Chapter 122
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122
“Man, the more I see this, the more incredible it is.”
Hugo muttered, waving his hand through the empty air.
If he stepped outside the designated perimeter, a ferocious gale battered his body, but the moment he stepped back inside, the wind ceased instantly.
He had heard stories of places where a few steps marked the boundary between rain-soaked earth and dry land, but this was on an entirely different level.
While a blizzard raged in every direction, the spot where Lucian’s party stood remained perfectly calm.
“I don’t understand how people with this kind of power could ever lose. With this, you could easily topple an entire kingdom.”
“If every mage in the world were at Master’s level, perhaps. But the gap in skill between mages is wider than you’d think,” Colin replied to Hugo’s question with a bitter smile.
“Even I can’t cast high-level magic like this. Only a high mage of Master’s caliber can pull it off, and even then, it requires exhaustive preparation. Master likely spent at least a decade or two preparing for this.”
“I heard it took him exactly fourteen years,” Helen interjected. “Before that, even Master had to risk his life every time he traveled back and forth.”
“...I see.”
The smile vanished from Colin’s face as Helen spoke. He still seemed uncomfortable with the fact that he had been left out of the loop by his master and fellow disciple.
The air grew awkward for a moment, but Lucian’s serious voice soon broke the silence.
“Save the magic lectures for later. You’ll have plenty of time for that. Right now, what matters is the base where we’ll be resting along the way.”
Thanks to magic, a path across the snowfields had been opened. However, being able to cross didn't mean they could simply camp out in the open.
Even if it was warmer than the surrounding area, trying to sleep in this cold would result in them being frozen corpses by morning. Since they had to keep moving for several days, they needed a base for rest and sleep.
“Helen, where is the first base? Based on what you said, we should be able to find it by now.”
“We’re almost there. I see it over there.”
Helen raised her finger and pointed toward a specific spot.
At first, it looked like just another snow-covered hill, but upon closer inspection, a window was poking out from between the snowdrifts. Only then did Lucian realize it wasn't a hill, but a cabin half-buried in the snow.
“...Is that place going to be okay? Even if we clear the snow, the door looks like it’ll be frozen shut.”
“It’s a cabin engraved with numerous runes to prevent it from freezing. Once the snow is cleared, it opens surprisingly easily. Besides, we have two mages here, so there’s no need to clear it by hand.”
“Is there really a need for both of us to step up? I’ll handle it, so you just stay back and rest. I need to pull my weight too,” Colin said grumpily as he stepped forward.
His tone made it obvious to anyone that he was sulking. Helen gave a faint, awkward smile and stepped back.
A moment later, standing before the buried cabin, Colin raised his hand.
“Scatter.”
Crackle.
With a voice that seemed to echo as if from a cave, the packed snow fell away in clumps. For a cabin that had been buried under a mountain of snow until a moment ago, its exterior looked remarkably intact.
Lucian opened the cabin door with as much caution as possible.
Creeeeeak.
‘It really isn't frozen at all.’
He had been worried the door might break off if he tried to force it open, but that concern proved unnecessary. As Helen had said, the runes engraved on it clearly prevented it from freezing.
Stepping inside, Lucian’s eyes widened at the warmth radiating from within.
“It’s warm. Is this also the power of the runes?”
“Yes. They prevent the door from freezing and provide heating at the same time. However, please note that the food storage area is the only place without runes.”
“Food storage?”
“It’s the chest over here.”
Helen walked to a corner and opened a piece of furniture that looked like a wardrobe. Inside, fresh slabs of meat hanging from hooks came into view. Simultaneously, a sharp chill poured out from the storage unit into the cabin.
“If you leave it open too long, the temperature will drop, so we must take out what we need quickly.”
As she spoke, Helen swiftly retrieved several pieces of meat and headed toward the hearth. As she stood on the furs spread across the floor and placed the meat into a pre-prepared pot, the fire flared up instantly.
Lucian marveled as he noticed the runes glowing faintly around the area.
“Runes again? Just how many runes are engraved here? No, how do you even know these kinds of runes?”
Rune characters were a language whose meanings had been almost entirely forgotten due to the persecution of mages. Even court mages only knew a handful of the most important runes used for combat.
But no matter how he looked at them, the runes glowing now weren't for combat; they were closer to everyday runes that had long since vanished. It might seem trivial, but this was knowledge that, if used correctly, could improve the quality of life for nobles and commoners alike by dozens of times.
“Master is a Magus, the highest rank among mages. Since this is one of the bases he spent over a decade pouring his heart and soul into, it should be at least this much.”
“No, what I’m trying to say is...”
Lucian started to explain his point to Helen, who had misunderstood him, but then he shook his head. He hadn't even confirmed what kind of person their master was yet, so there was no need to praise him prematurely.
However, Helen continued with a proud expression.
“It’s too early to be surprised. There’s more to come.”
“What, is the cabin going to turn into a palace next?”
“No, the meat turns into medicine.”
“Medicine?”
Wondering what on earth she meant, Lucian froze after taking a closer look at the meat Helen had just taken out.
Mana was flowing through meat that had been slaughtered a long time ago.
“Mmm.”
“Hoh.”
