The days when friends get together are always so short.
Bidding farewell to the reluctant Tonya and the villagers of the Valley, Roland and his party set out on a journey again.
Take the inflatable valve across the "Ghost Swamp", where there are no more ghost women, and the next thing in front of them is the lofty mountains of the Northland.
The rolling hills divide the Far East into two major plates, the north and the south, and the black soil of the southern plains is vast and fertile, with the Fort of Atonement as the center, radiating thousands of large and small settlements, supporting more than three million inhabitants; The Lucia Mountains of the North reach into the clouds, the snow and ice on the peaks of the mountains do not melt all year round, reflecting the sun like a crown of brilliance, and the Northland fortress Kitland is located on the top of the mountain closest to the sky, which is the destination of Roland's trip.
The process of climbing the mountain was tougher than planned.
For the first week, Roland and the others were able to climb the mountains and mountains with the help of their mounts, and the trip was relatively easy, but as the altitude gradually increased, the terrain became more and more precipitous, and some of the mountain roads were so steep that even antelopes could not cross them, so they had to rely on Nikita to use their flying skills to help them get through the difficulties.
The time has come to the middle of April, the Far Eastern Great Plain is in the early spring season when the grass grows and the warbler flies, but the northern mountains do not understand the customs, still cover the face with ice and snow veils, there is no trace of greenery along the way, even the Veres River that accompanies the road can not hear the sound of waves crashing on the shore, walking on the frozen river surface, the river flows quietly under the thick ice, as if it is a silent river of time.
It took Roland and his team ten days to climb countless snow-capped mountains and glaciers, and finally reached the flat Lucia Plateau on the last Sunday of April.
However, this does not mean the end of the journey, in fact the difficult days have just begun.
Roland stomped his foot hard, and the snow powder fluttered off his almost frozen legs, merging with the snow beneath his feet again.
The horses of the Far East, accustomed to galloping on the plains, wilted as soon as they ascended the mountain, and their steps became vain and staggering, as if they might stumble and fall into the valley at any moment, so they had to dismount and trek through the ankle-length snow with the reins.
Bloom's boar was also snorting and panting, and he looked helpless.
Dwarves love mountaineering, and regard conquering mountains as a noble honor, but in the face of Lucia's lonely ice peak, Bloom can't help but be in awe, and looks at his companion with a kind of pity: "The terrain here is more precipitous than my hometown of Icewind Valley, and the climate is colder, I can't bear it, can you still hold it?"
Veronica let out a breath into her frozen palm, and before she could feel the warmth, her breath froze into a puff of tiny ice crystals.
She rubbed her hands together in vain and complained bitterly: "The snow field under our feet is at least 10,000 feet higher than the Parnia region, the air is thin and cold, I really can't figure out why anyone would choose to settle in such a ghost place" Roland also felt that he couldn't breathe, and thought to himself that it was no wonder that he had to prepare oxygen inhalation devices when climbing high mountains, and people who were used to living on the plains suddenly came to a place with an altitude of more than three thousand meters, and altitude sickness could not be overcome in a moment.
Lyudmila was the only one in the team who immediately adapted to the highland climate, not only climbing the mountains and mountains herself, but also taking the initiative to carry Miss Mage, who had fallen into a semi-comatose state.
Nikita is the weakest of them all.
She came from the Beacon Mountain, which is known as a thousand peaks, in fact, the highest peak of the Beacon Mountain is only 3,000 feet above sea level, where can it be compared with the majestic mountains of Lucia, the thin air on the plateau and the strong sunlight made her dizzy and short of breath, and she fell ill not long after she went up the mountain.
Roland found that Lyudmila still wiped her sweat from time to time in such a cold weather, so you can imagine how much physical consumption there was.
Roland feared that she was overworked and contracted the cold, and repeatedly offered to replace him to carry Nikita for a while so that she could take a breather.
Lyudmila always shook her head and refused, wiping the sweat from her forehead and stubbornly emphasizing that she had grown up in the mountains of Lucia since she was a child, "her body is very good, and she doesn't feel tired at all" Veronica leaned close to Roland and tugged at his sleeve to remind him in a low voice, "Don't say any more, or Sister Mira will really be angry." ” Roland couldn't help but be stunned: "Angry, why" Veronica glanced at him helplessly: "You are usually very smart, why don't you have enough brains at this time, I know that you feel sorry for Sister Mira, I'm afraid that she will be tired, but Sister Mila may not think so, I can't guarantee that you will not suspect that you are being courteous to Nikita, in fact, it doesn't matter if she thinks so, if Nikita also thinks so, hehehe, it will be interesting."
She stuck out her tongue and her expression was ambiguous.
Roland thought about her warning, it seemed that there was some truth, and he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly.
Thinking that there are too many girls around me is also a happy trouble, which one has to be taken care of in place, and it can't be too considerate, so as not to cause misunderstanding and destroy unity.
At this moment, Lyudmila suddenly stopped and half-crouched down to check the traces on the snow.
"Mira, what have you discovered?"
Roland stepped forward to ask the Ranger.
"There are obvious ruts and footprints in the snow."
Lyudmila grabbed a handful of snow powder and pinched it, and continued: "At least hundreds of people escorted the convoy past here, judging from the size of the footprints, they are taller and larger than ordinary people, they should be Kitlanders, most of them wear thick cotton shoes, and more than a dozen people wear leather combat boots, probably the bodyguards of the convoy." ” Veronica also crouched down to observe the marks on the snow, pointing to a particularly large horseshoe-shaped mark and asked the female ranger: "Sister Mira, what kind of animal footprints are these, it looks like a behemoth" Lyudmila nodded, "This is supposed to be a large herbivore, and the Kitlanders of the snowy fields use it as a camel for long-distance transportation.
As he spoke, he grabbed a small ball of snow and showed it to the female ninja, and there was still half-fermented hay left in the snow, which was the product of the camel beast's chewing.
In this endless snowfield, only a caravan would prepare plenty of forage for large animals.
"This caravan passes by here for no more than an hour, the caravan employs nearly a hundred, and there are hundreds of large camel beasts, such a large caravan will not go to small villages and towns to do business, most of them are going to Kitland City, we hurry a few steps, maybe we can take a ride."
Lyudmila concluded.
"Then what are you waiting for, hurry up," Bloom muttered excitedly, "The caravan must have brought a lot of wine, and my shriveled wine bag can finally recover."
Everyone has been trekking on the snowfield for many days, and has never seen people, looking around at the desolation and loneliness, the emptiness makes people panic, and now they find the traces of pedestrians, and they all become excited.
Speed up the pace and climb over the ridge, and the north wind sends the camel bells that jingle the bells, which is refreshing.
Roland brushed away the oncoming snow and squinted his eyes in the direction where the camel bell came from.
Looking through the curtain of wind and snow, he saw a caravan walking on the steep glacier, and hurriedly beckoned his companions to chase after him.
Veronica took a "light step" through the snow and soon reached the glacier, waving her arms and shouting at the caravan, "Hey, wait a minute" There was a slight commotion in the caravan, and soon someone jumped off the back of the camel to soothe the animals, and a man in a leather coat and cloak turned and walked towards Veronica, with a large nine-foot-long greatsword diagonally behind him.
This exaggerated weapon is a level more powerful than an ordinary greatsword, and can only be wielded by gifted Kitlanders except for true giants
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