The Ice Castle

Hiroshi: [Shocked] What the— A speaking snowman!?

Shinzo: [Surprised] THIS PLACE IS SO COOL!

A cool breeze flows, Hiroshi and Shinzo shiver in the cold.

Hiroshi: [shivering] You are pretty correct...

There is silence for a bit. Then, Shinzo asks-

Shinzo: Hey, Mr. Snowman, how can you speak?

Snowman: Actually, we are not real living beings. We all are creations of Lord Akuma. He is the one who made us. As normal humans can't survive in Antarctica, he felt lonely. So he created us, using his all-powerful ice powers.

Hiroshi steps forward.

Hiroshi: Hey, can you tell us where we can meet this 'Lord Akuma' of yours?

Snowman: Sure, but I don't give information to outsiders for free.

He takes out a red oval pendant, with a black thread and a golden carved holder that keeps the red oval gem of the pendant in place.

Snowman: You have to buy this. Only then, I will tell you.

Hiroshi: What's the price?

Snowman: 50 Varkoins. No bargain.

Hiroshi: [Shocked, in mind] Is he out of his mind!? He is asking for 50 Varkoins! Each Varkoin is 100 US dollars! He is asking for 5000 US dollars for just a pendant!

Snowman: So, do you want to buy it?

Hiroshi: Absolutely N—

Shinzo tries to complete his line.

Shinzo: Yes!

Shinzo takes out 50 Varkoins from his pockets and hands them to the snowman.

Snowman: Alright! Here! Have it!

The snowman hands over the pendant to Shinzo.

Hiroshi takes Shinzo to the side.

Hiroshi whispers to Shinzo.

Hiroshi: [whispering] Are you mad!? What did you try to do!?

Shinzo: [whispers] I was trying to complete your dialogue just like you did back at the Headquarters...

Hiroshi puts his hand on his forehead in frustration.

Hiroshi: What does this stupid pendant do?

Snowman: I don't know much. I found it while fishing around a year ago. Nobody bought it. But since I got it, the atmosphere inside my hotel was warmer than outside.

Hiroshi: Hmmm. I see. Now, tell me where Akuma is.

Snowman: He lives in the Ice Castle. We are currently in the northernmost part of the Ring. You need to move to the south. At the southernmost end of the Ring, there is a big, big frozen lake. On that lake, the castle is situated. Inside that castle resides Lord Akuma.

Hiroshi: [confused] So... do we directly go south from here now?

Snowman: Not now. The doors of the castle open exactly at noon.

Hiroshi takes Shinzo to the side again.

Hiroshi: [whispers] We entered the portal in Australia right around 7 AM. Here, the time must be around 9 AM.

Shinzo: [whispers] Yeah. Antarctica's time is 2 hours ahead of Australia.

Hiroshi: [whispers] But it looks like it is night time!

They both look at the night sky.

A star chimes bright.

An aurora is seen.

Shinzo: [in awe] So beautiful...

Hiroshi: [whispers] Hey, answer me!

Shinzo: [whispers] Oh... my bad. It's August right now. Antarctica experiences polar night during these times. So, it's night 24/7.

Hiroshi: Ohh. Alright.

The snowman just stares at them both as they talk in private.

Snowman: So... should I go..? Or stay here?

Hiroshi and Shinzo go to him.

Hiroshi: Yeah sure. You can go now.

The snowman slides away, his body leaves a snow trail.

Shinzo: But the castle opens at noon! [shouts to call the snowman] MR. SNOWMAN! COME BACK!

Hiroshi: What are you doing!?

The snowman comes back, sliding.

Snowman: Yeah?

Shinzo: You said that you have a hotel. Can we stay there for some time?

Snowman: Sure, but it would cost 75 Vark—

Shinzo takes out 75 Varkoins, and slams them on the snowman's hand.

Snowman: [cheerfully] Alright! Let's go! Follow me.

The snowman gives them both skiing pads and skiing sticks.

Shinzo: [to Hiroshi] Wanna race?

Hiroshi: Last one to reach the hotel is a rotten egg!

The snowman starts rushing forward, leaving the icy trail.

The ground ahead of Hiroshi and Shinzo is also covered in snow.

They both start skiing.

Hiroshi is ahead of Shinzo.

Shinzo takes advantage of the snowman's snow trail and gets equal to Hiroshi.

Hiroshi: Hey! That's cheating!

Shinzo: [hooting in fun] Everything is fair in a race! WOOHOO!!!

Shinzo goes ahead of Hiroshi.

Hiroshi speeds up.