Lucian’s party couldn't stop exclaiming in admiration as they tasted Helen’s cooking. It wasn't because it was incredibly delicious or a dish they had never seen before.
It was because, despite being a simple meat dish, it had an effect similar to an elixir.
“To think my mana would increase just by eating meat...”
“Doesn't this mean the people living here are basically drinking elixirs every day?”
Hugo and Raymond muttered in awe as they chewed. Felicia, however, swallowed her meat with a stoic face.
“But the amount it increases is far too minuscule. At this rate, even if you ate it every day, it would take an eternity to see the same effect as a real elixir.”
She wasn't comparing it to Nectar. She was referring to low-grade elixirs that could be obtained with great effort, provided one had the right connections and vast wealth.
Of course, even such elixirs were of immeasurable value to the general public, but it was debatable whether it was worth the penance of a fixed diet for over a decade. It wasn't a matter of taste, but rather that one would have to remain in an environment where such meat was always available, meaning they wouldn't be able to travel to battlefields at will.
“If a wealthy noble were eating this for health reasons, that would be one thing, but if the goal is to train knights, it would be better to just buy elixirs.”
“Sir Felicia is correct.”
Helen nodded readily, agreeing with Felicia’s assessment.
“No matter how miraculous the effects, it is ultimately the meat of a beast. It cannot be compared to an elixir, which is the essence of alchemy. You would have to consume it for over a decade to barely match the effect of a single elixir. However...”
Helen set down her wooden utensils with a soft thud and spoke quietly.
“The tribes living in this region eat this meat every single day.”
“...”
“They don't just pick and choose the best beasts. The meat of every animal caught here is like this.”
It wasn't that they had the luxury of choice. It was simply that the flesh of every beast they hunted to survive was saturated with mana.
Thus, to the barbarian tribes, this was all just a normal meal. From the moment they were weaned until their final breath in old age, they filled their bellies with this meat.
“It may take over a decade to see the effects of an elixir, but everyone living here has done exactly that. They have eaten it since they stopped nursing and began to chew and swallow solid food.”
“Then they’re all essentially the same as someone who has taken an elixir. Their physical capabilities must be just as robust.”
If they were to be used as knights, it might still be insufficient. Just because someone is strong doesn't mean they automatically acquire the qualities of a commander or the profound depths of swordsmanship.
But if they were to be used as soldiers, the story changed. If a group of people with strength rivaling knights formed an army and swept through enemy lines—if they could blow away enemy soldiers in a single clash—
‘Even with less than a quarter of the enemy's numbers, they could become the ultimate army that strikes terror into their foes.’
The corners of Lucian’s mouth curled up slightly. The vague idea of an army beyond the snowfields was beginning to take a concrete shape.
Lucian’s party stayed at the cabin for a day and set out the following morning.
To be honest, it was hard to tell if it was morning or dawn. The blizzard was so fierce that sunlight was barely visible. They simply assumed it was day when the sky turned a purplish hue and night when it turned pitch black.
“Damn, I think I understand why not a single person who tried to cross the snowfields without magic ever returned.”
After ten days had passed, Hugo muttered with a shudder. The sunlight was so weak it was hard to tell time, and the cold was something even a knight found difficult to endure for long.
On top of that, even after walking for ten full days, there was no sign of a barbarian settlement; it was nothing short of an icy hell. If the man who was Helen and Colin’s master hadn't opened the path and established bases along the way, they would have frozen to death long ago.
“By the way, it’s been the fifteen days we were promised. Why haven't we seen any of these tribesmen yet?”
“We only need to go one more day. If we forced a march, we could arrive within today, but we slowed down to preserve as much stamina as possible, so do not worry.”
“That’s welcome news. Or is it? To them, we’ll be nothing more than uninvited guests.”
“Master knows of our visit, so we should be treated as guests. I’ve been here a few times myself...”
Helen, who was in the middle of explaining to Hugo, suddenly stiffened.
As the others followed Helen’s gaze and looked up, they saw dark shadows in the distance. The moment they blinked, wondering what they were, a roar erupted from the direction of the shadows.
“Who dares set foot in the Dragon’s domain!”
The thunderous voice hammered against the eardrums of Lucian’s party. Even though it was a pure shout without mana infused into it, it was enough to make their ears ring. If there had been mountains nearby, that voice would have surely triggered an avalanche.
Lucian frowned at the sudden display of force and was about to step forward when Helen spoke.
“Please leave this to me. If all goes well, we might be able to avoid a fight.”
“Hmm.”
At Helen’s words, Lucian gave a slight nod of his chin, as if telling her to give it a try.
Having received permission, Helen stepped forward and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Truly a warrior’s roar. Few possess such a voice; might you be Lord Gunstein?”
“A woman? What is a woman doing in a place like this?”
A hint of bewilderment could be felt from the other side at Helen’s voice. It seemed they had never imagined a woman would come all the way across the snowfields to this place.
Seeing the opponent’s attitude soften, Helen spoke with an even brighter smile.
“Have you forgotten me? I am Helen. I studied as a guide under the Master. You once poured me a drink yourself at a banquet; do you remember?”
The opponent fell silent at Helen’s words.
A moment later, the shadows began to approach cautiously, as if still wary. The moment both sides were close enough to see each other clearly, Lucian’s party widened their eyes.