Snowfrost Flowers were medicinal herbs found only in cold regions, and even there, they were exceedingly rare. They tended to melt at even the slightest rise in temperature, and their flowering period was short, too.

Restricted to winter, short-lived, and about as hardy as an ocean sunfish. Above all, they required mana-rich soil. All those conditions made them exceptionally rare herbs.

But as always, the Forest of Four Seasons seemed to be the exception. Its mana supply needed no explanation. With the seasons changing every week, their short lifespan wasn't an issue either.

I could easily find them just by searching around my shelter. So to me, Snowfrost Flowers were nothing more than seasonal flowers. Ones that came into season every four weeks, at that.

Found More Snowfrost Flowers

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a Snowfrost Flower)

(Photo of a Snowfrost Flower 2)

(Photo of a Snowfrost Flower 3)

Are these basically seasonal greens or something? There's quite a lot.

└Heavenly Demon You must be the only person who would call such precious herbs seasonal greens, my honored friend.

└Sword Masta Every supposedly rare herb seems to grow there. Those really are valuable.

└So you're saying he can find Snowfrost Flowers every winter now?

└Looks like it. Wouldn't that go for other herbs too? Different herbs grow in different seasons.

└What grows in spring again? All sorts of herbs grow from spring through summer.

└Who knows? Bet anything he picks up would count as medicinal lol.

└Starlight Lady You found several, not just one! Are you going to make something with them?

└Wild Grylls I'd like to get cold resistance. I've got enough ingredients now, so it should be worth a try.

└Starlight Lady All right. But could you give me a mature mandrake, as you offered yesterday?

└Wild Grylls I'll give you a mature mandrake and a blue one made the same way as yesterday. That should make your research easier.

└Starlight Lady I'll make sure to repay your trust!

└Wild Grylls Thank you.

└Passing Dwarf Hey. What about me? Give me one too.

└Wild Grylls You reek of booze. Shoo. Besides, I can't spare any to steep in liquor yet. I'll consider it once I get what I want.

└Passing Dwarf Okay.

└Wild Grylls Or maybe I'll make the liquor myself lol.

└Passing Dwarf You little shit.

└Don't worry. There'll be more herbs besides those anyway lol.

└What if he finds Sun Grass in summer?

└Nah, Sun Grass only grows in deserts. Like how snow ginseng only grows on snowy mountains.

└By that logic, shouldn't Snowfrost Flowers be on snowy mountains too?

└He'll find stuff on his own. All we have to do is watch lol.

Now that I'd found more Snowfrost Flowers, I had a light breakfast and got to work on the preparations.

First came gathering mandrakes. I harvested several this time instead of just one. I gave one to Starlight Lady and processed another the same way as yesterday, starting by boiling a mature mandrake with a Snowfrost Flower until it turned blue.

"Gurk?! Guaaak!!"

Time to force Elixir into its mouth again.

Doing this suddenly reminded me of foie gras, the dish made from goose liver. Apparently, they stuck funnels down geese's beaks and force-fed them to enlarge their livers.

Mandrakes were plants, which made this a little better, but with the way they reacted, it still didn't feel great. Though I was feeding mine medicine (Elixir), not food.

"Kieeeeeee!!"

THWACK! WHACK!

The Elixir took effect immediately, so I beat the mandrake into submission to calm it down.

'Now I just send these over, right?'

I sent three mandrakes in total: one ordinary mandrake, one combined with a Snowfrost Flower, and one that had been given both a Snowfrost Flower and Elixir.

Studying them one at a time should help Starlight Lady get a handle on things. I would have liked to give Allfather some and ask him to study them too, but I didn't have enough.

Starlight Lady

Thank you.

I'll let you know the results by lunchtime.

All right.

Is the mandrake combined with the Snowfrost Flower still okay?

Starlight Lady

It's still blue for now, perhaps because the mandrake absorbed it.

If I'd known, I would have taken it yesterday.

Neither of us knew.

I'll wait to hear from you, then.

With Starlight Lady handling the research, it was time to do my part.

First, controlling my ability. As I'd kept stressing, being unable to control it was a pain in all sorts of ways. I used aura for more than combat. Logging, mining, digging, processing materials... It was useful for all kinds of work. Having everything not just grow cold but freeze solid every time was a real headache.

'Let's figure out why it's cold. Has the mana itself really changed?'

I quietly closed my eyes and practiced my cultivation method. I could clearly feel the mana circulating through every part of my body, accompanied by a piercing chill. The mana itself carried cold.

But contrary to Starlight Lady's concerns, my circuits weren't freezing solid like in a blocked-meridian condition. The mana circulated smoothly, without any strain, as though my body had fully adapted.

'How should I put it...?'

Was it something like how the seas around the North and South Poles resisted freezing? Not that my mana had salt in it. I was speculating that the essence I'd consumed yesterday had produced a similar effect.

That wasn't a bad thing, but I'd only avoided the worst. It was still a headache.

'An on/off switch would be perfect.'

How could I separate the aura and the cold? As I was pondering that, a thought struck me.

'Hang on. All the mana gathers in the dantian, right?'

An internal energy cultivation method accumulated mana in the dantian through breathing. In other words, even if I spread the mana throughout my body, it would inevitably return there.

