"Are these enough?" Aiden piled up all of the twigs to create a fire pit he had once seen in some videos while scrolling back on Earth.
"Now, I had to ensure that the ground is dry and the wind doesn't blow directly to the fire, right?" Aiden looked around to find such a place and landed his eyes on a pine tree.
Though the tree had a crystallized Ice trunk, and its leaves were slightly pointy, they were at an angle where the snow had slid off of them and gathered as a circle all around the tree to around at a height of 7 inches, and the surface directly under the tree had fairly light layered snow which he could remove easily.
It would take some work, but it should prove to be a good spot to light up a fire, one of the most essential things to have in the wild.
CHIRP~
"!" A sudden sound in a solitary area where the vision was extremely poor, due to the snow particles forming a thick mist near the ground while the wind whistled away, had Aiden stiffening for a second.
"Who's there?" He muttered under his breath, took a fighting stance, and slowly turned his head towards the voice.
CHIRP~
A little bird sitting on a nearby bush tilted its head as it chirped. The moment Aiden noticed the bird, he was mesmerized by its beauty.
The Bird was a little bit more than 15 cm in height and had a shiny, icy blue beak.
Its feathers were of a light bluish turquoise color, whereas the wings were of an almost enchanting ethereal sapphire hue with slight whitish textured feathers around its belly.
The Crown was made of what seemed like the crystals- pure ice crystals - themselves.
It was the most beautiful creature he had ever had the chance to lay eyes on.
"Wooh~" Exhaling in relief, Aiden closed his eyes and shook his head side to side to come back to his senses from seemingly the effect of the Charm of the Bird.
But when he opened them back again, he was mesmerized once again.
"Hey, little one, what are you doing sitting there?" Aiden approached the Bird cautiously, with a guilty mindset of touching it once.
CHIRP~
With light steps, he made his way towards the bird and extended his palms towards it, trying to lure it into his grasp.
[Host, you are a little too careless. It could be a magical beast or monster, deadly enough to harm you.]
'Don't worry, Char. I have not completely dropped my guard, but still, just look at it. Do you think a being this beautiful could be a monster? It looks to me more like something that needs protection.'
[...Still, Keep your Guard up at all times. I'll tell you if I notice something weird.]
'Got it.'
"Hello~" Aiden, with a charming smile tugging onto his lips, crouched down to see the bird directly in front of his eyes and waved his hand lightly towards the bird.
CHIRP~
And much to his surprise, the Bird, seeing his actions, flew over to his right shoulder and perched there while nudging its head against his right ear, making his brain give out emergency signals for a second.
He stood still for a couple of moments, his fingers curling up into fists, ready to kill the bird in a flash if something happened, no matter how much it would pain him, but the gentle feeling of the soft, warm feathers rubbing against his earlobe made him relax and loosen a little.
"Ho~, aren't you a clever one to have me drop my guard like that?" Aiden talked with a lovely, euphoric voice, with a constant little smile on his lips while scratching the chin of the bird in affection.
[Can't you talk to me in that tone, Host? Even Once?!]
Ignoring Char's "false accusations" regarding something about treating her with no respect, Aiden continued nuzzling the bird's chin as it was too addictive!
"So, what is your name?" He picked up the bird in his palms and, gently bringing it in front of his eyes, asked.
"Chirp?" Bobbing its head slightly, the bird chirped cutely.
"Oh? So, you don't have one?" Aiden asked.
His voice was getting softer and full of affection by the moment.
[Sigh~ How are you able to tell it's saying that? Did you manage to learn the language of birds in such a small time?]
"Of course I did. I am, once in a generational genius, after all. Isn't that right, Ephy~" Aiden proudly declared.
[...Ephy? Pfft-! Is that the name you decided to give it? I can see your naming sense hasn't improved one bit—]
"Chirp!" Ephy opened its wings and flapped them enthusiastically, as if it was extremely delighted with its new name.
[...You are quite the clever one, aren't you, Ephy? But I have you know that I am your senior. So, you have to treat me with respect.]
"Oh~ Is someone jealous with a little soul who doesn't even know they exist? Isn't that pathetic, Ephy?" Aiden started teasing Char in his habit, and the little Ephy was—
"Chirp!"
