Since he was finished with his business in Rhodium, Weed went to the Church of Freya. Freya was the symbol of abundance and prosperity so Rhodium had a very large temple.
The reason that Weed returned to the Church of Freya was because, due to his contributions in returning the holy relics, he was free to use any of the teleport circles in any of their churches in the Versailles Continent.
“We are humbled to welcome you. Great benefactor of our church.”
Weed was welcomed by the senior priests.
“I wish to use the teleport gate.”
“As you wish. We will begin the preparations. However, are you aware that they High Priest has been requesting to see you?”
“The High Priest?”
Weed was puzzled. The quest was already finished once he returned in the Herrera Grail. He could not find a reason for the High Priest wanting to see him.
“Do you know what has happened?”
“The High Priest said that you have to search the Valley of Death to find clues to restore the honor of king who is buried there.”
“What do you mean the king’s honor...?”
“The royalists have been accused and insulted because of what happened to their king so the High Priest want a great adventurer like Weed nim to obtain the truth and restore the king’s honor.”
“I am not such a great adventurer.”
“It seems that the High Priest thinks otherwise. Also since Weed nim has already been to the north once, it is better to have someone who already has experience in the area to go.”
Weed could guess what kind of quest this once from the description.
‘It’s going to be at least an A rank quest.’
The High Priest was waiting to give him another great quest like the one to defeat the Immortal Legion.
‘The quest of this level. It was pretty bad when I fought against the Legions of Undead. Even if I’m higher level and I’ve slowly increased by sculpting skill.’
Weed immediately shook his head.
“I’m not interested. Please send me to the Plains of Despair instead.”
He needed to get back to his party.
The senior priests gathered their mana to operate the teleport gate.
In Rhodium, the Cold Roses Guild accepted many people into the expedition. A total of 160 people!
Except for about 30 artisans, roughly 120 people were combat type classes.
“This will not guarantee success since this is going to be a difficult adventure and everyone has to be prepared.”
Oberon clicked his tongue.
No matter what, having novices did not matter. It was more stable if there were only high level users.
Most of these people were obviously going to raise their levels and try to obtain rare items from dangerous hunting grounds.
Drum had a joyful face since he also expected to reap large profits from it.
“It’s going to increase the probability of success isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but the increase of the number of mercenaries in the expedition will also increase fraud.”
“Since it’s going to be difficult, having the mercenaries will be a great help in case of an emergency.”
“The only ones that are going to be of any use are the ones that are more experienced and higher level than the rest of these people.”
All the people joining the Cold Roses Guild brought in a large amount of money. Most were participating simply for the adventure. However, it greatly increased the strength of the expedition.
“But where did these replacements come from?”
Since Oberon was wondering, Kerberos explained.
“Did you know that recently there have been some people that have become quite famous by challenging strong people?”
“Challengers? You mean the people that go around dueling others?”
“That’s right.”
All the Geomchis up to Geomchi505.
Some went to challenge others to duels. Others went to train in the mountains. There wasn’t a need to fight solely against people.
Deep in the mountains there were dangerous monsters, fierce animals, and the trials of nature.
Each of their sword fighting styles were different.
Destructive forces usually depended on the strength stat, agility, and the differences between reaction time.
Nevertheless, they learned various things about the sword.
Their bodies became more attuned to the sword.
They learned how to fight in various situations and how to match their movements with their swords.
The sword is a means for survival!
With a month of beating a scarecrow, they tempered their mastery of the sword.
Many Geomchis had increased their levels through hunting. Among them, several dozen of them joined up with the expedition.
“That’s very good to hear.”
Oberon had a big smile on his face.
It was good to hear that a number of these people were in the expedition and he wanted to meet them.
“Kerberos.”
“Yes leader.”
“Are all the preparations finished?”
“All the supplies have been prepared.”
“How about the teleport circles?”
“They have been drawn. We are ready to go as scheduled.”
“Then in one hour begin to send people. Start with the main vanguard of our forces.”
“Naturally since they will set an example for the rest of the expedition.”
Northern Expedition!
The wizards drew a large circle in the plains. Then the vanguard of the forces stood onto the circle.
