I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

Under the rainy clouds, within the white fog, Rita stood at the edge of the Walkway.

An arm placed over her mouth and nose, blocking any more inhalation of the poisonous air.

Crude, but effective.

It helped in a way that let her body manage Straining under the invading particles in the air.

Her attention had been lingering behind. Where the fog covered, a curtain of white blocking even her eyesight.

She was waiting. Patiently.

A replay of Elsie excusing herself a moment ago played in her head.

Just before she ran through the fog to Raph.

Or, at least, she suspected.

There was no reason besides that for her to suddenly turn the way she did.

Impulsively, as expected of a Beast kin, but Elsie had proven to be different from her kind.

While they were wearkins who listened to their instincts and guts, Elsie seemed to have a bit– No, a good amount of logic to support her actions.

She didn't outright go out of her way to act without first thinking of it.

Like most humans should. Like she herself did.

While that was a hypothesis from her observation, she had not thrown away the idea that Elsie was impulsive.

After all, she is a werewolf.

'They're especially impulsive…'

She thought to herself, just as the event played out once more.

'Still….the way she ran this time….it seemed more of a need than a want…'

Like she needed to see him properly before they departed.

She sighed once more, lifting her head to the sky, where the fog couldn't reach.

It was ironic.

It riddled the pathway between the Hostel Buildings and the Cafeteria as if it were a ghost trying to haunt the students.

But under the night that wept, the fog died before its tendrils could even scrape it.

Perhaps there was an invisible barrier that stood in the way, but the poison couldn't spread any further from where it plagued.

'Hm. It's better this way…something like this would affect others worse than us…' She admitted.

The Great Families are naturally more enduring in times of trials. Their history was one of genetic mutation and improvement, passed down through premeditated codes in their blood.

'We may be coughing, but others would probably experience something worse. Burns. Scars….this kind of poison emitted from lava and basalt would be dangerous to normal human lives.'

Her thoughts drifted for a moment.

Far from what she had been contemplating on a moment ago.

'Hm. It's a good thing we aren't normal humans.'

Just then, a whiff of the fog caught her attention. A figure soon appeared and grabbed Rita's attention within a second.

She turned her head instinctively and locked gazes with Elsie as she stepped into her central field of vision.

Rita's eyes bulged open slightly.

A form of amusement sparkling in her eyes as she stood and observed.

Simply observed. Letting her thoughts run wild with the raw data presented to her.

'Flushed cheeks. Sparkling eyes. Red–like lips….'

Elsie suddenly blinked and glanced away, turning her head from Rita's sight while she walked past her.

"Let's…let's move on."

Rita remained fixed in position.

Brain tugging at straws as it reached a result she seemed to instinctively deny.

'Why….why was she making that expression? Why was her face…pink?'

The questions seemed to form a cloud that seemed to block her means of judgment.

Stopping any more information from coming in.

Thus, causing her to halt, both mentally and physically.

Just until she figured what just happened.

But she already did.

Acceptance just seemed a bit more difficult than she could admit.

'Well, they were rumored to be together…but…'

Slowly, her head moved. Then the rest of her body.

She glanced at Elsie's back with a slight frown as she walked after her.

'They kissed. Certainly.' She finally accepted.

'But their timing is way off.'

She increased her pace until she walked next to her.

Shoulder to shoulder.

Under the heavy rain that poured over their heads, sucking in the warmth that once burnt brightly within them.

Thus, a biting cold was beginning to assault them. Invade them.

Just at a pace much slower than they recognized.

In the silence that hung, both withdrawn to their thoughts. Rita turned her gaze to the side.

Glancing at Elsie once more.

Now, she was just curious.

The question that bothered her most times she witnessed such….trivial romance.

"Do you love him?"

The question came as an assassin's dagger.

Jabbing straight in the heart without a warning.

Elsie's entire body jumped by just an inch.

Enough to be noticed, but not so much to be pondered on.

Just an instinctive behavior expected of teens who hear that word.

"Lo– Love? What are you talking about?" She evaded Rita's gaze and seemed to have increased her pace.

But Rita wasn't having it.

