluster of people
30:01With the brown bear walking calmly at her side
30:04She was wearing an expensive puffer coat
30:06Her face perfectly composed and confident
30:08Her group had weapons
30:10I didn't expect you to make it this far
30:11She looked me over with a slow, deliberate appraisal
30:14I guess that fox of yours isn't completely decorative
30:17Leo's fur went alexig
30:19Its body expanded
30:21Hackles lifting
30:21Lips pulling back
30:23Say that again
30:24Victoria took a step back without meaning to
30:26Then she collected herself and shifted behind the bear
30:29The bear stepped forward and positioned itself between them
30:32It glanced at me
30:33Its expression said
30:34I know
30:35I tried to stop her
30:36She wouldn't listen
30:37I looked back at it and gave a small signal
30:40Not now
30:41Too many people
30:41What happens to us in there
30:43Has nothing to do with you
30:44I said
30:45And pulled Leo toward the gate
30:47Hold on
30:48Victoria's voice sharpened
30:49Riley
30:50You think a tier 3 fox is enough to hold any ground in there?
30:53This base runs on strength
30:55My bear is tier 4
30:56That makes me the top of the food chain here
30:58You have two options
30:59Fall in line and work under me
31:01Or I make sure you can't move in this base without running into a wall
31:04The crowd around the gate had started paying attention
31:06Tier 4 was rare in the early apocalypse
31:09People recognized what that meant
31:11I let the moment sit for exactly one breath
31:14Then I looked at Leo
31:15Leo understood without being told
31:17Its cultivation aura detonated outward
31:20Tier 4 pressure rolled across the gate plaza like a physical force
31:24The snowflakes still drifting in the air simply stopped moving
31:27The cold deepened noticeably
31:30Several people stumbled back
31:31Victoria's face lost its color
31:34That's not possible
31:36How is your fox already tier 4?
31:39Leo tilted its chin up to a frankly insufferable angle
31:42You assumed your bear was the ceiling
31:44Embarrassing the stake
31:46The bear chose that moment to release its own tier 4 aura alongside Leo's
31:50Two tier 4 signatures layered together
31:53The crowd scattered back from the gate
31:55Half of them barely staying upright
31:57Victoria stood there
31:59Mouth open
32:00Staring between Leo and the bear
32:02The bear, which was supposed to be hers
32:04Aligned with the girl she'd been trying to humiliate
32:08She tried to form words
32:09Couldn't find them
32:10I walked through the gate with Leo
32:11And the bear on either side of me
32:13And left Victoria and her group at the entrance
32:16With whatever was left of the impression she'd tried to make
32:19Inside, we were brought to a registration desk
32:21Name, cultivation tier, magical animal
32:24The soldier processing our forms looked at Leo's tier 4 listing
32:27Then at the bear's
32:28And spent a long moment saying nothing
32:30Then the professionalism kicked back in
32:32Somewhat overcorrected
32:35Ms. Riley
32:35With two tier 4 families you qualify for our highest tier accommodations
32:39We'd like to offer you a room in the VIP wing
32:41Independent room, heating system, full resource allocation
32:44That works
32:45Can I get an additional room for my companion?
