I bought water from the auction house to get a proper handle on what my aura could do.

You might ask why I didn’t simply melt the ice stored in the box, but if things didn’t go as I expected, I’d have to go cut more ice.

I didn’t want that hassle, so just this once, I bought water.

Then I poured it into a metal tub and put my sword inside. All that remained was to manifest my aura like before and wait for the results.

CRACKLE!

The water chilled rapidly the instant I manifested my aura. But it wasn’t just the water freezing solid—ice was spreading over the entire tub.

At this rate, I’d ruin a perfectly good tub, so I hurriedly pulled the sword out. Apparently, the effect only applied to whatever touched the aura, because the ice didn’t grip the blade.

'Isn’t there a way to control this?'

Freezing water was fine. It was an excellent ability to have gained.

But if I couldn’t control it, it would do more harm than good. I didn’t know whether my mana itself had changed, but I clearly needed to investigate the details.

'It looks like I can at least adjust the intensity by changing how much aura I use...'

Through experimentation, I discovered that I could adjust the intensity with my aura. But I couldn’t figure out how to turn the cold on and off. I didn’t know whether this was permanent or would fade, either.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to ask the forum.

Let them come...

Wild Grylls

(Video of water freezing when an aura-infused sword is placed in the tub)

My blade hungers...

Jokes aside, anyone know why this is happening?

An entire tree froze while I was logging, so I ran some tests. My aura’s gained a cold attribute.

I can’t even turn it on and off at will. Anyone know how?

└Heavenly Demon: What beautifully colored sword energy. It even sparkles. More beautiful than what those North Sea fellows use.

└Wild Grylls: People from the North Sea control cold?

└Heavenly Demon: Most do. But they control it through martial arts they have mastered. You know no cold-controlling martial arts at all, do you, my honored friend?

└Wild Grylls: Nope. All I know are the formulas you taught me.

└Heavenly Demon: How curious. Perhaps your internal energy itself has taken on cold properties.

└Sword Masta: Heavenly Demon is right. Elemental aura does exist, but you generally have to master a special cultivation method. In your case, Grylls, the mana itself seems to carry the cold.

└Wild Grylls: Can’t I turn it on and off?

└Heavenly Demon: That I do not know. As I said, even the North Sea Ice Palace ultimately acquires cold properties through martial arts.

└Sword Masta: This is a first for me too, so I’m not sure. I’ve seen people control fire or lightning, but I don’t know about mana itself taking on an element.

└But if it works that well, doesn’t that mean he doesn’t need an icehouse or any of that crap?

└For real. He wanted a fridge so badly he became one himself lmao.

└Why does this guy keep getting stronger in such weird ways?

└It’s ridiculous how he finds such novel ways to get stronger lol.

└Starlight Lady: As the others said, it seems the essence mixed with your mana and gave it cold properties. I never expected this, either.

└Wild Grylls: It’s not a bad thing, right?

└Starlight Lady: If you hadn’t withstood the cold, your mana would have frozen first. If things go wrong, it could develop into something like the blocked-meridian condition I suffered from, so you should take precautions.

└Wild Grylls: I’ll keep that in mind.

└Allfather: There are a few cases of mana acquiring the properties of a particular element later in life. Ancient texts mention them.

└Wild Grylls: Did those people use the same method as me?

└Allfather: No. Most involved injections directly into the mana circuits. The results were not particularly good, either.

└Wild Grylls: Not good how?

└Allfather: Those injected with cold-bearing essence had their organs freeze solid, as though they had a blocked-meridian condition. Those injected with fire essence could not withstand the heat, and their mana circuits soon melted.

└Wild Grylls: Holy shit...

└Allfather: As Starlight Lady said, you should obtain mature mandrake essence, just in case.

└Wild Grylls: Why didn’t you tell me before?

└Allfather: Because you used Elixir alongside it. Elixir is hardly some ordinary potion, is it? It even heals you while your body absorbs and adapts to the essence, making it ideal. The cases I mentioned involved administering pure essence alone.

So this ability wasn’t an unqualified blessing.

I’d only been able to absorb it thanks to the formula Heavenly Demon taught me. Otherwise, I would have been in real danger.

Only time would tell, but side effects might emerge later, so I needed to prepare.

└All Hail the Sun: With just one of those, you’d never have to worry about ice again. Can you give me one? Selling ice sounds pretty lucrative.