So what if I separated out the cold and stored it whenever the mana gathered in my dantian?

'Surely my dantian wouldn't freeze solid?'

That was a pretty frightening prospect, too. I paused my cultivation. This was when I needed an expert opinion.

Heavenly Demon.

May I ask you a question?

Heavenly Demon

What would you like to know?

Well, it's like this...

I gave Heavenly Demon a rough explanation. I wanted to separate the cold from my mana and store it in my dantian, but I was worried that the cold might damage it. Could she tell me whether those fears were unfounded or a real possibility?

After hearing my question, she seemed to think for a while before answering.

Heavenly Demon

I understand what you mean.

Your concerns are quite reasonable.

Is it dangerous?

Heavenly Demon

Separating them incorrectly is dangerous.

As you say, my honored friend, your dantian could freeze solid.

But with the proper method, you can separate them safely.

Could you teach me how?

Heavenly Demon

Of course.

The principle is to create another dantian within your dantian.

That sounds incredibly difficult already.

Heavenly Demon

It is nothing complicated.

If your dantian is for pure energy,

the new one you create will be solely for cold.

Wait a moment.

With that, Heavenly Demon disappeared for a moment. I tilted my head, struggling to understand what she meant by creating a dantian within a dantian. She was the expert here, so I didn't doubt her. I simply couldn't wrap my head around it.

'I might have to work without aura for a while.'

My body was paying the price for this weird ability. All I could do was chuckle helplessly.

How long had I been waiting? A little later, Heavenly Demon sent me a message.

Heavenly Demon

(Photo of a drawing of a human body and an inner core)

Can you see it clearly?

You should see a small circle inside this inner core.

You gather the essence together like this to create another inner core.

Oh.

So it's like a set.

Heavenly Demon

Isn't a set a collection of things?

It's a mathematical term.

Not one I use often.

Heavenly Demon

I see.

In any case, as long as you understand.

Now that you know the principle, you should practice.

Do you have any other advice?

Heavenly Demon

The second formula I taught you will be a great help.

I would like to teach you the third,

but I fear you might grow stronger in yet another strange direction. Best to hold off.

Especially now that your energy carries cold.

Understood.

Thank you so much, even just for the advice.

Heavenly Demon

I shall always be here for you.

Tell me whenever you need help.

No matter how I looked at it, Heavenly Demon was someone I was lucky to know. She shared invaluable tips without the slightest hesitation.

She added that I should at least wait until controlling my cold and aura became easy before learning the third formula. Ideally, she said, I should wait until I could use sword force—in other words, aura blade.

I agreed.

'I'm the one who loses out if I get stronger in some dumbss way again.' *

As someone had said, my aura might end up piercing the sky.

Hoping that wouldn't happen, I resumed my internal energy cultivation. I recited the second formula Heavenly Demon had taught me, visualized her diagram, and separated the mana from the cold.

SHHHHH...

The cold slowly separated, almost like a chemical reaction. Following Heavenly Demon's instructions, I placed that energy at the center of my inner core. I forced it together, as though forming another circle within a circle.

CRACKLE...

But perhaps because the principle resembled aura blade, it wasn't easy. Every time I finally managed to gather it, it crumbled apart. And the mana itself circulated as swiftly as waves, making even the separation difficult.

'I can't give up.'

Aura blade manifested outside the body, but this was inside. It was comparatively easier. Undiscouraged, I kept working to separate the two energies.

How much time had passed? My efforts bore fruit. Just before lunchtime, I managed to form a speck of essence the size of a millet grain.

'Now, to use the cold... '

I prodded the essence as though popping a balloon, and it burst at once. Forming it again wasn't difficult either. I'd already done it once.

If I gradually increased the amount, I would be able to use ordinary aura for everyday tasks. Until then, I'd have to work without aura as much as possible.

'I'll just think of it as exercise.'

I checked the time. The hours had flown by, and it was already lunchtime. Right then, I found a message from Starlight Lady. Impeccable timing. She'd said she would tell me the results before lunch, so it was about right.

What did you find?

Starlight Lady

I have good news and bad news. Which would you like first?

The bad news first, please.

Starlight Lady

Gaining cold resistance through Snowfrost Flowers seems virtually impossible.

Unless we disregard safety, that is. No matter how hard I rack my brain, there's always a risk.

So I had to risk eating a Snowfrost Flower to gain cold resistance. My inward disappointment at the news was brief before a question arose.

'Then what about the people who gained cold resistance? Were they just lucky?'

I asked as soon as the thought occurred to me.

What about people in the past, then?

You said some died from eating Snowfrost Flowers, but others gained cold resistance.

Starlight Lady

You remember the pufferfish you mentioned before?

This is a completely different case.

A different case?

Starlight Lady

Yes.

With pufferfish, people went through countless attempts before learning to eat the nonpoisonous parts.

But Snowfrost Flowers are different. They simply ate them.

They simply ate them?

Then how did they survive?

Starlight Lady explained the difference in terms I could grasp immediately.

Starlight Lady

In pufferfish terms, they were people who could chew up a raw pufferfish and be perfectly fine.

You could say they were simply strong people who ate it.

;;;

So only people born tough as hell could eat it.