The rifts in the Frostbound Dominion were not an occasional disaster; they were a weather pattern.

  The slate-grey Command Token in Li Yu’s robe vibrated constantly. It was a metronome of conflict. A breach would open and before the alarm had even finished echoing in the command centers, Li Yu and Krell were moving to help.

  They flew and crossed miles in seconds. They arrived at coordinates moments later. And yet, every single time, they were just a step too late. It was actually a good thing that people were getting there so quickly. However, the issue was that it was the same person each time.

  The Frozen Lake. The alert had been for a Beast Breach—Threat Level: Intermediate.

  Li Yu and Krell blurred into existence above a vast frozen lake. They expected to see a horde of beasts rampaging toward the nearby fishing village. Instead, they found silence as before.

  The rift above was already fading, stitching itself shut. Below, on the ice, lay the carcasses of six-legged reptilian beasts. They had been killed with the precision of a toddler using a knife for the first time.

  In the center of the carnage stood Vorgnir once again.

  The giant was shirtless and the cold wind whipping his grey hair. He was once again calmly wiping his twin greatswords with a clean rag he had pulled from his storage ring.

  Other cultivators were arriving now as well. A local response team on flying swords but they slowed down as they saw the Death Seeker. They knew their job was already done and smiled in relief. They cheered for him as did the people in the surrounding area.

  Vorgnir looked up as Li Yu descended. His expression was flat, the burning anger from their previous meetings nearly gone now.

  "You are fast," Vorgnir said with his voice carrying over the ice. "But not fast enough. You will need to do better than that if you are going to save people."

  "We aren’t the slow ones. You are merely too fast." Li Yu replied while landing lightly on the ice. "Efficient work, Vorgnir."

  "They were beasts I have seen countless times." Vorgnir replied but he found himself more talkative with this boy than with others. He would barely say more than a few words but he kept having conversations with this boy. "No intelligence. Just hunger. Easy to bait."

  He gestured to the corpses. "I kept some of the parts. The rest is for the village. No one should get greedy for what is left behind." The last part was said loudly for everyone to hear.

  Everyone here already knew of his principles. He wouldn’t take that much but whatever was left behind was for the people he was leaving it to. No one was brave enough to test the Death Seeker.

  Vorgnir didn't say anything else. He didn't tell them to go away. He simply turned, his legs flexing with immense power and launched himself into the air. He quickly vanished over the treeline.

  "He somehow is always there." Krell noted with a smile. It was clear that Krell had a soft spot for Vorgnir. For one reason or another, he quite liked the man. He was rarely this nice to anyone else.

  "I don’t know how he is doing it either but it is a good thing that he is. We could try going faster but there is no point. As long as rifts are being handled, it is a good thing for everyone.” Li Yu said to Krell as the both resumed their journey.

  They continued North. The journey however, was a series of jumps between safe zones and battlefields. They stopped briefly at a fortress city called Iron-Hold. It was a city of warriors and was bustling with activity.

  Li Yu walked through the market and listened to the chatter.

  "Did you see the Elder from the Glacier Sect?" a young woman asked her companion as they sharpened spears by a public grindstone. "He punched a hole through a Behemoth yesterday. Pure body cultivation."

  "We need to train harder," her companion replied seriously. "If the rifts keep opening like this, the wall won't be enough. We have to be the wall next."

  Li Yu nodded to himself. It was a sentiment he heard everywhere. The pressure of the rifts was forging these people into weapons. ‘It was true what they said about the Northern Continent, people hold weapons as children. The level of fighting and training here is unmatched by anything else I have seen.’ Li Yu thought.

  The token vibrated again.

  ALERT. RIFT BREACH. TYPE: DEMONIC.

  Li Yu and Krell disappeared from the city and reappeared moments later above a dense forest of hollow and whistling trees. The scene was a mess of purple blood and shattered timber. A large group of demons had come through. Some with four arms, some with four legs, some with ten horns and so on.

  They all had one thing in common though. They were already dead.

  Vorgnir was there, standing over what looked like their leader. He was extracting his heavy blade from the creature's skull with a sickening crunch.

  He saw Li Yu land. He didn't look surprised anymore.

  "Demons this time," Vorgnir stated nonchalantly. He began wiping ichor from his cheek and weapons. "Nasty little things. Fast."

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  "But not fast enough for you," Li Yu observed.

  "Nothing is," Vorgnir replied. He looked at the mess of demon corpses. "Too bad we can only harvest a few things from the bodies."

  Li Yu stepped forward. He reached into his storage ring and pulled out some high level healing pills.

  "For the cores," Li Yu said simply. "I just want the cores. The other cultivators coming here can harvest the body for what is useful."

  Vorgnir looked at the pills. He assessed their quality. Pills of all kinds were constantly needed here since there were so many battles. Demand completely outstripped supply.

  "The pills are good," Vorgnir said. "I agree to your trade."

  Li Yu and Krell went to work. As they harvested the cores, Vorgnir didn't leave immediately. He watched them.

  "You harvest quickly," Vorgnir commented. "You have done this many times."

  "Resources are resources," Li Yu said as he tossed a black core to Krell.