Hiroshi: [hooting in excitement] Let's go!!!

The snowman stops at the hotel.

Shinzo and Hiroshi follow in full speed.

Shinzo: MOVE!!!

The snowman moves in panic.

Shinzo and Hiroshi both zoom past the snowman, but see a dead end with a big pile of snow.

They crash together in the snow.

Shinzo: I guess we both won...

They both laugh a bit.

They get up and go back to the snowman.

The snowman points to his hotel.

Snowman: This is my hotel. You can stay in room no.7 for now. It's upstairs.

He hands them the key to room no.7.

They both look at the hotel, a beautiful building of red colour. The word 'SnoHotel' is written on an electric LED board.

Hiroshi: Let's go.

They both go inside and go to their room, upstairs.

Hiroshi opens the door.

Inside, they see a big, clean, well-lighted room, with a fan, a big bed, 2 sofas and a connected bathroom and toilet.

Hiroshi: Such a well-maintained room.

Shinzo: Agreed.

They both sit on the sofas, Shinzo puts his bag on the bed.

Shinzo: Hey, take this.

Shinzo hands Hiroshi the pendant.

Shinzo: Snowman said that this gave heat. Perfect for you, probably.

Hiroshi: Yeah, I guess.

Hiroshi wears the pendant.

Shinzo: Suits you quite well.

Hiroshi: Thanks.

Shinzo: Hey, I have one more thing for you.

Shinzo takes out a small machine.

Hiroshi: What's that?

Shinzo: It's called the 'Varkox Meter'. I have two of these. You can have one.

He gives Hiroshi the Varkox Meter.

Hiroshi: What does it do?

Shinzo: It is a machine that can measure 'Varkox Levels'.

Hiroshi: Now what's that?

Shinzo: It’s a complex system. All humans and Varkonians emit energy radiation—the stronger you are, the more intense it is. This machine measures that radiation and divides it by the 'Varkox Constant'. It's Value is 1.98527 for humans and 3.79823 for Varkonians. The result is the subject’s power level, known as their Varkox Level.

Hiroshi: [confused] Uhh... can I get some examples?

Shinzo: Sure! Well, for an instance,

An average human has a Varkox Level of 1. A Rebel Army troop averages at 1,000. a Rebel Army General, at 10,000 and leaders like me, Shunjo, and Krimson, at around 100,000. Sages have three grades: normal, like Majuro, 75K. trained, like Bajuro, 150K, and special grade sages have 2 Million and above. There’s also a special grade in normal humans, with only one known case, you.

For Varkonians, average Varkonian, 1. Varkonian guard, 1,000 Varkox Level. their sole general, 150K. Tyrants are classified into Grades like Grade α(Alpha) with Varkox Level 250K to 350K, like Riyaku, Akuma. Grade β(Beta) with Varkox Level 500K to 800K, like Kurumi, Gorokko. Grade γ(Gamma) with Varkox Level 1M to 1.5M, like Yataro, Jinah. and Grade δ(Delta) with Varkox Level above 2M, with only Izoto in it.

Hiroshi: That's so high! It would be hard for me to battle them. What's your exact level?

Shinzo: It was supposed to be 100,000. But I have 250,000 Varkox Level as I trained very hard.

Hiroshi: Can you check mine?

Shinzo: Sure!

Shinzo takes his Varkox Meter and calculates Hiroshi's Varkox Level.

Shinzo: It's 350,000! Damn!

Hiroshi: Good. Let's go now.

Hiroshi stands up.

Shinzo: [confused] Go where!?

Hiroshi: The Ice Castle.

Shinzo: But it opens at noon, remember?

Hiroshi: Do you expect me to go fight him when he is ready for it? We will do a surprise attack. He must've known about Riyaku's death by now. He would definitely be expecting me. I want to attack him when he can't even think of it. So, let's go.

Shinzo: Well, if that's the plan, let's go.

Shinzo puts on his backpack.

They both leave the hotel.

They start walking towards the Ice Castle.

They walk through the entire Ring. From north to west, and finally reach the lake.

LOCATION: Frozen Lake
TIME: 10:15 AM (Antarctican Time)

Shinzo: We're finally here.

Hiroshi steps on the frozen lake.

Sound of slight crackling comes from the ice later as Hiroshi steps on it.

Hiroshi: It's good for walking. Let's go.

They both walk to the castle, icy winds blow out from the ice castle.

They reach the castle, they see big walls of grey colour with white coloured ice patterns made on it. The four pillars of the corners are greyish-blue in colour, with a red pointed top.

