The system window faded, but the unease it left behind did not.

Ryn closed his hand around the jewel and forced himself to breathe steadily.

Later, he told himself.

For now, there was something else he needed.

He turned toward the wilted corpse of the flower. The petals were crumpled, blackened where Jay's herbicide had splashed.

Jay approached cautiously, pinching his nose.

"Uh… so is it dead? Like dead-dead?"

"It's dead," Ryn said, stepping forward. "But we need to salvage what we can."

Jay blinked. "Salvage? From that? Why?!"

"For the pill," Ryn murmured.

The kid paled. "…The pill that might kill you if I brew it wrong?"

"The very same."

Jay whimpered.

Ryn crouched by the remains, examining the twisted vines. Most were ruined by the herbicide, shriveled black and fragile as ash. But near the far side of the bloom, there were still intact sections of the vines, pulsing with Life Energy.

"Here," Ryn muttered.

He unsheathed his sword and angled the blade carefully, avoiding any patch touched by herbicide. One quick, precise slash separated a length of healthy vine, glowing faintly with residual energy.

It hit the ground with a soft thud.

Ryn picked it up.

"This will work," he said quietly.

"Wait… that's an ingredient? From the killer flower?!" Jay said, while peering over his shoulder.

Ryn nodded, slipping the vine into a vial inside his satchel.

"The pill needs three components," he said. "An Essence-rich catalyst, a stabilizer, and something to anchor the transformation."

Jay swallowed. "And this vine is…?"

"The catalyst."

The jewel pulsed softly in his palm. Ryn stared at it once more before placing both the jewel and spare vine into his Dimension Ring.

The moment the ring sealed, a faint wind brushed past them.

Ryn stiffened.

Jay blinked. "Huh? Did… did you feel that?"

Another breeze tugged at their cloaks. The wind seemed intentional, almost like leading them somewhere.

The current flowed upward.

Ryn followed it with his gaze.

Leaves rustled in unison, bending toward the sky. Light shimmered strangely in the air. And as the wind strengthened, the canopy above them parted, revealing—

Two massive silhouettes drifting through the clouds.

Jay's eyes nearly fell out of his head.

"W-Wait… what… WHAT IS THAT?!"

High above, suspended in the sky, were two distinct landmasses:

A vast, shimmering desert island, golden dunes shifting slowly under the sun.

And beside it, glowing faintly with cold brilliance, a snow island, carved from ice and frost.

Jay was still staring upward in horror.

"…Ryn, unless you suddenly learned how to fly, I don't see how we're getting up there."

Ryn didn't answer.

Something tugged at the back of his memory, Rora's drunken rambling, half-slurred but unmistakable:

"Beat the shit out of a cold beast…made me a damn staircase of ice. Nearly melted while I was climbing on it."

Ryn narrowed his eyes toward the distant treeline.

Jay noticed the shift immediately. "Oh no. Oh no. You're thinking. Don't think. Thinking leads to bad things for me."

A Cold Affinity Beast, one that would be able to traverse between the islands…

Ryn exhaled softly as the answer snapped into place.

The white tiger.

A predator who excels in the tundra, their fur adapted to white in order to camouflage in the snow. It made no sense being here, in a forest full of heat and Life Energy.

There was only one conclusion:

It had traversed here from above.

Ryn pointed into the forest.

"That tiger….it didn't belong here."

Jay stared. "Um… yes it did? It tried to eat us. That feels like extremely local behavior."

"No," Ryn said. "Its environment is the Snow Isle. Its camouflage, its Essence, everything about it is meant for cold."

He turned fully toward the treeline.

"That beast came down from the sky."

Jay's mouth fell open.

"Wait—are you saying—are you ACTUALLY saying—"

"Yes."

"It can travel between islands?!"

Jay took a step back, horrified.

"No. No, no, no. Ryn, absolutely not. I refuse."

Ryn didn't budge.

"If it could come down, it can go back up."

Jay stared at him, horrified.

"Well, how are you going to convince it? Maybe ask it nicely? Or—or I don't know, tame it somehow?"

Ryn corrected him calmly.

"Me? No. You are going to tame it."

Jay closed his eyes for a brief moment, as if absorbing the pain.

"…Of course I am."

Ryn waited.

The boy adjusted his satchel and sighed.

"All right. Before we march off to tame a giant carnivore, tell me this much: why would a snow beast bother coming down here at all? It's not exactly a vacation spot for creatures that enjoy freezing temperatures."

Ryn tapped his chin in thought, coming to a conclusion relatively fast.

"The answer is simple," he said. "It couldn't absorb Cold Energy on the Snow Isle anymore."

Jay raised a brow. "Meaning?"

"Meaning it hit a wall," Ryn replied. "A bottleneck. The Snow Isle is saturated with Cold Essence, but if a beast's core is already filled, it stops being useful. It can't grow any further. It can't evolve."

Jay considered that in silence.

Ryn continued, voice firm but thoughtful:

"Down here, the Life Energy is thick. It's far richer than what exists up there. If the tiger was stuck, coming here to feed on Life Essence wasn't just instinct—it was strategy."

