James donned his armor, one heavy piece at a time. He fastened the latches, secured the magic bag, and took his shield and Red Iron War Hammer in hand.

The trip to the snowy passage entrance was eerily quiet, which was a blessing for James as the armor he was wearing was heavy. Thankfully, not so heavy that he couldn't move, but he definitely felt slower and less agile than in his Green Iron armor, and by the time he reached his laid out chain, he had to take a break. If nothing else, he wanted to let the sweat dry before he plunged into a freezing cold environment.

An hour later, he tied the chain around his waist and stepped forth.

The armor worked perfectly. At first he didn't even need to use the heating strips. The cold wind was stopped short by the [Water Resistance] enchantments of his various armor pieces extending beyond their physical objects and covering up gaps in his armor as he wore it. This also indicated that the cold of the wind was unnatural, as it was blocked by the enchantment.

In addition, his armor cooled off slowly due to being made of Blue Iron. James was far enough into the passage that he could barely see the exit, and was now pushing through waist-deep piles of snow, when he started using the heating strips. He would activate a few at a time, with as little power as possible, for just a few minutes before turning them off, and that was all it took to keep comfortably warm.

Now less distracted by the cold and managing his heating strips, he found it easier to look around the area and spot the first approaching specter. With a simple swipe of Red Iron War Hammer, using the [Heated Blade] enchantment, it dissolved and dropped another of the bluish-white magic stones.

It would have felt anti-climactic if James hadn't been putting so much physical effort into moving around in the heavier armor.

He pushed onward, trying to keep going in a straight line, and fought past more specters and even one of the snow golems, when he felt a pressure on his back. He whirled around and spotted a specter there, which he slayed instantly.

It hadn't got past his armor.

It was with a grin on his face that James continued onward, onward, onward into the snowy passage until he felt the chain on his waist tugging on him harder. He could still press forward, but the chain pulled him back harder and harder as he went, until his feet slipped on the snow and he could go no farther.

He had reached the end of his chain.

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Still, this was not unexpected. After a quick look around for approaching monsters, James pulled his other length of chain from his magic bag and affixed it to the end of his original chain, adding another hundred yards to its length. He laid this chain out in the snow so that it wouldn't tangle as he walked, and looked around, deciding where to explore next, when he saw that one direction seemed slightly brighter than any other, off to his left.

He would have rather continued on straight, but given that he was currently using his heating strips only at their lowest setting, and he felt like he had plenty of mana to spare, he decided to check it out.

And it was good that he did, because that turned out to be the exit.

He trudged forward and the wind died rapidly, and the snow grew shallower with every step, and a few minutes later, with plenty of chain to spare, James had passed through the snowy passage.

And he instantly started sweating.

He hurriedly deactivated the heating strips, but kept the armor on, as he gazed around the new area.

The floor was a reddish brown, seeming to be dirt, and pools of milky, clouded water dotted the landscape, little more than small ponds, but steam billowed up from them in a constant stream, filling the air with a hot mist.

He stood just outside the passage, letting the wind from behind cool him as heat pressed on him from the front; and he turned to the side, noting large amounts of blue and red iron ore streaking the stone walls but precious little of anything else.

As he turned and gazed around, armor clanking softly, he heard a gurgling noise and turned to spot a bright red crab monster crawl out of the nearest pond. Its eye stalks turned to him and it clacked its large claw menacingly, steam rising from its body as it charged him.

In the same straight line as all the other crab monsters.

James struck with his Red Iron War Hammer, stunning the crab monster before it could latch onto his leg, and then with several more strikes, finished it off, smashing the shell open and spilling crab innards on the ground at his feet.

He hurried and switched his Red Iron War Hammer for his Earth War Hammer, as several more crabs were crawling out of nearby ponds.

[Hammer Strike]

[Heavy Blow]

Loud booms resounded as James took out each crab monster with a single strike, now using a more effective weapon. One of the crab monsters latched onto his leg, not managing to dent the armor, but it had somehow heated up its claw before James slayed it. The claw remained too hot for James to pick up, even with his gloved hands, so he merely kicked it with his enchanted boot into the snow spilling from the passageway to cool off, a trail of meltwater marking where it had rolled.

Once the crab monsters were all dead, James collected their magic stones and was delighted that, of the four dead monsters, three of them had had red magic stones, and the last had had a blue magic stone. The magic stones were larger as well, unlike the tiny magic stones from the mushrooms.

James was relieved that his shortage of Fire Magic Stones was now taken care of, and thrilled that he had managed to make it through the snowy passage. He took out a pick-axe and mined out some of the stone wall near the snowy passage, producing a bit of stone to attach his chain to, so that he could make it in and out of the snowy passage easily. He then broke one of the links on the chain, leaving himself with enough chain to tie around his waist and also tie around the chain now spanning the length of the passage, so that he wouldn't have to hold the chain as he went and risk losing his grip on it due to monsters.

That done, and feeling uncomfortably warm, James wasted no time heading back into the snowy passage to return to camp, putting the billowing steam behind him for the moment.

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