Chapter 439: Final Trip Together

Chapter 439: Final Trip Together

Dallion woke up well into the night. This was the first time he had slept so well in quite a while. Back on Earth, or even the first days in Nerosal, he would have stretched, then turned to the other side to sleep some more. Ever since hed started training to be a hunter, his attitude had changed.

Dallion closed his eyes, then slowly counted to ten. Once that was over, he briskly stood up and started his quick training routine. As Vend had told him, it was always wise to go through a quick regimen of exercise in order to boost the improvements provided by the awakened traits. Normally, that would take about ten to fifteen minutes. Thanks to vastly increased traits, Dallion usually finished in less than one.

You still have a few hours, Eury said from the neighboring room.

The gorgon had clearly been up all night. Then again, she handled sleep much better than him. When he had first met her, Dallion used to think that she was one of the people that were late to go to bed and late to get up. Now he knew that all that had been an act. Eury tended to stay up all night and only take scattered naps throughout the day, creating the illusion of being a late riser.

Im fine, Dallion said. Still have to pack.

There was no reply. When Dallion focused on getting a feeling of the situation, he could feel nonethe gorgon must have already put on her blocker ring.

Taking a moment to have a quick wash in the small bathroom of the workshop, he then put some clothes on and went to check on Eury. To little surprise, she was at the workbench, working on an item Dallion wasnt familiar with. It resembled the wireframe of a gauntlet or a strange hand brace.

Still feeling down? Dallion approached. Several of the gorgons snakes moved slightly, turning in his direction, but Eury herself didnt turn around.

No, she replied. With her ring on, Dallion had no idea whether she was telling the truth or not. He very much wanted to hug her, but given her mood, it didnt seem like the best idea. Maybe once all this was over.

Ill pack my stuff.

The snakes on the back of Eurys head moved in a wavethe gorgon nod as Dallion liked to call it. Clearly, she didnt want to be disturbed. It wasnt what he had hoped for, but gave Dallion a good opportunity to sneak to hide the thread splitter in his boot. Originally, that section had been reserved for the dartbow, but that was rarely used now. Dallion always brought it with him, of course. Having a loaded dartbow had its occasional uses, but it was something that could as well go in his backpack.

Sorry about that, Lux, he said. Ill make you a new home once this is over.

Great! The firebird chirped, happy as usual.

Better be careful with that, Nil said as Dallion tucked the knife in the holster boot. Its sharp enough to cut to the bone without you noticing.

Only the handle will touch my skin, Dallion replied. However, he was slightly worried as well.

Even at a slow pace, it took him twenty minutes to get everything ready. Naturally, he included several sets of warm coats. If Nil was to be believed, it was going to get quite cold in the area they were headed. Back on Earth, Dallions experience of low temperatures was for the outside to be cold enough for water to freeze. Here, things got considerably colder. The experience on Glass Mountain came to mind. Hopefully, the upcoming winter wasnt going to be as harsh.

By the time returned to the main room of the workshop, Eury had finished as well. It was little surprise that her backpack was considerably larger than Dallionsor anyone else in the party for that matter. Eury was the groups forger, and as such, she would occasionally take what was needed for her to reinforce armor on the go. In contrast, Jiroh barely carried anything at all; as a scout she didnt need to.

Ready? Eury asked.

Dallion nodded.

Lets go.

No one argues against it. Moments later, the party was on its way.

Day and night lost their meaning. Every single moment ,the group was on the march, walking at a fast pace, all with a single goal in mind. Hunting was avoided, as were groups of people. Guided by Eury, the party went through the wilderness, following almost a straight line. The only food eaten were travel rations, and even that was done while walking.

After five days of non-stop traveling, Jiroh allowed the party to stop for half a day to get some actual rest. Sleep was done in turns, three people at a time, and once over everyone continued walking.

Taking advantage of that brief moment, Dallion proceeded to level up as well as increase his skills a bit. The trial was remarkably easy considering what he had been through the last time: a straightforward fight against a horde of creatures, focusing on his use of abilities. The battle itself was exhausting, requiring Dallion to use every trick he had learned, however, there wasnt any mental anguish to be felt. With that, Dallion reached his target number of twenty-five perception, leaving him to focus on other traits.

Dallion also took advantage to spend a few true time weeks learning the nymph and dryad languages. In both cases, he was told that it would be better if he focused his efforts on one of them, but he refused to listen out of stubbornness. As a result, he managed to grasp the basics of both, increasing his writing skills to four, even if he sounded like a tourist.

After another week, the process repeated. Dallion managed to sneak his way through another barrier. Having to do with his current fears, this was the only trial so far, in which the goal wasnt to defeat an opponent, but rather not start a fight. Although slightly easier than before, thanks to Gleam and Luxs help, it too proved to be exhausting. At that point, Dallion decided to increase his reaction trait. Also, since this time around the group was granted a bit more time to rest, Dallion used that to improve a few minor items he was carrying to boost his guard and attack skills. The effort was obviously noticed by the rest of the group, though only earning a passing comment.

As the third week of walking went by, Eury pulled Dallion aside, falling back from the rest of the group

Stop here, she whispered. Theres no point increasing anything else.

Whats going on?

Practice is more important than levels, she avoided his question. Youll have plenty of time to reach your level cap when we get back.

What arent you saying? Dallion went straight to the point. Normally, hed leave it to Eury and the rest, while pretending not to be concerned. After seventeen days of traveling, he wanted to learn a bit more of the big picture.

I dont want you tired when the fighting begins.

Dallion almost stopped walking.

Weve arrived? he asked.

Soon. Well have another rest before that. This time, I want you to rest. Thats more important right now.

Alright. What do you think well face?

I dont know. However, its not normal that we managed to get all this way without any creature targeting us. You dont have a travelers emblem, so there shouldnt be anything keeping creatures away. And yet

She didnt finish the sentence. There was no denying that the gorgon was right. The trip so far had been remarkably unremarkable. Normally there were at least some wilderness creatures observing them from a distance. So far, that hadnt happened, as if all monsters had been killed or chased out of the area. The Order of the Seven Moons was capable of cleansing an area of monsters, as were armies. Neither explanation was particularly good.

You think someone has reached it before us? Dallion asked.

I dont know, the gorgon replied. However, Jiroh told me that we werent the only ones trying to find a cloud citadel.