Limits

I practiced the control of the Power of Ice, while on my way to Obsidian Mountains. Whenever I spotted some dead trees, I would test my power on them. Some of them turned out to be Mordars, but they posed no problems for me. All of them were frozen solid, and broken into pieces afterwards. 'I wonder what else this power is capable of. Frosty said I could use it in many ways, which means I can attack and defend with its use' I thought.

I had to come up with some useful Forms, that could be used in battles. So far, I could only freeze an area around me, or produce protruding pillars of ice. The area of effect was very useful. Anyone in the radius of my attack, would be rooted solid to the ground. In more severe cases, half of my opponent could be frozen. The singular attack had its uses, but it was hard to affect an enemy. 'Mordars are not a problem, they are either rooted down like dead trees, or move at a much slower speed than me. If I were to fight an Eterian or Furian, I would have trouble hitting them' I thought.

I came up with an idea. 'What if I use an area of effect, combined with the pillar of ice?' I asked myself. It must've been possible, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. 'How do I make the Power of Ice condensed, but also spread around me?'. I thought about it for a while, but couldn't find any answers. When I condensed the power, it would produce a pillar of ice. If it was spread out, it would produce a field of ice.

'Hmm, what if I try something else?' I thought, and extended my arm. I willed the Power of Ice to appear. The mist appeared much quicker, compared to my first try. I had a lot of practice, and shortened the time greatly. As the mist collected, I tried condensing only a few small sections of it, not the whole mist. To my surprise, I was able to achieve that. A few points in the mist began condensing more and more. They also changed to a more blue colour, like stars in a cloud of smoke.

At that point, I slammed my hand into the ground. "Boom! Shing! Creak!". The ground beneath me froze, but that was not the end. Four pillars of ice appeared in the area. There was more. I noticed that the pillars were in the same position, as the condensed points inside the mist. 'This means I can change their locations, based on the condensed points. I wonder if I can expand the area of effect too?' I asked myself.

I gave it a few more tries. It was possible, but I couldn't make more than four condensed points in the mist. I couldn't expand the mist too much either. The most I could get, was around twenty metres in radius. That was without the condensed points inside the mist. When I added those four points, it immediately shrunk to around fifteen metres in radius. 'I'm limited to four points at most. Not only that, the radius is limited too. This Power of Ice uses my energy as well. I don't know why, but I have less than I used to before attempting all of that. The power seems to weaken, the more I use it, is another drawback' I thought.

I would be able to use that a few more times, but that would be it. Frosty already warned me that the power I had, was not unlimited. 'Still, that area of effect combined with ice pillars, is a good way to attack more distant opponents. I will need to experiment more with that power, especially defence wise' I thought. I already had one Form, without a name yet, but it was progress nevertheless.

Not long after my training, I arrived at the Obsidian Mountains. Lizards managed to rebuild some of the Arangard. Although Atols were generally the most skilled craftsmen, that didn't mean other races couldn't build stuff. I only glimpsed at Arangard, and headed towards Olrad. I decided to take care of the matter with Lazar first, then check up whether Alicia was back.

Lazar was in his office as usual. I told him about the need for his information network, and proposed a few ideas. "We need access to information from all of our allies. The information doesn't travel too well, and you are the focal point of all information. That's something you could address. How does your information travel?". He replied "By people usually, we also use Formations once in a while, but they have a limited use. We can send messages at a certain distance, but not as big as the distance between cities". I nodded, and replied "In that case, you need to make greater use of that. We need periodical reports, especially when something is about to happen. The more informed we are, the better".

He replied, "That will be difficult though. My people don't have access to everything. They can report on things they either see, or hear from someone else. The leaders of each city, besides Sedon, are not very keen on updating us much". I replied "Then change it. If you have to, go there by yourself. Explain to them how important it is to exchange information. For Boltier, you can talk with Shak, as for the Apium, talk with the Warriors Fraction Leader. Tell them I sent you, they should agree".

He shook his head while replying, "I can't leave this place now. There's too much to take care of here". I said "Then send someone, make it a reality. Voltars might be under attack as we speak. I'm not certain, but it is a possibility. They should win either way, but I fear Eterians have different plans".

He replied stunned, "Wait! You say the enemy might attack Boltier? How do you know that?". I said "Due to the tunnels. You must know about that already". He nodded while replying, "Yes, I do. They destroyed one such tunnel. What about Sedon then? You don't seem to be worried about that much, especially since you are here, not there". I said "Think about it then. If I'm here, and I'm telling you that Boltier might be attacked… Why would I say that?".

He thought about it for a while, then asked "Did they abandon their camp?". I nodded my head in reply. Lazar continued, "In case they attack Boltier, I will be informed one way or another… Alright, I will try my best to set up the network you spoke of. What else do you need from here?". I shook my hand, and said "Nothing else… Perhaps there is something. What do you have on Golems?".

He replied without thinking much about it, "They just sit inside that mountain, and don't really do anything else. My people didn't report anything unusual. But, you seem to have different ideas. As I said, my people can report things they see, hear and experience themselves, or stuff they heard from others. If Golems plan something in secret, we have no way of knowing".

I nodded, and suggested another improvement. "In that case, you need to expand the field of your expertise". He asked "In what sense?". I smiled while saying, "We need spies, not people who relay information. We need people who can get to information, not simply pass them on". He replied "I can't ask my people to endanger themselves, or the relationship we have with others".

'Then you have no idea how wasteful you are of your resources' I thought. "How about this? Ask them, if they are willing to do it. Those who are willing, can go to Sedon. Someone will teach and prepare them there" I said. He replied firmly, "I can't agree to that". I sighed while saying, "Alright. In that case, there is nothing else. I won't take more of your time". I left his office, and headed to Alicia's house.

I was disappointed. Lazar was being narrow minded, our enemies had spies everywhere. I even suspected that some, if not all cities had spies. Eterians could manipulate someone inside each city, to provide information for them. With no spies on our side, we were at a disadvantage. 'No matter. Lizards have the network in place, which is why it would be more convenient to use that. I will ask Crow, Shades are even better for this task' I thought. No people were irreplaceable, if someone wouldn't do it, then someone else would. At a time of war, there was no "play nice".