└Wild Grylls: Sorry, but I made it with the only Snowfrost Flower I had. And I don’t know what side effects there might be.

└All Hail the Sun: I wouldn’t be the one eating it anyway, so I don’t care about the side effects. Shame you don’t have another flower.

└Wild Grylls: Who exactly were you planning to feed it to?

└All Hail the Sun: Someone. Willing to trade if you find another later?

└Wild Grylls: Let’s talk once I find one. I still haven’t gotten the ability I wanted myself.

I’d gained a cold attribute, but not cold resistance.

What’s more, the ability could end up being more trouble than it was worth, so practice was essential. Too much of anything was never good.

'Can I use this barehanded, though?'

Would it produce cold if I infused my hand with aura instead of a sword?

Curious, I smashed the ice in the tub with a hammer and refilled it with water. Then, with the water replenished, I put my hand inside.

CRACKLE!

Sure enough, the water froze solid. My bare body was apparently enough.

'This’ll come in handy when I don’t have a weapon.'

I relied heavily on my weapons. I knew next to nothing about hand-to-hand combat.

So this ability would help me escape the worst-case scenario. Of course, as I kept pointing out, there was no telling what dangers awaited if I couldn’t control it properly.

'I should focus on practicing control for a while.'

Between sword training, practicing my cultivation method, and honing this ability, I had my hands full. Was this why people said it was best to focus on one thing?

I figured I should only train the cold until I had it under control.

'It’s not like I’m going to use Ice Age.'

Even in a fantasy world, something on that scale had to be impossible. Well, there were people who sliced mountains apart with swords, but I wasn’t one of them.

After cleaning up, I finished logging. Since the cold prevented me from using sword energy, I had to rely on physical strength alone.

Still, my body had grown sturdy enough that I gathered the wood without trouble.

'Time for dinner soon.'

Was it because it was winter? The sun seemed to set especially early.

As far as I knew, how quickly the sun set depended on the planet’s orbit, not its rotation. If it really was setting earlier, that meant this went beyond the region to affect the entire planet.

'I’ve heard of the midnight sun, where the sun stays up all day.'

I had no idea. All I could do was chalk it up to the Forest of Four Seasons and move on.

Afterward, I ate smoked tiger meat and added wood to the fireplace to warm myself.

Despite everything that had happened, my little darling Roundfur was still asleep. Apparently, winter meant sleeping all the time to replenish energy.

'Well, he is a cub...'

The other animals had become less active anyway. The only dangers I’d faced so far were the blizzard and the avalanche.

Besides, it was only my lack of experience that had caught me out. I could have prepared for all of them.

'I absolutely need an emergency exit... I should build it like the chimney, right?'

Considering the avalanche’s force, it would definitely need to be brick. The chimney had survived the avalanche intact. At least it wouldn’t get swept away.

Damage would still be inevitable, though, so I’d have to inspect it periodically.

'Something better than mud... Cement’s the only option, right?'

Did this world have cement? Or perhaps something different?

Even on Earth, many ancient structures had stood for ages without collapsing. Castle walls in particular could barely be knocked down even with cannon fire.

Despite the limits of their technology, people in the past had built civilizations using every last thing available to them.

The same went for me. I’d use everything I had and survive to the end.

'I should ask the dwarf... No, the forum. He might not know if it’s outside his specialty.'

The dwarf had mentioned that often: he didn’t know everything outside his field. Even the things he’d taught me so far were things he’d researched himself.

Anyone know how to bind bricks more securely?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the chimney)

So far I’ve just slapped mud on to hold them together. Anyone know a better way?

Asking because I want to build it stronger if it collapses later. I figure mud has its limits.

└Starlight Lady: From what I’ve heard, castles were built using a sand mixture containing lime.

└Passing Dwarf: Yep, the user above is right. Specifically, there’s this stuff called cement. Mix that with sand.

└Wild Grylls: Cement? The cement I’m thinking of?

My eyes widened. This world had cement too?

I hadn’t used the word because I’d assumed it wouldn’t exist, but there it was. Even if the material was the same, I’d never imagined it would have the same name.

└Passing Dwarf: What cement are you thinking of?

└Wild Grylls: You mix it with other stuff and slather it on. Then it hardens over time.

└Passing Dwarf: You’ve got it exactly right. You’ve got plenty of money, so why haven’t you been using it?

