Alistair and Riseth scoured the rocky and lichen-covered tundra for a while longer, though there were no monsters or treasures to be found. To the far west, an otherworldly landscape stretched out, resembling a colossal chunk of angular, yellow-greenish ice akin to a giant piece of Swiss cheese. Jutting out from the surface of a vast lake, this angular plateau stood out like a surreal monument, its surface riddled with gaping holes of varying sizes. From some of these holes, a peculiar greenish water flowed into the surrounding waterways, tinting the pristine blue waters with its alien hue. They decided to refer to the biome as provisionally Chrysolite Glacier upon Riseth's suggestion.
Riseth and Alistair were discussing whether it was worth risking crossing the handful of biomes on the chance that the glistening landscape in the distance was indeed ice or something else entirely.
"We'd have to traverse those teal canyons infested with spiders to get there. I'm not convinced it's worth the risk," Riseth argued, while Alistair checked their map of the slayer world.
"It's the closest thing to a cold environment to our position. We can fly over them with Invisibility. It's not like we need to get into their webbed-up canyon," Alistair countered.
"Fair enough. I still think we should not get too far from the center. It's a lot of open terrain, and if there are things able to bypass my particular brand of invisibility, we will have quite a long fighting retreat ahead of us," Riseth added.
"So, let's just check if that stuff is actually ice. If it's not, we'll play it safe and pull back. Now that I got my legendary skill, I've ticked off all the boxes for the next grade. No need to take unnecessary risks now." Alistair concluded, glancing at the alien landscape in the distance.
As they flew over the teal canyons adjacent to the Chrysolite Glacier, they found that the canyon had been entirely converted to a spider den. Alistair could sense hundreds of lifeforms below; however, none of the spiders were grade 9. As they flew over the canyon, they spotted webbed-up monsters and egg sacks near the entrances. A sense of unease crept over Alistair, and he considered that they should return to eradicate the spiders once they reach the next grade before they multiply and grow out of control.
"We really should burn that nest to the ground," Riseth commented as they flew past the canyon.
"I agree. It's too bad we have to wait with pest control until we reach the next grade. I sense enough of these things that killing them now would put us both into the next grade. Plus, I have an appointment in the [Traders Market] before the tournament, so I'd rather check the Chrysolite Glacier and leave, or I'll be late," Alistair explained.
Riseth gave him a curious glance. "What kind of appointment?"
"Nessy set me up with a smith to replace my poleaxe," Alistair clarified, which satisfied her curiosity.
They had also been looking into magic items, but few crafters could create worthwhile, affordable magic items, and quite a few of them were incompatible with body cultivation. Riseth's cultivation topic helped as they now knew how to refine magical equipment and weapons. Alistair couldn't help but feel a bit guilty; they owed Mitania a lot of gratitude. She continued to watch out for them, and her recommendations helped them out considerably.
Upon reaching the Chrysolite Glacier, it became evident that it was indeed ice, albeit crystallized due to exposure to magic. Alistair sensed monsters dwelling within the glacier, utilizing the tunnels as entry points. He observed a massive shrimp-like creature entering the glacier through an underwater passageway beneath the surface of the water. The air was cool, and screams and roars could be heard echoing out of the tunnels of the glacier, which seemed to be strongly contended.
Exchanging a knowing look, they nodded in unison before venturing into one of the larger entrances positioned high above the water's surface. Their chances of finding an ice-based monster were reasonably high; the whole environment was so magically infused that the whole glacier could be best described as a large natural treasure that the beasts used to progress their advancement. If left alone, they would naturally adopt ice aspects into their forms. Luckily, the chrysolite ice had a natural glow, which provided visibility within the glacier.
The monsters' roars were distracting as they bounced off the many tunnel walls, making it hard to figure out where the monsters were exactly. They decided to head for the center for now; surprisingly, the crystalized ice was not slippery at all, providing them with stable footing as they stalked the tunnels. They came across the occasional large chambers, some of which functioned as a resting place for monsters, where they found improvised larders and nests made of bones and shrubbery brought in from the outside. The chamber's mana density was slightly increased. Alistair suspected it to be inhabited by some kind of bird or other flying beast as he found occasional white feathers strewn about and worked into the large circular nesting.
They did not have time to wait for the creature to return, so they headed deeper inside. As they progressed down the tunnels, the echoes of battles faded, leaving behind an eerie silence beside the sound of a distant rush of flowing water and the occasional whistling of the wind. Eventually, they managed to navigate the tunnels undisturbed, reaching the central chamber. As they entered the chamber, a gruesome sight greeted them: roughly a dozen lifeless monster bodies lay strewn across the crystalized icy floor. At the center of the room stood a huge spherical crystal connected to both the ceiling and the floor by chrysolite ice. The crystal radiated an incredible amount of ice magic that made the chamber feel like a freezer compared to the rest of the glacier. The crystal itself had a much deeper shade of green, and Alistair could make out swirling energies within. It exuded icy water that gave the sphere a certain sheen that reflected the natural light of the chrysolite walls. The water pooled at the floor, creating small waterways flowing down some of the lower tunnels.
