"Look, I apologized already like a dozen times, so could you please just use that [Perfect Environment] spell on me, it's freezing cold out here!"

  "Hmm, I mean I would, but it's uses up so much mana... I don't want to waste it all..."

  "You are literally using it on everybody but me."

  "Because they need it! We didn't have enough time to prepare, so I was forced to use the spell on us. Meanwhile you were so excited to go up north to the Frozen Caverns that you accepted the quest without telling us. Surely, your burning passion alone is enough to keep you warm for the trek."

  The protagonist sheepishly looked away as he created an excuse I couldn't use in my head.

  'Well, it's not my fault that The System awarded me with a [Snowstorm] skill if I accepted this quest. I may have been too excited at getting another skill and accepted the quest without thinking...'

  Despite the howling wind and the grunts of their guildmates as they trekked through the waist-high snow, the bickering between the two continued loud and clear. At last, the guild leader's patience had reached its limit as he personally paused the expedition to acknowledge the two of them.

  "Oh for the love of the goddesses, can the two of you just shut up? We're already doing a quest that nobody likes-"

  "Ahem, one person..."

  Blaze gave an unamusing glare to Ethereal, innocently returning eye contact to the person she just interrupted. With a sigh, Blaze shook his head and resumed the convoy, with special instructions given to the troublemaker of the group.

  "Ethereal, please. Just give the boy the spell. My ears are already worn down by the weather, please do not make it worse with your... conversations"

  With a pout, she waved her hand towards the protagonist and chanted a phrase. After a few seconds, his frost-bitten extremities had their sense of feeling returned to them. It was strange, to pick up freshly fallen snow but for him paradoxically retain my warmth as if he were holding my phone. The protagonist's enamourment of the spell was interrupted by a mocking giggle beside him.

  "BAHAHAHA, seriously?! You were able to wow the top guild-masters in the entire region with those strange spells you casted in the Colosseum before, but this simple two-star spell is strange to you?? Hahah-"

  A "random" snowball smashed into her face, interrupting her ridicule. She opened her mouth to refute, but the stern gaze of the guild-master reminded her of his special instructions. She grunted in frustration, but her sly smirk returned the moment Blaze looked away as she wordlessly cancelled the [Perfect Environment] status on the protagonist. The shivering cold started nipping away at his skin again as the eternal snowstorm in the area grew stronger as a silently complained in my head.

  'It's so damn cold, why couldn't The System give me a spell like that...'

  -------------------------------------

  Despite the sun certainly being high in the sky, the visibility was extremely low. The combination of darkness created by the stormy clouds and the thick snow falling everywhere around the group turned our trek into a trudge as everybody struggled to move forward. The snow was now torso-high as everyone essentially dug our way forward. It was even harder for the protagonist, who was nearly frozen into a popsicle if it weren't for Ethereal's "faulty" spell that turned off and on at random. As the explorers neared the destination, one of the other fledgling guild members started complaining about the cold too.

  "The blizzard must be really strong for it to penetrate through the spell. I'm starting to feel really cold."

  Ethereal's eyebrows scrunched in confusion as she curiously glanced towards the guildmember.

  "Nonsense, my incantations got me into this guild for a reason. Yes, it may be a low star spell, but it can't be easily bested by something as simple as a blizzard."

  The protag cleared his throat loud enough for her to hear through the storm. She rolled her eyes as she reluctantly turned towards him.

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  "Oh, don't act stupid. You know what I was doing."

  "So you admit it?!"

  Yet another argument was cancelled by the collapse of the fledgling guild member. Blaze squinted his eyes in suspicion as he stopped everyone's movement and urged us to check on his status. The two of us glanced at each other, then carefully dug through the snow to the fainted guild member. He lay face first onto the snow, but the thing that caught our eye was a blue-purple organism clinging to his leg. Every time it pulsated, it grew bigger, and the guild member's skin turned blue-er. It seemed to have sensed our presence, as a few seconds after we observed it, it detached from the leg and screeched at us.

  "...what the fuck?"

  Ethereal quickly began chanting for a spell as the thing coiled backwards. The protagonist's expression twinged in panic as he recognized what it was trying to do. A quick tackled into the snow caused the thing to shoot upwards, aiming for where Ethereal had been half a second earlier. It flew through the air in an arc, landing onto the snow and burrowing into it, out of sight. There was a moment of stillness before another guild member collapsed in the snow. Then another. Then two more. Sensing the dire situation, Blaze utilized his role of guild master as he began yelling orders.

  "Everyone, come to me! We need to huddle together to defend from these things!"

  Ethereal tried to cast the [Perfect Environment] spell on me, but a scream for help distracted her. She glimpsed at the protag worryingly, but he waved her off.

  "Casting a spell would take too long. Don't worry about me, I'll bring this guy over. just help the others."

