Waking up in Dragonspine felt like waking up inside a frozen grave.
Ilya opened his eyes. His breath made a thick white cloud in the dark tent. His back ached, and his fingers were stiff. The thin blanket had done almost nothing to stop the cold.
'This body is taking too much damage,' Ilya thought. He slowly sat up, rubbing his arms. 'If I do not find better heat sources soon, the cold will break my body down completely. A broken machine cannot produce results.'
He looked around the tent. The other three boys were still asleep, curled into tight balls. Pyotr, the boy with the fire stone, was shivering violently.
Suddenly, the tent flap was kicked open.
Snow and freezing wind blasted inside. The giant Electro Vanguard ducked his head and stepped into the tent. His purple hammer hummed loudly on his back.
"Get up, meat!" the big man roared. "Sleep time is over. The Captain has a job for you."
Ilya stood up quickly. He grabbed his heavy metal gauntlet and strapped it to his right arm. He checked the copper wire he had fixed last night. The connection was tight. The green wind magic was flowing perfectly.
'Equipment check: passing,' he thought.
He kicked Pyotr's boot to wake him up. The other two boys, Ivan and Nikolai, scrambled to their feet. They looked terrified.
"Listen closely," the Vanguard growled. "A supply cart broke down near the edge of the Starglow Cavern. The soldiers guarding it ran away like cowards. The cart has food, medicine, and fire oil. Your job is to go down there, grab the crates, and bring them back."
"Just the four of us?" Pyotr asked. His voice was shaking. "But... what about the monsters?"
The big man laughed. It was a cruel, mean sound. "If you see monsters, kill them. If you run away, Captain Bracing will burn you alive himself. Go."
The Vanguard turned and left the tent.
Panic filled the small space. Ivan, a skinny boy with a blue Hydro Delusion on his belt, started to cry. "We are going to die. The Cavern is full of ice monsters. We cannot fight them."
Ilya looked at the three boys. They were terrified, weak, and ready to give up.
'Panic is useless,' Ilya thought. 'Panic causes mistakes. Mistakes lead to total failure. I need to stabilize these assets right now.'
"Quiet," Ilya said. His voice was not loud, but it was very firm.
The three boys stopped and looked at him.
"We are not going to die," Ilya said. He looked at each of them in the eyes. "We are going to walk down there, grab the boxes, and come back. But you have to listen to me. If we work together, we survive. If you run around screaming, you will die. Do you understand?"
Pyotr wiped his nose and nodded. Ivan and Nikolai slowly nodded too.
"Good," Ilya said. He pointed to Ivan. "You have water magic. Hydro." He pointed to Pyotr. "You have fire. Pyro." Then he pointed to Nikolai, a heavy boy with a brown stone. "You have rock magic. Geo."
Ilya tapped the green Anemo stone on his own chest. "I have wind. Here is the plan. Ivan, your water is useless for hurting ice monsters. It will just freeze. But water makes things wet. When things are wet, Pyotr's fire burns them much worse. It is a reaction called Vaporize."
The boys stared at him. They were just poor farm boys pushed into the army. Nobody had ever taught them how magic really worked.
'They have zero training,' Ilya thought. 'The Fatui bosses just give them dangerous weapons and send them out to die. It is a terrible waste of resources.'
"Nikolai," Ilya continued. "Your rock magic is for defense. If something gets close, you hit the ground and make a shield. Do not attack. Just protect Pyotr. Pyotr is our main damage output. I will use my wind to control the field. Stick together."
They left the tent and walked out into the freezing storm.
The walk down to the Starglow Cavern was brutal. The snow was deep, and the wind pushed against them like a solid wall.
Ilya led the way. He relaxed his eyes and let his special magic sight turn on. The world changed. He saw the deadly, bright blue lines of Cryo magic swirling in the storm. He used this sight to find the safest paths. He avoided the spots where the blue ice magic was too thick, steering his squad around hidden traps and frozen pits.
'I am the risk manager,' he told himself, keeping his eyes moving. 'Avoid bad deals. Find the safest route.'
