Whoaaa
[Oh dear!]
Vere's antennae at Suho's side twitched, and he hurriedly turned to Suho and shouted:
"My lord! Suddenly, the forest is in turmoil!"
At the same time, a magical storm of magnitude erupted from the depths of the forest.
A shockwave unlike any previous blizzard sent the Guardian Shadow soldiers back.
Suho quickly evacuated the rest of the shadow soldiers into his shadows, except for the Shadow Minotaur, and shouted:
"Mino! Tau!"
[Mmm
At Suho's command, Mino and Tau each threw their arms around Suho and Sirka and slammed their opposing fists into the ground.
Stomping!
Minowa and Tau's strong forearms sank deep beneath the snowy ground like the roots of an old tree.
Thanks to this, Suho and Sirka managed to survive being swept away by the magic storm, and Suho stared out into the blizzard with narrowed eyes.
"What's going on all of a sudden?"
[It seems that there has been a great clash of forces in the distance!]
Ver replied, clinging to Suho's head and glaring at the same spot.
"Even the spirits are panicking!"
As Sirka had said, it had nothing to do with the spirits of the Echo Forest.
The problem, however, was that this storm was not a one-off event, but an ongoing one.
It was hectic because of the blizzard, and when this situation was added to this, it became difficult to move forward.
But Suho had no intention of stopping his advance.
"Maybe there is a mother beyond this storm."
[I think so.]
"I'm going to get through it like this."
[Mmm!]
[Moore-uh-uh!]
Mino and Tau roared at Suho's resolute determination, drawing on the strength of their bodies.
With Suho and Sirka in his arms, he fell flat on the floor and began to crawl forward.
Even though the speed was slow, the magic storm stopped the spirits' attacks for a while, making it easier for them to move.
As I continued to make my way through the magic storm.
Suddenly, Sirka sniffed.
"Is there something strange smelling near Suhoya?"
"What smell?"
"I don't know. I've never been here before. By the way... It smells like something warm."
"Smell warm? What kind of expression do you have?"
The smell of warmth?
At first, Suho expressed his doubts, but then he realized that maybe it wasn't nonsense.
Ice elves are distinctly different from humans.
Maybe he was feeling something that humans couldn't.
As he thought about it, something came to Suho's mind.
This is the quest that arrived at the Ice Elves' Village as soon as they arrived.
[Quest: Spring Water of the Echo Forest]
Somewhere in the Echo Grove hides a mysterious spring.
Find the spring and earn the reward.
'... I was ignoring it because I had to find my mother first.'
Suho hadn't paid much attention to it since he received the quest.
The purpose of coming to the glacier dungeon was to find clues for my mother.
There was no time to waste on a quest that didn't even know how long it would take.
"In this cold, everything would have been frozen in the spring, but if it was covered in snow, how would you find it?"
However.
'What if the spring water hadn't frozen in this cold?'
Warm smell.
There will be only a limited amount of warmth that can be held in this cold.
'Ten thousand.'
Or hot springs.
If it was a hot spring formed by hot groundwater, it would surely not freeze in the cold, but would still exist as a spring.
"In which direction do you feel that warm smell?"
"Where? Mmmm, wait a minute. I can't tell for sure if it's the smell of this magic storm, but..."
Sirka furrowed his brow at Suho's question and kept sniffing.
"I can't fathom the distance, but... We're definitely on the right track."
"Really? If we go in the same direction, keep going and we'll run into each other."
Even if the direction was slightly different, Suho nodded, daring to ignore the quest.
And after a while.
A hot spring appeared in front of Suho's eyes.
The sight of the hot springs steaming up in the bitter cold was a mysterious and exquisite sight in itself.
Strangely enough, as I got closer to the hot springs, the magic storm that had been raging like crazy seemed to have weakened a little.
"There was a real hot spring."
However, Suho's reaction to the discovery of the hot springs was unexpected.
It was a quest, and on the way to find my mother, I wasn't in a position to take a leisurely look at these hot springs.
"Plus, the quest difficulty is so easy that I can't expect the rewards themselves."
Wasn't that the case with this Kosaka Quest?
If the quest difficulty was too easy, the rewards didn't seem to help much.
However, contrary to Suho's reaction, Sirkka's expression was one of dismay when he discovered the hot springs in the Echo Forest.
"Oh my God! This is it...!"
Sirka was surprised to realize the true nature of the energy in the hot springs.
"I can feel Szilard's energy here! Could it be that this is Szilard's...?!"
"Szilard? Who's that?"
At Suho's question, Sirka swallowed dryly and looked at Suho's face with a serious expression.
"... Szilard, King of the Yetis, Lord of the Frost."
"...!"
[Kiek?]
"Apparently this is the place where our king, now deceased, used to stay."
Cirka's answer widened his eyes as he looked at each other.
Come to think of it, this Echo Forest is a sanctuary for the ice elves.
It wasn't unusual to have a place associated with the king of the yetis, the Lord of the Frost.
