The roar echoed through the woods, carried by the wind. It was a haunting sound, chilling the listeners to the bone. Loch shifted his feet, Activating Aura Of Attack. The Clan spread out around him on either side, the second line behind. Across the field were a half dozen large monsters. They had bodies like giant apes, smaller rear legs and longer and larger front arms that could work as legs, giving them great speed as they raced across Bow Lake Fields. Large heads, great horns curling down, roared.

  FROSTBURN YETI

  Loch focused on the one in front. It was larger than the others. Those had white and gray fur that blended in with the landscape around them. The larger had streaks of blue through the fur, lightning crackling with each thunderous step.

  FROSTBURN YETI ALPHA

  The Yeti were strong. His Evaluate gave the five a feeling of five or so Levels below him with the Alpha only a Level maybe two. The beasts had been seen in the fields earlier that day by a hunting team. The scent of the blood coming from the dead Mutated Chipmunks had attracted the monsters, forcing the hunters to drop the carcasses and escape.

  The Chipmunks would be gone, but there was no way the Clan could allow monsters like the Yeti to roam this close to the school. Hunters and Scavengers tended to have high Evaluate, those people using it the most often, raising it higher than anyone else, even Loch. The Hunters used the Skill to judge if a target was something they could safely hunt, with the Scavengers using it to evade monsters if they needed to. The lead Hunter had gotten a feeling of the Yeti’s strength Levels, prompting Loch to lead the group out to deal with the beasts.

  Loch found himself taking every opportunity to leave the Clanhold and head out to fight or explore. He was feeling the cramped confines, the pressure of being cooped up. There had been two more fights in the last few days, the brawlers being put into the hastily constructed jail, some of the Guards being assigned as police. Now the guards didn’t just patrol the perimeter of the school, but worked to keep the peace inside.

  Loch hated it. No one did.

  The snow kept piling up, the snow banks growing in size. The piles were spreading out, covering more ground, leaving less places for them to place the snow. The alleys between buildings were full of snow, some of it almost to the bottom of the windows. Less of the walkways were being shoveled, giving the Clan less space to move around. With the snow came the cold, forcing people to stay inside more and more.

  Loch felt it the same as everyone else. He just had the ability to get out where so many were trapped. He wasn’t sure what could be done. Next winter wouldn’t be as bad, he hoped. It was just this first winter, where they were all trapped in close confines. Next winter everyone would have their own home in the new village that would be built in the fields they were currently fighting in. That would help.

  He hoped.

  But they needed to make sure creatures like the Yeti wouldn’t be in the fields anymore.

  With the Yeti charging, Loch threw Onyx. It cut through the frigid air, trailing streams of energy, slamming into the shoulder of the gorilla-like monster. The Alpha roared, rearing up on its hind legs, large hands pounding its chest. The creature was covered in shaggy, thick fur. It’s gray chest, the fur wasn’t as thick, but looked tough. Onyx disappeared from the shoulder, leaving a thin line of red. The axe’s lightning did no damage to the creature, bolts crackling around its own body.

  More attacks launched out from the people around Loch. Roger and Josh’s two teams. Not the ones Loch had wanted to bring with him, but he knew he needed to mix it up and interact with the other groups more. He was afraid he was showing favoritism.

  The two teams were capable, Roger’s stronger than Joshs, but Loch didn’t trust them. Not like he did his own Bannermen or Davis. Or even Drew’s team, who he didn’t spend much time with. Loch wasn’t sure why he felt off about the other two teams, more Roger’s group. Part of it was the hostile attitude of Roger Lewis. The man had never liked Loch, which was fine, but he let it show and let it affect everything he did. Loch didn’t need to be liked by everyone in the Clan, that would be impossible, but the respect had to be there. From Roger there was none. It wasn’t the whole team, Malcolm Leonard and Eric Hanlon, were both fine. Mike Turner gave Loch the respect, but that was mostly because Loch had known Mike since he was a young boy. Theodore Kincaid was an odd one. He did his best to avoid any interactions with Loch, always hanging in the rear of his group, not trying to stand out and be noticed.

  Three of the Frostburn Yeti headed to Loch’s left, where Roger and his people were. The other two were pulled to the right, where Josh and his team waited. That left the Alpha for Loch. Which he was fine with.

  The beast had lightning immunity, which got rid of a lot of Loch’s special attacks. He was looking forward to just brute strengthening his way through the fight. It had been awhile since he’d had to do that.

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  Activating Windstep, Loch appeared in front of the Yeti, Bulwark appearing on his arm. He swiped out with Onyx, the monster shifting to avoid the blow. A large hand swung down, slamming into the shield. Loch felt the blow through the shield, through his body, but held his ground, not moving the energy shield. The Yeti Alpha slammed a fist into Bulwark again, Loch activating the spikes, catching the Alpha in the hand and arm. Bright red blood dripped onto the shield, onto the snow and staining the white with the tint of red.