32:47Of course, absolutely, right away
32:49The soldier escorted us to the VIP wing
32:52It was its own building, near the center of the base
32:54Inside, functioning radiators
32:56Hot water
32:57A private bathroom
32:58A small kitchen
32:59A sitting area
33:00The soldier handed me a keycard
33:02And stepped back with the careful deference
33:04Usually reserved for people who could level buildings
33:06I opened my room and started pulling supplies out of Leo's void storage
33:10Organized the space
33:12Stacked what we needed
33:13Leo jumped onto the couch and stretched its full length, tail hanging off the edge
33:17Finally, that walk was miserable
33:20The bear appeared in the doorway, eyes warm
33:23Victoria and her group got assigned to general housing
33:26Leave her alone
33:28Let's rest and get our bearings
33:29Over the following days, we mapped the base
33:32Around 5,000 survivors
33:33The majority were civilians with no cultivation ability and no magical animal
33:38A small fraction had some level of training and bonded mates
33:41The base ran a strict allocation system
33:44Resources distributed by contribution level and cultivation tier
33:47Victoria established herself quickly
33:49The tier 4 bear was enough to pull in followers
33:52And she assembled a decent-sized crew within the first week
33:55She used them to push people around
33:57The kind of entitlement that survives context changes
33:59Because it was never really about context
34:02One afternoon in the base cafeteria
34:04She walked in with her group and found us eating
34:06You have some nerve
34:08These rations are for people who actually contribute
34:10Not passengers who coast on the strength of their magic animal
34:13Leo sat down its jerky strip
34:15Its eyes went flat
34:16Repeat that
34:17Victoria was visibly unnerved, but committed
34:20I called you a passenger
34:21Your fox got lucky hitting tier 4
34:23That doesn't make you anything special
34:24I set my chopsticks down, stood up, and said
34:27Then let's settle it
34:28If you win, I don't set foot in this cafeteria again
34:31If I win, you leave the base and stop terrorizing everyone in it
34:35Victoria's expression lit up
34:37She'd wanted this for days
34:39Deal!
34:40Don't cry when you lose
34:42People crowded in from three directions
34:44We moved to the training yard
34:46Victoria summoned the bear in front of me
34:48Arms crossed, smiling
34:50You go first
34:51I'll be generous
34:52I looked at Leo
34:53Show her, little highness
34:55Leo expanded to full size
34:57The tier 4 aura hit the yard and lost weight
35:01It launched itself at the door
35:03The bear rushed and met it head on
35:06Ice spikes against bear claws
35:08The impact sounds concussive
35:11The training yard floor spider webbing cracks from the force
35:15But Victoria's bear had no real lumbat head
35:18Leo did
35:19And beyond experience, Leo's ice affinity directly countered the bear's earth
35:26Crossed against Teru
35:27Leo controlled the pace of the entire fight on the first exchange
35:31Victoria screamed from the sidelines
35:34Hit harder!
35:36Kill it!
35:37The bear tried
35:38It was already falling back
35:40Leo moved faster than it could track
35:42The ice in the air responding to Leo like an extension of its own body
35:47One massive tail strike caught the bear square
35:50And launched it across the ground
35:52It landed hot
35:53Blood in the storm
35:55It didn't get back up
35:57Leo landed, turned, and looked at Victoria with no expression
36:01Anything else?
36:03Victoria stared at the bear on the ground
36:05Her composure had completely disintegrated
36:08It's possible!
36:09My bear can't lose!
