Chapter 119 Intense Cold
SWISH!
The rough wind brushed past Zick's face as he ran towards the south at full speed. A cloud of dust rose from behind him, making it hard to look at him.
It was still in the middle of the day with the sun shining brightly upon the sky.
The Lectic mountain range was around four kilometres away from Jeleat city.
Running with his body enhanced with mana, Zick arrived in front of the mountain region within three minutes. Slowly the weather turned cold with back clouds appearing above him.
"Haaa....." His breath turned into a white fog as it came in contact with the intense cold around him.
Climbing up the higher plane, a mountain covered in snow appeared in his view. It was still snowing as he watched the snowy plane with a frown.
'What a bad time to snow... Exploring in this climate would be harder.'
And more than anything, it would be very hard to find the place described in the novel. He could only blame his bad luck and continue heading deeper into the mountain region. Retreating without even trying was not something that Zick would do.
The chances of the snow stopping were low at the degree it snowed here. Waiting here, hoping for it to end was not an option for him.
Placing the cursed sword on his hip, he dashed forward at full speed making the snow below his feet disperse at once.
Running on the snow-filled ground for a minute, Zick's body started trembling.
The chills from his surroundings had already surpassed what his body could endure.
He could not cast body-strengthening type magic as only high-rank mages can do it.
While using magic recently, Zick noticed many things. The mana did not heed his order like it used to do, so in the end, he also started filling his surrounding mana with his 'will'.
This was a new experience for him so it would take him a while to get used to it. He couldn't yet spread his 'will' in the mana which was further than ten centimetres away from his body.
'This situation is the worst...fuck.' He cursed at his past self thought process.
He should have prepared more extensively before heading here. His past self-carelessness became his restlessness now.
Snow accumulated upon Zick's body as he faced the immense wind pressure. He had his hand covering his face and a thin layer of mana covered his body. This stopped the coldness from travelling to his body for now.
'I can only maintain this for another three hours before running out of mana. I will have to search for a shelter before that...'
To Zick, even looking five metres in front of him was hard. Only white snow storm filled his vision.
He checked the compass in between so that he wouldn't lose his way.
Zick soon reached the feet of the mountain and started climbing upon it.
The mountain was huge in his view, almost looking endless. The feeling of despair took over Zick.
He would have to cross another mountain after this one to reach the place where the mana crystal mine was located. He could have travelled faster if the weather was in normal state, but in this situation reaching his destination in even three days looked hard.
Zick moved his leg faster, not giving up. His face was filled with persistence as he moved his body with everything he had.
'This is nothing! No matter how hard it might be, I will not give up!' His eyes shone in immense determination.
After a while.
"Haaa.....haaa....haaa....." Zick's body had reached its limit. It could not endure any more exhaustion than this, he also sensed his mana running out soon.
He was not able to find any shelter till the end.
Zick had stopped in his tracks not having the power to move a finger. Slowly the snow started covering his body.
When suddenly-
Howl~ Howl~
The sound of a wolf howling rang out. Though Zick couldn't see them, he could feel their presence.
A smile formed on his face feeling them heading towards him. This was considered a very dangerous situation to the normal traveller but to him, This was the best situation.
Feeling that the snow wolf had gotten close enough near to him, Zick released his dragon fear.
Feeling the overwhelming fear rising within them, the wolf tried escaping the very next second. The weaker one couldn't even move a muscle.
But it was still a step late.
"Stop." Enhancing his voice from mana, Zick spoke in a weak voice.
Even opening his mouth felt tiring to Zick.
All the snow wolves stopped in their position instantly.
Feeling this, Zick ordered again: "Take me to your habitual."
Wild snow wolves like this would without a doubt have a place to stay. And as he expected one wolf walked toward Zick with its head bowed.
The snow wolf had white fur and was larger than usual wolves. Their height was one and a half metres and two metres long.
These snow wolves were somewhat intelligent so he didn't have to give them detailed orders. The wolf held Zick by his gauntlet and flung him on his back. This action was a little harsh, but the monsters didn't know the meaning of being soft.
Shortly, the wolves started climbing up the mountain, heading toward its habitat. They moved smoothly upon the snow, their speed was three times faster than what Zick travelled in.
This would without a doubt give them overwhelming advantage while hunting in this snow Mountain region.
This wolf pack had 18 wolves in them. The one which picked Zick was the leader of this group.
There were only five wolves with high-rank level strength among them all.
Being in a paralyzed state, Zick looked at the ground while laying on the wolf's warm back. A cold wind brushed past his cheeks making his head hurt a little.
The amount of mana covering him decreased swiftly. The coldness started affecting his body again. His muscles cramped and his hair stood up.
'Not good.....If this goes on, I will freeze to death before reaching their habitat.' Zick wanted to order the snow wolf to run faster but he couldn't open his mouth.
Howl~
With the howling as the signal, the snow wolf pack made sure that no one on its pack was missing.
Fortunately, the wolf pack arrived at their habitat before he truly became an ice sculpture.
It was a dark cave with a lot of space. Zick still retained his consciousness.
The other snow wolf who stayed behind in the cave were their pups and their mother. Ignoring them, Zick closed his eyes and started training in mana without caring about anything while still laying on the wolf.
Doing this would increase the speed at which his mana was restored.
With the amount of coldness decreased compared to the outside, there was no danger to his body for now.
Only the panting and whimpering sounds of the wolf could be heard in the silence. No wolf moved, feeling unknown fear gripping their heart.
Opening his eyes after a few hours, Zick felt all his mana restored. He felt relieved on surviving somehow.
A normal high rank knight would have long died if he were in place of Zick. The only reason he survived was thanks to his strong physique.
But this advantage would grow less useful as he grew in strength. In the higher rank, this would just be a small boost which was a kind of let down.
Getting down the snow wolf, Zick dusted off the snow on himself. Many of his body parts were frozen which were fixed using his mana.
'It's good that my body wasn't frozen too deeply that my blood circulation would stop.....' If this had happened and was left unfixed for a long time, he would have no choice but to discard that particular part.
He looked around the cave, the snow wolves with subservient postures entered his sight. None of them moved, they waited for his order.
An idea appeared in his mind making him look at the snow wolves intently.
'I may be able to use them.'