𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒𝟓
“Kreong!”
A snow wolf rushed towards me, baring its ghastly teeth. I could tell just by looking that those teeth were sharp enough to easily tear through flesh. Yet, I didn’t care as the wolf charged fiercely. I casually swung Roar of the Thunder Dragon, timing it just right.
Pachichik!━
“Kyaing!”
[Hit Damage! 8,028.]
[Combat Experience 28 acquired!]
‘It looks so slow, I can only think useless thoughts.’
The experience points it gave were also pathetic. And seeing these snow wolves popping out even though we were so far from the village made me wonder if I had taken a wrong turn.
“Uh, Rudin-nim. Do you have any fire magic? I think I read somewhere that using fire magic gets rid of the cold.”
There’s no way such a thing exists.
I shook my head coldly at Sina, who was shivering from the cold. Sina didn’t seem particularly disappointed, as if she had expected it, but fire magic would definitely be useful in this kind of region.
“By the way, do you have enough herbs?”
“Well. I have enough, but I don’t know what kind of potion will come out. I’ll try making one as a test.”
After saying that, Sina took out the Alchemy Crafting Kit I gave her and a large table from her Item Storage. Just as I needed a hammer and anvil to craft weapons, it seemed she needed a crafting kit and a table like that for alchemy.
‘Ah, how much Stamina do I have left?’
I checked while walking here, and Stamina decreased every minute. Since my Stamina with the coat on decreased by about 0.7~0.8%, it seemed like 1% of Stamina decreased every minute originally.
[Stamina：88.7%]
‘I still have some to spare.’
Of course, that’s only in my case. If my Stamina runs out, I can just grab a monster roaming around and use my shield skill. On the other hand, Sina might have it harder since she has no way to recover.
“Does using alchemy consume Stamina?”
“No? Doesn’t production skills usually not consume Stamina? And stop standing still and try making a bonfire next to you.”
“……”
Indeed, there was no way alchemy would consume Stamina when my weapon crafting didn’t. As Sina said, I took out some firewood, placed it nearby, and lit it using the free flint I had gotten.
Hwaruruk!━
“……?”
How does it light up so easily?
Perhaps because it’s a game, I witnessed the amazing sight of the firewood lighting up on its own just by striking the flint near it.
[The warm energy drives away the cold.]
[Stamina decrease due to cold has been removed.]
“Wow, you lit it up quickly.”
Anyway, Sina, who now had an expression of relief thanks to the warmth of the bonfire, started taking out some of the herbs she had gathered. Come to think of it, I had never seen the process of making a potion before, so I decided to quietly observe.
“Skill Use. High-Level Alchemy.”
Pat!━
Then, as Sina used her B-rank Alchemy, the herbs she took out turned into fine powder, and Sina was putting the transformed powder into bottles appropriately. She was probably mixing the herbs.
“Hmm, is this enough? Craft.”
‘It’s simpler than I thought.’
Watching it, it was no different from my weapon crafting in terms of simplicity. Anyway, the potion was complete, and after checking it, Sina made an expression that showed she wasn’t quite satisfied.
“Cold Resistance was created, but…… Just take a look.”
Did she decide that showing was faster than explaining? Sina handed me the potion and said.
[Weak Cold Resistance Potion] (Normal)
Description: A potion made by blending herbs that only grow in cold regions. Drinking it slightly warms the body, allowing resistance to some degree of cold.
━Increases Cold Resistance by 8% for 273 seconds.
━Single-use consumable.
“How is it?”
“What are you trying to say?”
The duration of about 4~5 minutes was satisfactory, but the 8% Cold Resistance effect was not. It seemed like this kind of potion was made because the herbs weren’t good.
‘At least 20% would be good.’
Movement itself didn’t consume Stamina anyway. However, according to what I read online, the damage taken from Arnela differed depending on Cold Resistance, so it would be better to have a potion with higher resistance if possible.
“I thought so too. Let’s find some other herbs.”
While I nodded in agreement, Sina gulped down the potion she had made.
“Ugh, it’s still cold. Let’s go.”
“……Yes.”
Anyway, after walking for a while with Sina, we arrived at what seemed to be a decent hunting ground, as we could see a considerable number of players hunting.
Kwakwang!━
“Awesome!~ Fire magic! Keep using it!”
“Just give me the potions. I’ll keep using it.”
Looking around, the players were fighting Snow Trolls and Snow Wolves.
‘Those damn wolves appear everywhere.’
I took my eyes off the wolf that collapsed after a single hit from a player’s weapon and looked at the Snow Troll next to it.
[Snow Troll]
‘It’s not a boss.’
It was a little surprising. A troll that’s not a boss? In previous quests, even regular trolls were treated as bosses, but it seemed different here. Anyway, while I was watching, a troll that suddenly appeared nearby spotted Sina and me and ran straight towards us.
“Koo-eore!”
“You can handle it, right?”
“Why are you asking that?”
Asking if I could handle a normal monster that wasn’t even a boss? It didn’t even feel worth answering. Looking at the charging troll, I swung my hammer without thinking, striking its shoulder.
Pachichik!━
[Hit Damage! 6,914.]
[Combat Experience 1,200 acquired!]
Sina, who made an “as expected” expression towards me after I easily dealt with the Snow Troll, was contrasted by the players nearby who were all staring at me with surprised eyes.
“Didn’t he just kill the troll in one hit?”
“That means the damage was over 6,000. What kind of skill is that?”
“It looked like a lightning-type skill……”
It was convenient that no one here knew I was Rudin.
“We should move to a different location, right?”
