The pain of [Mana Frostbite] was slowly eating her up. Her mana core was freezing over, and every last part of her body that could conduct magic was slowly giving up on her.

  It was like turning into stone, inch by inch, on the inside. Only, it came with the pain that only an awakener of the S-Rank could imagine, inflict, and bear. After all, that was the price of using her own spell.

  Yet.

  It happened all of a sudden.

  When the unbearable pain was overtaking her very breath, she met that girl.

  All these days, she had only seen people who either respected her, expected from her, or now, pitied her.

  Yet that girl’s brazen attitude made her stop and stare. And then, her touch… made it all go astray.

  Her heart was racing. It was the first time something like that had happened to the Ice Queen.

  ***

  [Skill Symbiotic Bond has detected a highly compatible partner (98.7%). Requesting confirmation from target...]

  I chuckled and tried to get back up on my feet. Oh man, if this day couldn’t get any worse, huh? Tell me about it. I thought a lot about how I’d like to meet Seraphina Vahn when I was just starting out my work in this place, but never did I think it would be like this.

  Oh fuck me, especially hard for this one.

  “Stop right there,” Seraphina Vahn said. “What did you just do?”

  “Huh…? I am sorry. I just slipped and fell! I’ll get away…”

  “No.” Seraphina Vahn shook her head side to side. Her beautiful eyes glistened and stared back into mine. It was intense, my chest was thrumming. The messages from the system just made me more nervous. They were covering her face as well. “What is this message? Compatible partner?”

  “I-I…” I took a deep breath. “I don’t know either. It is my skill. Symbiotic Bond. It makes people share life-spans if they mutually agree to it, so—”

  “A life elongating spell!?”

  “Y-yes, it needs two consenting people. But I’ve never managed a completely successful bond before…”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  I stuttered over my words now. It was not because I was scared or cared about her ranking all of a sudden. It was my body, reacting to the deep cold in this place. I was slowly shivering, and my teeth clattered.

  “Y-you have to let go…” I said.

  Noticing my skin turning pale, perhaps, Seraphina slowly loosened her grip on my shoulders. Her soft fingers brushed over my hands, lingering just a second longer, it sent shivers down my spine as I moved away from her. It was crazy, crazy.

  “What…” Seraphina asked, “Is this system message about?”

  “I have never seen it before. It can’t be anything good, I mean, I am just an F-Ranked Hunter—”

  Seraphina Vahn seemed to be in consideration for a second. She quietened down completely on those stairs. I said quietened, but really, it was a little different. Now that I was so up close to this infallible figure of the Ashen Gryphon, there was a lot more to notice in the ice queen than her name would imply.

  Her feet were slightly buckled together. Her pupils trembled ever so slightly as she considered something. A hum, very, very soft hum, one that anyone would have missed if not for how cold the air was and how close I stood to her still, was echoing in my ears. It was like the voice of a child trying their best to hold their tears in.

  I knew it because I was just the same. Only, she did it a million times better than I could.

  An ice figure, yet I could see the small droplets that melted off her,

  “You.” Seraphina Vahn commanded. “Follow me.”

  I had no choice, it seemed.

  ***

  The 27th floor of the Ashen Tower was a place that someone like me would never, ever see. Each floor from the top four was given to an S-Ranked Hunter, with the top floor belonging to Griffith, the S-Rank Hunter who created Ashen Gryphon and one of the strongest in the continent, and at least in our eyes, the definite strongest.

  For an F-Ranked Hunter like me to be here, it was just beyond understanding. Everyone who had seen us walking by and getting into the VIP lifts on the ground floor had a confused look on their faces. It was confusing for anyone.

  “Through here,” Seraphina said as she opened the door to her office. The entire wall at the back was made of glass, and a window stood there overlooking the entirety of the city. A prime view unlike any other.

  There was just a desk and a chair behind it. The walls were strangely empty, so were the couches and the tea-tables around. I looked around like a duckling being pulled away from its mother and observed the place with sparkling eyes.

  “Lavish,” I said.

  “You’re bold.”

  “I am sorry, I guess,” I said, barely hiding the sarcasm in my voice. Sure, call me brazen, it’s not like I am going to be here a week down the line anyway. For all I knew, my supervisor might have received the results of the certification test and drafted my firing letter already.

  “Ah…” Seraphina stuttered over her words at my remark. She turned her gaze away. Then shook her head and slowly turned to face me. She leaned against the table and looked straight at me.

  “Hunter…”

  “Elara,” I said. A wry smile now played on my lips. “You should ask my name before pulling me to a private place.”

  “What…!” Seraphina’s eyes widened for a split, split second, and she shook it off again. Ahaha, Ice Queen? How cute!

  “Anyway… Hunter Elara. I need your help. If your ability can really add life-force for someone… then I am willing to do anything.”

  I pursed my lips.

  “I… am dying.”