Chapter 848: Centennial Ice Hunting

The mountains were full of a constantly shifting breeze. This calmed down at times but was always there in some form or fashion. When they party crested the next peak of the lower mountains they had finally made it to the mid peaks. The change in the air became a bone chilling cold that could eat away at their stamina the more they were experiencing it. 

"Let me guess, that is the centennial ice up there?" Gil's eyes were sharp and easily caught on to the ice that was on the rocks of the mountains. It was giving off a white fog that caused the surrounding area to become layered in frost and rough ice. 

"I would say that is what we are after. Everyone put on another layer so that we can stay warm." Walker was not letting anyone near the ice without being prepared. He knew that the cold was the most dangerous thing in the mountains and if they did not actively protect themselves then it would lead to death.

"I am going to make a few torches for me to carry so that I can help keep everyone warm." As the leader of the party, Walker knew that it was best to use his skills to help keep everyone warm here. If he could provide heat then that was what he would do. 

Within his inventory, he was able to pull some of the smaller sticks that he would use to start a fire. He had plenty of wood and coal for adventures and forging. Luckily, there had been no limit found to his inventory so the storage ability he had only became more and more valuable. 

The guards in the city all knew how to make torches for the winter when they needed to patrol. This was one thing that just about anyone could make and Walker was thankful to have learned from his father when he was little. The value of warmth in the winter was invaluable. 

The trick he had learned was that using a large piece of wood or a group of sticks would allow air to flow better for the torch. Next using cloth scraps or thick rope to braid them together was ideal. A single lump of coal could then be set in the middle to keep an ember burning even when the torch flame died down. This would make it easier to start up the flame when needed. 

Midnight was the first to volunteer to carry one. She clamped down on the end without the flames and carried it around. She seemed very happy with her self assigned mission to keep everyone warm and it made for a fairly amusing sight. Not a single one of them could say she was anything but adorable. Even Onyx seemed ready to leave his tattoo form to curl up on her back and stay with the fire. 

"We don't want to harvest the newer soft ice. We need the tough older ice. That is the real centennial ice that won't melt even when in the sun. That's also another reason that we have the torches. We can test if the ice melts or not. If it does we leave it." Walker made enough torches for everyone but knew that they would only need two or three for their process. The others could be stored away for later. 

Walker half thought that he should just use his all around appraisal skill to keep looking for the centennial ice. But he ignored the lazy feeling so that he could put the work in and find the ice themselves. It was a valuable experience that would help them identify similar materials in the future. The experience and learning were more valuable than a speedy solution. 

"How are we supposed to gather it? I don't even think my knuckles will dent the sifter ice?' Remey was the one that felt she was not well equipped for this. Gil was in the same boat. The only ones that seemed to be able to properly harvest any of the centennial ice would be Walker, Midnight, and Su. The wandering blacksmith might but he was also a little lacking in the method of harvesting. 

"We just need to find it. I bet if you used the fire affinity knuckles you might be able to chip away at it. We need multiple sized pieces. Chips are good for smaller uses while a larger chunk can be made for the hammers that will be reforged." There were already plans that the wandering blacksmith had made and Walker had glanced at before. They would need a decent variety of sizes to complete all the tools that were needed. 

The group avoided the white ice that seemed very new and pushed upwards towards the denser looking dark ice. It was giving off the majority of the white fog making it the coldest in the area. The feeling of the fog pierced their bodies with cold making everyone shiver even with the torches. 

"I have some melting away here. It's a blue color so look for darker." Su's shout was able to push them to move even further up the frozen rocks. 

"Here!" The shout was the most unfamiliar because it had been the wandering blacksmith that called for everyone. They had never heard his voice so loud but since he was partnered with Midnight he had to be the one to shout. It was enough to make them all rush over a lot faster. When the group got to them they found the wandering blacksmith and Midnight holding a torch to a very deep almost black ice. 

"It's not melting at all. That's actually pretty cool. No pun intended there." Gil was turning his head side to side looking at the ice in awe. He had not actually expected the ice to be immune to the fire. 

"Let me at it!" Remey clipped on the fire affinity knuckles and lashed out at the ice before anyone else could speak. 

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