“Yes. I can’t see any herbs because it’s a hunting ground. And since herbs are abundant in forests, it might be better to look for a forest.”
“A forest?”
At the word “forest,” I looked around again. There were trees scattered here and there, but nothing that looked like a forest. Moreover, it was hard to imagine a forest existing in this snow-covered region.
“Hey, you there. I saw you earlier, you’re quite skilled. If you don’t mind, would you like to hunt together?”
“Let’s look for a forest first.”
“Yes.”
So, Sina and I tried to leave, ignoring the player who suggested hunting together, but a shout from the opposite direction called us to a halt.
“Wait a minute!”
“……?”
We stopped and turned around, and there was a player running towards us in a hurry. As I was looking at the player with a puzzled expression, the player stopped in front of us and said,
“Um, are you looking for herbs?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Ah, I know a good place. If you don’t mind, please take me with you.”
‘A good place?’
At the words “good place,” I looked at Sina next to me. It was to ask her opinion on what to do, but Sina just shrugged, as if telling me to do as I pleased.
On the other hand, the player seemed desperate and spoke again.
“If you go there, there are tons of herbs.”
“Why do you want to go with us, more than the herbs?”
“That’s……”
“Can’t you see? It means the monsters that appear there are strong.”
Sina answered for me. Hearing that, I looked at the player again, and the player nodded, confirming Sina’s words.
“That’s right. The mobs that appear there are much stronger than trolls…… Ah, but I thought that you, who killed a troll in one hit, would be able to hunt in that forest too.”
‘It was surprisingly simple.’
Anyway, it could be a good opportunity. We couldn’t wander around forever, could we? I nodded in agreement, and the player was visibly delighted by my response.
“But I can’t form a party with you.”
“A party? Yes, that’s fine.”
I said that beforehand because my ID would be revealed if we formed a party, but the player nodded with an expression that showed it didn’t matter.
“Then I’ll guide you. This way.”
The player led the way, and Sina and I followed.
“By the way, what’s your ID? I’m Layla.”
‘ID?’
I had blocked it in advance by saying we couldn’t form a party, but I didn’t expect her to ask directly. I briefly thought of an ID to use as an alias. But before I could finish thinking, Sina’s answer came first.
“I’m Sina. And next to me is Rune-nim.”
Sina seemed to have understood my intention from my previous words and gave a strange ID. But is a one-letter ID allowed in this Twilight? I was puzzled, but the player who introduced herself as Layla simply nodded.
“So it’s Rune-nim and Sina-nim. But seeing you wandering around looking for herbs, it seems like you’re new to this area?”
“We’re usually in the Harpe Empire.”
“Ah, is that so? It’s not this cold there, is it?”
“It’s rather warm.”
“I heard that the Anis Kingdom is warm if you go south…… It’s strange that only the weather here is like this.”
‘Was it only cold here?’
Come to think of it, the entire Anis Kingdom couldn’t be a cold region. Who would be active in the Anis Kingdom if that were the case? However, thinking that this cold region only existed in the Anis Kingdom, I decided to ask a few questions I was curious about.
“But where are we going?”
“To the Forest of Unmelting Ice. Various herbs grow there. I heard that the spirit energy is abundant, so herbs and such grow well.”
Spirit energy is abundant?
“Where did you hear that story?”
“You can hear it from NPCs while doing quests.”
As someone who hasn’t done many quests, I wouldn’t know, but it seemed like Sina would be well-informed about this kind of information. After all, it was her job to run around doing quests every day.
“What kind of monsters appear in the forest?”
“Corrupted Ice Spirits and Snow Giant Spiders. As you’ll see, when you go into the forest, there are spider webs everywhere, making it difficult to move around.”
“I hate spiders……”
Leaving Sina’s muttering behind, I nodded after roughly hearing about the types of monsters that appeared there. Rather, if it’s a spirit, it would fly, right? It wouldn’t be difficult to deal with, but I thought it might be dangerous if it attacked Sina.
“By the way, Sina-nim, you’re lucky. To have such a strong person helping you.”
“If you need help, you can just join a guild.”
“The conditions for joining are strict.”
‘Are there not many guilds?’
In the Harpe Empire’s capital, the Emperor Guild had swept up almost everything, so there weren’t many guilds active there. Perhaps it was the same here? If there weren’t any guilds, the typical reason would be guild wars, so I naturally thought of that possibility, but it wasn’t something I needed to worry about.
Anyway, after walking for 1~2 hours following Layla, we came across a place filled with transparent trees.
“That’s the Forest of Unmelting Ice.”
“There are certainly a lot of herbs.”
At the words “a lot of herbs,” I briefly looked around, and indeed, there were so many herbs that I could see sparkling things on the ground everywhere. But are there no players hunting here? I thought it wouldn’t be impossible to hunt even if they were stronger than trolls if people gathered together, so this question naturally arose.
“It seems like there are no people hunting here.”
“I don’t know the details, but I heard it’s difficult to hunt here because of the spider webs.”
‘Will spiders pop out if I step on them?’
Then we’ll just have to catch those spiders too. Anyway, as soon as we entered the forest, Sina looked around and started gathering nearby herbs.
━Hehehehe.
What’s that sound?
“It’s a spirit!”
At the word “spirit,” I focused on where the sound was coming from, and it wasn’t a joke. Several translucent ghosts that looked like virgin ghosts were flying towards us.
“That’s a spirit?”
“Yes. The name is written there, isn’t it?”
[Corrupted Ice Spirit]
The name is correct, but……
I tilted my head but stepped forward to confront the spirit.
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