> Task: Dewloren, the Tiger King of the Ice Barrier
> Requester: Lyra, the Alchemist
> Quest Rank: D-rank
> Rewards: 21 Large Copper Coins
> Description: To the Northeast of the Moon Village, around 60km away from it, there lies a lake that had frozen over during spring for mysterious reasons, it also caused a veeeeery unusual weather.
> After the cause of it was discovered... Nothing was done about it! And so the lake kept frozen, the weather kept terrible and the villagers had no choice but to move away! >.<
> Well, after a while though, it seems the lake cracked and a really big blue tiger came out of it, and it proclaims himself as Dewloren, the Tiger King of the Ice Barrier... Yeah, really chuuni name... And you wanna know what the Ice Barrier is? Well, no clue on that!
> But uhn... He is kinda aggressive, like... He doesn't attack people on sight, but he proclaims his chuuni title if anyone gets close and warns them if they get any closer they'll have to face his wrath...
> I'm kinda dying of curiosity to know what this is all about, but I'm also worried for this mega abnormal weather and stuff, so... Try doing something about it? Dunno, beat Dewloren in honorable combat, convince him to explain things, or... Find some way to discover what this is all about please!
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Upon hearing about this quest, Zinc immediately thought back to his previous adventure with the Great Tiger Lordvoyg. Maybe this new tiger monster was related to Lordvoyg in some way or another. Zinc recalled that Lordvoyg had branded him and they shared some blood together, which now that he thought about it, made them somewhat like blood half-brothers.
So that’s why Lordvoyg said we were brothers last time. Zinc murmured inwardly as he read through the quest.
Apparently, earlier this year, a quest was issued to explore and discover the cause of the unusually cold weather near the Moon Village as well as the frozen lake located 60 kilometers northeast of the village. According to the reports, an adventurer barely escaped with his life and only managed to procure a strange stone that was cold to the touch.
After reading through the previous reports, Zinc began preparing for the trip. The doctor packed layers of clothing, warm food, as well as warm herbs – herbs that can provide heat upon consumption such as ginseng. Once preparations were completed, Zinc headed out. On this trip, he decided not to bring his pets for fear that they could not resist the poisonous cold.
And so, Zinc headed out towards Moon Village. Traveling by horse-drawn carriage, he arrived at the deserted village in nearly a week. As he neared the village, he could immediately feel the effects of the cold weather. To prevent frostbite, Zinc quickly dressed in more layers. In addition, he had also cut off a few bite-sized ginseng roots to munch on.
With his body warmed up enough to resist the cold weather, Zinc headed towards the frozen lake. The closer he got to the lake, the colder it became. Soon, no matter how many layers Zinc wore and no matter how many warm herbs and food Zinc consumed, he was unable to approach any closer. Judging the distance between the lake and him, the doctor estimated it to be around 50 meters.
Thinking that since he couldn’t approach the lake any closer, he had no way of completing the quest. Zinc prepared to head back when suddenly, a loud roar pierced the snowy skies.
“Who goes there?”
A huge, blue tiger leaped out from behind some debris and peered at the dwelf. Zinc gulped as his body ached from the immense pressure given off of the monstrosity. After a short pause, Zinc replied with effort. “My name is Zinc! I’m an adventurer tasked with finding out the cause of this cold weather as well as the reason for the lake’s current situation.”
“Hmph! Did you not know that anyone who comes close to the lake would suffer my, Dewloren’s, wrath?”
“I-I’ve heard about it.”
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“And you still dare to come? What guts!”
“Please sir, allow me to investigate the lake.” Zinc asked politely as he took a step towards the frozen lake.
However, the blue tiger suddenly roared with piercing ferocity. “How dare you!”
Under the immense pressure of the tiger’s bloodlust, Zinc couldn’t help but tried to lessen the pain with an aura of his own. Unleashing his own Tiger Aura, Zinc was able to lessen the weight on his shoulders.
Dewloren, surprised by the dwelf’s tiger-like resistance, increased his power threefold, forcing Zinc to his knees. Unable to sustain the force of the pressure, Zinc blacked out. However, in the midst of his unconscious state, a powerful aura rushed out and nearly pushed back Dewloren’s aura. This surprised the blue tiger…so much so that he retracted his aura and gaped at the young doctor.
Zinc only blacked out for a few seconds. As soon as he woke up from his coma, the first thing he saw was Dewloren peering down at him with interest.
“Boy. Where did you get that aura?” Dewloren barked as soon as he saw Zinc open his eyes.
“What aura? You mean Tiger Aura? I got it from some bandits.”
“No. I mean this aura.” Dewloren replied as he pointed at Zinc’s chest, where a scar had formed. This was the place where Lordvoyg stabbed Zinc with his claw. Could Dewloren be asking about that?
“I got it from Lordvoyg.” Zinc answered truthfully. “Do you know of him?”
“Do I know of him? Hahaha!” Dewloren roared with laughter. “Lad, Lordvoyg is a grandnephew of mine. You guys have become brothers. You can call me Uncle Dewloren.”
“T-This…fine. Uncle Dewloren…can you tell me why you are driving people away from this lake?”
“Since you can be considered family, I’ll tell you. I am originally an immortal beast. I was tasked by a dear friend to guard this lake.”
“Is there something worth protecting in that lake?” Zinc asked curiously.
“Not worth protecting…but, rather, worth preventing from escaping.”
“Oh? Don’t tell me….”
“That’s right. My friend sealed a powerful fire demon in the lake. I will tell you this. Hundreds of years ago, this place wasn’t a lake, but rather a gigantic volcano. During the fight between my friend and the demon, the volcano was flattened into a huge crater. The demon was sealed in the center of the crater. Over time, rain filled the crater and created the lake you see today.”
“If it’s a fire demon, why is it so cold here and not hot?”
“That’s due to my ice abilities. With my superior ice magic, I could suppress the fire demon. However, some ‘heroes’ mistook me for a demonic beast and attacked me without notice. Now, normally, I could easily defeat those heroes, but I spent most of my focus preventing the demon from escaping that I carelessly slipped up and suffered some irreparable damage. And because of that, I could feel the demon attempting to escape. In a last-ditch effort to save my life and to prevent the demon from escaping, I froze myself along with the seal.”
Oh, I see! So that’s what the giant boulder, the previous adventurer described, was. Zinc thought as he took a few minutes to understand everything that was going on. Wait, if Dewloren escaped from the frozen state, then won’t the seal be close to breaking as well?
When Zinc asked Dewloren this, he explained to me that this was the reason he was driving away everyone from the lake. It was to protect them. If the villagers didn’t leave and the demon broke free from the seal, they would be the first to suffer the demon’s wrath.
“I understand. I will report this back to the guild.” Zinc immediately prepared to head back after hearing Dewloren’s story.
“Ah, young lad, before you go. Have this.” Dewloren tapped Zinc’s forehead with his claw.
Immediately, a stream of information flowed into the doctor’s head, causing a splitting headache. When the pain subsided, Zinc found that he had learned a new skill – Icy Touch. Zinc thanked Dewloren and rushed back to the guild to report his findings. Given the urgency in Dewloren’s tone, there probably was less than a month’s time before the demon broke free.