└Wild Grylls: Never imagined it existed here. When was cement invented, anyway?

└Passing Dwarf: Dunno? It’s been around for fucking ages. One thing’s for sure, though: we invented it.

└Wild Grylls: You’re not bullshitting me, right?

└Passing Dwarf: Wanna bet?

└Allfather: He isn’t lying. Some say the discovery of cement was what made dwarven technology advance so unusually quickly. It strengthened the shelter component of food, clothing, and shelter.

└Passing Dwarf: Aw, why’d you tell him? I could’ve gotten something out of him.

└Wild Grylls: You’d only have asked for booze anyway lol.

└Allfather: There are some questionable aspects, however. It was far beyond the technology of its day, prompting considerable debate among scholars. That’s why I called it a discovery rather than an invention.

└Wild Grylls: You mean it just popped up out of nowhere?

└Allfather: Yes. The gift I gave you is a similar case, when you get down to it. Even current technology cannot manufacture it.

By his gift, Allfather meant the extradimensional backpack.

A bag that couldn’t negate mass, but completely ignored the constraints of space. It was an excellent tool that saved an enormous amount of room.

└Allfather: Scholars hypothesize that these are relics of antiquity preserved by chance.

└Wild Grylls: Relics of antiquity?

└Allfather: Yes. From the days when the gods had descended to dwell upon the earth. An age even modern humanity cannot hope to approach.

Did he mean the kind of ancient civilization you saw in novels and comics? Lost technology and all that?

A civilization that had vanished for some reason, leaving only traces behind.

Earth had similar examples, so I wasn’t surprised the same thing had happened in this world. You needed to look no further than ancient Egypt. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how they’d built the pyramids.

'Though military service does convince you the pyramids really were built by people.'

Anyway, I set that aside and returned to the topic at hand. Now that I knew cement existed, all I needed was the method.

The dwarf apparently knew the basics, because he explained them to me.

└Passing Dwarf: If you’re putting it between bricks, mix it with sand, not soil.

└Wild Grylls: Why?

└Passing Dwarf: Dunno. My father told me to do it that way.

└Wild Grylls: OK.

└That sounds oddly trustworthy lol.

└Isn’t that the same as doing whatever your academy professor tells you?

└Yep. Undergrads just have to do what the professor says. Nobody knows how it works lol.

'Do I need to go downstream or to the sea?'

It was all soil around here, not sand. The only sand was downstream or by the sea.

Even in winter, I wanted to avoid the sea if possible. Downstream would be far better. I wasn’t going to build right away; I planned to start steadily collecting materials now.

'No sand for sale in the auction house.'

After a quick look through the listings, I left the dwarf a reply. Cement aside, there was something else I wanted to ask.

└Wild Grylls: Hey. Are there weapons imbued with elements, by any chance?

└Passing Dwarf: Yep, they exist. Hammers with lightning attributes, swords that burst into flame. Why?

└Wild Grylls: How are those usually made? Naturally?

└Passing Dwarf: Usually, yeah? The lightning hammer was created when lightning struck it from the sky. Its original owner got struck dead, though lol.

└Wild Grylls: What about the fire one? Did its owner burn to death?

└Passing Dwarf: Nope. Heard it was a sword stuck in the middle of a volcanic crater. Why are you asking?

└Wild Grylls: Wondering if you could make one artificially. Like adding the essence I drank to a sword while forging it.

└Passing Dwarf: There you go talking nonsense again lol. Find another Snowfrost Flower or whatever first.

└An ice sword would look badass as fuck lol.

└But it’s not like he’d sell it even if he made one.

└Wild Grylls: It’d just be for decoration lol.

As the dwarf said, making one was impossible unless I found more Snowfrost Flowers. Even if I did find one, I had no intention of combining it with a sword.

'Unless I found two or three more.'

I wrapped up the day with that idle chatter.

The speed-sloth kept diligently gazing into the fire even while I slept. I could leave adding firewood to it.

Then morning dawned, greeting me with perfectly clear weather.

“Oh. There’s another one?”

While gathering wood, I found another Snowfrost Flower.

“There’s one here, and here... Why are there so many?”

And it wasn’t just one, but several. All I had to do was search carefully between the trees to find them.

'Are these like seasonal produce?'

They weren’t some ordinary edible greens.