* * *
Ring!
[Obtained "Item: Spring Water of the Echo Forest."]
[You've completed the quest.]
As soon as Suho bought an empty potion bottle from the shop window and filled it with hot spring water, the quest was completed.
For some reason, I've always felt that quests are too easy these days, but when I think about it, this quest wasn't easy at all.
Wandering aimlessly in this awful place, looking for a spring that I don't know where it is.
Maybe that's why Suho didn't even bother with this quest in the first place.
[Quest completion reward has arrived.]
[Would you like to check your rewards?] (Y/N)
Before checking the rewards, Suho first checked the information in "Item: Spring Water of the Echo Forest".
[Item: Echo Forest's Spring Water]
Difficulty to obtain: ??
Type: Consumables
It is a mysterious spring in the Echo Forest.
When drunk or applied to the body, it has a neutralizing effect on toxins.
"Aha, it's kind of a detox potion."
It was said to be a mysterious spring, and it seemed to have a neutralizing effect on toxins.
It was a mystery, but for the Guardian with the Blessing of the Plague, this kind of detoxification ability was mana.
However, that thought changed 180 degrees the moment I saw the quest rewards.
[The following rewards are available.]
Reward: Runestone: Crafting the Divine Beast of Life
"Hmm? A skill that can craft the Divine Beast of Life?"
From the name, something unusual came out.
And Ver, who knew exactly what the name meant, said with great amazement.
"The Divine Beast of Life...!"
Sometimes it's much easier to see item information than to explain.
Listening to Ver's explanation, Suho learned the skill by breaking runestones.
Strapping.
[Crafted Item: Beast of Life.]
Then, at the very end of the Guardian's skill window, the [Crafting Skill] slot appeared.
[Crafting Skills]
Consumables: Divine Beast of Life (1/3)
Suho's gaze stared at the Divine Beast of Life, and an explanation came to mind.
[Item: Divine Beast of Life]
Acquisition Difficulty: S
Type: Consumables
It is a mysterious potion that heals all ailments with its powerful magical powers.
Only when the entire bottle has been used will the full effect be achieved.
"Cure all diseases?!"
[Yes, the Divine Beast of Life is a legendary elixir that is completely different from a mere healing potion.]
Vere's eyes widened, and he nodded in agreement.
Suho, who hadn't expected much from this quest, became quite serious.
Of course it had to be.
When healers first appeared after the Cataclysm, there was a great deal of interest in them from the world.
What a skill that can restore others.
People were frenzied by its amazing ability, which far exceeded the level of modern medicine.
But unfortunately, the healers' healing skills were not one-size-fits-all.
A good healer could heal even a mortal wound, but very few were able to do so.
Also, no matter how good a healer he was, even if he was an S-class healer, there were limits.
"But this is the elixir of immortality, isn't it? Oh, it's not 'immortality.'"
[Such an ability as fire is really useless, and if you die, you can become a shadow soldier...]
"Anyway, I'm going to take as much of this as I can. But what about the other ingredients?"
Suho immediately checked the ingredients of the Divine Beast of Life.
[Divine Beast of Life]
-material
Purified Blood of the Demon King (0/1)
Fragment of the World Tree (0/1)
Echo Forest's Spring Water (1/1)
"Purified Demon King's blood? Fragments of the World Tree?"
When Suho saw the names of the ridiculously absurd ingredients, he had a look of bewilderment.
Now I saw that the spring water of the Echo Forest was the easiest material to obtain.
I don't even know where the World Tree grows.
Besides, the Demon Lord means the Lord of Demons.
"The Demon King died a long time ago? Where do you get this blood?"
[I have an idea.]
Suddenly, Ver's eyes flashed with a sinister expression.
[Make Esil the Demon King and draw blood.]
"Oh, that's how it should be."
It was Suho, nodding in agreement with the evil plan.
Esil was the only demon nobleman in existence and the only candidate for the king of demons.
It was still unknown if Esil would be able to become the monarch's vessel, but it was most likely.
Now there's only one ingredient left.
"If we can find the World Tree, we can create the Divine Tree of Life."
All the while, the Shadow Soldiers had already been diligently pumping the Echo Forest Spring Water into empty potion bottles at the behest of their guardian.
I couldn't stay here forever and lose time, so I had to hurry.
But while Suho is doing this.
Beside him, Sirkka looked around, marveling at the aura of the Lord of the Cold in the hot springs.
Then, at some point.
"...."
Sirkka's gaze glazed and unfocused.
Their expressions resembled those of the ice elves possessed by the spirits of the Echo Forest, and as if possessed by something, Sirkka slowly began to approach the hot springs.
Suho, who spotted the situation a little late, called out to Sirkka.
"What are you doing? If you get wet, you'll only get colder later..."
Splash.
It was too late.
The moment Sirka dips his toes in the steaming hot springs.
Whoaaa
Suddenly, a tremendous light began to emanate from Sirkka's body.