Chapter 289: The Hardship of Climbing the Snow Mountain.

“Seidler, what's the Hunting Squad?” Shu Li quietly asked the mage beside him.

Before Seidler could answer, Moresy cut in. “Hey, you should be asking me that. I know more about them than he does.”

“Really?” Shu Li sounded skeptical.

Seidler drove an elbow into Moresy's side. “Stop keeping us in suspense.”

Moresy clutched his waist with a muffled groan.

“Hee-hee!” The others laughed at his misfortune.

Catching Seidler's warning look, Moresy cleared his throat and explained, “The Hunting Squad has existed for over a thousand years. It started as a band of vicious outlaws who committed every crime imaginable. Over time, they were joined by unscrupulous adventurers, mercenaries with no morals to speak of, and criminals from various countries. They have enormous numbers and considerable strength. Anyone traveling to the Kingdom of Snow is fair game to them.”

“Doesn't the Kingdom of Snow do anything about them?” Shu Li found that unbelievable. Wasn't that practically cutting off the kingdom's contact with the outside world?

“Even if the kingdom wanted to deal with them, it couldn't.” Moresy spread his hands. “The Hunting Squad is cunning. They only target outsiders and never rob citizens of the Kingdom of Snow.”

“How can they tell who's an outsider and who's from the Kingdom of Snow?” Kumandi asked.

“The people of the Kingdom of Snow have distinctive features,” Moresy explained. “Their skin is generally snow-white, most have purplish eyes, and they carry proof of citizenship wherever they go. They're easy to identify.”

Snow-white skin and purple eyes?

Shu Li and the others instinctively turned toward Nasha.

Nasha's mother was a princess of the Kingdom of Snow, which meant half her ancestry came from there.

Sure enough, just as Moresy had described, Nasha's complexion was a good two shades paler than everyone else's, and her eyes were a rare, mysterious violet.

Embarrassed by everyone's attention, Nasha pulled her fluffy scarf higher, hiding half her face.

Seidler and Moresy were both perceptive enough to recognize what made Nasha different. However, with so many strangers around, they tacitly agreed not to mention it.

Shu Li sighed. “So you're saying we're definitely going to have to fight the Hunting Squad on our way up the mountain?”

“Yes,” Moresy replied. “Scared?”

“Not a chance!” Dixio clenched his fists. “If they come after us, I'll kill them!”

“Exactly! All bad guys deserve to die!” Budno declared earnestly.

“The Hunting Squad has a Saint Mage-level necromancer backing them. That's why they can act with such impunity,” Moresy said. “Our goal is to reach the mountain, not fight them to the death. Staying alive comes first. As long as we escape their hunting grounds, we've succeeded.”

Seidler pointed toward a middle-aged man in a brown fur coat standing not far away and lowered his voice.

“That's Nasak. He commands an adventuring party of a hundred people, making them the Hunting Squad's biggest target.”

“Should we stay away from them, then?” Angel asked.

“No. We'll follow behind them.” A sly smile curved Moresy's lips.

“Why?” Hector looked confused. “If the Hunting Squad is certain to target them, wouldn't following them put us in even greater danger?”

“It's easier to dodge an attack you can see than one you can't.” Shu Li's eyes lit up. “Moresy means we should let the hundred-man party go ahead and draw the enemy's attention. We'll follow behind, take advantage of the confusion, and escape when we get the chance.”

“Clever.” Moresy reached out and patted Shu Li's head through his fluffy hat.

Ace stared at the hand resting on Shu Li's head.

“The other small parties are thinking the same thing,” he remarked evenly.

An inexplicable chill ran through Moresy, and he awkwardly withdrew his hand.

Strange. He was wearing such a thick fur coat. Why did he suddenly feel cold?

“With so many smaller parties scattered around, the targets will be spread out,” Seidler explained. “That makes us less conspicuous and gives us a better chance of escaping.”

Moresy coughed twice. “Now, the most important question is, how's your stamina?”

“Stamina?” Amanda thumped his chest. “No problem!”

No race in the world could match dragons when it came to physical endurance.

Not even beastmen could compete with them.

“I'm not particularly worried about you boys.” Moresy turned his attention to the two girls.

Female mages were notoriously lacking in stamina. Many struggled to keep up with their parties even on level ground, let alone while climbing a snow-covered mountain.

“Don't underestimate us,” Cyndi retorted, meeting the Dark Elf's gaze defiantly.

“You'll find out soon enough how good our stamina is,” Nasha said, fixing him with a sharp look.

After two years of intensive training under Ilio, it would have been difficult for them not to develop excellent endurance.

Seidler jabbed Moresy in the waist with his elbow again.

“Time to go,” he said coldly.

The adventurers descending the mountain had finally cleared the gate. Now it was their turn to ascend, and those at the front of the crowd began scrambling toward the Ice and Snow Gate.

