21 Scaling the mountains

A few minutes later I moved to a slightly different spot not very far from where we agreed to meet, and I waited for the two there.

I saw Aunt over the distance, on her hands each had a fragrant smell. Are those spices?

"Sorry I'm a bit late. We should get back already. Huh? What happened here?"

"Not really important. By the way, I have two Flame Orbs now."

"That's good news then! Let's leave that little girl behind seeing there are no more Flame Orbs in town."

"This obnoxious big sister really just wants to leave me? Don't tell me you forgot that you still have my necklace."

"Tch. Missed opportunity."

Moments later people started to gather towards the Merchants Union, and seeing the front gates destroyed created quite a ruckus, stirring up noise around the whole area. Some of the patrols and guards even gathered to investigate, but once they talked to the ones near the gates and seemed to look at our direction, they dispersed the people that gathered and put up a few road blocks.

Sorry, whoever the owner is. I'll be sure to make up for the destruction that I somehow made...

We returned to the inn where we kept our things and I couldn't help but listen to the voices talking loudly inside.

"What? Demons? At the Merchants Union?"

"The front gates were destroyed?"

"They said that the Civil Corps already defeated them, and are in hiding."

"This place doesn't feel safe anymore mom..."

"Shh...! Phione is the safest city right now---"

I couldn't hear any more of their chattering because we headed upstairs already towards our room. Of course, we had two rooms and Aunt was together with me.

That night I tried to enter that white space again as I slept.

***

Once again inside, the vortex was still in the same place as ever. There were only a few differences this time.

The azure color somehow disappeared, and the golden vortex took its place, while the red vortex grew the same size as the golden vortex' previous size. Right now it's barely visible because of the white space, but I could see a white vortex that's almost invisible within the core.

I tried to summon Origin from within my body, and it didn't appear. A few seconds later, a large azure vortex appeared in front of me instead, and I can see that a golden vortex spun on its center just as the one at the distance.

I can safely assume that the colors of each vortex have corresponding levels then.

The amount I summoned up at that time with Virol was quite large enough to make my head hurt, and then it compressed into this very same golden color within.

It means I've reached the next threshold for my current power then.

Glancing back at the golden vortex far away, I realized that it's still not the end as there's a white orb at the very center.

I expect this golden energy to turn red after a period of time.

It's just a bit strange that I could still call upon the azure colored light, I guess it will change after it turns fully golden.

Origin sure is a mystery, I don't even know if another person in this world would be able to explain what kind of power I have right now.

***

Inside a room at the top of Merchants Union's highest building...

Virol sat on a sofa while holding a glass of wine, staring at the ceiling.

"So the Beast God was correct after all. He'll really become a monster after a few years."

He put the glass to his mouth and gulped the rest of his drink before mumbling to his self again.

"Just how did he managed to pull that off?"

Virol stood and took another bottle of wine from one of the cupboards in the room.

"It's a good thing that he's a friend, and not a foe instead."

***

The next morning, we packed our bags and prepared to leave. The quietness and the lack of people in the area made the surroundings gloomy. Where did that lively Phione that I knew went two years ago?

I also felt nostalgic about going back to our previous place, but I don't really have any fond memories there. The only place that remained in my memory is the tree where Three and I first met before we went to Borollo. I didn't have the heart to show up in front of her as I would probably have difficulty in continuing my journey without her.

I bet she's to be married within a few years later anyway. Why should I bother making contact if it would only probably make things worse?

With a heavy sigh, I led the way outside, heading towards the northern region of Phione. There were more guards here compared to the other gates. There are also large ballistas at the top of the castle walls, and cannons on the ground. So gunpowder does exist here then?

"To the fort we go."

"To the fort we go!"

"I'm not going to the fort," Kirllia interrupted Aunt's merry declaration and within a instant, her face turned from a smile into an indifferent frown. "I thought you have to cross the fort to get to your place?"

"That's one way to go to my place, but it doesn't mean that there's no other way going there. We could even cut time by a month if we went there. If you're headed for the fort... it won't take more than three months."

A month's time! If we could find Dad faster, then the better. I'm just not sure if we would be able to find him at the fort, but it would be best if we could reach the fort in a shorter time.

Aunt paused for a long time before she suddenly asked, "Just where exactly do you live if not in Labbi?"

"I can't say. People rarely ever go there anyway."

"Aunt, it's also probably just off the map, or it's really close to Labbi like it's how far from Phione to Illa."

"Oh? Make that about three times and there's my hometown. Is that enough of a clue?"

There was another pause, then Aunt replied with her hand on her chin.