36:11I walked up to her
36:13You made a bet
36:14Honor it
36:15Take your people and go
36:17Victoria looked at the crowd around her
36:20At every face watching
36:22At every person she'd pushed around for the past week
36:25Her expression went through several colors
36:28Then, she grabbed the injured bear and walked
36:31But, the base watched her leave
36:33That night, the bear came back on its own
36:35It stopped at the edge of our shelter and looked at me
36:38Victoria hadn't wanted it
36:40She'd only ever wanted to win
36:43I let it
36:44With Victoria gone, things settled quickly
36:46Our position in the base became something people organized around
36:50Instead of something they resented
36:51Survivors approached us
36:53A lot of them
36:54I didn't take everyone
36:55I looked for people with usable skills and genuine character
36:59Eventually, we had a small, functional team
37:01We ran daily operations
37:03Resource runs outside the walls
37:05Mutant beast hunts
37:06Leo's ice control and void storage were decisive in both
37:09The bear handled direct engagement
37:11I coordinated and covered flanks
37:13The team filled in around us and learned fast
37:16Mutant beasts had energy cores in their bodies
37:19Dense, crystallized power
37:21Both the cultivation resource and the base's functional currency
37:25We found supply caches that others had missed
37:27Brought back more cores than any other team
37:30Leo's tiered came to climb
37:32Tier 5 came to climb
37:33Its ice domain expanded
37:35Able to suppress an entire zone
37:37Slowing enemy movement and attack
37:39The void storage grew larger
37:42The bear in tier 3 too
37:44My own cultivation reached tier 4 mid-level
37:47Then, the temperature dropped again
37:49Negative 8
37:50More mules
37:51Stronger mules
37:52Reports from other bases
37:54Some had been overwhelmed
37:55Others had collapsed from starvation
37:57The pressure on our base was building
37:59The mutant waves at the walls were in the park
38:02In all the places
38:03Our team became the base's first line of defense
38:06During one of the large-scale defense operations
38:09Something came out of the storm that stopped everyone in cold
38:12A tier 6 mutant snowball
38:15Massive
38:16White fur and yellow eyes
38:18Perfectly crafted
38:19In a way that suggested the cold
38:22Is no longer its environment
38:23It hit the outer wall in speed
38:27And punched straight through the fence
38:29Soldiers scattered
38:31The walkway section nearest the bridge
38:33Was cleared in seconds
38:34This is bad
38:35My stomach dropped
38:37A tier 6 in the base of the house
38:39Was something we hadn't planned for
38:42Leo and the bear exchanged one look
38:44Both moved at the same time
38:46Leo drove ice spikes into the wolf's pack
38:48And froze its legs to the ground
38:50The bear closed the gap
38:52And dropped both forefathers down hard
38:54The wolf broke the ice restraints
38:56Faster than either of them had anticipated
38:58Lunged sideways
38:59And locked its jaws on the bear's shoulder
39:02The bear's blood hit the snow
39:04Bear
39:05My voice came out louder than I meant it to
39:07Leo saw the blood
39:09And something shifted
39:10The temperature around it dropped independently
39:12From the ambient cold
39:14It called up a full ice sword
39:16The biggest construct I'd seen it produce
39:18It brought it down directly
39:20The wolf released the bear
39:22And came up to the bear
39:45I made the call
39:46Letting this drag on wasn't an option
39:48Every additional exchange cost a drop
39:51I reached into my pack
39:53Pulled out the hand axe
39:54I ran my cultivation through my arms
39:56Until I could feel it pushing at my joint
39:58And I threw the axe directly at the wolf's left eye
40:02It hadn't expected a human to engage in that room
40:04It turned too late
40:06The axe connected
40:07The wolf screamed
40:08A sound that rolled across the base walls
40:11And thrashed its head violently
40:13Leo took the opening
40:15Ice sword straight down
40:16Clean
40:17The wolf's body settled into the snow
40:19And went still
40:20We stood there for a moment
40:22Breathing
40:22The bear's shoulder wound was deep
40:24I had the antiseptic and bandages out
40:27Before anyone else moved
40:28Leo was on the ground
40:29Sides heaving
40:31Cultivation reserves nearly empty
40:33Is this?
