The next few days, the group didn't find many obstacles along the way aside from a few hungry hyenas. They were too hungry to obey their instincts that warned them that it was a bad idea to face Sigma and his bow… nevertheless, they didn't find any signs of the Verdiris.
"It seems that the being who was controlling the giant Verdiris controlled the others as well and moved away from this area…" Ed said while furrowing his eyebrows.
"Do you know why?" Sabrina asked.
"Those creatures lived for a while here, so some of them have the potential to take the place of their mother… I guess the enemy wants that," Ed explained.
Sigma wasn't really interested in enemies that ran with the tails between their legs. He was more interested in learning Mana Regeneration… which was why he was looking around for targets. Unfortunately, he didn't have many chances for that. Mana Regeneration required two hundred skill points, and he didn't have enough for that.
The weather in the desert also improved a fair bit since the population of monsters decreased. They didn't have to stop around noon and look for some shade. In any case, five days had passed since that battle, and they were almost on the third fourth of the path. Sigma had yet to learn why Ed wanted the claws of the monster, but that was just a minor issue.
"It seems that your arm is all better again, but you shouldn't use that combination too often… right, Eclair?" Ed asked.
"... Yes," Eclair replied.
As it turned out, Sigma hadn't healed completely after the first shot, so the second caused even more damage. That was why he only healed after the third day of the battle. Speaking of which, Eclair was talking a bit now, but she still was unnerving when she tried to avoid eye contact, even when she was healing him.
The group was expecting to reach the next city in two days, and on the day before that, Ed checked the map early in the morning and then informed the others of the final obstacle in their path.
"The map says that around two months ago, the southern part of Cielia was the territory of a group of bandits… if we don't find them, they will find us first," Ed declared.
"We are waiting for bandits but not for demons?" Sigma asked. "If even us are aware of their camp, why demons wouldn't and why wouldn't they join their ranks?"
"Again, some people are crazy, but they find a bit of joy in their conscience… even if they have barely any," Ed replied while closing the map. "These guys shouldn't be high in number, but they are strong enough to live outside the walls of a city, so we can't let them surprise us. That will be too dangerous…"
Sigma wished that he had good tracking skills, but he didn't, and Eclair didn't have them. She relied on her senses more than anything, and that didn't become a skill or spell.
The group traveled that day with a bit more caution. Still, much to their surprise, they didn't find any signs of the enemies and eventually found the city in the distance. At the same time, Sigma felt the temperature decrease.
"What the hell… the temperature is dropping way too fast," Sigma declared while furrowing his eyebrows.
"The monsters Northeast of Cielia are known for using water magic, so it is natural for them to make the temperature drop this much," Ed explained. "I know that it is quite weird, but it is what it is."
The southern walls of the city were made of earth controlled by earth magic, but Sigma could see some snow at the top of it… that didn't make any sense. How come they crossed a desert, and until yesterday they were dealing with some high temperatures, and now they could see snow?
In any case, there were no mountains around the city, but there were some hills that people used as a base for their fifty meters tall walls. They were smart enough to get rid of half of the hills, and otherwise, enemies would have an easy time climbing them.
After a couple of hours, they got close enough to see the top of the walls and confirm that no one was guarding them. There was the possibility that the guards were resting or hiding, but that was hard to believe and a bit troublesome.
The three siblings looked at each other and then shrugged. Sabrina just made them fly over the walls since they didn't have anything to hide. Soon enough, they reached the top of the wall, and Sigma saw a white city covered in snow… to think that the desert was only ten kilometers away… he felt that the world had gone mad or something. In any case, neither of them saw a lot of people walking around the town, only a couple of dozen people. The number of houses and buildings was extremely small as well, but there were plenty of piles of rubble covered in snow.
"The situation here is even worse than in Geolia… they can't even afford to have guards, and it seems that most people left or…" Ed said and then sighed.
Ed didn't want to say anything too depressing, but the situation in that city was really bad. Sigma didn't care much about it, and he only wanted to find traces of Saria and then move on if she wasn't there.
The group began to cross the city, and while they passed nearby some people, they were completely ignored. They had walls there, but no one cared if visitors were coming and going and what their goal was.