Chapter 578: Reaching the North

"And that is all..." Having finished her explanation of everything she had gone through inside the dungeon while ensuring not to mention anything about the powerful senior adventurer, Yeva fell silent. Nervously looking down towards the card in her hand. Waiting for the one on the other side to answer.

"Hm... Thanks for the information, it will undoubtedly be helpful and might even lead to us obtaining another undead kingdom. The council will set aside the resources you need, and you can pick them up when you get back. If there is anything else, you can contact us again."

Diiing~

Hearing the sound of the connection disconnecting, Yeva couldn’t stop herself from letting out a quiet sigh of relief. Knowing she had successfully managed to get through the conversation without making any mistakes.

Now, all she needed to do was get back to the Eternal Life Sanctum and pick up the resources that had been set aside for her and get out of there before those old bags of bones engaged the Adventurers Guild. Knowing that leaving might become difficult when they realized the battle would be harder than they had originally anticipated. Dragging in whatever forces they could before the guild could properly mount a strong enough force...

Shaking her head as she thought this, Yeva set off towards the Eternal Life Sanctum. Aware that the journey back would be a bit more difficult now that she only had her own two feet to rely on.

...

"To think I would return to this place again..." Far from the place Yeva the necromancer had ended up after successfully escaping from the dungeon, Verdell was standing beside Scaly gazing out over the endless sea of white with a look of awe in his eyes. Feeling a sense of profound amazement watching how the landscape seemingly split in two. One side, a snow-covered landscape, while the other was the same forest covered environment, they had travelled through since leaving the Swirling Sands Dungeon.

This kind of distinct and direct split between two polar opposite environments that shouldn’t be possible was something that had amazed him even back when he had first stepped foot into the snow-covered region now before him.

Unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

Luckily for him, back then, he hadn’t been travelling alone and was travelling alongside a group also heading towards the major city run by the guild inside that snow-covered northern territory.

Because of this, he had been able to ask one of the more experienced adventurers about the situation back then and ended up being dragged into a lecture on countless unique environments that came to be through the existence of mana.

Learning not just about the reason behind the unique split between the snow-covered and forested environment, but also countless other unique environments that he still hadn’t encountered to this day even with his now extensive experience as an adventurer who had even traversed the dreamscape.

As for the reason behind the unique split before him? That was due to some unique ore vein that formed a natural barrier between the two sides. Cutting off the two environments from one another.

How an ore vein accomplished something like that... He had no clue and neither did the senior who had informed him about this in the past. In fact, having looked it up since his first time here, it was clear that no one knew how this happened. In fact, when looking into the guild’s reasons for establishing itself in the frozen wasteland that now stood before him and Scaly, one of the reasons was to better research this unique and massive ore vein.

Not just because of how unique the ore vein itself was, but also because of how large it was, stretching for thousands of kilometers. Making it one of the largest ore veins discovered by the guild to date.

Together with the clear magical affinity of this unique ore, it was a wonder how it hadn’t attracted more attention. Especially from his people, as they would normally rush over the instant they learnt about such a massive ore vein.

But then again, there might be something he didn’t know about that made it difficult to mine or the metal itself was unstable, something he knew certain highly saturated ore could become. Making some highly explosive in the process...

Ohhh~ So white~ I wonder how many monsters are hidden throughout this snow-covered land~

Different from Verdell who was going through a full range of emotions after laying his eyes on the white expanse once again, Scaly was far simpler in her train of thought and just looked out at the sea of white wondering how many monsters were hidden away beneath this white blanket. Feeling a sense of anticipation remembering Verdell’s earlier words of the north being home to countless powerful monsters. Knowing that she should be able to easily obtain the last bit of experience she needed for her next evolution in this kind of place.

Her only real worry being the adventurers that were clearly also present throughout this snow-covered region. Not so much worried about fighting these adventurers, but more so worried that they would make it far harder for her to find somewhere to hide away while she was undergoing her next evolution, let alone the fact that she might need to save up some food in case her mana consumption ability that had negated her need for normal food so far wouldn’t be able to keep up with her hunger once she finished her next evolution.

Having a clear and obvious prediction that there would be some kind of problem following her next evolution, with hunger being the most obvious problem she could think of given her previous experience evolving.

Not lingering too long on these potential future problems, Scaly soon enough took her first step past the barrier leading to the snow-colored world on the other side. Feeling as her leg sank into the soft snow on the other side while at the same time also feeling a distinct cold wind sweeping past her scales causing a slight shiver to run down her spine.

Although she wasn’t against cold weather, this was different from what she had experienced in the past and she almost immediately realized that she didn’t like cold environments.

Call it her natural instinct as a dreamscale dragon, she wasn’t suited for this kind of environment even if she had already managed to learn ice magic.

Still... Suitable or not, uncomfortable or comfortable, she could survive the cold even if it wasn’t an enjoyable experience.

"So cold... I almost forgot why I never came back here in the past..." And beside her, Verdell was similarly uncomfortable as he visibly shivered after stepping past the boundary and stood beside her in the snow.

Of course, a clear difference compared to her, was the fact that the little dwarf was skilled in fire magic. Using his mana to conjure up what looked like a thin layer made of countless small flames that kept out the cold and kept him comfortable even in their cold environment.

A fact that made Scaly feel rather jealous of this little dwarf and his ability to use fire magic. Making her wonder if she should start dedicating some serious time to fire magic in the future and try to learn it herself. Even if not for the strength of fire magic in combat, at least to keep herself warm in this kind of situation.

Rustle~

And just as Scaly was silently scheming against Verdell and wondering how she could get him to share that warmth with her, soft rustling sound within the snow instantly caught her attention. Followed by a wave of excitement. Realizing that the rustling sound should have come from one of the monsters hidden away beneath the snow blanket.

Where is it~ Where is- Ah...

Happily looking around before finally spotting the culprit behind the sound, letting out a somewhat disappointed sound upon laying eyes on this first monster encounter since stepping into the snow.

[Snow Plowing Fox, lvl 17]

[Description: A fox with pure white fur less than half the size of a normal fox; the snow plowing fox spends its entire life plowing paths through the snow with no clear goal in mind nor any source of food. No consensus has been reached amongst monster scholars when it comes to the goal of this harmless monster that spends its life digging paths through the snow, but one has been reached when it comes to its food source being some kind of mana consumption ability or skill.]

To say it was weak would be an understatement. Not proving to be the powerful opponent she had been looking forward to encountering after she reached this snow-covered region. If anything, she even had the feeling that lightly blowing in the direction of the small white fox would blow it over and reward her with the pitiful experience one deserved for that kind of bullying...