40:34Leo said
40:34Lifting its head toward the wolf's remains
40:37That core is going to be something
40:39I extracted it
40:40It was the size of a closed fist
40:43Tier 6
40:44Enough concentrated energy inside
40:46To push Leo's cultivation to a level we hadn't projected for months
40:50Back at the base gate
40:51The facility director was waiting to receive us personally
40:54Without us, the wolf would have been through the walls and into the civilian sectors
40:58Leo spent the next several days absorbing the tier 6 core
41:01Tier 6 came steadily
41:03And with it, Leo's isomane became something else entirely
41:06Inside the field, it could now project
41:08Every enemy was running at a fraction of normal capacity
41:11Movement slowed
41:12Attack force dropped sharply
41:14The cold inside the field was a different kind of cold from the ambient apocalypse temperature
41:19It had intent behind it
41:21The bear's wound closed and its cultivation pushed to tier 6 as well
41:25Its defensive strength reached a point where smaller mutants couldn't break through even without active effort
41:29My own cultivation crossed into tier 4 peak during that same stretch
41:34Not comparable to either of them
41:35But functional enough to contribute real value in a fight
41:38We were the strongest team in the base
41:40People came looking for us constantly
41:42I kept filtering
41:44The ones I added were worth adding
41:46The mutant incursions kept escalating
41:48Tier 6 became the new baseline outside the walls instead of the exception
41:52Other survivor bases sent messages when they still could
41:55And those messages grew more desperate
41:57Some stopped coming altogether
41:58We started ranging further out on our supply runs
42:01Into the deeper city where higher tier mutants had settled
42:03And where the ruins held things worth finding
42:05That was how we found the ancient ruin
42:09The structure shouldn't have been there
42:10It predated everything around it by what felt like centuries
42:13The architecture didn't match anything currently in use
42:16The interior was layered with old formation arrays
42:19Pressure sensitive trap zones
42:21And guardian beasts that hadn't been active in a long time
42:24But had woken up when we came in
42:25We moved carefully
42:27Some of the traps caught us anyway
42:29The guardians were tough
42:30A different kind of tough from the mutants outside
42:33Older, more deliberate
42:34Less wild
42:35We took losses in terms of supplies and time
42:38And a few team members needed serious recovery afterward
42:41But we came out the other side
42:43Deep in the ruin
42:44Past the densest section of guardian formations
42:47We found two things
42:48A cultivation manual
42:50Ice system, high grade
42:52Title?
42:53Frost God Codex
42:54And a sword
42:55Ice forged, single-edged
42:57The blade holding a sustained cold
42:59That made the air around it visible
43:01Bound to an ice practitioner
43:02Both were meant for Leo
43:04After Leo absorbed the Frost God Codex
43:07And bonded the ice sword
43:08Its cultivation moved faster than I could track
43:11Tier 7 came within days
43:13Its ice manipulation had crossed from skilled
43:15Into something that felt more like fluency
43:17With a fundamental force
43:19It could project a full glacier construct now
43:22Hold it
43:22Shape it
43:23Move it
43:24Move it
43:24In combat
43:25It summoned a faint reflection of something vast and cold above itself
43:28A presence that made enemies hesitate before they understood why
43:32The bear found a high-grade earth system manual in the same chamber
43:35Earth Warden Codex
43:37Tier 7 followed shortly after
43:39Its defensive capability became nearly absolute at close range
43:43The ground responded to it in ways that were useful in ways we were still discovering
43:47My own cultivation, drawing on the dense ambient energy inside the ruin, broke through to tier 5 mid-level
43:54We left the ruin carrying more than we'd expected to find and returned to the base to prepare for the
43:59next phase
44:00Because we had decided, we were done staying in one place
44:04Before we left, we distributed the bases stored supplies to the civilians
44:08The ones who couldn't fight, who had no familiar, who had survived this far by nothing except luck and stubbornness
44:14We left them what we could
44:16Then, we loaded our team into a convoy of modified SUVs
44:20Every vehicle packed with supplies and equipment and drove out
44:23The road was what the apocalypse had made of it
44:26Stripped vehicles, frozen terrain, weather that shifted from brutal to catastrophic and back without warning
44:32Mutants on every major route
44:34Survivors in varying states of desperation allowed them to go
44:37We didn't run from any of them
44:39Leo's ice domain covered a wide enough radius to make a convoy defensible on the moon
44:43The bear took point in the lead vehicle's cargo bed
44:46Our team had developed into something cohesive