Hiroshi: Akuma is the Tyrant of Ice. He must even love cold things. And he would definitely have a pool of cold water, whose source is this very lake itself. I will go through this lake, enter the castle and open the main door. You enter through the door as it is dangerous for you to come in the cold water.

Shinzo: Your powers are fire! You will die in cold water.

Hiroshi: My powers are fire. I myself am not made of flames. I can withstand cold water ten times better than you. Stay out. That's an order.

Shinzo: [sigh] Alright... have this. It will help you in breaking ice.

Shinzo takes out an ice pick from his backpack.

Before Shinzo can even give Hiroshi the ice pick, he uses his fire powers to heat up his daggers and cut ice using them.

Hiroshi: Done.

Shinzo: Alright. One tip, follow the light.

Hiroshi: Alright. See ya in a bit.

Hiroshi takes a deep breath and jumps down in the hole.

He enters the cold water. But for some reason, it does not feel cold.

Hiroshi: [in mind] What the hell!? Why doesn't the water feel cold!?

Hiroshi doesn't consume much time in thinking about it and starts swimming.

Actually, the pendant Hiroshi wore glowed orange in colour. It provided warmth to Hiroshi for some reason.

Hiroshi swam to the southern direction, looking for a light source.

He eventually saw a beam of light coming from a place.

Hiroshi: [in mind] There it is!

Hiroshi swims to it fast.

He tries to use fire on his daggers but can't as he is in water.

He gathers all his might and releases a strong punch on the thick ice layer.

The ice layer was irregularly spiked from the inside, the punch shattered the layer, but injured Hiroshi's fist.

He gets out of water, shivering a bit.

He finds himself in a room with marble flooring. It looks like a bathing room.

Hiroshi: [shivering] Hah... I was right! FLAME WALL!

Hiroshi generates the flame wall and stands between it.

Neither he, nor his clothes burn, but instead, they dry.

Hiroshi: [sigh of relief] Dry clothes feel so much better...

He walks out, luckily, the door is open from outside, he leaves the bathing room and goes out.

He walks towards the outside, avoiding guards.

He reaches the main door, which is around ten times Hiroshi's size, made of wood. He cranks an iron wheel which opens the door.

The door falls outwards, a loud noise is created.

The loud noise attracts the attention of all the guards.

Shinzo enters.

Shinzo: Is everything alright?

Hiroshi: Yeah, everything is alright. Shinzo, I have a big work for you.

A spark ignites in Shinzo's eyes.

Shinzo: [excited] Tell me!

Hiroshi: You need to tie them all up.

Shinzo: [confused] Tie whom?

Hiroshi: These guys.

Hiroshi moves aside, Shinzo sees that hundreds of troops and big-sized golems made of pure ice are running towards them.

Shinzo: [shocked] TIE UP ALL OF THOSE!?

Hiroshi: Yeah...

Shinzo: Alright...

Hiroshi: I'll go to the Tyrant. Take care.

Hiroshi takes his pose.

 FLAMING SLASH AND DASH!

Hiroshi dashes away, Killing some of the troops.

Shinzo takes out a net launcher and rapidly fires at the golems and troops, capturing them in place.

Hiroshi rushes to the top floor, looking for Akuma.

He enters a dark room with no light, the pendant stops working, Hiroshi feels a chilly presence.

Hiroshi: [shivering] It's so cold here...

A spotlight shines on an ice throne.

No one is sitting on it.

Hiroshi: [confused] Huh? Stop these hide and seek! Show yourself! Where are you? Akuma!?

A person's face comes near his right ear.

Akuma: [whispers] I am right here...

Hiroshi, out of his instincts, tries to punch Akuma on his gut.

He is suddenly teleported to a place, chilly, purely made of ice.

[LOCATION: Akuma's Freezing Arena]

Hiroshi finds himself in a chilly Arena. Made purely of ice. Even The floor is ice. The entire arena is supported by 10 Pillars of solid ice. In between of those pillars, there is a gap where Icy-Blue Crystals are levitating. They seem to not break from the pressure exerted by the Pillars.

Hiroshi: [confused] Huh!? Why don't those crystals break?! Isn't this entire arena supported by those pillars?!

Akuma appears. Standing right in the middle of the Arena.

Akuma: Welcome... to my arena. I'll make sure to rip of each limb of yours and keep your organs as collectibles along with the Blaze Ember I got from you... Prepare... TO DIE!

To be continued...

Next Chapter: Hiroshi Vs Akuma, The Ice Tyrant.

Releasing: Sunday, 24th August