After an hour of walking, they found the broken supply cart. It was stuck in a deep snowbank near a massive, dark cave. The wooden wheels were smashed. Several heavy wooden crates sat in the back.
"There it is," Pyotr whispered. "No monsters."
"Do not move," Ilya commanded. He grabbed Pyotr's shoulder.
Ilya looked hard at the snow around the cart. To a normal person, it just looked like a flat field of white snow. But with his magic sight, Ilya saw it.
Under the snow, three tight balls of bright blue magic were hiding. They were waiting.
'An ambush,' Ilya thought. 'High risk. But we need those crates.'
"Whopperflowers," Ilya said quietly. "Ice monsters hiding under the snow. Three of them. They are going to pop out when we get close."
Ivan started to shake again. "What do we do?"
"We strike first," Ilya said. He pointed to the spots in the snow. "Ivan. Hit that spot with your water. Soak the ground. Pyotr, the second the water hits, you throw your biggest fireball right at the same spot. Nikolai, get ready with your shield."
Ilya stepped to the side, raising his heavy metal gauntlet. He pulled clean wind magic into his arm.
"Go!" Ilya shouted.
Ivan yelled and threw his hands forward. A massive splash of blue water magic shot out, hitting the snow directly over the hidden monsters.
Instantly, the snow exploded. Three massive, angry plant monsters burst out of the ground. They had sharp icy teeth and thick green vines. Cryo Whopperflowers. They screeched, ready to attack.
But Ivan's water had completely soaked them.
"Pyotr! Now!" Ilya yelled.
Pyotr roared. He did not panic this time. He aimed carefully and blasted a huge wave of red fire from his hands.
The fire hit the soaking wet monsters.
BOOM!
The Vaporize reaction was massive. The mix of fire and water created a huge explosion of boiling hot steam. Two of the Whopperflowers screamed as the intense heat burned through their thick icy armor. They collapsed into the snow, completely destroyed by the blast.
But the third monster survived. It was bigger and meaner. It spun around, pointing its icy face right at Pyotr. A bright blue light started glowing in its mouth. It was getting ready to shoot a deadly ice laser.
'Liability detected,' Ilya thought. 'Neutralizing threat.'
Ilya did not use a small wind blade this time. He pulled twenty percent of his energy into his metal glove. He punched the air with all his strength.
A fierce, howling tornado of green wind shot out of his gauntlet.
The wind hit the leftover fire burning on the ground. The tornado sucked the flames inside, turning into a spinning pillar of red-hot fire. The fiery tornado crashed into the last Whopperflower just as it tried to shoot its ice.
The Swirl reaction tore the monster apart. It burned to ashes in a second.
Silence fell over the snowy field. The ambush was over. It took less than ten seconds.
Pyotr, Ivan, and Nikolai stood frozen, staring at the empty snow. Then, Pyotr let out a loud, happy shout. Ivan fell to his knees, laughing and crying at the same time.
"We did it!" Pyotr yelled. "We actually did it!"
Ilya lowered his heavy glove. He breathed out a slow puff of white air. He checked his internal numbers.
'Energy output used: thirty percent. Asset damage: zero. Mission status: success. The return on investment for teaching them was immediate and perfect.'
"Do not celebrate yet," Ilya said, walking toward the broken cart. "Grab the crates. The noise will bring more monsters. We need to leave now."
The boys rushed to the cart. They were not scared anymore. They listened to Ilya without asking any questions. They each grabbed a heavy wooden crate full of supplies.
As Ilya grabbed the last crate, his magic sight caught something glowing in the snow where the biggest monster had died.
He brushed the snow away. Lying in the dirt was a strange, beautiful blue flower glowing with soft light. It was a Whopperflower Nectar drop. In the game, it was used to make weapons stronger.
Ilya picked it up and hid it inside his heavy coat.
'A secret bonus,' Ilya thought, a real smile finally showing on his face. 'The Fatui bosses get their supplies. But I get the real profit. This team is going to make me very, very strong.'
He lifted the heavy crate onto his shoulder and led his new squad back up the freezing mountain.