—more than happy to join in.
"Yes, yes, you think so too, right~"
[I'm not jealous of anyone! Especially, this little bird!]
Char retorted with as much as emotion as one can put into its voice. She was way, way past the point of the "system" that she once introduced herself as.
Her voice had a lot more emotion than most people Aiden knew in both lives.
"Her name's not 'Little Bird.' She is Ephy. Right, Ephy?"
"Chirp!"
[Ugh—! Why do you two have such strong chemistry insulting me, even though Ephy doesn't know about me?!]
"Cuz it's you, Char!"
"Chirp!"
[Again! You don't even know I exist, litt- ...Ephy!]
And before anyone knew it, the chaotic yet wholesome trio was enjoying themselves amidst the harsh, disastrous, and deadly atmosphere around them—
[Sigh~ Alright, that's enough!]
[Host, you were creating fire, right? And you yet have to secure some sort of food, don't you?]
"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that! Well, maybe for the food I can..." Aiden side-eyed Ephy, which made the little bird fly out of his palm in fear and sit on the branch of the Pine tree.
"I was just kidding! C'mon Ephy, come back. There's no way I'd eat you, right?" Aiden pleaded.
"Chirp." Ephy chirped but didn't show any chances of coming down back to him.
"Ephy..." Aiden was devastated, realizing the consequences of his humor that backfired on him.
[Host, Start the Fire! Ephy will come down soon enough. It wouldn't even have understood your words.]
"Sulk~ Yeah... Ephy would come down soon..." Although sulking, Aiden resumed his preparations to start the fire.
He went under the shade of the pine tree and cleared out the thin layer of snow until the normal dirt showed up.
"I need the dry wood to set as a base of the fire... hmm..." He inspected the sticks, tinder, and twigs he had gathered to find something that would fit his needs, but unfortunately, every single one was covered completely with either snow or had the texture of crystallized ice, the same as the tree's trunk.
"Nothing. I'd have to either split these sticks or shave the outer layer, but how?"
It was a dilemma for him as he neither had any kind of tool nor any experience doing this kind of work.
All he had to work was his [Perfect Memory], his body, and his magic.
Wait, Magic?
Can I create something like a knife or short sword with it?
Like by condensing the water or maybe a razor-sharp wind gust that can slash through the sticks?
It was an interesting thought, and due to not seeing any harm in trying, he attempted to manifest his thoughts.
He activated his {Unique Skill: Aquilonis} and tried to manifest the water in the shape of a knife and thought that it would condense itself in this temperature itself, resulting in a solid tool made of ice which he can use.
But, contrary to his expectations, the water did form; however, it didn't freeze.
What? How? I'm pretty sure the temperature would be under zero degrees here.
[Host, try to freeze water yourself.]
Okay...
He attempted to freeze the water, but that didn't work either. The Water manifested was a flowing water body in the air in the shape of a knife.
What's happening? Are the Laws of physics not working? Neither is my blessing? Does my blessing not include Ice?
[No, it should include all three forms of water. It's weird.]
What's weird, Char?
[There should not be any reason for the water not to freeze both ways.]
[You have the blessing of the water, however, your elemental mastery over True Water is at Lv. 1, so it's possible that someone who also has that same blessing but at a higher master, they can refute your attempt to freeze the water.]
"Does someone like that exist? According to the history books, the last person to be blessed by the Water Sovereign, Jcuhydro, was the Hero of Water, Alfred Everhart, and he is long dead. Is the information recorded throughout the years wrong?" Aiden asked Char.
He was extremely good in studies, even in previous life, but now with [Perfect Memory], he was a walking encyclopedia... well, kind of.
[No, there shouldn't be any other person because you were able to manifest the water in the first place. If he had a higher mastery over you, you shouldn't be able to create this floating water knife.]
"Then that means I have higher mastery over liquid water, but not over frozen water?"
[That seems to be the case. Otherwise, the water should have frozen either by the temperature or by your magic.]
As both of them thought rationally about the atmosphere, the place, the weather, and the strange phenomenon happening around them, an eerie realization dawned that the legend of the Ice Phoenix might be true after all.