44:48People knew their roles, executed them, adjusted without needing to be managed
44:53The enemies that came at us found out quickly that the cost wasn't worth it
44:57We drove through city after city
44:59In each one, we looked for survivors
45:01We pulled out the ones who could be helped
45:02Assessed the ones who wanted to join us
45:05Turned away the ones who were dangerous
45:06The convoy grew
45:07Dozens became hundreds
45:09We found our location in a valley that sat inside a mountain green
45:13Flat ground in the center
45:14Multiple resource nodes within range
45:16Defensible perimeter with natural geographic support on three sides
45:20We built
45:22Steel and stone for the outer wall
45:24Formation arrays adapted from techniques we found across our travels
45:27Running along every section
45:29Armories
45:30A cultivation training area
45:32A medical facility
45:33Storage warehouses with rotation schedules
45:36A residential district laid out for actual human habitation
45:39Not just survival stacking
45:41The system we ran
45:43You contributed
45:44You received
45:45Roles were assigned based on skill and inclination
45:48Resources were distributed based on what you did with your time
45:51The ratio was transparent and applied to everyone equally
45:54Including us
45:55We formed a dedicated hunting team
45:57And a dedicated exploration team
45:59The hunters ran operations against the mutant populations in our range
46:03Bringing back cores and raw materials
46:05The explorers ranged out to ruins, dead city blocks, and resource points
46:10Returning with supplies and occasionally something significant
46:13As the base grew, so did its reach
46:16The name spread outward through whatever communication network still existed in the apocalypse
46:21Survivor channels, word of mouth, other bases making contact
46:25People arrived in groups, sometimes in large groups
46:29We took the ones worth taking and built the capacity to house and integrate them
46:33The base became something that people talked about in terms of whether it was real
46:37A place in the ice apocalypse where the structure didn't collapse under pressure
46:42Where you ate if you contributed
46:44Where the walls held
46:46Victoria dropped off the map entirely after leaving her first place
46:50Some accounts said she hadn't survived the weeks that had followed
46:53Others said she'd found another faction to attach herself to and was someone else's problem
46:58Neither version concerned us particularly
47:00Whatever happened to her happened somewhere that wasn't our business anymore
47:05I stood on the wall one evening, looking down over the base
47:08The light was wrong for the apocalypse
47:10Too warm, coming from the fires and the lanterns and the lit windows of the residential block
47:16People were moving in the streets, talking, working
47:19A few were laughing, which still felt strange every time I heard it out here
47:25Leo pressed its flank against my leg
47:28It had grown into something that came up past my waist now
47:31And its fur in the firelight looked less white than a little
47:35The way fresh snow looks in the dark
47:37The bear stood a few meters down the wall, watching the same scene
47:41Ears relaxed, posture easy
47:44In my past life, I had lost everything
47:47I had survived the early apocalypse alone, holding onto a bear I loved
47:51And even that had been taken from me before the end
47:54This time, I had come back with the memory of all of it
47:58Every mistake
47:59Every moment I had been too slow or too trusting or too unprepared
48:04I had used all of it
48:05And what I had now, I had built from it
48:08There was Leo, who had crashed into my life by biting my hand and never really let go
48:12Who was absurd and dramatic and thin-skinned about everything and completely, unflinchingly there when it mattered
48:19There was the bear, who had recognized me across a classroom in another life
48:23And blinked twice to tell me it remembered
48:26And had then spent the next months doing what it always did
48:29Watching my back without being asked
48:31There was a base full of people who were alive because we had gotten to them in time
48:35Or because we'd built something worth surviving inside
48:38The ice apocalypse was still out there
48:40The cold hadn't broken
48:42The mutants kept evolving
48:44There were still ruins we hadn't opened
48:46And threats we hadn't identified
48:48And territory we hadn't mapped
48:50But I had stopped counting the days until things got better
48:53And started measuring what we were building
48:55The world was still frozen
48:57We were still standing in it
48:59And we were going to keep standing
49:00And we were going to keep standing
49:01And we were going to keep standing
49:01And we were going to keep standing
49:01And we were going to keep standing
49:01And we were going to keep standing
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