Chapter 346 - Frozen Whisperers
Since Furball was getting stronger by the day, Ryan began to think that perhaps he should create a wagon or a carriage for him to pull. While he was fast, sitting on his back was too uncomfortable while he ran. Then again, a carriage being pulled at one hundred miles per second probably wasn't the most comfortable place in the world.
After traveling for a full day without stopping, Ryan and the others finally reached the border, and he saw a lot more snow than he saw last time. Based on what Alissa told him, it was safe to assume that the weather and the path won't improve.
"As expected, the cold isn't bothering me anymore," Ryan said.
"While Cold Resistance decreases one point of damage per level, it also increases the temperature in which your body can withstand without getting sick or suffering from some issues," Femradiel explained. "Every ten levels, your resistance increases by one degree."
Considering that, it looked like he could survive some pretty harsh weather conditions, not like he wanted to put them to test. Regardless, even in Canadian territory, Ryan didn't find many monsters, and since he was heading North-West, he passed pretty far away from the Dire Wolves' dungeon.
Thanks to the snow, Furball's speed decreased a little. Since the terrain was also tiring him out pretty fast, Ryan decided to take a break when the sunset. There was no telling what they would find from that point onward, so it was too risky to make Furball work too hard.
"Can you sense traces of Alissa's mana round, Femradiel?" Ryan asked. "I want to know if they have explored this far in the north."
"No, I felt traces of her mana earlier, but you left them behind already," Femradiel replied. "If I had to guess, she made her soldiers walk a lot around these parts. That is why they didn't explore the area all that much."
Since that was the case, Ryan couldn't understand why he didn't find a single monster until now. Unless they are ice golems, it would be unreasonable to expect any monster to live so close by the snowstorm that Alissa mentioned. There was another possibility, but in all honesty, Ryan didn't want to think about it because if it were true, that would be very troublesome.
While Ryan had a map, the snow from that point onward was so deep that he was having a terrible time finding any landmarks or plates informing the names of streets or towns.
The situation became even more troublesome around noon of the next day. Ryan finally found the snowstorm ahead; the thing was so massive that he could see the end of it while looking to the sides. The strong wind was also decreasing his visibility.
"I guess this is it," Ryan said. "What are you sensing, Femradiel?"
"A lot of mana… but strangely, this snowstorm wasn't caused by a spell," Femradiel replied.
"Some other unknown factor caused it, and it is making the snowstorm not lose strength."
"Can you sense anything specific inside of it?" Ryan asked.
"No, as I said, there is too much mana in there," Femradiel said. "Enough even to block my tracking skills that have never been good from the very beginning."
Ryan wasn't the type to run away from a challenge or an unanswered question, so his only option was to pass through the snowstorm. The question was: could Furball endure the cold winds? His cold resistance was only at level fifty, after all.
"I guess I will make some new items that will increase your cold resistance, buddy," Ryan said. "Just hang in there for a little bit, okay?"
Furball barked in agreement, and after a few more minutes, they finally entered the range of the snowstorm. The visibility decreased exponentially, and Ryan barely could see Furball's head a few meters ahead of him. Ryan activated Radar and immediately picked the presence of some monsters.
"Ah, I get it now," Femradiel said. "The snowstorm is being caused by the presence of the Frozen Whisperers. I suggest you use your crossbow without relying on your eyes alone. Rely on Radar to attack."
While Ryan wanted to do that, he wanted for one of the monsters to approach before doing anything and then when he saw a weird creature that seemed like a frozen ghost appear, Ryan used Appraisal.
Frost Whisperer – Lv 180
Health: 2250/2250
Mana: 3500/3500
Stamina: 1000/1000
Strength: 250
Dexterity: 500
Speed: 300
Intelligence: 1200
Endurance: 500
Control: 300
Mentality: 800
Luck: 250
Recovery: 1500
Willpower: 800
Coins: --
Status: 00
Skill List
Offensive Physical Skills: Freezing Touch Lv 130
Passive Physical Skills: Focus Lv 120, Concentration Lv 100
Spells: Snowstorm Lv 120, Frozen Aura Lv 100
Support Skills: Cold Resistance Lv 300, Wind Resistance Lv 100, Earth Resistance Lv 50
The Whisperers didn't have physical forms, adding to the fact that their faces seemed frozen and lacked any emotion, Ryan decided to consider them ghosts. Those creatures created a small frozen tornado whenever they passed, so Ryan understood and recognized the fact that Femradiel's guess was correct.
As if they were made of thin glass, the monster's body began to crack when Ryan hit it with his bolts, but while the monster wasn't that resilient, the cold wind could quickly repair the damage caused by him.
"Let's see how you fare against this," Ryan said and then fired some Electric Bullets at the creature alongside his bolts.
The monster began to melt and crack and eventually died, but as expected from a mob monster of that level, it caused a lot of problems.
You obtained 140 coins.
"It looks like you will have a lot of work ahead of you," Femradiel said. "Unless you find a way to kill those creatures as fast as possible, you will stay here for a while."
As usual, when Femradiel wasn't helpful, she would say something that would make Ryan frown or get on his nerves. Regardless, Ryan began to use his head and find a solution to that problem.