"It's snowing!"
Eula stopped in her tracks, gazing up at the white, overcast sky and parting her soft lips to speak. Light, fluffy snowflakes landed on her shoulders, which she casually brushed away, leaving only a faint dusting of snow on her clothes.
"We won't be able to travel in this—let's look around to see if there's sowhere nearby we can shelter from the snow," Amber said, adjusting the goggles hanging from her neck with a slight sigh.
"Are either of you familiar with the mountain? Finding a spot to hide from the snow won't be easy otherwise," Nolan said with a slight shake of his head.
"Heh, no worries!" Amber replied. "I brought a map of Dragonspine from the Knights when I ca. The cartographer even marked a few spots where we can take shelter during a blizzard. Let's have a look!" She retrieved a paper map from her Vision as she spoke.
Nolan leaned in to study the map of Dragonspine, noting its clear and orderly layout of several key regions.
These were: Snow-Covered Path, Wyrmrest Valley, Entombed City, and Starglow Cavern, among others. Each area was vast, and even the cartographers hadn't fully explored them, so the marked regions only provided rough outlines.
"There's a cave up ahead where we can take refuge. We'll need to get there before the snowfall gets heavier," Amber said, pointing to an orange dot on the map—a designated ergency shelter, an artificially created cave for explorers on the mountain.
"Alright, no ti to waste—let's move quickly," Nolan nodded, and with Amber and Eula, he began to run toward the cave, using Anemo energy to clear the falling snow in their path.
For a group as strong as theirs, running through snow took little toll on their stamina.
A few minutes later…
Nolan and the others arrived at the shelter marked on the map. The cave already held several adventurers taking refuge from the storm.
Since the blizzard was fast approaching, other adventurers naturally sought out nearby shelter as well. Fortunately, the cave was spacious enough to comfortably fit a dozen people.
The adventurers inside were discussing various intel about the mountain and were clearly thrilled when they saw Nolan and his team enter.
After all, Nolan was a famous Honorary Knight, Amber was renowned as an exceptional Scout Knight, and while Eula's family reputation had been controversial, her achievents as Captain of the Reconnaissance Company, safeguarding Mondstadt from monsters, had improved her standing among the adventurers.
"Fellow adventurers," Nolan addressed them, "I've heard there's been trouble on the mountain—The Cryo Hypostasis has been actively attacking people, causing no small amount of disruption for those exploring these parts."
He took advantage of the gathering to ask about any information they might have on the Cryo Hypostasis. Any unexpected intel could save them ti in their investigation.
"Honorary Knight, sir, we've heard about that as well," replied a young woman dressed in a green adventurer's outfit, her shoulders wrapped in a white cotton jacket.
She was the leader of a five-person adventurer party taking temporary shelter here from the snowstorm—the Red Jasmine Adventurers.
"Oh? Tell more," Nolan's eyes brightened, and he pressed on for details.
"Certainly." The young woman adventurer nodded. "Earlier, we encountered the Dawn Adventurers while exploring an underground area in Entombed City. We chatted with them for a while during our break.
"They ntioned spotting the Cryo Hypostasis near the outskirts of Entombed City. Fortunately, they managed to avoid being noticed; otherwise, there's no way they would've all made it back safely."
As she spoke, she wiped an imaginary bead of sweat for the Dawn Adventurers.
Although adventuring is always dangerous, it's not common to encounter such formidable monsters by chance.
"The outskirts of Entombed City, huh? Got it, thank you." Nolan acknowledged with understanding.
He mused over the sightings at the outskirts, Starglow Cavern, and Wyrmrest Valley. It seed there was no clear pattern to the Cryo Hypostasis's appearances.
"Looks like the snowfall is getting heavier. Let's start a fire," Amber suggested, gazing at the raging snowstorm outside the cave. The temperature within the cave seed to be dropping as well.
No one had any objections to the idea.
Waiting out the snowstorm felt like a long and idle task, and Nolan sensed it was a bit of a waste of ti—who knew how long it would take to find the Cryo Hypostasis?
After thinking it over, he summoned the Lumine's Sword God, shrinking it down to a figure about ten centiters tall, and sent it out into the storm to investigate.
In this minimized form, summoning the Sword God required little energy and could sustain prolonged searching.
With this, waiting out the storm wouldn't feel like a waste; they'd still be making progress on the investigation. Besides, idle ti was ti to make use of!
Nolan started discussing combat techniques with Amber and Eula.
With Amber, he delved into archery skills. His advanced archery knowledge was of great use to Amber.
During this exchange, Nolan successfully learned her Sharpshooter Archery technique, mastering the basics.
While Sharpshooter Archery was only a standard-level skill, upgrading it to the maximum would unlock unique abilities, making it a valuable addition to the Sword God.
Even if its unique traits didn't entirely suit the Sword God, it could always be rged with other archery skills to reach a higher level later.
From Eula, Nolan also learned a new swordsmanship technique—a secret-art-level skill.
This was Wavecrest Sword Technique, incorporating Eula's graceful footwork and surpassing Favonius Swordsmanship: Noble.
Its unique trait was Erosion.
Enemies struck by this technique would beco as eroded as seaside rocks battered by waves, weakening their defenses and elental resistances.
This trait was excellent and well-suited for the Lumine's Sword God!
As Nolan continued sparring and exchanging techniques with Amber and Eula, ti passed swiftly, and the blizzard outside the shelter had finally started to subside.
The adventurers, eager to avoid getting caught in another snowfall, bid farewell to Nolan and the others and headed down the mountain to rest.
But Nolan and his group were undeterred by a little snow. The three continued on up the mountain.
They had initially planned to head toward Wyrmrest Valley.
However, since the Sword God had already scouted that area, they adjusted their course and decided to check out Starglow Cavern first.
With the fresh snow, the environnt outside was even more hostile, making the search difficult.
Inside the cave, though, they wouldn't be as impacted.
(End of Chapter)
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