Broken

Chapter 57

Even in winter gear, made of instance-harvested materials, the change in temperature was easily noticeable the moment we entered the instance. As I stumbled out, wedged between the twins, I gasped as the frigid air assaulted my lungs, making me cough and my nostrils to stick shut.

There was a slight breeze, shunting loose snow across the white and grey surface of the hard ground beneath our feet. After a second I realized with a little panic that it wasn't ground at all, but ice. The portal had spat us out right on it's surface. 

I may have been a Canadian girl, but I'd never been the type for winter sports, much less the ones that required me to get out on a frozen lake. When I was little, and my father had been drunk, he once scared me by threatening to make me walk out on a frozen lake, just to see how far I could get before I fell through. I wouldn't say it was anything close to a phobia, but I also wouldn't say I was exactly comfortable with the current situation either.

I did, however, seem to be the only one worried. The others had quickly fanned out, making space for more people to come though the gate. Weapons were drawn, and everyone was staring off in all directions, checking for monsters.

Just as the briefing from the surveillance agents mentioned, to the east of the lake was a thick forest of snow-covered pines, their needles almost closer to grey than green. It stretched along the coast to the north, where one large- icy- mountain could be seen. Following the forest even farther to the east I saw that it abruptly ended in a vast tundra of snow. 

Had the weather been warmer, it may have been a lush plain where wild cattle could graze. Now it was just rolling dunes of snow, the vista broken here and there by a baren tree. This place was desolate, yet eerily beautiful at the same time.

But one thing was evident: I saw zero monsters. Given this was a five-star instance, I had exspected there to be a ton of them. However, I couldn't see, or even hear a singe one. It was odd, but not necessarily unique.

"Alright everyone." said Carson once all twenty-five of us were in the instance. "Team A goes to the right and surveys up to the large pine, dead ahead. Team B does the same, but to the left. Do not wander into the forest, nor up into the plains. The goal is to just clear the lake, meet up at the large pine, and get back here to set up base camp. Got it?"

I, along with everyone else, nodded. 

"Don't worry Boss, we got it." Grinned Greg, his stormy blue eyes standing out fiercely in this snowy environment. He was the leader of Chaos' B-Team, and a powerful fifth-star mage himself. According to Carson, he was one of Chaos' best, but wasn't on the main strike force due to being incompatible with the, er, more complicated members of the A-Team. Many of the secondary team were that way.

I supposed that said a lot about me, the new girl who just so happened to fit in right from the get go...

"I know you do." nodded Carson, cuffing the man on his shoulder. "But this is our first big raid, so lets get it done right."

As Carson gathered up the main strike force, Greg got to work rallying the B-Team. He was large for a mage raider, but I had been told that he'd actually started out as a hardy fighter, before his innate mage-class skill awoke in him.

"Alright guys, we're headed out. Make sure to stick close, and keep an eye on your gear. The environment here will kill you nearly as fast as the monsters."

"Aye aye captain." saluted Greyson, while Argus and Nick snickered.

"Pay attention." sighed Bryce, cuffing Nick upside the head. He was the closest one that the knight-like fighter could reach.