Walking through the weakening blizzard, Azel had a noticeable spring in his step. Having to worry about his mana usage was rather tedious, now that he had killed the yeti and consumed its core the zombie felt much more at ease.
Even better, if there was a yeti nearby then that means the dragon's breath herb would be close too. And during his battle with the yeti the snow storm had lessened up, so Azel had a much easier time tracing the yetis past steps.
It felt like he was being rewarded for his scuffle with the stalker-rank monster, after all the zombie had gone through quite a bit. Due to his impressive healing factor all of his wounds were gone, but the pain of his ribs being crushed was still quite vivid in his memory.
"It was worth it, though," Spoke Azel, and he didn't just mean that because he could now more easily accomplish his goal. Azel genuinely enjoyed the fight, it was hard to tell because of how brutal and unforgiving his spars are with Colwyn, but the zombie enjoyed dominating an opponent.
Leaping over a rock with renewed vigour, the zombie thought about what to do with the remains of the yeti. Colwyn had probably finished putting up barriers to interfere with Rio, so there was no need to wait around in the mountains.
At the same time, it would be a waste to leave a perfectly good meal to rot. After all Azel could feel the traces of mana still left within the beasts muscles, and while it was nowhere near as efficient as the mana core, finding other sources of mana would be difficult when in the city.
It was decided then, Azel would consume as much as he could on his way back from picking up the herb, and then he would head back down the mountain into the city.
Slowing down to a stop, Azel found the yeti's footprints entering a large cave... Probably its den. The zombie thought for a moment about the possibility of the beast having a mate, but quickly dismissed the thought.
Yeti's mated very rarely, and when they did there was no intimacy, if there was a second Yeti around it wouldn't share a cave with the one Azel had just killed. There was the option that there was a child, though. Of course, Azel had no doubt he could kill it if need be.
The cave itself was quite beautiful. There was plenty of space and the cold blue ice made everything look like it was coated in diamonds, if Azel was an impressionable person then maybe he would of stopped to admire the sight.
He wasn't, of course. So the zombie walked on without giving it so much as a second thought, instead he was on the lookout for dragons-breath. The plant itself had the petals arranged in a way that looked like a plume of flames, as a result it was aptly named after the grandeur beasts of old.
Mana beasts often had a very strong sense of smell, which made them efficient hunters able to identify prey from kilometres away. But it also meant that they enjoyed the scent of herbs, so when a plant actually grew in such harsh conditions the area was often taken by a monster.
Azel had hoped that maybe a yeti had settled near the only herbs that could grow this high up, the dragons-breath. But he was quickly loosing faith, because the cave was growing narrower as he continued and there was still no sign of the flower.
His steps echoed softly against the icy walls, their crystalline sheen refracting what little light trickled in from the cave's entrance. The air grew colder with each step, his undead body barely registering the chill, but he noted the signs—thin frost crystals forming on the edges of his garments and the the frozen icicles grew in size as he walked.
Just as the thought of turning back began to creep into his mind, a faint glow caught his attention. Azel froze, narrowing his eyes. The light was faint but unmistakable, a fiery orange hue that seemed out of place against the stark blue ice. His lips curled into a grin.
"There you are," he murmured, quickening his pace.
The narrow tunnel widened slightly into a small chamber. At its centre, surrounded by jagged ice formations, stood a patch of dragon's-breath herbs. The flowers glowed faintly, their flame-like petals shifting subtly in the still air.
The flowers thrived in harsh environments, their vibrant colours a testament to their resilience. Azel knew that their magical properties were potent, capable of enhancing the user's mana pool for a time—but not without consequences.
After the initial effects fade, the consumers mana core was die. It would stop them from ever using magic again, and for someone like Azel it was effectively a death sentence. Picking them with great care, Azel placed the flowers in a small brown pouch hanging on his waist.
Azel felt a pleasant sense of fulfilment for reaching his goal. Strange, he was supposed to be an unfeeling monster according to the general populace. Could an unfeeling monster smile like he was doing right now? Azel didn't think so.
Standing up and beginning his long journey back, the zombie let himself think about the future for the first time in a while. Before he was scared of distracting himself from micro managing his mana and running out, but now that he had an excess supply, there was no need to worry as much.
The monks Colwyn mentioned in the south were very recluse from what Azel could find in the library, in fact, it was so rare to see one that they were treated more so as legends than an organization.
But Colwyn wasn't lying when he said that they could passively absorb mana from the world around them. If Azel could learn their technique he would no longer have to worry about his condition.
But first he had to help Colwyn. And then, as part of their deal, the knight would do everything in his power to assist Azel in making contact with the monks.
Of course helping Colwyn kill a templar was going to be easier said than done.