Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman

It was about midnight when Tanya woke up. She found herself snuggling into someone else's chest, while three-fold of thick blanket on her. With a little effort, she sat up and noticed the one she was hugging onto was none other than Wrik, who was sleeping with a frown on his brows. His condition showed some abnormality.

Tanya's cheek reddened as she gazed at the source of light. It was a small bonfire, where a small figure was sitting with her knees bent quite close to the fire. It was Byul who was shuddering a little, even though she was close to the fire. The girl did not seem to notice her presence yet.

Tanya coughed with an intentional 'ahem.'. 

"I thought you would take more time," Byul said, noticing her.

"Why did you put me in the same blanket as him?" That was the first question she asked.

"Is there some problem?" Byul asked meekly in the small fire. "I thought you two are a thing."

"What? No, we're not." She denied instantly.

"Well, you can move if you want."

"No; I'm good here," Tanya muttered as she checked out the place she was in. It was quite cold outside the blanket.

While Byul smirked at the comment, and remained silent.

Tanya gazed around to find they were in a cave with half a dozen square-metre, while the entrance was blocked by a boulder even though the chilly wind was coming inside the cave from the crack. Byul did her best to stop that with their baggage and stuff, yet she did not succeed to stop the stiff wind from coming in. 

Then she gazed at the fellow, sleeping though she could guess some discomfort in him. Tanya put her armed against Wrik's forehead as he shuddered a little as her cold hand touched his head. Her expression darkened instantly, feeling the fiery fever.

"What happened to him?" she asked. 

"He said he was poisoned, and I think it's the side effects of poisoning," Byul opened her lips. "But don't worry, he would be fine."

"How can you say that?"

"Because he said so, and I believed him."

Tanya calmed down after a bit of scrutinising. Just like Byul said it, everything else looked fine in Wrik apart from the fever. He should be fine after a couple of days of resting. 

Tanya went out from under the relatively thick blanket. For a moment her mind was reluctant to leave the blanket, but on second thought she moved near the fire. 

Byul nodded to her as she opened her lips. "I thought you would be there longer," she said. 

Tanya said nothing, moved towards her baggage that was helping them block the chilly wind. She opened the bag as she felt cold from the chilly wind. She opened a small vial of potion and a few tablets. Carrying those, she moved towards the fire and sat in front of the fire across Byul.

Tanya drank the vial entirely within the gaze of Byul. She finished it with a couple of tablets, mouthing dryly.

"Is it because of the spell?" Byul asked, guessing what the portion and sedative were for.

Tanya nodded. "How long was I unconscious?" she asked.

"I don't know. Probably four or five hours."

Tanya nodded. So there were about half a dozen hours till dawn. "There should not be anyone left after the last spell, right?" she asked Byul for confirmation.

"Not that I have noticed," Byul said, exhaling a deep breath. "And I don't think anyone would give chase in this blizzard."

"You're right." Tanya sighed in relief. 

"So what did you do with the last spell," Byul asked, finding the silence to be cold. It's probably the weather, but she needed some conversation to keep engaged.

"I made a bad decision there, but the result was as good as I expected."

Byul furrowed her brows, asking for more, and Tanya complied with her. 

"I tapped into the chilly maha mana in this region and linked them into the last spell. Even though the chilly mana infected me, I think they were in worse condition than mine, especially the leader of the group. I wasted half of my energy on him."

"Tapping into the foreign mana," Byul muttered. She was quite stunned, even though she did not have much knowledge of the ways of mages. "You can do that."

Tanya gave a hollow laugh. "I never knew it before. This was the first time I've tried," she said. "And it was a success to some degree."

"What to some degree?" Byul eyed Tanya. "Didn't you see how the giant man was fighting? Even though Wrik was gaining the upper hand, with his condition it could have gone wrong at any moment if you did not freeze them."

"I only called it a success to some degree, because I paid some backlash from the spell as well." Tanya said, sighing a little.

"What do you mean?" Byul became anxious. With Wrik being ill, Tanya was the only one that had the most firepower. It would be enough to worry if Tanya became inept as well. "How bad is it?"

"Not that bad," Tanya said, though it looked like a lie. "I can still wield mana, just need to terminate out all the chilly aura from my mana circuit. Don't worry, I have taken the meds. I'll be good in a couple of days." 

Byul sighed in relief. In a couple of days, Wrik would get better too, and as Tanya said the ones she had cast the spell on were in worse shape than her, so there was not much to worry about for now.

"Speaking of which, I still have not thanked you for saving me." She said, shuddering. "I don't know what those beasts would have done to me if you were not there. . ."

"It's nothing," Tanya said. "You probably would have done the same, if you're in my place."

Byul was not that fast to nod. She did not know if she would do the same selflessly, and even if she did, there was a pretty good chance of her failing. There was no need to guess what would happen after that.

Tanya noticed that as well. She opened her lips slowly, "Byul." she paused for second. "Can I call you that?''

Byul raised her eyebrows, but nodded. This was the first time anyone ever had asked if they could call be her name. Byul knew what it meant. It was also the start of a friendship. Tanya was giving her a hand to become friends.

Tanya nodded as well. She continued. "Byul, I know you're strong; stronger than you realise, even though you are weak in combat now, but your mindset is strong, just like my elder sister. I can tell just by looking at your eyes, you are a survivor, and you are stronger in that area than I will ever be." 

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