  The Alpha stepped back, glaring at Loch. It growled, swinging its other hand down to the ground. It pulled up some loose snow, throwing it at Loch. He twisted, blocking the snow with Bulwark, the powder blocking his view. It fell to the ground, revealing the charging Yeti. The monster slammed into Loch, knocking him down. He rolled to the side, barely avoiding the stampeding feet of the Yeti. The ground shook, powder and frozen snow thrown up. Loch kept rolling, snow finding its way into the joints of his armor, down the collar.

  He shivered against the cold, jumping up as a huge hand slammed down where he’d been. Resummoning Onyx, Loch swung at the arm, the axe head cutting deep. The Yeti roared in pain, lashing out with both arms wildly. Loch had to jump back to avoid being hit.

  With another roar, the Yeti reared up. It spread its arms wide. Loch was about to take advantage of the opening when a wave of immense cold struck him. It spread out from the Yeti. Loch could feel it seeping into his bones, freezing them. His body started to shake, clouds forming with each breath, ice forming on his beard. His movements became sluggish.

  The cold still came. He could feel frost forming along the metal surfaces of his armor. His bones felt brittle, like they would snap. The Alpha took a step closer, it seemed to be smiling. Loch pushed back against the cold. He turned his Boon, Storm’s Touch, inward. Instead of projecting the lightning field away from his body, he made the lightning fight off the invading chill. The pain was intense. He’d had fingers suffer from intense cold, just short of frostbite, and the pain as they warmed up had been excruciating. This was like that, but worse.

  Loch grit his teeth, fighting back the scream of pain.

  He could feel his movement speed increase.

  The Yeti swung a huge hand, aiming right for Loch’s head. He got Bulwark up to block, barely, the top edge half catching the punch. Cracks formed along the translucent surface of the shield, the blow forcing Loch to lower his body as it flew inches above his head. He pushed up with Bulwark, catching the underside of the Yeti’s arm, moving it up, giving him a clear opening with Onyx.

  He took it, swinging the axe and Activating Cleave. The head bit deep in the side of the Yeti, the wound enlarging as Loch twisted the weapon as he slashed it across the monster. A huge hand struck Lock, knocking him to the side.

  Looking up, he saw the Yeti clutching its side, panting heavily. Loch threw Onyx, the monster batting the spinning weapon aside. With spikes growing out of Bulwark, Loch ran forward, slamming the shield into the Yeti’s chest. The monster roared as the spikes penetrated, Loch shrinking and thinning the shield to make the points longer, penetrating deeper. The Yeti roared.

  The arms pulled in, trying to grab Loch, but he ducked, rolling backwards away from the monster. He came to a stop, throwing Onyx. The Yeti didn’t block, the weapon slamming into its shoulder. The weapon disappeared, back in Loch’s hand and growing to full size.

  With a Windstep, he appeared in front of the enraged Yeti, Activating Cleave and slamming the axe into the monster’s chest just below the neck. The Yeti roared, falling back, Loch stepping forward and swinging Onyx repeatedly. The arms came out to block, the axe cutting deep. Loch didn’t have the strength to cut all the way through, feeling the axehead struck the rock hard bones. Loch ducked under a wild swing, Onyx ripping a large gash in the Yeti’s stomach. Darting to the side, Loch swung and swung, each blow scoring a large wound.

  The Yeti took a step forward and stumbled, falling to the ground. Loch jumped onto its back, swinging Onyx across the back of the neck. The monster thrashed, Loch jumping off and landing in a roll. He came up, ready to attack again but there was no need.

  The Yeti bled out.

  Notifications flashed across his vision.

  YOU HAVE SLAIN FROSTBURN YETI ALPHA

  YOU HAVE EARNED THE TITLE YETI’S BANE RANK 1.

  YETIS BANE RANK 1.

  YOU HAVE KILLED YOUR FIRST YETI. CONTINUE KILLING CREATURES OF THE SAME RACE TO INCREASE YOUR BANE RANK FOR ADDITIONAL BENEFITS AND REWARDS.

  RANK 1 REWARD: +1 TO STRENGTH, +1% DAMAGE INCREASE TO YETIS

  YOU HAVE GAINED FROST RESISTANCE RANK 1.

  YOU HAVE EARNED ELITE KILLER RANK 3

  ELITE KILLER RANK 3: YOU HAVE FOUGHT AND KILLED MULTIPLE MONSTERS THAT WERE CONSIDERED ELITE, BEING AT OR NEAR YOUR LEVEL WITH ADDITIONAL STRENGTH BASED ON THEIR TIER. YOU HAVE EARNED +5% TO ATTACK AND +5% TO DEFENSE.

  YOU HAVE GAINED ENOUGH SPIRIT TO LEVEL YOUR CLASS. WARBREAKER IS NOW LEVEL TWENTY-NINE. YOU HAVE GAINED +1 STRENGTH AND +1 ENDURANCE AND HAVE 6 FREE POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE.