< Chapter 25 - An Unexpected Encounter >
Chapter 25 – An Unexpected Encounter
Gale and Adelia were planning to head straight to the village of the Gounnunwind tribe, but things didn’t go as planned.
It was because of the terrain of the wild land that could be compared to the vast ocean.
“Even with a map, outsiders are likely to get lost. Just wait a moment. I will send a messenger to the Gounnunbaram tribe. Go with them.”
“I’m going to sleep now,” said Rough Snow Avalanche, patting his swollen belly as he buried himself in a leather chair that looked comfortable just by looking at it.
Sitting next to him was Red Gale, the chieftain of the Great Storm Tribe.
“Uder and Cordelia. Our benefactors and friends. You, their brothers and sisters, are also our friends. So we will help you. But wait.”
When Red Gale awkwardly spoke in the common language, Adelia frowned and looked back at Gale, and Gale smiled helplessly as if he had no other choice but to comfort Adelia.
“Red Whirlwind, can you tell me when the lion will depart?”
“It’s tomorrow morning.”
“Okay, then I’ll wait until tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
Gale, who responded to the red whirlwind with a smile, went outside with Adelia, who still had a slightly dissatisfied expression on her face.
“Prince Gale, are you okay?”
“I’m also very worried… but this is a savage land. It’s a place I know very little about, so it would be better to get their help. We might even get there faster that way.”
“Ugh… It would be nice if we could leave this afternoon.”
“They are already willing to do us a favor. At this point, I think it would be best for us to take a step back.”
Adelia nodded reluctantly as Gail spoke softly again.
It was really strange. If my adjutant Oron or my fellow captain Katan had told me this, I would have reacted negatively.
But when Gail spoke, I just wanted to follow her.
“Okay, since we’re already at this point, let’s go to the dorms and rest. You must have had a hard time because of the forced march. I’ll make you some tea that’s good for recovering from your fatigue.”
“Yes, Prince Gale.”
Adelia, who answered with a big smile without realizing it, was embarrassed once again, and Gail, who saw Adelia’s bright smile for the first time, was also embarrassed.
‘Why am I like this?’
‘pretty.’
And then.
The rough avalanche clicked its tongue as it looked at Gail and Adelia through the door, frozen in their own confusion.
“It’s the same. It’s the same.”
Once again, the rough snowball that clicked its tongue reminded it of the ecstatic couple.
As expected, brothers look alike.
&
A place where white snow fields stretch out endlessly.
Cordelia was sending a gaze that resembled a wild avalanche to Yuder rather than Adelia.
“Sometimes I don’t know if someone is smart or stupid when I look at them.”
“Sob sob.”
Uther and Cordelia were walking on the snowy field where their feet sunk in quickly.
Rather than moving forward, it was a move to find a place to rest for the day.
“It’s a real kid, kid.”
The reason for the criticism was simple.
Because Uther was so excited as he carried Cordelia and unleashed the Black Wind.
Because I was so focused on running, I ended up deviating a lot from the route I had initially set, but the problem was that I didn’t know exactly how much I had deviated.
Even though I had a compass and a map, I couldn’t easily find my way back because the map wasn’t to an accurate scale to begin with.
The only good thing was that the constellations would appear at night, and that he had learned from the Gounnunbaram tribe how to find the Blade Beak Canyon using the constellations.
‘If you keep going in the direction of the big axe, you will eventually find it.’
It was a teaching from the beautiful eyes.
“But Yuder.”
“Enough with the blaming.”
“No, I just suddenly became curious.”
“what?”
When Uther turned around and asked, Cordelia naturally stretched out both arms forward.
Yuder, who knew what that posture meant, narrowed his eyes at first.
“Hey, I was wondering something.”
“My legs hurt too.”
“Our princess, haven’t you been walking on your own feet too little lately?”
“There’s a dad who’s gotten stronger because his level has gone up.”
“Our princess needs to become independent too. She can’t stay in her father’s arms forever, right?”
“Cordelia will become a kangaroo.”
“···I feel miserable even though he’s not my real father. I miss my father-in-law.”
“Anyway, I’m going to tell you what to do. Did I do well or bad to get lost?”
“I was wrong.”
“Then quickly.”
Eventually, Uther handed the backpack over to Cordelia, and Cordelia put the backpack on her shoulder and jumped onto Uther’s back.
“So what are you curious about?”
When Uther asked while carrying Cordelia, Cordelia grabbed Uther’s shoulder and said.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to carry if you put a handle on it?”
“Hey, you don’t have any questions?”
“No, there is. First of all, I’m talking about the Nine Heavens Gate. You said you saw a fairy, right?”
“I saw it.”
The woman I saw in the fantasy world.
Yuder was able to learn two techniques from her: Black Dragon’s Eruption and Black Wind’s Arrival.
“Will the fairy come out and teach me new techniques every time I open the door in the future?”
“maybe?”
“Okay, okay. I’m starting to get into tech mode. I like it.”
Unlike Cordelia, who had a tech tree that allowed her to learn new spells as she leveled up, Uder’s growth path had been somewhat ambiguous up until now.
“I feel like it’s a little clearer now.”
Each time you level up in the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates, you can learn a new martial art.
Existing martial arts skills are also strengthened.
“But, Yuder. Didn’t Landius tell you something like this?”
“I think the teacher… may not have seen it.”
“The fairy?”
“uh.”
“Why? Because the fairy hates macho men?”
“You don’t mean that seriously, do you?”
“No. Is it because of the Heavenly Delay?”
“maybe.”
The Nine Heavenly Gate was a divine skill that only the Heavenly Martial Arts could fully master.
Because of this, even though Landius awakened the power of a titan through his return to his ancestors, he was unable to fully master the Nine Heavens Gate.
‘I guess I was able to reach the Seven Gates since I was able to awaken the power of the giant.’
This time, I was able to find out when I opened the door.
Even the Heavenly and Earthly Body of Yuder needed to have his body stronger than before in order to open a new door.
The requirement increases as you go up the levels of the gates, and those who are not of the Heavenly Martial Arts type need a much stronger body to learn the Nine Heavenly Gates.
‘When I think about it, it’s really amazing.’
That means he opened the Chilmun Gate by force.
This result was possible because it was supported by truly tremendous physical ability.
‘There was a reason for complaining about muscle loss.’
Without those massive muscles, he wouldn’t have been able to survive the nine-year-old’s ordeal.
“Hehehe, but our Yuder has the ability to move the heavens. Okay, okay. I like it.”
Cordelia smiled pleasantly and continued speaking while ruffling Uther’s hair.
“But Yuder.”
“uh.”
“Actually, you learned the Nine Heavenly Gate by chance, right? And you met Master Landius too.”
“huh.”
“Then how did you originally plan on becoming stronger?”
In the original, Yuder learned the martial arts of the Bayer Counts and grew into an orthodox swordsman.
However, since the current Yuder left home much earlier than in the original, he was only able to learn some of the martial arts of the Bayer Counts.
“Originally.”
“Yeah, yeah, originally?”
“I was planning to suck up the martial arts of Count Hresvelg and then learn the martial arts of the Red Gale in the Wild Lands.”
In any case, it was Yuder who was the omnipotent being.
If you make up your mind and stick with it, it is not impossible to steal and learn martial arts.
Moreover, wasn’t Lucas the one who was very friendly to Yuder?
“I wanted to learn from the Red Wind in return for saving me.”
“You’re an omnivore.”
“I was planning on learning the Emperor’s Sword Technique after the middle part anyway.”
The ancient sword that Maximilian, the pearl artificial in Hero Chronicles 2, inherits.
But now I think differently.
“In the last expansion pack, Uder would have learned the Nine Heavenly Gates anyway. But since he was introduced to the Nine Heavenly Gates much earlier, there’s no need to look away. And besides, there’s Landius and Kamael, right?”
“Extremes and extremes.”
“A yin-yang body that can contain both.”
At this point, the situation was already overflowing with martial arts skills.
If there weren’t any major incidents that required his intervention, such as rescuing Lena and stopping the Angry Horn Tribe, Uder would have just followed Landius and Kamael around and trained.
“Anyway, I plan to first develop the Nine Heavenly Gates as a base and then develop one of my sub-jobs.”
“Multi-class?”
“Oh, I’m trying to develop my scroll-making skills a bit more.”
Even though Yuder was already using the scroll diligently, most of his magic was limited to basic magic.
This is because in order to put high-level magic into a scroll, appropriate magical ability was required.
“Hmm, good. You’ve thought long and hard about how to become stronger. I’m so glad that our Yuder is growing up well.”
Cordelia stroked Uther’s head, and Uther obediently accepted her touch.
Because I felt strangely good.
Anyway, how long has it been since we continued to chatter and move forward like we always did?
Arriving at the top of a small hill, Uther and Cordelia looked at the same place without a word.
“Eww!”
A man dressed in white was running like crazy across a white snowy field.
Since there were no people there anyway, instead of saying anything to save someone, they just screamed.
And right behind that guy.
A giant monster that runs across the snowfield, shaking the axis of the earth.
“Wow, is that a white giant bear? That’s what it looked like before it was corrupted.”
“It’s bigger than I thought?”
Its body length alone appeared to be at least 6 meters.
“I have to save you, right?”
“Because you can’t refuse a quest.”
Cordelia jumped down from behind Uther, and Uther straightened his back and lightly unclenched his hands and feet.
“You’re good at running away.”
“I know.”
Despite his short limbs, the running man was quite – no, really fast on his feet.
That’s why Uther and Cordelia didn’t rush in right away.
“But doesn’t it look familiar?”
“They have short limbs, but they are incredibly fast.”
“Dwarf.”
“Bald with a black beard.”
“Oh, my hat flew away.”
The running man’s hat fell off, and Uther and Cordelia could see his bald head glistening in the sunlight.
“Doesn’t it look like him?”
“Indiana Kaplan.”
“Adventurer and archaeologist from the Argon Empire.”
“A man strong against bad luck. A troublemaker. A man who brings misfortune.”
He was a great man who explored numerous ruins and achieved brilliant results, but as his nickname suggests, he was a man who always caused trouble.
That’s why it was one of the NPCs that beginners in Hero Chronicles 2 had to avoid when meeting.
But not to the rotten waters of Uther and Cordelia.
Rather, he was a very welcome person.
“You were here at this point.”
“Uh… Then wouldn’t they survive even if we don’t rescue them here?”
“I don’t know about that. Anyway, let’s save him. He’s really going to get caught if he keeps doing that.”
Cordelia unpacked her backpack, and Uther kicked off the ground. He shouted at Cordelia, who was following him with haste.
“I’ll show you something cool!”
“What the hell!”
However, it was Yuder who confirmed that Cordelia’s eyes were sparkling with anticipation. Furthermore, Yuder still had new technology that he had not yet shown Cordelia.
“Take Kaplan!”
“okay!”
Uther and Cordelia rushed forward.
As they advanced through the snowy field in the strong wind, Kaplan and the White Giant Bear, who had been in breathless pursuit, also turned to look at them.
“after.”
Uder exhaled. At that moment, he kicked the ground and activated the Black Wind, and the afterimage of the black wind dazzled the White Giant Bear’s eyes.
“Koooo!”
The giant bear, which had been running on all fours to chase Kaplan, suddenly stood up and roared. However, even though it widened its field of vision, it could not see Uther.
What happened?
The giant bear looked around quickly.
At that very moment, Cordelia, who had grabbed Kaplan’s arm, looked up at the sky with a gasp.
“all?”
A black wind soaring into the sky.
From there, more than a dozen meters away, Yuder landed on the ground, extending his length towards the head of the White Giant Bear.
What is released because of it.
The dragon’s roar shakes the atmosphere!
Kwagagagagaga-!
The black dragon’s aura emanated. It opened its mouth wide as if it were a real dragon and charged, swallowing the white giant bear’s head.
bang!
With a loud noise, the White Giant Bear collapsed. However, the Black Dragon’s energy did not stop. It did not stop at just destroying the creature, but shook the ground. The intense energy wave scattered the snow within a dozen meters, exposing the ground.
“wow.”
At that moment, Cordelia was amazed by the earth-shattering power and Kaplan opened his mouth in surprise.
Uther landed on the chest of the unconscious White Giant Bear.
Since it was my first time using this technique, I used up more than half of my energy because I over-distributed my strength, but I was still satisfied with this level.
“how is it?”
Cordelia responded to Uther’s question with a seal clap.
But the time the two of them enjoyed was too short, because even though the Black Dragon’s Rising had already ended, the ground suddenly began to shake.
“Yuderya?”
“Kaplan.”
Uther spoke and Cordelia’s eyes widened.
Troublemaker Kaplan.
A man of bad luck who can make lightning strike even in a clear sky.
“Fuck.”
At that moment, Cordelia’s one last curse ended.
The ground collapsed.
The fall began.
&
“Cordelia!”
“Leave it to Kaplan!”
I didn’t notice it because of the snow, but it seemed like the spot I was standing in was a gap in a valley, and there was a thousand-foot cliff right under my feet.
Cordelia quickly grabbed Kaplan and used flying magic to slow his descent, while Uther kicked away the debris to create wind.
“Uder!”
“don’t worry!”
Golden whirlwinds swirled around Yuder, who created a whirlwind to slow his descent and prevented himself from falling vertically by kicking the wall several times.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
Although the Jilpung Twenty-Four Steps are said to be a technique that combines lightness and flight, it is not a flying technique that can fly through the sky.
Uther concentrated and concentrated.
As the wind blew, I read the wind blowing between the cliffs.
I pictured the trajectory of my fall in my head as I rode the wind.
Kicked the ground.
I adjusted my course and looked around me. I didn’t just look with my eyes, I felt everything with all my senses.
It was getting darker and darker.
And then a sound was heard.
First the sound of falling debris.
It wasn’t a splashing or dripping sound.
It wasn’t a loud bang or a crashing sound either.
Sigh.
Below is a snow field.
That too has considerable depth.
But it was clear that it wasn’t completely fluffy. The ground beneath the accumulated snow was frozen.
“Uder!”
Cordelia’s voice was heard once again.
She was able to use flying magic and was falling at a much more stable speed than Yuder, but Kaplan was the problem.
Even though Cordelia had enhanced her physical abilities past level 40, it was painful to hold onto him, who weighed as much as three adult men, as if her arms were going to fall off.
But she was more worried about Yuder than about her own arms or fingers.
“Uder!”
Cordelia was looking up from a lower place than Uther, so she was able to see Uther’s location with her own eyes.
But it wasn’t Yuder. He was struggling to catch the wind while falling without thinking, so it was too difficult to check his feet properly.
“Cordelia!”
Uther shouted again, clearly remembering the direction from which Cordelia’s voice had come, and blew the wind one last time.
Tsuhwaa-!
A harsh wind tore through the valley.
Uther finally settled on the ground, and could see a small light twinkling in the distance.
“Yuder! Are you okay?!”
It was Cordelia. Kaplan was sprawled out next to her, his face pale, as he lit a small magic flame. He seemed to have fainted.
“you?”
“I’m fine.”
Cordelia let out a sigh of relief and slumped down in her seat.
After approaching Cordelia, Uder looked around.
As expected, it was in the middle of a valley, but because we had gone down so deep, the surroundings were pitch dark and the cold was unusual.
I felt cold even though I was under the protection of winter.
“What about Kaplan?”
“I think I fainted.”
Uder looked up at the sky again. The cliff was at least a hundred meters high.
“It was just the right gap.”
“Kaplan indeed.”
Of course, it was the Black Dragon that ultimately destroyed the ground, but both Yuder and Cordelia thought that Kaplan was the culprit behind this situation.
This is because in Heroes Chronicles 2, situations like this often occurred when Kaplan was involved.
“What do we do now?”
“Going up… would it be difficult to go up?”
“maybe.”
If Cordelia were alone, she could probably do it with her flying magic, but taking Uther and Kaplan along would be impossible.
“There’s no wooden board.”
“Even if it existed, wouldn’t it be too much?”
“Hmm… I guess so.”
Kaplan was too heavy.
It was a wooden board that rose steadily even while carrying both Uther and Cordelia.
“Rock climbing… Kaplan won’t be able to do this either.”
“No, I’m a bit tall like this too.”
Climbing up a hundred-meter-high canyon without any rope or safety equipment was something even the most inexperienced of hikers would want to avoid.
“Then is there no choice but to get out of this valley?”
“Maybe. And… maybe it’s for the better.”
Cordelia tilted her head at Uther’s words, but soon smiled and said.
“Because it’s Kaplan?”
“Because it’s Kaplan.”
Kaplan wasn’t just unlucky.
He was a man with a strong sense of bad luck.
A man who always causes accidents but benefits from them.
‘I fell off a cliff and met fate! It’s the same thing.’
And at this very moment, aren’t we a group that really fell off a cliff?
“Even if it’s a wild land, a canyon like this isn’t common. The direction is also roughly right… so there’s a high chance that it’s connected to the Blade Beak Canyon.”
Moreover, in the Blade Beak Canyon, there were ruins of the Magic Kingdom established by ancient elves.
“Why would Kaplan, who operates in the Argon Empire, be here?”
“Is it because of the ruins of the Demon Kingdom?”
The story was more or less correct.
And when it comes to exploring ruins, Kaplan is one of the best in Hero Chronicles 2.
He always seemed to be on the run from someone, overcoming traps, or being an adventurous person, but his real job was an archaeologist.
“It’s amazing. There really is such a thing as bad luck.”
The ground collapsed and I fell into a ravine hidden beneath the snow.
As Cordelia blinked again and looked down at Kaplan, Uther shrugged as well.
“Well… magic exists too.”
There might be one magical person like this.
“Ugh… By the way, I lost my luggage again.”
Cordelia said with a tearful face.
I had packed new things as I left the village of the Gounnunbaram tribe, but I ended up losing them once again.
“But I guess it’ll work out somehow since I have Kaplan luggage.”
Uder, speaking comfortingly, looked around again before waking Kaplan up.
But it was Kaplan, so I had a hopeful mind.
“Wow, it’s true.”
“what?”
“No, I have a place where we can take a break.”
I saw a small cave over there, which seemed like a good place to take a short break.
“That’s amazing.”
“Anyway, let’s go for now.”
Uther and Cordelia each grabbed Kaplan’s leg and arm, groaned as they made their way to the cave, and were amazed once again.
“Wow, really.”
“Is this okay?”
When I looked closely, I saw that it was not a natural cave, but an artificial cave.
Although it was worn down considerably over the years, it was possible to see text written in ancient Elvish.
“I guess it’s really near the Blade Beak Canyon.”
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be much of an explanation for the random ancient Elvish inscriptions in a canyon like this.
Cordelia looked at Kaplan’s stunned face as if it were truly amazing, while Uther frowned and tried to decipher the ancient Elvish language.
It was not because they did not know the ancient Elvish script, but because it was so worn that the letters were difficult to read.
Just a few seconds like that.
This time, Yuder let out a blank voice.
“oh my god.”
“Why? Is it like a treasure trove?”
“No, that’s too random. No, is this even more random?”
“What the heck is that?”
“spa.”
“huh?”
“spa.”
Cordelia blinked as Uther spoke again. Then she quickly let go of Kaplan’s hands that she was holding onto and shouted.
“spa?!”
“Oh, hot springs. But Kaplan fell off his head.”
But thankfully, Kaplan wasn’t hurt or anything thanks to the accumulated snow.
Cordelia awkwardly picked up Kaplan’s arms again and asked Uther.
“Really? Is this a real hot spring? Does it say it’s a hot spring?”
“Oh, I think there must be some kind of underground water vein.”
“Is it still there? It should be there. It must be there, right?!”
“I don’t know. And even if there’s no diarrhea, isn’t the bathtub the most important thing?”
“That’s right. If it’s a hot spring, there should be a place where you can fill it with water.”
“Just fill it with water and boil it.”
“Wow, a hot spring. A bath. It’s been so long since I’ve had a bath!”
Cordelia had not had a proper bath since she came to the wild land.
On the other hand, I had sweated a lot, so right now, the hot spring was more welcome than the treasure vault.
“You’re really lucky, lucky.”
Cordelia, who was laughing, looked at Kaplan as if she found him very loving. It seemed like she would kiss Kaplan on the head if he was left alone.
That’s why Yuder quickly opened his mouth.
“Anyway, let’s go in quickly.”
“huh!”
Cordelia answered brightly and hummed as she entered the cave, and the two soon expressed their admiration once again.
“It’s true.”
“It’s a real bathhouse.”
Although there were some places that were worn or broken due to the passage of time, the inside of the cave, which was much wider than expected, was the bathhouse itself.
Large stone bathtubs with pillars placed between them.
What was even more surprising was that the hot spring water was still gushing out.
“Sob sob. Hehe sob.”
“Nose, Cordelia?”
“I love it. I’m so happy.”
Cordelia, who was moved to tears, put Kaplan down on the flat floor and turned to Uther.
“I’ll wash first.”
“Uh… okay.”
Because bathing is important.
Uther searched the surroundings for anything to burn and built a fire, while Cordelia took her seat in front of the stone tub deep in the bathhouse.
“Thank you. Anyway, thank you.”
Cordelia, who had finished praying to someone unknown, first checked the water quality and temperature.
I’m not sure, but it seemed fairly clear and the water temperature was just right.
No, to this extent, it was believable even if someone said that they were managing it.
“Kaplan is the best. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Cordelia, who had even put her hands together in prayer, immediately began to take off her clothes.
At the sound of clothes being taken off, Uder, who was sitting over there, flinched, but Cordelia was only thinking about bathing. She didn’t hear the sound of the Buddhist scriptures that Uder suddenly started to recite.
“thank you.”
Thanks again, and welcome.
“ah······.”
I only dipped my toes, but it felt like a shiver ran down my spine.
Cordelia slowly put her legs into the water, and soon her entire body was submerged in the bath.
The depth was just right, so I crouched down so that only my neck and head were out of the water.
“Haaah······.”
How long has it been since I took a bath?
A proper bath, not just wiping with a wet towel or just enduring the sweat.
Cordelia’s face, bathed in hot steam, was covered with happiness, and her lips naturally parted. She whispered a song from her heart.
“Twinkle twinkle little star~ You shine so beautifully~”
Laughter kept flowing out. It felt like my whole body was melting.
And at that very moment.
“Wow, look at her. She’s so pretty.”
“It’s really pretty.”
“What the heck, who came to our bathhouse? Wow! So pretty! Respect!”
A story pattern we’ve heard many times.
Now that I think about it, the current situation itself feels familiar.
baths.
sing.
A girl so beautiful.
“Hey, won’t you play with us?”
“That’s right, that’s right. Come play with us.”
“This kid might be able to join the nightlife.”
At the sound of the babbling, Cordelia opened her eyes and could see.
Small, cute fairies with animal ears like dogs or cats on their heads and even tails on their butts.
They were wild fairies, one of the eight great fairies.
&
< Chapter 25 - An Unexpected Encounter > End
