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Half of Nocturne must've just been one giant block of ice. Actually, if he recalled correctly, it was more than half. And he could certainly understand that now. When he looked onto the horizon, he saw nothing but a frozen wasteland, an endless sea of bitter cold. He could feel himself start to shiver, especially as Mer often preferred to wear more simple and revealed clothing. Hadrian, as often forgetful as he was, did not take some burly coat out so that he could survive the chilling winds. Instead, he wore what he usually did, and would just have to bet on his dragon to blow some fumes or something. Maybe that wasn't a good idea. "I can't get wet," He told himself. "Or my body will freeze. I have no idea how I'm going to get back to Luimira like this, considering I have to dive into the water to collect the horses." He frowned. Honestly, he would've felt awfully stupid for not bringing a coat, but he wouldn't be able to wear it on the way back anyhow; it would be completely drenched. Maybe the teacher had some misconception that Mer were resistant to cold?

Cold water was alright, but not all of this . . . ice. "Lancer," He whispered to his dragon, who was shivering in his arms. At least they could transfer some heat to each other. "It'll be alright. I'm pretty sure the trench isn't too far off." At that point, he caught wind of something. Some man was coming down, riding a machine. It looked like a mechanical snow sled, and it ran through the slippery ground with little to no problem. Hadrian was slipping, falling and practically breaking his back here. He didn't think he'd even be able to make it. So, suddenly, he felt a quick impulse come over him; that sled was his only chance of surviving. He whipped out a large quantity of water, which he was able to manipulate, and halted the sled from moving. Hadrian balanced his feet at that point, and walked towards it, but what he was met with was a gun, being pulled and aimed at his face. He retracted his water to defend himself, and entered a more ready stance.

He didn't want to fight whoever this man was. He just wanted a lift. "Are you trying to steal my machine?" The guy asked him. His voice made him sound kinda young, actually, as if they were the same age. Hadrian could see that past the goggles, he had strange red eyes. His skin tone looked pale, too. Must've been a vampire. "No, I don't want to steal it," The Mer answered. "I want to ask you for help. I've been walking on snow and ice for over an hour, and I'm at my limit. I'm a member of Nocturne's military, and there's a mission I'm supposed to be performing. I'd like to ask of you to give me a ride." He tried to seem humble, although he quickly felt the cold and the growing chances of his own death change his persona. He was ready to flip his trigger finger, sending a chunk of cold water at this guy to get him off. Vampires couldn't die from the cold. So it was better him on the floor than Hadrian.

"Sure, I'll give you a ride . . ." He said, his eyes completely empty. The Mer, thankful and enthusiastic, quickly began to walk to the sled. At that point, though, the vampire grabbed his arm and spoke to him. "If you let me feed from you. You have . . . an exotic smell. I've never smelled something like it before. It's like . . . the sea." He continued to sniff, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. The Mer was pretty used to this process by now, vampires swooning over his rare breed. He'd never actually let them have a bite before, though. He'd always heard that if they got even one bite, they'd continue and drain you until you were dead. Most vampires had no idea how to control their thirst. Unfortunately, the Mer had no choice here but to accept. "Sure. But I'll know if you're drinking too much. It's understandable that you'd probably feel no need to regulate yourself, considering we're in the center of a frozen wasteland. If I died, no one would ever find me. But I have no intention to let myself die." Hadrian could really feel it; his power here was more than regular. He felt he could take on this man, whoever the hell he was.

The vampire nodded, and let him onto the sled. Hadrian got on, not wanting to lean into the vampire, but doing so anyway as to not allow himself to freeze. The man's thick coat was warm enough, and his dragon could've used some of that warmth too. "So why are you out here in the cold like this? Do people actually live here?" He didn't know if trying to be chatty was the right choice, but whatever. The guy had the choice of either answering, or saying nothing. Hadrian didn't really give a damn. "I'm in the military, like you. They commissioned me to check the status of some of the ice-born monster races; like whether their population is growing too much, whether they seem to be organizing, stuff like that. The answer for both is apparently no, though there were some strange things I noticed this time." He stopped there, as if he didn't want to say anything. Of course, Hadrian would try and persist. He was curious.