The Light Squad stayed close together, following unhurriedly behind the hundred-man party.

Just as Ace had predicted, numerous smaller groups had the same idea. They followed Nasak's party, openly and covertly competing for the best positions.

“Safety first!” Shu Li reminded everyone. “Don't fight them for a place. It's better to move a little slower than get separated and end up alone.”

Seidler and Moresy kept offering earnest advice because they didn't know the Light Squad's true strength. Shu Li, however, knew exactly what his companions were capable of.

If they really encountered the Hunting Squad, they wouldn't be afraid to fight.

After all, Seriu, a Magic Swordsman, was hardly there for decoration.

Seidler regarded Shu Li with growing approval.

The more time he spent with them, the clearer it became that the heart of the Light Squad was this young man named Sperien.

Despite his youth, he was steady and sensible, making him an ideal captain. Even Seriu, who usually preferred to act alone, had willingly joined his adventuring party and followed his arrangements.

That alone spoke volumes about Sperien's abilities.

The climb was grueling from the very beginning.

The icy steps were treacherously slippery, and every step upward felt like a battle against nature itself.

Nearly a thousand people had entered the mountains, but their progress was painfully slow. Adventurers frequently lost their footing and slipped, knocking into those behind them and causing considerable disruption.

The Light Squad formed a single-file line, each person holding on to the next. They kept to the edge of the path, doing their best to avoid colliding with anyone.

Most of the hundred adventurers in Nasak's party were powerfully built men. Years of adventuring and living on the edge of danger had forged their bodies into formidable physical condition.

The snow-covered mountain could do little to slow them down.

They moved quickly, and within half an hour, they had put considerable distance between themselves and the main crowd.

Many smaller parties were left far behind. Only four or five groups of roughly ten people managed to keep up.

The Light Squad was one of them.

At that moment, the benefits of Ilio making them run laps around the academy every single day became increasingly apparent.

A strong body really was the first requirement for adventuring.

Seeing Cyndi and Nasha handling the climb with ease, Moresy gave them an appreciative thumbs-up.

Cyndi proudly lifted her chin, straightened her back, and continued forward with firm, determined strides.

Nasha said nothing. She stayed close to the group, keeping a vigilant watch on their surroundings.

The higher they climbed, the colder it became and the worse the weather grew.

Eventually, the steps disappeared altogether, replaced by snow half a meter deep.

Every step required them to wrench their legs free of the snow, consuming an enormous amount of energy.

Shu Li could hardly imagine how the people of the Kingdom of Snow survived in such an unforgiving climate.

Why had they established their kingdom on a plateau four or five thousand meters above sea level in the first place?

If the Snow Mountain Labyrinth hadn't attracted outsiders, the kingdom would have been completely isolated from the rest of the world long ago.

After another hour and a half, the thousand or so adventurers had scattered into dozens of separate groups.

Nasak's hundred-man party was far ahead, with only the Light Squad and one mercenary company managing to stay close behind.

The mercenary company consisted of fifteen people. Three were obviously pampered nobles, while eleven were mercenaries.

The mercenaries were in superb physical condition, highly capable, and remarkably mobile. Even with three utterly useless nobles in tow, their pace hadn't suffered in the slightest.

When they noticed the Light Squad, puzzled expressions crossed their faces.

“First time climbing the Snow Mountain?” a burly mercenary asked with a friendly smile, clearly trying to strike up a conversation.

Shu Li said nothing.

He wasn't sure what the man wanted, so he cautiously maintained his distance.

Moresy stepped past him and answered with apparent ease.

“Hardly my first time. I've traveled this route at least three times. I know it like the back of my hand. There's a stretch of woodland ahead where we can stop for a rest. Your employers look like they're about to succumb to the cold. Once we get there, you should build a fire and make some hot soup to warm them up.”

His words were intended for the mercenaries as much as for Shu Li and his companions.

The Light Squad had magical equipment to protect them from the cold, but ordinary people were approaching their limits after nearly two hours of trudging through the snow.

It was time to stop and recover.

The mercenary narrowed his eyes slightly before smiling.

“Thanks for the advice.”

“Don't mention it,” Moresy replied, looking perfectly at ease.

The mercenary quickened his pace and moved to the front of his group. After whispering a few words to the mercenary captain, he received a nod in response.

The captain raised his hand and made several subtle gestures.

The other mercenaries immediately picked up their pace.

Once they were about ten meters ahead, Shu Li turned to Moresy.

“Was that mercenary deliberately trying to find out how strong we are?”

Moresy raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

“What are they planning?” Seriu asked.

Although the mercenary had been all smiles, Seriu had clearly sensed a trace of malice from him.

Moresy gave a derisive laugh.

“They're thinking of playing bandit on the side.”

Hector stared in disbelief. “Do we really look that easy to bully?”

