Chapter 263: Gravenovarish's Weapons [III]
Advancement through the 'Blue lands', as Lucius was terming it, was perilous to say the least. What seemed like a vast open plateau turned out to be a series of incredibly steep rock dunes. Even at the slowed pace, they were moving with, there were several times where the members of the entourage nearly slipped and fell into what was no doubt certain death.
Earth Sense did little to help in this situation, with Lucius himself being injured on several occasions as he was the spearhead of the advance. Without solar cleanse, the group probably wouldn't have made it past a few kilometres.
What made the journey even more dangerous were the thick sand storms, which seemed to blow every so often. They not only clouded the vision, engulfing the group in near total darkness each time they swept by, but also wreaked havoc on the ears, the sound of their approach like a million rumbling bees about to attack.
And it seemed the further they went, the more glass-like the particles became. Eventually traversing through a sandstorm felt like being whipped with glass and the group had to take shelter within the small ditches that separated neighbouring rock dunes.
"How do the workers pass through this terrain?" Lucius asked, as the group descended yet another rocky dune. His voice sounded a little groggy, as dozens of odd particles had lodged themselves into his throat.
The group was currently huddled within a ditch, a sandstorm passing by overhead.
"The council has Morrentors, tamed Terra beasts. They use magic that protects them from the elements," the eldest furtong in the entourage replied, his voice almost inaudible as the sand storm above them raged past.
"Tamed? Where did they get these... Morrentors?" Lucius asked. If he could get his hands on some of these Morrentors, then perhaps he could start his own mines.
"The Desolate Sea, however, I hear that even the best magic users in the council die trying to get them," the furtong replied.
"Desolate Sea? Where is that?" Lucius asked, his voice now a shout as he tried to speak over the rumbling sound of the sandstorm.
"If we continue moving forward we will eventually reach it. However, I do not recommend going Lighted One. Truly, the councillors are foolish for sending anyone into that place. Several of their best magic users are now lost, and in exchange, they have only gained a few Morrentors. And even then, the creatures are in their infancy," the furtong continued.
~Well if it gets worse the deeper in you go, I'm certain that the Desolate Lands are a death zone. Perhaps it might be better if I just steal the ones the council has. Apart from making the commune stronger, it'll no doubt weaken the council to a great degree,~
"How much further?" the bear-man leader asked, as Lucius pondered over the creatures.
"I haven't been here for many seasonal cycles. The last time, I was brought as a potential mine worker, but my knowledge of Ordem was limited, and they sent me back. Back then they had cleared a path to the mines, but it seems it was lost to the elements," the furtong replied.
~I wonder if the Councillors just care so little about minerals or whether maintaining the paths was hard,~ Lucius thought to himself.
By now the sandstorm was beginning to die out.
"Where does the Aternite go, after it's taken from the mines?" Lucius asked.
The furtong remained silent for a moment, trying to come up with an answer before eventually shaking their head.
"I hear rumours that they trade with the owners of the forest, but I wouldn't put much trust in any whispers that involve them," the furtong replied.
~The owners of the forest, huh? It's been a while since I thought about them. Well, I suppose it would make sense humans are interested in minerals. Though I wonder why they don't just come out here and do it themselves. Do they not have magic?~ Lucius thought to himself, as he stared up the opening above him.
The storm was now nothing more than a gust of wind.
"Let's continue," he said,
*
The journey had them marching through the searing hot sun and stabbing gravel terrain for another hour before Lucius sensed several dozen energy readings coming from up ahead.
"A volcano?" he whispered to himself, lacking any other words to describe the structure in front of them. It was a hill much taller than all the others, about the height of a skyscraper.
And unlike the terrain all around them, it had a red-glassy colour to it, that glimmered like ruby gems. At the top were several black dots, it seemed even with Lucius's enhanced vision, he couldn't make out what sort of creatures were guarding it.
However that worked to their advantage as well, as that meant that the guards up there probably couldn't see them either.
"I suppose this is it," Lucius said to the others, still staring up at the volcano-like structure.
The group was currently hidden behind a massive boulder, several meters from the base of the mountain.
There seemed to be a path laid out that spiralled around the volcano towards the top. From the looks of the massive footprints that were laden all across it, it seemed the workers used the Morrentors to get to the top.
~Can't even call them lazy, this path looks insane,~ Lucius thought to himself. Even at full speed, it would take a good amount of time to get to the top by feet.
And that was assuming you were being reckless and didn't care about potentially falling to your doom.
"We'll wait for a sandstorm before we move," Lucius started, now drawing something on the ground with his index claw.
"There isn't any cover on the way to the top, so if we hope to go up unnoticed it'll be our only bet," he continued, before looking up towards Pagan.
"It'll be dangerous, and I'm sure we'll get hurt on the way up, so we'll take turns healing any injuries we may incur," he said, before looking towards Ghost.
"When we get to the top, me and Pagan will need time to recover our solar reserves and Rena before proceeding, so it'll be up to you to take out the guards," he added.
Before drawing a top-view replica of the volcano structure on the ground.
"From what I can tell, they are stationed here, here, and here," he explained, drawing X's on the corresponding locations. "There could be more, but we'll have to scout that out once we get to the top," he finished.
He took a moment to make sure that Ghost and Pagan understood what he was saying, and after they nodded in approval, he proceeded.
"Even from here, I can sense that these guards are a few notches above the ones we faced at the line. So be careful, me and Pagan will provide assistance if you have any issues. However, I want them taken care of quickly and silently. Everything will be for nought if we're discovered," he warned.
Before looking back up at the volcano structure.
"There are several massively powerful individuals in there that even I would have a hard time taking care of. If any of us are spotted, we'll take that as our queue to leave," he said, before looking back towards Pagan and Ghost.
"Understood?"