"Don't play coy with me." She narrowed her gaze. "Or is it some kind of Beastkin thing that makes you attracted to him?"

She increased her pace as well, getting to her side just before Elsie reduced hers.

Her head bent low, with her gaze jumping between her thoughts and the present.

She seemed to have been entirely puzzled by the question, as she contemplated deeply on it.

Still, they commenced their march to find the other students.

Within the silence that hung like baked clay tied to a chimney. Ready to fall into pieces at any time.

A minute passed. Then another, and a few more and soon, they were nearly reaching the end of the Walkway.

With the Cafeteria in sight.

Rita folded her arms on sighting the tall building, ahead.

Her thoughts reeling at that moment.

'Is she not even aware of her feelings?'

She wondered.

The question itself wasn't difficult, but it held more meaning than the sentence gave away.

People were not objects. They weren't works of arts, drawn to perfection.

Or an object predetermined to be used for our benefits.

They were simply humans like them, riddled with flaws.

Whether one was capable of loving even that, despite its flaws, was an entirely difficult thing to do.

With more meaning than any other thing.

'Though… I wonder if she's worried about something like that.'

Rita's gaze landed on Elsie's back, once more.

They had stepped out of the fog of smoke and into clear air once again.

Still on the walkway, with just a series of steps between them and the other students.

"Hah…" Elsie's voice pierced the air at that moment.

A silent outward breath ghat eased the tension that had built up within her.

She glanced back at Rita with an even gaze.

Packed with emotion, yet a clarity that couldn't be achieved with emotions was clearly painted over her face.

Rita gulped.

"You're right about a few things." She began. "I had been following my instincts until now. After all, werekins like us are bound by the rules determined for us since birth."

A small smile formed in her face.

"Most times, we may not even understand what this thing called love truly means, and we're okay with that."

"Because what we have is Devotion."

She let the word linger in the air for a second.

"and that is many times better than any love humans are capable of showing."

Without another breath, she turned around and continued on her way.

Leaving Rita in a pool of her thoughts.

The girl stared for a few seconds, before she suddenly clicked her tongue in annoyance.

'What is she talking about? What kind of person loves someone without showing devotion?!'

She walked after her soon after.

Huffing her chest in exasperation.

'This girl…'

She rolled her eyes away with a heavy sigh.

'…doesn't even know she's in love with him.'

****

A step after the other, the young white haired male walked over the burnt floor.

Glancing around with curiosity and a spark of something more. A sensation that jumped ever so slightly in excitement.

He ignored it, but didn't kill it.

Instead, he let it flourish without constraint.

Focusing had become a tad more difficult, but not so much that he wouldn't be able to figure his way around it.

After all, he had covered the distance finally and had gotten close to the middle, where he stopped.

In front of him was a part of the broken fields where rain didn't fall.

Like a junction between sorrow and joy, with him standing in the sorrowful part.

He chuckled at the thought as he glanced up.

Licking the rain that slicked down his cheeks to his lips.

He stretched his arm forward, out of the rain and into the clearing.

As if testing for the hotness of boiling water.

Then, he stepped through.

A warm, yet cold energy wrapped around him immediately he did so, causing him to turn back, where the rain continued.

'interesting.'

He thought in amusement.

Lingering in the stillness that followed.

Unsurprisingly, he found himself interested in the phenomenon.

The dark skies impregnated with rain against the clear skies where the moon light drenched the world in its luminance.

'Interesting, indeed.'

With a nod of approval, he turned and continued on his way.

Soon spotting the four girls who seemed sprawled on the ground for obvious reasons.

'Fatigue would be the last thing they feel right now after facing someone like Mila.'

She was a force to be reckoned with, he admitted.

So much so that he did doubt the possibility of actually killing an Executive.

After all, it had not been done until the onset of the Demonic War in his past life.

'Perhaps this is one of those miracles…'

He wondered when he got to their laying bodies.

Thalia Jun, awake and vigilant as always, tilted her head towards him the moment he got into view.

Startling the young boy who took a step back.

"Wow, sister. What are you, a zombie?"

Thalia clicked her tongue. "Hah, I thought it was you." She said with an unamused tone, glancing him over. "What took you so long, anyway?"