Shu Li clicked his tongue. “Are mercenaries really that shameless? They're carrying out a job, and they're still willing to rob people?”

Moresy raised one finger and wagged it.

“No, no, no. They consider it a little extra income.”

Shu Li was so exasperated he almost laughed.

Dixio ground his teeth. “I really want to teach them a lesson.”

Angel's eyes darted mischievously. “Let's wait until after dark.”

Kumandi frowned. “Don't go looking for unnecessary trouble.”

Although the mercenaries clearly had designs on them, they hadn't actually done anything yet.

“If they cross the line, there's no reason for us to hold back,” Ace said.

“Exactly,” Shu Li agreed.

Now that they knew the mercenaries were up to no good, they needed to take precautions before anything happened.

Angel pointed at the back of Shu Li's hand and whispered, “We won't provoke them first, but we could always have Falm give them a little scare.”

After all, if someone got attacked by a magical beast in the middle of the night, who could they blame?

Shu Li looked at the smile on Angel's face and thought to himself, What a scheming little devil. He's always full of tricks.

Falm, fast asleep inside the Fire God's Mark, had no idea that an important mission had just been assigned to it.

After another forty minutes of walking, they finally reached the woodland Moresy had mentioned.

The hundred-man party stopped to rest, and the mercenary company and Light Squad followed suit.

The adventurers trampled the snow flat, then piled it into a circular wall about a meter high. They gathered dry branches, lit a campfire, set an iron pot over the flames, and simply scooped up handfuls of snow to boil.

The mercenary company and the Light Squad established their own camps nearby, several meters apart, without interfering with each other.

Under Shu Li's influence, the Light Squad paid particular attention to hygiene.

They certainly weren't going to follow the hundred-man party's example and boil snow directly for drinking water.

Water elements were abundant in the snowy mountains. A simple low-level water spell was enough to conjure perfectly clean water.

When the three nobles saw this, they immediately became dissatisfied and demanded that the mercenaries throw out the melted snow and replace it with magically conjured water.

The mercenary company did have a Senior water mage, but he was arrogant and refused to cast the spell unless they paid him extra.

The nobles were furious, but there was nothing they could do. They still depended on the mercenaries to get them up the mountain, so they had no choice but to pay.

After filling the iron pot with clean water, the water mage shot Shu Li a fierce glare, as though he'd committed some unforgivable crime.

Shu Li was utterly baffled.

Was it really a crime to care about hygiene and drink clean water?

Over at the hundred-man party's camp, Nasak gnawed on a piece of tough, dried beef and drank soup made from melted snow.

“Young people sure are particular,” he mumbled around a mouthful of meat.

His deputy captain, Joseph, replied, “Beginners are always like that. Once they've suffered enough, they'll even drink their own piss.”

“Don't mention piss. Just thinking about it makes me sick,” a burly, heavily bearded man complained. “Three months ago, I got stranded in the Ergoja Desert and had to drink my own piss for three days straight. The stench nearly killed me!”

“Hahaha! You were lucky you still had piss to drink! The real trouble starts when the sun dries you out so badly you can't even piss anymore!”

“Will you shut up about piss? I'm trying to eat meat and drink soup here!”

“You uncouth bastards! Have any of you considered how I feel? Shut your mouths!”

“Oh, sorry, boss lady! Hahahaha!”

Over at the Light Squad's camp, Shu Li and the others desperately wanted to cover their ears.

Listening to the hundred-man party's crude conversation was enough to ruin anyone's appetite.

“Those old-timers are deliberately trying to disgust you,” Moresy said.

He handed Seidler some reheated roast meat, then turned to the others.

“Hurry up and eat. You'll need your strength for the rest of the climb.”

Amanda asked innocently, “Why would they want to disgust us?”

Moresy took out another piece of frozen meat and held it near the fire to warm it.

Then he gave Amanda a wicked smile.

“So they can loot your corpses.”

“W-What?”

Everyone stared at him in shock.

Seidler mercilessly drove his elbow into Moresy's waist.

“Ow!”

Moresy yelped and hurriedly dodged to the side.

Dixio made a face at him.

Served him right!

Seidler lowered his voice until only their group could hear.

“Adventuring parties generally won't attack you outright, but they may deliberately create obstacles or put you in danger. Then, if you meet with an accident, they'll come along, strip the clothes and equipment from your corpse, and make themselves a fortune.”

“Ugh!”

Goosebumps rose all over Shu Li's skin, and he instinctively leaned toward Ace.

Ace slipped an arm behind his back, holding it there in a loose, almost protective embrace.

“Climbing a snow-covered mountain is so hard,” Hector sighed. “There are traps everywhere.”

Halis silently sipped his hot oatmeal, privately grateful that they had encountered two such experienced adventurers as Moresy and Seidler.

Although he had plenty of adventuring experience himself, compared with those two, he still had a great deal to learn.