Chapter 419 - 415 ~ Crystal of Ice

in the horizon, run. Quickly. And fast. That’s the best piece of advice I can give you as thanks for listening to my story."

After what seemed like forever, the pop up message to accept the Dragon of the Western Mountain quest appeared before Yuuji.

"..."

He didn’t have the energy to even complain about this. He simply pressed the "Yes" button and accepted the quest before waking up Asuna and Lisbeth.

"Hm...? Ah, did I nod off...?"

"Nnnnghh... What...? Is it over...?"

The two rubbed their eyes, their body swaying left to right groggily.

"Mm. I’ve received the quest for us. We’ll be heading to the west mountain next to where the white wyrm is. But before that..."

Yuuji turned back towards the elder and asked.

"Is there anywhere we can stay for a bit? Just to have a meal?"

"Of course. There are plenty of empty houses here. Most have gone to the big city. Feel free to stay there however long you need."

"Thank you."

Yuuji held Asuna’s hands as they stood up, while Lisbeth balanced herself to her feet. Then, they made their way out of the elder’s home and entered an empty house.

"Let’s have some lunch first and freshen up. Then, we’ll go for the quest."

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Dressed in heavy, thick, white coats and winter wear from top to bottom, the three traced the edges of the path up towards the peak of the tallest mountain.

They climbed up in the shadows of tall cliffs and massive, unnatural ice crystals that stuck out. Looking out for signs of the white wyrm.

They didn’t intend on confronting it right now, especially with Lisbeth here with them.

He and Asuna had killed it before, and it didn’t drop any useful equipment or items. And while it was simply a damage sponge with the ability to fly, its ice breath which can inflict slow and frostbite was a pain to deal with, especially if they had to protect Lisbeth.

The quest he received from the elder also didn’t specify to kill it or otherwise. That means, there’s a chance that killing it wasn’t a requirement for them to obtain the crystal.

There was no reason for them to take unnecessary risks for nothing.

So, they chose to avoid it.

The occasional draconic roars echoing in the distance made them stop and turn for a moment. But otherwise, the trek up the tallest ice mountain on the norther corner of the 55th floor’s western regions went surprisingly smoothly.

The wyrm seemed to not be near them and was currently hunting around the more "habitable" parts of the icy mountain range.

"Hey... By the way. I forgot to ask this, but why are we hiking up to the peak?!"

Lisbeth bent down and held her knees, her chest falling and rising rapidly as her cheeks flushed from the cold and exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the two seemed perfectly fine as they bundled up in their warm coats.

"We’re going to the wyrm’s lair."

"Eh? Its’ lair? Why?"

"Well, it’s just a guess, but since there’s no mention that we need to kill it for it to drop the crystal, then it could be that the crystals are in its lair."

Something seemed to click in Lisbeth’s mind, and her expression brightened immediately.

"I see! Then let’s go! Gotta get those crystals quickly!"

Her blacksmith’s heart burned brightly, giving her a second flame to trudge through the chilling wind and exhaustion of hiking up this icy mountain.

Soon, they finally arrived at the top of the ice mountain, surrounded by ice crystals that filled everything except for the path they came from.

Before them, surrounded by towering crystals of ice that jutted out the rocks of the mountain, was a massive hole that went deep into the center of the mountain.

"This must be its lair."

Asuna and Lisbeth both nodded at his words.

The hole they were seeing was massive, massive enough for the giant wyrm to fit in easily. And given all the clues from the elder’s story and their surroundings, it was the only place that could be its lair.

However, none of them expected it to be this deep.

"Hey, isn’t this impossible to go down...? It’s so deep, and the walls are practically vertical and icy. It’s impossible to climb."

Lisbeth knelt down and poked her head over the edge.

She could no longer see the bottom, only darkness that seemed to stretch forever.

"What should we-"

She turned, and to her surprise, saw that Yuuji and Asuna were already working together to fix a hemp rope onto a massive crystal by the edge of the hole and throwing the rope into the hole.

"We’ll climb down."

"E-Eh?! Are you serious?!"

Asuna smiled and took out two bundles of hemp rope before giving one to her.

"Don’t worry, Lis. It’s fine. We’ve done this several times. Here, wrap yourself in this and attach it to the main rope."

Lisbeth felt like she was looking at a stranger... Since when was Asuna this fine when doing something this extreme?

Her gaze shifted towards Yuuji to see him already wrapping the rope around his waist and each of his legs, and she knew the answer to his own question.

This guy! This guy must’ve forced Asuna to do such scary things until she’s used to it! What a demon!"

"Geez! Fine! I’ll do it for the crystals!"

"Mm, let’s do our best. Ah, let me help you."

Asuna began helping Lis secure herself with the rope before doing it for herself. Then, after they were all ready, the three began climbing down the side of the hole.

Yuuji was first, followed by Asuna, and finally Lisbeth. They began slowly, getting used to the sensation of the fall and the slipper, frozen walls.

Soon, the first set of rope ended. The bottom was still nowhere in sight. So, Yuuji tied another set of hemp rope to extend it, and they continued their track down.