There were 150 warriors led by Kerberos! There were also some blacksmiths and architechs.
“I’ll see you in the north.”
“Be careful.”
“Don’t worry, we will set up camp and scout out the surrounding area.”
“We will meet again in eight hours.”
“Yes. I’ll be waiting.”
It could be used three times a day to send about a total of 450 people. Therefore dividing it up into 11 groups in order.
The vanguard’s job was to set up a field of operations and scout the area.
Oberon needed to signal the start of the expedition.
“Let’s get started. Send them to the north.”
“Teleport!”
The wizards triggered the circle.
They were only able to send people to a designated location rather than where they want to be teleported.
Kerberos and the warriors!
They were the best of the elites in the guild.
They had a curious love for fighting. They would go into dungeons that others would be frightened to even approach.
They closed their eyes and when they opened them the surrounding landscape was entirely different.
It was very cold and the ground was covered in snow.
Thick bluish vapor came out of their mouths.
“Achoo!”
“Why is it so cold?”
The expedition immediately took out their blankets.
They had come prepared. Everyone had laughed at them when they were packing blankets to bring along.
“This is better...”
“I’m just going to cover up in a blanket and fall asleep.”
If they did not have blankets once they came to the Northern Continent then everything would have gone horribly.
Ruruyiiing!
The cold wind blew past them like blades.
Chatter chatter chatter.
The expedition was frantically chattering their teeth in the cold.
Because of the cold, it was difficult for them to walk much less scout the area.
“This...we need something to get rid of the cold.”
Kerberos ordered to have a bonfire started. However it was not an easy task since there was hardly any useful firewood on the frozen ground.
The Ras Hill.
In a place that was completely covered in snow it was unlikely that anyone would be able to find anything.
They went to the top of the hill and looked around only to see that they were in the middle of nowhere. There were other things to be worried about besides the cold.
Some distance from there there was a flurry of snow. It slowly raised ice and snow off the ground and sucked up anything in its way. A dance of ice and light. It was an extremely beautiful power of nature. A unique regional characteristic to the north, the storm of ice and snow was approaching.
The boss monsters of the Karaka Forest!
Pale, Zephyr, Hwaryeong, and their party search the entire forest for the King Snake. However, they could not find it.
Geomchi5 saw a tree with some colorful patterns on it.
“That looks like its unique and since Weed makes sculptures so do you think we should take it?”
He thought about it for awhile then he gave up the idea and stopped worrying.
He started moving based on his behavior before thinking anything else.
Profits!
He pulled out the sword and slashed the wood.
However he only cut the surface.
“What is this?”
Geomchi5 saw that it was harder to cut than usual.
Pakakakash.
An insidious sound came from behind as the head of a large snake appeared.
Shururuk!
He caught sight of the King Snake’s head as it spit out its two-forked tongue!
“Stupids bastards. You dare to attack my majestic body.”
The King Snake was a named monster.
Since then, the party engaged in battle against the King Snake. It had a body length of over 10 meters and it was capable of moving very quickly.
It was not a possibility to run away from it should it give chase. It hid terrible poisonous vapors in its body was well as very tough skin.
The King Snake’s main weapons were its fangs and its poison, with have enough force to break a bull’s back.
The incredibly pointed teeth were capable of piercing heavy armors.
In the past they would have never thought of hunting the King Snake. However, now they had more companions and they all had developed a sense for battle.
“Fire Field!”
Romuna set fire to the surrounding area. Snakes hate fire!
It was not a direct attack on the King Snake but it reduced its range of movement. But because of this the party suffered damage.
“Please protect us from the blazing fires. Blessing of Water. Kyaaaaa its hot.”
Irene screamed.
Her main role was restoring health. Her defensive and blessing skills were a little lacking.
Because her Blessing of Water skill had low skill mastery it was helpless before Romuna’s fire.
Since it failed, Irene focused on healing the party’s health using holy magic.
Zephyr took the role of baiting and luring the King Snake while Hwaryeong danced.
“Dance of Confusion!”
The dance was capable of lowering the enemy’s spirit and breaking their balance. In a sense it was a dance that was suitable for combat since it disrupts the enemy’s balance and does n