"Where...where is this?"

Bright ice crystals glimmered as Lineir licked his lips which had suddenly become dry and chapped. A shrill wind blew at times and at other times it was dead still, so quiet that his own breathing felt like thunder.

"Another ice cave...but how can there possibly be one here in the Hells when everything else is molten rock?" Lineir gingerly tapped the ice which cracked slightly as it was fairly thin but the cracks quickly reformed before his eyes. He rubbed it again staring through at the rock behind. Then he did a double take.

"Lava!" He yelped as bright glowing orange liquid flowed languidly beneath the ice. As he watched it continued to flow, not penetrating the ice. "The ice...is like a barrier. Otherwise this area would be unbearably hot. How strange though, this ice does not appear to be special at first glance but upon closer inspection how could such thin ice contain such thick magma? That blasted wind must have something to do with it."

Tap...Tap...Tap

He wandered down the tunnel as a light snow seemed to materialize from up here and blew in on the wind. Fortunately the wind was fairly regular despite the freezing temperature and nowhere near the same level as the monstrous vacuum generating gale which had sucked him down here. "Oh...I should probably use that gemstone huh?" He had forgotten all about contacting the Baraz clan but as he was unfamiliar with the area he suddenly remembered that Jeirsus and Aileen had seemed to have more information on this so-called Danger Zone than he had. As he pulled out the little purple gemstone though something strange happened...

Ssssssss

Lineir immediately felt strong killing sense appear and he pivoted preparing to block a blow he was sure was coming for the back of his head.

Whump

The Midnight Armor flared as he was slammed over nine meters backwards into the ice cave wall. He glared slightly winded. He was sure he had gotten his sword up in time but whatever it was had managed to hit him so hard that he had only caught a glimpse of flashing white before a massive force struck his sword and knocked him back. He surveyed the cave and it appeared completely empty. Just sparkling pale ice and not even a stalagmite to hide behind.

Ssssssss

Immediately he dodged away, preferring not to meet the enemy head on this time-

Crash

The ice shattered and little chips flew everywhere as Lineir caught sight of a four meter tall monstrousity. It towered over a hole shattered in the ground where he had been standing and as it raised furry white paws he saw a vaguely humanoid face.

"A...a what?" He gulped as he realized he had never seen such a creature like this before. But upon seeing the cold eyes he realized he had heard legends. "Is that...a freaking yeti? Wait..." In that moment the yeti's eyes which were almost the size of plums widened as it realized Lineir had sighted it. It was clearly...intelligent to some degree though Lineir could not tell how much. A high level spirit beast for sure. Suddenly before his very eyes it faded away seemingly disappearing though the cave was only several of its enormous body lengths wide.

"Ohoho so you want to compete in stealth techniques?" He cocked his head and performed a secret technique, Mei's old footwork seemingly blurring him out of existence as well. He grumbled internally, if I dared to use the Madness Eyes like I usually do this would be a piece of cake. Instead...I'll have to do this the old fashioned way. Hide from THIS!

Screeeee

The cry of a phoenix came and then a blazing kick, the bane of all ice and yin attribute creatures blossomed into life and rapidly expanded into the whole cave. However let it not be forgotten that the strange yeti creature also possessed intelligence as well!

Howl!

A vicious powerful beast howl filled the narrow cave reverberating everywhere. It possessed a terrible thick Qi which was enough to cause the tunnel walls to shake and the ice to shatter. As it passed Lineir felt like he had been physically shook and his outline appeared vaguely. Similarly the yeti was revealed as the blazing ex crossed it, singing its fur! Due to the wide area nature of their attacks neither of them were harmed or particularly injured.

"I just came through but you decide to sneak attack me? I guess there is karma between me and you!" Lineir narrowed his eyes and drew back the black blade. Wisps of lightning appeared around it as the yeti roared and realizing its disadvantage in ranged combat immediately moved to engage in close quarters. It rushed him!

The cry of the beast intermingled with the chirping sound of charging lightning!

Howl!

Chi Chi Chi

The yeti's gaze crossed Lineir and the golden orange plum sized orbs glowed with sudden fear as Lineir dispelled his Midnight Armor meeting it with his own strength and naked brown eyes.

Lightning Slash!!

The lightning smashed onto the beast's outraised paw upon which the extended claws were almost a third of a meter long and further sheathed in icy Yin Qi. When the black blade met the ice-sheathed claws a boom lit the tunnel and the youth bared his teeth against the beast, both seemingly losing any traces of civility!

Boom!

Ice shattered everywhere, to the point where near the epicenter of the explosion magma began to spew through the cracks before it froze over leaving ugly scarlet rock seams in the once pristine ice.

"Graaa-" The yeti's giant brilliant orange eyes glazed over and lust their luster as it toppled over and collapsed, a horrendous lightning bolt having burned through its center mass. Lineir grinned as he began to search its body for the core.

"I've been looking for some cultivation resources...you're perfect. You can't blame me, you ambushed me!" So saying he retrieved the core and harvested some other miscellaneous items such as the claws which seemed valuable and were surpassingly sharp and white. For a second he considered taking the fur as well but the camouflage property seemed to have faded after he slew the beast. Afterwards he glanced at the burgeoning cracks in the cave walls which had filled with cooled lava. Questioning the structural integrity he quickly pulled out the purple gemstone and vaguely felt the location of the Baraz clan members. He headed in their direction following the tunnel while activating his stealth techniques.

"Better not travel so openly...wouldn't want to be caught by surprise again." He grimaced, he wasn't used to being snuck up on. Generally he preferred to be the one doing the sneaking. Gradually the tunnel began to rise and he realized he was coming to a largescale opening. Cautiously he approached the entrance. When he reached the top he peered over the lip and his eyes widened as he froze.

"HUH?"