Jay let out a low whistle.

"So it traveled down to… train."

"Exactly."

Jay rubbed his chin. "So, theoretically, if we offer it something that helps its evolution along… something potent enough… it might cooperate."

Ryn nodded, looking at the plant again.

"Guess what's potent that could help the tiger out?"

Jay gave a dry, reluctant smile.

"Right…it's official then. We're not taming a tiger. We're negotiating with a fellow practitioner."

After a few more harvestings of the plant's vines, they decided to make camp.

They traveled for about ten minutes, following some faint frost traces. Ryn judged they were close enough and that approaching any farther would be suicidal.

"Here," Ryn said.

Jay looked around the small clearing. "…Camp?"

"Camp."

Jay shrugged off his pack and sat. He reached into it, pulling out all sorts of alchemy and equipment that should not be able to fit but somehow did.

Guess Maria really did invest big in him. A dimensional pack was expensive, more so than a ring, as it had at least ten times more capacity.

Ryn set down his own gear but didn't sit. He glanced into the forest, sensing the quiet.

Too quiet.

It's watching us.

The tiger didn't seem to approach. Maybe this time, it noticed that they weren't a threat and decided to watch.

He moved to the edge of the clearing, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

Immediately, the Life Energy in the air pulsed around him.

Warm, rich, and dense—flowing like gentle currents through every organic thing.

Absorbing here was much easier than inside the cave. Ryn took a small part of the vines and ate it.

Normally, that was not advised. The poison within its roots would kill most people instantly.

But…

[Poison Resistance Activated: Poison will be nullified.]

Once the poison was cleared, it gave way to the massive riches underneath.

Ryn exhaled slowly as the energy threaded through his veins, merging into his own Essence. His body accepted it greedily this time, attempting to take it all.

Cold vapor drifted lazily from his hands and shoulders, the excess leaking out in pale wisps.

A soft notification flickered.

[Essence: 10 → 12]

He inhaled again.

[Essence: 12 → 14]

Another breath.

[Essence: 14 → 16]

Ryn opened his eyes, gaze steady.

He could feel it now. His Essence wasn't just growing.

It was stabilizing, becoming something denser than before.

Ryn checked his stats again.

[Name: Ryn Eden Arctis]

[Title: The Constellation's Blade (Unique)]

[HP: 150/150]

[MP: 110 / 110]

[STR: 33]

[DEX: 34]

[END: 42]

[INT: 36]

[Essence: 16]

[Essence Rank: Mid-Trainee]

As he expected, Essence increased his stats by a ton. His limbs felt lighter, as if he could run a whole marathon right now.

Ryn sighed. He really should've learned a technique, anything at all, in his past life.

He glanced over at Jay.

Jay sat cross-legged on the opposite side of the clearing, torchlight washing over his focused expression. He stirred a small tin cup over a low flame, the mixture inside faintly glowing.

He caught Ryn's eye without looking up.

"How does it feel?" he asked softly.

Ryn considered the sensation for a moment. "Like my body's finally using the energy correctly."

Jay nodded. "Good. Because I think I'm gonna freeze up there, and you're the only one who can do something about it."

Ryn was surprised at the comment—a focused Jay was different. He started to show a glimmer of his capability in the future.

Jay continued to work in silence.

"Catalyst is coming along," he murmured. "Stronger Life Essence concentration than I expected. If it's seeking advancement, this will get its attention."

Ryn leaned against a tree trunk.

"You're improving fast."

Jay huffed, faintly amused. "That's what happens when the curriculum is 'survive or die.'"

The forest dimmed as night settled fully.

The fire crackled softly, warming the small clearing.

Jay capped his catalyst mixture and leaned back with a tired exhale.

"Well," he murmured, "that's as much as I can do for today."

Ryn stood and dusted his hands.

"Then we should eat."

Jay perked up. "You brought supplies?"

Ryn nodded with quiet confidence… then walked to his pack and pulled out:

A single metal pan. And absolutely no technique.

He crouched over the fire, expression serious, as if preparing a battlefield strategy rather than a meal.

Jay watched with mild concern.

"So, what are we making?"

"Simple stew," Ryn said. "My mother used to make it. I remember how it looks."

"That's… not the same as knowing how it's made."

Ryn ignored him and threw ingredients into the pan. All of them…at once.

The mixture began to bubble ominously. Something in the back hissed. The color shifted from a dark brown to a ghastly gray before finally settling on a concerning green.

A loud pop sounded as the pan lurched, splattering a chunk of the mixture onto the ground where it sizzled like acid.

Jay stared.

Ryn stared.

They both decided against the idea.

Jay handed Ryn a ration pack, and they settled into a quiet, strangely peaceful meal.

The ruined stew hissed weakly on the dirt, steaming like a chemical accident.

For the first time since arriving on the Isle, things felt… calm.

Jay stretched and lay back on his pack.

"Tomorrow will be complicated enough. Let's just rest while we can."

Ryn nodded.

The itinerary for tomorrow was complicated. Hopefully, secure the tiger's help and somehow make it to the Snow Isles alive.

Then, find the Second Key…and figure out the truth of this place.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.