Pale looked at Zephyr as if he pitied him.
There were things that cannot be done even with a handsome face, sharp eyes, and elaborated speech.
“I’m sorry. Zephyr-nim”
“Hm?”
“To prepare for such a situation, Geomsamchi-nim told me.”
Zephyr’s heart became heavy.
He remembered Geomsamchi’s angular face and muscles.
He was a man scarier in real life than in Royal Road. If there was an Orc in real life, the one who would be able to catch it with ease, would be Geomsamchi.
“What did he say?”
“I will relay the message as it is. If anyone dares to touch Yurin, he’ll kill him.”
"........"
“Geomshachi said more than that. He said that if a man makes Yurin cry, he’ll break his spine.”
"........"
“Geomwuchi and Geomwubakchi also said something along those lines...”
Zephyr wanted to block his ears.
“I-I can’t dare hear them.”
Pale looked at him as if he pitied him.
“It’s hard for me to say them as well. I don’t want to remember them either. So when I heard something I just added them up in numbers.”
“Numbers?”
“Death 309 times, vegetable state 68 times, at least a month stay in hospital 93 times, lower-body paralysis 30 times, deaths that I cannot describe twice. Something that’s not alive neither dead… If you still want to, I can tell you what Yurin-yang’s voice was like though.”
“Kuhuk!”
Zephyr would give up on Yurin completely.
His confidence to approach Yurin, who is like a sister to Geomchis, vaporized.
Additionally, if he thought carefully, Yurin was Weed’s sister by blood.
If he considered the continual revenge coming from Weed unlike simple, short revenges from Geomchis, she was someone he absolutely could not approach.
Based on Pale’s description, Yurin painted. Her drawing skill wasn’t very good. Rather than art or music, she was someone who only focused on studying academics. Although she didn’t have exceptional talent or sense; she tried to be as descriptive as possible.
She considered overall positions as well as the details of them.
A feminine sensibility and soft curve were drawn with warm colours.
And, she finished drawing just like how Pale described.
Yurin stretched out her arms over her painting.
“Picture teleportation!”
The special skill of an Aqualight Painter.
The scenery on paper started to wave.
Skill: You have used Picture Teleportation.
Maximum mana is halved for four days.
A fantastic skill that allows one to teleport to anywhere on the continent as long as one can knows the exact geography.
On the painting, Yurin drew herself.
When she drew herself, her physical body was mystically disappearing from the plains of Rhodium. Legs, body, and finally head.
If Yurin closed her eyes for a bit and opened them again, she would meet Pale, Irene, Romuna, and Hwaryeong.
They were surprised to see Yurin, who appeared suddenly.
To Zephyr or Seechwi, she seemed to pop out from the earth.
It was special skill that only Aqualight Painters could use.
***
Weed decided to thoroughly understand the surroundings of the Valley of Death first.
“I can’t solve the quest directly.”
He had high hopes because he had Seoyoon and Alveron with him. But unfortunately, there were problems to solving the quest speedily.
Strong Ice Trolls were part of the reason, but the climate and geography were bad as well.
“At the least, I should grasp the geography.”
Enduring the cold, Weed flew to above the Valley of Death riding on Bingryong.
He could see the whole Valley of Death after flying high up into the sky.
Snow and ice covered it until it met the horizon.
Mountain, river, frozen cities and towns.
They were part of special scenery that can be only seen in the sky of the Northern Province.
There were lots of undiscovered places in the Northern Province.
The quests that can be gained by going to such towns and castles were like heaven to adventurers.
“If they can endure this cold air.”
Weed wrapped his body in his cape as much as he could.
Although he ordered Bingryong to fly slowly, the wind was far too fierce.
If he didn’t want to catch a cold again, he had to end his surveying of the area as soon as possible
Weed focused on the Valley of Death. In the middle of the mountains, the place that looked like a pair of long snakes stretched on the ground was the Valley of Death.
On the mountain tops, there were countless monsters like Ice Trolls, stationed like soldiers defending a castle.
Only when he beats them, can he complete the quest.
“The dead end of the valley is where snakes’ heads meet.”
Although he was estimating with his eyes, the length was only about a kilometre.
The valley itself wasn’t very big. And when they would pass about one-third of the valley, he could see frozen soldiers and knights waiting there.
“They’re Nifleheim soldiers.”
Around the soldiers’ feet, there were lots of rusted weapons.
Whiiing!
Anymore surveying would be dangerous.
His condition was about to get worse, as small ice particles started to blow with the icy wind. “Anyway I can understand the situation.”
Weed stopped surveying.
He found a larger cave around a nearby hill where the Wyverns could stay.
Until they conquered the Valley of Death, the place would be their base.
The chill would even freeze their skin!
They didn’t know when snow would come and the hardened earth limited their movement.
On top of all that, monsters become stronger at night. Wyverns and Bingryong are classified as monsters, so they become stronger at night as well.
But, while the cold doesn’t concern Bingryong whose body is made of ice, the Wyverns cannot fight.
Weed shook his head.
“It’s not an easy quest.”
He somewhat understood how to deal with an Ice Troll or Lamia.
Using Bingryong and the Wyverns, they were hunting Ice Trolls little by little.
But since they had to stop at night, they were giving Ice Trolls time to recover in the end. They are monsters that gather again like ants after a day. They had idiotically strong life stats, and their reproduction rate was exceptional as well.
So, at night only Bingryong and Weed fought, while Seoyoon, Alveron, and the Wyverns rested in the cave.
Seoyoon always logged out from Royal Road at night to get some rest.
When that happened, neither Alveron, Weed, nor the Wyverns had anything in the cave.
“Alveron.”
“Yes?”
“Look after the fire.”
“Understood.”
Alveron put in sufficient amount of firewood to keep fire from going off.
The Wyverns cuddled up near the fire with their wings folded.
“Too cold.”
“I thought I was going to freeze to death when I fought during the day.”
The Wyverns talked about their sympathetic situation and warmed their bodies near the fire.
“Kurararara!”
From time to time, they heard Bingryong’s roar from outside the cave.
‘Since he’s strong against cold and has strong life, he should be fine.’
Weed didn’t worry about Bingryong at all.
In truth, Bingryong was very timid, and cowardly.
Although he had a big body with dignity, in reality, he ran away when only a bit of life dropped or when he felt a bit of danger.
Therefore, he almost never got into dangerous situations.
When his Health dropped to only 20% of his maximum life, Bingryong drew near Alveron and goofed off.
Weed analysed the situation critically. ‘If we continue like this, it’s impossible to beat the quest.’
Even if they reduced the number of Ice Trolls during the day, their number just increased again at night.
There were numerous monsters in the valley. If they struggled against only Ice Trolls, it was impossible to complete the quest.
It was a great place to hunt and raise his servants, but he couldn’t stay there forever.
‘Anyway, we have to do something about this cold! If we do, then I might be closer to an answer than I think.’
Ice Trolls, Lamia and other monsters couldn’t show their full ability due to the cold.
Weed used all the wolf leather he had to make patched up cloth and ate properly.
Fish stir-fried in sweet wine… But the cold was too severe to use food as a distraction to forget the discomfort.
Sewing and cooking had limits.
Weed held up his sculpting knife.