By the time the rope touched the bottom of the hold, Yuuji had extended it eight times.

The hemp rope Yuuji bought was an especially long one, each measuring at 20 meters. So by rough estimation, the hold would’ve been at least 160 meters deep.

But finally, they reached the bottom.

Upon touching down, Lisbeth immediately fell on her back and laid down on the thick snow that had accumulated down in the depths of the hole.

Her chest heaved heavily, the exhaustion, stress, and tension she had been holding on as she climbed down released at once.

She never wanted to do it again... Although it was still much better than falling down and risking dying, it was something she never wanted to experience again.

’Wait... We’ll still have to climb back up to get out of here, right...?’

The realization froze her quicker than any ice and blizzard could.

If climbing down had pushed her to her limits... would she even be able to reach the half-way mark climbing up...?

"Wait... Can I use the teleportation crystal?"

She took out a healing crystal from her inventory as a test. After all, if crystals could still be used and she used a teleportation crystal, then she would have to drag herself all the way back to this place.

She activated it. Once... Twice... Thrice...

The crystal didn’t react.

"Hah... Haha... I’ll die here..."

She slumped back down onto the snow, laying down as she looked up into the tiny sliver of the sky up above.

Meanwhile, Yuuji and Asuna looked around the lair of the wyrm.

"It’s... empty."

Asuna looked over the entirety of the lair again, and it was unexpectedly empty.

There were no crystals growing from the ground or the walls. Only an unremarkable empty wall and a snow-covered ground.

"If it doesn’t grow like ores, then..."

Yuuji crossed his arms... Then, a flash of an idea crossed his mind.

He knelt down to the ground and began digging the snow.

Asuna looked to him confused as he dug around the snow that had covered the ground.

But before long, he stood up and held something up.

"Found it. This must be the crystal we’re looking for."

Both girls snapped their gazes towards Yuuji and saw him holding up a light blue crystal in his hand.

At the sight of it, Lisbeth immediately jumped up to her feet and inspected it.

"Let me see!"

Yuuji handed it to her. Then, using her blacksmith skill, she inspected the crystal, and her face lit up with happiness.

<<Crystal Ingot>>

"This is it!!! This is the rumored crystal ingot!! We got it!"

She looked towards Yuuji, her face brimming with excitement.

"Where did you find it, Yuuji?! Let me get it too! I brought along a trusty pick axe for this!"

"...No, you might not need it."

"Eh?"

Lisbeth tilted her head confusedly.

"Yuuji... Don’t tell me..."

Asuna widened her eyes in realization as Yuuji nodded to her.

"It’s... not an ore. It doesn’t grow from the ground."

"Eh...? What do you mean...? Then where do you find this?"

"...I found it in the snow. It’s scattered all around where it’s laying. So that thing you’re holding. That’s its poop."

Lisbeth froze. Her mind blue screening at his words.

Then, a few beats later, an echoing shrill resounded throughout the lair of X’rphan the White Wyrm.

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

"Alright. That must be all of it..."

Yuuji checked their surroundings once more. They’ve cleared out the snow that had piled up on the rocky grounds of the white wyrm’s lair and made sure to get every single "excrement".

They’ve worked together to gather up the crystals, touching it only with their gloves before putting them in Yuuji’s inventory.

"Nngh... Now, how do we get out of here..."

Lisbeth asked, stretching her sore back after spending at least an hour digging up snow and picking up crystals.

Although her strength and endurance was decent, given her vanguard build, digging exerted a different group of muscle than blacksmithing and fighting. It was especially rough on her back since she had to bend down.

"It’s definitely impossible to climb back up, even if we have rope."

It wasn’t impossible for Yuuji, given his strength and endurance stat. Even Asuna might be able to climb up to the top. But Lisbeth would surely struggle.

Yuuji thought for a moment. Then, to the two girls’ shock, he took out his camping gear.

"Let’s stay here and rest."

"Eh? We’re not getting out of here?"

Lisbeth looked at him in shock.

"Like you said, it would be difficult for us to climb back up. So, we’ll just have to wait for our ride."

"Ride...?"

Lisbeth stared at him confusedly as Yuuji was already beginning to set up tent.

"Yuuji... You don’t mean... Are we going to ride the wyrm back up?!"

"Eh?! Is that true, Yuuji?!"

Yuuji nodded.

"It’s the only way out. Don’t worry, it’ll return soon."

"You’re crazy! How could we even ride that thing?!"

"We’ll stab it and hold on for dear life as it flies us up."

"You..."

Lisbeth found herself unable to comprehend the way Yuuji’s mind worked.

She looked towards Asuna, searching and hoping for another more rational mind to side with her.

But Asuna simply let out a sigh and began helping Yuuji.

Had Asuna been poisoned so much by Yuuji’s absurd logic... Or was it the absolute trust they had in each other.

Lisbeth couldn’t differentiate between the two at this point. But either way, she had no other choice but to follow his absurd plan.

"Geez...! Fine!"

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