"Like what?" He asked. The vampire bit his lower lip, and then proceeded to speak. "Some of the ice Golems seemed to know how to use the water element. Some monsters will kind of leave you alone if you don't get too close, but the Golems have always been more aggressive. So, I expected for them to chase after me, but instead they used projectiles from afar. It's not listed in the codex that they're able to do that." That was a real curiosity for the vampire; if the Ice Golems were in fact slowly learning magic, wouldn't that make them a particularly intelligent, and dangerous type of monster? Nocturne might make an effort to wipe them out, if that's the case. "Well, that's simple isn't it?" The Mer rolled his eyes. "We've got a seashell bond going on here. Usually, monsters like that can't learn something so advanced. They have to be taught. Must be that one of them is bonded to a Mer, and that one taught the others how to use water magic. If you can find and kill the bonded one, then there's a good chance you can stop them from getting any more advanced."

The black-haired undead seemed impressed with that theory, though he wasn't inclined to believe it off the bat. "Is that what you are, sea-smelling man? A Mer?" His voice was stoic as ever, though Hadrian could feel he was interested. And he was right, of course. "Maybe I am," He said, and that remained to be the last thing either of them said until they arrived at the destination. Hadrian prepared his fish net, and loomed over the deep pit. This was going to be... interesting. "Don't take too long. I've got a deadline."

The Mer didn't expect to take long. He leaped into the pit, with a mass of water rising up to catch him. Bending the water to his will, he quickly rounded up the aquatic horses, as he pulled them all inwards into his net. Mer were obviously skilled fisherman, and the only real problem for him was finding the things. He pulled the fairly small conch from his necklace, and pressed it against his ear. The movements of the water indicated that there was a large amount of these aquatic creatures westward, and so he went that way. It wasn't too far, anyway, maybe a few dozen meters. Considering he was stronger and faster underwater, he made his way there quickly, and gathered them up into his net. He made sure not to go beyond twelve, as if to not botch the population of these rare creatures. Then, when that was done, he swam back to the bottom of the "well", and created a footing of thick water beneath his feet. He applied energy into his legs, and leaped up high, then flinging a tight rope of water to a nearby tree to give him some leverage. Slowly, he managed to climb out of the hole, shivering as he crawled on the floor. "Did that take too long?" He asked, a small smile over his lips.

It was only about a minute and a half, which made his feat of twelve su-horses pretty impressive. "Well, no surprise if you're a Mer," The vampire rolled his eyes. He helped Hadrian stand up, then slowly brought him over to the sled. When they finally got to the machine, he looked at the brown-haired man in the eyes, then dug his teeth deep into his neck. Hadrian had a feeling that was coming, and he didn't bother to resist. That was the vampire's payment. It didn't really hurt. If anything, it was invigorating, making him feel completely relaxed for the span of time he went through it. Now he understood why most people who'd been drained to death didn't seem to put up any resistance. He, of course, was not most people. When he felt the vampire had taken too much, he pulled him off. "That's enough, dude," He said. He felt sort of dizzy now, but not too much. He'd just need a rest after he got back to the academy.

"Your blood tastes nice," The vampire commented. "Most supernaturals have nice blood, but yours is especially rare and interesting. All that really means, though, is that you're not going to last long. One of the vampires in the city is going to catch a whiff, and make you his b***h. Then you're just gonna die. But, whatever. Not my problem really." He seated himself back on the sled, and the Mer followed him. The dragon had been sitting somewhat comfortably in the seat, though after some time he started to whine. "Are you a dragoon?" He asked the Mer. "Yeah, or I will be once this little guy grows up." Hadrian smiled slightly, as he often did when speaking of his young dragon. "I'll look forward to that," He said.

And the rest of the ride, was spent in total silence, all the way back to Luimira.

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