Chapter 367: Chapter 365: Alina’s Land of Slumber?
"Huff, puff, huff, puff..."
Goriff and Anthony kept gasping for breath, still not having recovered from the earlier attack.
He looked at the ice shield that enveloped the entire sled and couldn’t help but glance at Hilia sitting behind Manica.
"Thank you," he said.
When the explosion was about to destroy the sled, Hilia’s ice shield descended, covering them and the vehicle, keeping the explosive shards and shockwaves at bay and preventing the sled from being destroyed.
This Tier Three muscular mercenary was a well-rounded sword master, with defenses meant only for himself, without the ability to protect anyone else.
So Hilia had to step in; otherwise, if their sled were destroyed, squeezing in with them would be uncomfortable in every sense.
She didn’t want to cram in with a mercenary whose sweat stench was overpowering even from a distance.
If it came to that, she would choose to give up her seat and ride her flying broom instead.
"What was that thing earlier?" Hilia asked.
While she added an ice shield to Goriff and Anthony’s sled, she smoothly executed a combo move that slayed the monster hidden within.
However, after being killed, the monster turned into an ice lump, melding back into the environment.
"A snow monster," Anthony said, "a kind of demon that can hide in the ice and snow, a special creature born only in the Land of the Far North. It usually lurks on the glaciers by the roadside, exploding the glacier to attack when a target approaches. Once killed, it turns into ice and snow."
Goriff spat, "These demons are annoying. You get nothing for killing them, and you have to be cautious, pfft!"
As he spoke, Goriff went over and kicked apart the snow from the snow monster’s remains.
Pamisha glanced over and shook her head, "Mr. Goriff, your task isn’t to explore ruins, nor to fight, it’s protection. If you keep being careless, you’ll have to compensate for the sled yourself."
A sled doesn’t cost much; the most expensive component is the magic crystal used as energy. All other parts combined aren’t worth as much as a low-grade magic crystal—worth 1 gold coin, not 5 silver coins.
Pamisha’s words essentially told Goriff that if he couldn’t even protect a sled, he shouldn’t think about protecting her and might as well leave.
Goriff caught the underlying meaning, gave an awkward smile, and had nothing to say.
So from then on, he became more cautious, no longer acting fearless.
The journey thereafter, handled with care, proceeded somewhat smoothly.
Along the way, they occasionally encountered other mercenaries, some lone wolves, others in groups, a buzzing crowd of people.
Recognizing Pamisha and Goriff it seemed, those mercenaries didn’t stop them, letting them pass through smoothly.
A few hours later, they reached their destination, a place indistinguishable from other ice fields.
"We’re quite close to the Northern Ocean here; everyone be careful when moving. The ground we’re treading on might be water, and creatures could attack from the water," Anthony said.
Pamisha glanced at him, "No need for you to say so; you’re the most useless one here. Just focus on setting up your memory recorder properly."
"Alright," Anthony didn’t mind Pamisha’s harsh words, opened his pack, and started assembling the memory recorder.
Hilia got off the sled and gazed at a small hill in the distance.
That hill wasn’t ice field; beneath the thick glacier, a faintly distinct mark was visible.
"That is the newly discovered ancient frozen ruin—the Land of Sleep. Best not to approach unless necessary, or if the ground aurora bursts out, no one knows what might happen," Pamisha said.
Hilia nodded and looked to a distant spot.
From afar, she vaguely saw tents and couldn’t help but exclaim, "So are there already mercenaries here exploring?"
Goriff replied, "Naturally, the Land of the Far North has always been a focus area for the Northern Alliance Mercenary Corps. There have been treasures unearthed here before, including rare spell knowledge from a thousand years ago, which directly elevated the mercenaries who obtained it to the top tier of the Northern Alliance Mercenary Corps, even collaborating officially with the Northern Alliance, reaching a peak of influence."
Hilia wasn’t particularly interested in so-called rare spells. Not to mention, as a prospective Holy Daughter, the entire library of the Divine Magic Academy was open to her for free; even Rose had countless spells more advanced than "rare spells."
Specifically, the Ice Shield Skill she learned from Rose was much stronger than that learned by an ordinary mage.
Quality over quantity in spells; mastering a few powerful spells is far better than learning a heap of useless ones.
This is why some who linger in Tier Three for over a decade can’t match a newly promoted Tier Three Elina, who, having received God’s legacy, easily surpasses them.
While spells attract mercenaries, they hold little draw for Hilia.
So she just nodded and mused, "This ruin hasn’t been confirmed as a high-tier or low-tier ruin yet, and they’ve already come to camp. Aren’t they afraid it might turn out to be a high-tier ruin, wasting their time?"
Anthony replied, "It’s exactly these advance teams’ exploration that determines the ruin’s danger level."
"That makes sense indeed," she said.
Hilia looked at the layer of ice that had a hole dug in it.
"Lord Rose, do you think this ruin could be the place we’re looking for?"
Rose said, "It’s possible. The spiritual barrier of this ruin is very strong; if you try to penetrate it, you might get knocked unconscious. It should be what you called a ’high-tier ruin.’ When the ’aurora’ appears, I can confirm if it is or not."
"Alright!"
If it is, that would be best, saving the need to spend time searching.
Rose said, "If it is, there’s no need to delve deeper."
Hilia was taken aback, "Huh? Why?"
"Since the Polar Blood Alliance can extract Alina’s blood from the Land of Slumber, there must be high-tier mages stationed there. Your strength might be enough to deal with a Tier Four Mage, but if it’s Tier Five, even if you can control their array, it might not be enough."
"Seems so. If this ruin is indeed the Land of Slumber, the Polar Blood Alliance would have explored it completely and taken control."
But if that were the case, it shouldn’t still be considered a discoverable ruin.
If it’s not...
"Let’s wait for the night; the ruin inside is fluctuating. Perhaps the ’aurora’ will appear tonight."
Thinking of Kost’s night, Hilia looked at Pamisha and asked, "Miss Pamisha, when is nighttime here?"
Pamisha answered, "Nighttime is from 1 AM to 4 AM. Based on my investigation, there should be an aurora tonight. The aurora is beautiful, ensuring it won’t disappoint you."
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