  "Hmph." Vorgnir turned away. "Don't linger too long. Leave the rest of it for whoever gets here after you. They deserve the spoils for responding quickly to the threat."

  He leaped away again and disappeared.

  The pattern continued. Day after day.

  They would stop at a waystation to rest or trade. They would see the culture and resolve of the people here. Children practicing sword forms in the snow, elders maintaining the barrier runes and merchants trading beast furs for armor.

  Then the token would buzz. They would fly. And as if he was playing with them now, Vorgnir would be there waiting for them.

  The breach this time was messy. A narrow canyon bottlenecked with flying demonic harpies and armored ground demons. When Li Yu arrived, the air was still filled with dust and feathers.

  Vorgnir was sitting on a boulder. He had a nasty gash on his forearm where a harpy's talon had raked him.

  Li Yu was about to get a healing pill from this storage ring to give to Vorgnir. Vorgnir saw the movement and shook his head. "Keep your charity. I already got some healing pills from you earlier."

  The giant reached into his own ring. He pulled out a tin of pungent, green salve and a high-grade healing pill. He popped the pill into his mouth and smeared the salve on the wound with a wince. The bleeding stopped instantly.

  "I have been fighting on this front for hundreds of years," Vorgnir said calmly as he was wrapping a bandage around the arm. "I know how to take care of myself without others."

  Li Yu nodded respectfully. "A mixed group of attackers this time. How did you get here so fast again?"

  "Flying types are annoying," Vorgnir admitted and completely ignored Li Yu’s question. "Hard to hit with a greatsword."

  Li Yu looked at the pile of demon corpses blocking the pass. "May I?"

  "If you have something worth trading again." Vorgnir said.

  Li Yu produced some high quality foods and drinks from the Central, Southern and Eastern Continent. Vorgnir’s eyes narrowed appreciatively, especially towards the drinks.

  “That is a fine offer. I see your stories about traveling continents are true. Those are not dishes and drinks from around here. Take the cores and leave the rest as before.” Vorgnir ordered while taking the food and drinks. He looked at them fondly as if it had been a long time since he enjoyed a nice meal.

  He watched Li Yu work for a moment longer.

  "You are persistent," Vorgnir said. "You and your... Crab Claws."

  "We are heading to the Frost Iron Sect up north." Li Yu said. "Torben invited us to this continent. So we want to see him before doing other things."

  "Torben," Vorgnir chuckled softly. "That beast hunter? The young bear still leads that pack of maniacs?"

  "You know him?"

  "He is well known across these lands. Him and his warriors are one of the top sects for hunting and defeating beasts.” Vorgnir said. "His sect has saved many lives and made a good living from doing so. He is a good man if you can stand his personality."

  Vorgnir stood up and began testing his bandaged arm. "Tell him the rifts are getting wider. He needs to prepare his hunters and put in even more work."

  "I will."

  Vorgnir nodded and vanished up the canyon wall.

  The final encounter before Li Yu reached his destination happened at the ruins of an ancient watchtower. The rift had been small but intense. Elite demon shadow-knights.

  Vorgnir had dismantled them. He was leaning against the crumbling stone wall and looking North toward the jagged peaks of the Frost Iron Sect's territory.

  Li Yu and Krell landed softly in the snow.

  "Done already?" Li Yu asked.

  "They were slow," Vorgnir said without moving his gaze from the horizon. Li Yu looked at the corpses. High-quality cores. He pulled out a box of rare ores from the Eastern Continent.

  "For the cores," Li Yu said.

  Vorgnir took the box without looking inside. He had grown accustomed to Li Yu and knew he couldn’t short change him. He shoved it into his storage bag.

  "You pay well for trash," Vorgnir said quietly.

  "One man's trash is another man's treasure."

  Vorgnir finally looked at him. The hatred was gone from his eyes. The annoyance was gone. There was just a calm and professional distance.

  "You stopped asking," Vorgnir said.

  Li Yu paused. "Asking what?"

  "To join your group. You haven't asked the last three times we met."

  Li Yu stood up from where he was, holding a Shadow-Knight core. "Because you said no already. From your personality, it didn’t seem like saying it more times would matter. And I respect your choice."

  Vorgnir nodded slowly. "Good. I fight alone. If I have comrades, I worry. If I worry, I hesitate and can’t fight to my full abilities."

  He looked at Li Yu and acknowledged the power coiled beneath the grey traveler's cloak.

  "You are strong, Li Yu. You have good intentions to save people. The fact that you keep appearing at rifts shows this. That is noble."

  Vorgnir pushed himself off the wall.

  "But I do not want to be saved. I want to spend my life on something that matters. And I will find that price on my own."

  With that the Death Seeker exploded into motion. He didn't walk; he launched himself across the snow, a blur of grey and steel disappearing into the white wasteland. Where the madman went, Li Yu had no idea. Probably heading to the next rift somehow.

  Li Yu watched him go until he was just a speck against the mountains.

  "He's a stubborn old rock," Krell commented.

  "He is," Li Yu agreed. "But he is a hero as well."

  Li Yu looked North. The mountains were getting steeper and the air thinner. They finished their harvest quickly. The sun was high and bright, reflecting off the snow with blinding intensity.

  The Frost Iron Sect was just ahead. And with it, the reunion with Torben.