Frost

Title: Frost
Author: Kurama Barton
Archived: will be posted on my main site
Summary: A mage and a wizard discover that there is more to Rune Midgard than spells and self.
Rating: R/NC-17
Pairings: M/M
Feedback: really needed because it boosts morale=)
Characters: all OC e.g.Vincent, Akira, Father Danili, etc
Disclaimer: I don’t own Ragnarok Online and make no money off this. This story is not even coinciding with Lee Myung-joon's(?) original manhwa storyline. i just wrote this story out of game experience =).

I. The Cold


He felt the sting in his shoulder, ripping through his muffler into his skin. If he had stopped and sat down he would have felt the eerie comfort of the warm blood from it that he knew was spreading fast now on his shirt, sticking at his arm and chest.

But he hadn't, as he was busy trying to obliterate a certain very hostile Creamy.

Should upgrade wand.

No --- increase Soul Strike level...?

The analyzing came automatically like mathematical calculations to Vincent, as usual, while vaguely taking note that he should still hold up at beating the Creamy with just his wand or else the Creamy would also sap dry his remaining physical energy like it did earlier with his spell energy. And he would faint --- now that would be quite embarrassing to any probable passerby...

But no --- right now he was having difficulty concentrating with just plain physical combat, which he knew despite him lacking in the strength and agility department should be quite easy for him at his current level of power. He was a Mage for godsakes, and this elemental creature was already way below his level that he could actually burn it down even before it could see him coming.

It had really been a bad day.

Maybe it was because he had been scammed 130000 worth of zeny by a certain Swordsman when he checked around earlier for some slotted shoes at downtown Prontera City. He was left with slotless shoes as the Swordsman ran away faster than the duration of their dealing, and such was enough to make him fume internally that he had whapped physically the very first creature he met as he went out to the field --- which happened to be this supposedly peaceful Creamy. Yes, that was very stupid --- attacking first with physical strength --- and maybe he had subconsciously chose now to take the chance of seeing if the Creamy would drop a teleport card so he could reach his quarters faster to mourn his bad fortune.

A couple more hits exchanged, him getting the worst of it, and the Creamy finally fell dead on the soft grass floor. Only compact butterfly powder dropped out of the Creamy, and suddenly Vincent felt like vomiting as he half-heartedly picked up the powder and slumped down himself to watch the dead creature dissolve down the ground.

It was not enough, he knew, as his fingers tightened into short blades of grass, drawing a few more blood from him this day.

He was still fuming.

He took a deep breath, tried to will his contorting chest to calm down. If he was another person, he would have screamed his frustration out now at the vast grass field, and everything would be forgiven and forgotten and alright.

But he was not like other people, he knew, as he forced himself up and pulled his half-bloody coat and muffler tightly around him, shivering slightly at the empty coolness of the Prontera field air. Personal feelings were not something Vincent could afford to even react on, even more right now, what with the guild wars coming and his guild leader fully expecting him to improve his skill status upon his most recent recruitment into their fold. He needed to practice his spells, take more difficult quests, improve his armor...

He hissed slightly at the thought again of him being scammed for low-class equipment, and trudged on to his rented dwelling. He felt somehow sobered, on the other hand, by the feeling of his spell energy building up within him slowly again, and that he could afford not applying fast first aid on himself for the path he would take were not hostile grounds.

So indulged he was in these little comforting thoughts that he almost failed to notice another Creamy flying fast ahead across his way as he entered a small forest. He tested his spell energy --- sufficient enough and his distance correct. Some god out there must have been sympathetic right now of scammed persons like him, giving him more chance for a teleport card drop and frustration unwinding, as this time he blew the Creamy to bits with a quick Fire Bolt and Soul Strike combo. He saw, much to his pleased surprise, a teleport card toss out of the dead Creamy, and he made his way over and picked it up.

And that was when he felt it. Raw cold energy that was even colder than the air of the small forest --- so heavy and contained that for a lack of a better term one could actually say it is quite scalding. And it was right beside him... no, it seemed to envelop him, and his hand automatically tensed around his wand as his mind began scanning through whatever spell could counter such strange energy.

"I'm sorry to disrupt your joy, but I think you should give that back," a voice floated, and Vincent whirled to his back to see it starting to take shape behind him.

A black cape formed from air, and upon taking full shape was tossed back, the grass below only fluffed slightly, and started to dissolve. And there was even more black --- a cloak revealing from the bottom to top, which Vincent instantly recognized to that of a Wizard's. The black was only offset by the top wearing an intimidating high red Munak hat.

And upon the formation's completion, the person shifted his head slightly to look at Vincent from behind the ofuda stuck infront of the Munak hat. Despite the shadow cast by the ofuda and hat on the person's face, Vincent could still see the person's pitch-black eyes clearly.

And those eyes were so cold. Even when the face behind the shadows seemed so placid and expressionless, those eyes bore hard at him. Straight at him.

As if they wished him death.

"I believe that is mine."