  She nodded and quickly rushed over to assist the other guild members who were in danger. With her help, most of the remaining guild members reached their leader in time and readied their weapons for combat. Meanwhile, the protagonist was still away from the group, carrying the fainted. Blaze brandished his shield as he motioned toward Ethereal.

  "Any ideas?"

  "All creatures are weak to fire. Just do what you do best."

  For the first time during that expedition, Blaze smiled upon hearing Ethereal speak. He readied his stance as his shield began glowing, the decorative lion head on the front roaring to life molten ball of fire launched out towards one of the large worms. The team of warriors smiled with renewed vigor as their hope of fighting back shined as bright as the fireball did towards its target. However, the worm opened its jaw and swallowed the spell whole, snuffing out the fire much like the team's hope. After eating the attack, the creature's diameter grew as tall as the guild leader, and its length extended far enough to be obscured by the blizzard. Everyone's face was washed with dread, but none more so than Ethereal as she recognized the figure next to the mammoth sized creature.

  "?????, WATCH OUT!"

  The protagonist gawked at the giant worm beside him, fearfully frozen in place akin the ice around him. He mustered enough energy to close his eyes and welcome a quick end.

  'I've only transmigrated here, what, a month ago? Now I'm going to be eaten by a big ass worm. I didn't even do everything that I wanted to do in a webnovel. Ah well, at least it's better than freezing to death... probably.'

  Everyone held their breath in horror as the worm began lurching towards its target. A few seconds passed before the protagonist forced his frozen eyelids open and noticed something.

  'That thing... it's not going for me? It's trying to go for everyone near the guild master. But I'm so much closer to it than them. Why is it... hold on...'

  Squinting into the blizzard, the protag scrutinized a detail at the tail end of the worm and noticed that it was shrinking. A dying, high pitch squeal caught his attention as he glanced towards the body of the guildmember he was carrying. A creature the size of his pinky finger had cried out, breaking off from the exposed neck of the guild member and fell limp into the snow. Pieces began connected in the protagonist's mind as Blaze prepared for another attack, the shield giving off a warm glow that even he could feel from such a distance. A number of sizable worms surrounded the group, spearheaded by the giant one slowly but surely making way to their position. The protag's voice strained from the cold as he yelled at his guild, urging them to stand down.

  "WAIT, DON'T ATTACK IT. I HAVE A PLAN. JUST KEEP YOURSELVES WARM."

  Blaze and Ethereal confusingly stared at their star recruit, who was assuringly returning eye contact. Conflicted thoughts stirring in his head, Blaze worriedly asked his right hand advisor for their opinion.

  "Ethereal, do you trust him?"

  "...of course. Now hurry up and warm us all, my spell can't handle this level of cold."

  Despite the circumstances, Ethereal's smile shined brighter than the glowing shield Blaze wielded. After a pause, a chuckle emerged along with a tide of orange flames created a hollow sphere, encapsulating the group. Both the snow and the darkness inside the sphere melted away from the flames as the surrounded guild relaxed defenselessly. Now with everything completed, the protagonist reviewed his plan in his mind one last time before initiating it.

  'Those worm things are actually more like leeches. It seems like they draw out the heat from a person instead of blood and use that to grow. Fireballs and stable temperatures created by spells must be like a buffet to them. However, extreme cold seems like it makes them shrink and die off. I didn't think I'd have to use that spell the System gave me when I accepted this quest so soon. Damn it, I hate the cold. Oh well. System, activate [Blizzard].'

  *ding!*

  [Activating: Blizzard]

  [★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (7/10 star spell!)]

  [While active:

  - Rapidly decreases temperature to 100°K

  - Rapidly increases wind speed to 250 km/h that revolves around you.

  - Spawns sharp ice daggers in the wind.]

  [WARNING: It has been detected that your ice resistance is dangerously insufficient to use alongside this spell. Continue?]

  Despite the blood red System error that appeared in his view, the protagonist nodded. Afterwards, all System prompts disappeared as the winds grew stronger and the chill grew larger. Collapsing on his knees, the protagonist could barely make out the pyroparasites suffering under his attack. The larger ones got minced by the tens of dozens of ice shards that made quick work of the critters, while the smaller ones shriveled up and stopped moving. The protagonist's eyesight grew foggy as the significant drop in temperature immediately affected him. However, despite the largest heat leech shrinking to the size of a child and having its flesh cut up into slices, it still garnered enough strength to make one last charge. It coiled up its body before making a mad dash towards the group of guildmates. The protagonist reached out his hand as icicles began to form both on his arm and towards where he was pointing.

  'Just... a little... longer...'

  The flurry of crude, jagged icicles formed in all directions around the leech. Pouring the last bit of his strength into the squeeze of his hand, the icicles sunk deep into the bug's body, absolutely demolishing it in every angle. At last, the protagonist disabled his spell and collapsed into the snow. The last thing he saw was a System pop up before sinking into warmth and unconsciousness.

  *ding!*

  [The [Perfect Environment] buff has been applied to you.]