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Riseth was about to step inside and take a look at the bodies, which had seemingly been left alone and preserved by the cold environment, adding to the mana-rich environment. But Alistair stopped her. Without his [Conceptual Awareness] skill, he would have missed it as well. The natural treasure was guarded by a huge ice elemental that had blended into the upper pillar connected to the treasure. Alistair could make out its outline as it was much more mana-dense than the walls and had a direct connection to the treasure itself. He suspected the treasure maintained the environment, and removing it would eventually cause the Chrysolite Glacier to collapse. Alistair explained his thoughts to Riseth as they considered their approach.
"So, our options are to fight the elementals, take the treasure and bodies, and let this place collapse on its own. Alternatively, we return periodically to face monsters that either adapt to the environment or perish in their attempts to claim the main treasure, risking that one of them will eventually succeed," Riseth summarized.
"The Ice elemental would also most certainly give us the core we need, but odds are one of the dozen bodies here does that, too. Also, the ice elemental is quite powerful and linked to the treasure, empowering it further. I doubt any of the roaming beasts are powerful enough to take it yet," Alistair added as they continued to discuss their approach.
They decided to steal the bodies and return later; they had plans to eradicate the nearby spider den so that they would return to this area either way. The ice elemental was by far the strongest monster they had encountered. Luckily, it ignored them as long as they left its natural treasure alone, even allowing them to pick up the bodies uncontested.
Their journey back to the gate was uneventful, as none of the local beasts had spotted them while using invisibility or were unwilling to mess with them. Alistair handed over all the collected bodies to Riseth, who would deliver them to Thomas for processing as they went their separate ways.
Upon arriving at the [Traders Market], Alistair decided to take a more leisurely route, walking past the numerous shops and establishments. The air was filled with the enticing aromas of various foods from the bustling food stalls, wafting into his nostrils as he observed the myriad races going about their business. People were haggling for prices, and the market was alive with the vibrant energy of commerce and culinary delights on offer. Due to his focus on foundation, he had a level that helped him blend into the masses. Unless somebody shared the [Primal Revelation] or had similarly high senses and intuition, people would mistake him for one among many. He knew this would soon change, so he would try and enjoy himself.
He made a quick stop at a place selling wraps that Simon had recommended to him; the stand was run by an overly friendly green lizardkin that looked like Gex. On his way to the Smithy's shop front, he noticed near countless fliers plastered across the walls, most of them from different factions and planets looking for their own people, one of them being a call to arms from Sol to the people of Earth. This was impressive in its own right as millions of worlds tried to do the same, which meant that Sol's followers were on the ball regarding their propaganda. He had passed multiple groups from other planets preaching in the street, mostly ignored by the masses. Knowing what awaited them once they left the trial had spurred many into action. There were a lot fewer people begging for scraps or wallowing in their misery as they had been picked up and recruited by one faction or another. Nessyra had told him of rumors that less savory factions like slavers, pirates, and their gods from the multiverse had already begun trying to recruit people of the fresh universe to get a foot in the door. This was in line with how all the other integrations had gone, as they would try to establish a black market network soon after the end of the trial.
During their preliminary talks about what kind of planet they would be looking for, Riseth had made it clear that their biggest competitors for planets would be those exact factions, particularly pirates, other clans, and emerging factions. They would also seek to distance themselves from the three bridges. The fact that they were aware of there being three bridges was already an advantage. The criteria for a suitable planet would be mana density, environment, and location, as they wanted to avoid settling near major factions or potential major trade routes, as both pirates and natural gods would seek to expand their domain onto these planets. Ideally, they would find a concealed planet within a nebula. With the introduction of mana, nebulas have become quite mana-rich, making navigating them difficult. They also were a hotbed for astral fauna like space squids, whales, turtles, and more dangerous creatures, making traversing the area with a fleet risky.
He knew there were many things he was not aware of yet, and Riseth had promised they would discuss them with the clan once the trial was to draw to a close or they became relevant. He stopped his musings as he reached a shopfront that said Stoneheart Armaments. The flyers had been torn, leaving only scraps of paper still glued to the walls. He knew the shop was run by Resni Stoneheart, a female dwarf who specialized in magical weaponry and enchanted accessories. Interestingly, he had found that not every dwarf species descends from mushrooms, and multiple similar-looking species sometimes fought over the same species name. There was also a species of dwarfs that traced their origin to living rocks. Resni was what he would consider a more classical dwarf, as their base form was humanoid without the need for the polymorph skill, though he had no idea what her origin species was.
After knocking, he entered and was greeted by a well-organized fantasy-like armory. Weapon and armor racks lined up on the walls, and shelves filled with jewelry, both enchanted and some just primed to be enchanted. Luckily, the system prevented theft, which was necessary as none of the jewelry was secured. The most common enchant was one that increased resilience and hardened the user's skin, which was incompatible with his body cultivation as his skin would reject the effects of the magic items. Resni Stoneheart was nowhere to be seen, and he presumed he needed to knock on the door directly leading to her [Crafting Quarters] workshop. Some crafters hired personnel to maintain the shop front and haggle with customers. Nessyra had offered to provide Resni with some workers, but Resni was hesitant to accept. Nessyra had asked Alistair to try to leave a good impression on her, as she was the most promising of the craftsmen Nessyra was trying to sway.