"Three times. Besides the Frozen End, there's a mountain range that borders between Phione and Allpeak. That's all I need to know. Shouldn't you head eastward instead?"

"I can't really do that since there's a war going on. I plan to make a detour that's why I'm accompanying you two."

"...Fine. But let Kaff lead the way, and you just point directions as he's the captain."

Kirllia told us our general waypoint. First we have to cross the northern trail which also still consists of forests, and the environment is as the same from Illa. After we reach the end, the environment will start to change. Snow will litter the ground, the surroundings will become cold.

It's said that there's an eternal winter at the northern part of the world. The temperature will gradually reduce as we proceed to go north, and that's what the Flame Orbs are for, to keep our bodies warm. Unless one had a way to keep him or herself warm at extreme colds, a person may freeze within seconds after reaching the second mountain range.

If this world was a spherical globe that's the same as my previous world, then Kirllia's path towards her destination will be rather easier instead of going straight eastward from here. I'm not even sure if there's a map that contained every place in this current world, so I can't make that kind of conclusion right now.

After travelling further north, we'll be able to see a long mountain range kilometers wide, and when viewed from above it stretches over the horizon, extending until near the southern part of Phione, until the west side of Allpeak. They call it the Trinity Mountain Ranges. On the map, it could be seen as a long line that encapsulated Allpeak and Phione, stopping only at a place called Kandria.

Kandria is where Mom's headed for, and it will take her a year before she gets there if I'm correct.

From the current maps that we've bought, no map has Labbi included in it, but Kirllia said that Labbi is surrounded by the Trinity Mountain Range, which shields them from both factions. It was the second part of the mountain range that most cartographers couldn't map really well because of the environment. One may get lost or just get frozen from the sheer natural cold winds that blew from Labbi after crossing the mountain range.

After she explained all of that and having clear goals did we only started to continue our travel through the dense forest that bordered the north of Phione.

We could see a few men in heavy armor on the road, and it looked like they were headed to the fort. We took about an hour before they sped up their pace and continued north. Since our path differed from them, we separated at a crossroad that led to the northwest.

The forest trail spread thinner as time passed, the forest getting thinner as the scenery changed. There weren't much beasts in this place; they were probably cleared by the ones who were sent towards the fort.

Surely enough after the trail ended, we got out of the dense field of trees and greeted a large meadow. I could see a part of Phione from this view, and only realized that the ground was elevated as the city could be seen from above. Maybe it was because our physiques was good enough to not be tired easily even when walking a hike that I didn't notice we were going on a slant.

Since there was no trail anymore, we went north as Kirllia suggested. We may be near the path to the fort but if I'm correct, a small angle in a short distance will deviate a path at a distance. It means the fort is still far north east even if we go straight right now, and Kirllia's directions are really accurate.

Looks like she really knows the exact way going back to her hometown.

The meadows were quite plain, short and thin blades of grasses scattered throughout the area, a few patches were only dried land, and there were barely any animals or insects too. There were a lot of weeds disguised as flowers, I only knew them because of Grandmother.

At the distance I could see a mountain range, the left side was painted green and the right side was a bit lower; It was colored white and more distant.

"Is that the Trinity Mountain Range?" I asked Kirllia, and she nodded.

"This is the first time I'm ever gonna see it."

"Yeah, we could probably even take a few photos as souvenirs."

"Photos?" The two glanced in my direction with their eyebrows furrowed. I forgot that cameras didn't exist here.

"It's nothing. I read somewhere that you can capture something in view, I wonder if we could use that to create an image of us visiting this particular place as a memory."

"Oh, so that's what you meant. I know of a few artists that could paint well, but they cost a lot to hire," Kirllia replied, while puffing her chest up.

Even books are expensive here, no wonder portraits would be so too.

After chatting a while and mesmerizing myself in the far view of the mountains we're about to hike, we continued forward until afternoon came and we prepared camp.

Seeing as there are no nearby wild animals, we used the packed food that we made from earlier as ingredients for tonight's dinner then we slept.

Kirllia said that we could travel walking faster to cut time even for a little bit since there aren't really any dangers within this large meadow. We decided to try what she suggested before going to our respective tents and sleeping.

Before that, I made sure to put out the fire and attempted a skill I really wanted to learn: Flying.

I gathered Origin on my feet and tried to move upwards by continuously making a pushing force downwards, but it still didn't work, and the grass were only blown away, along with a few dirt. This is quite the mess so I stopped my attempts and finally went to sleep.

...

The next day, we started to jog for about fifteen minutes before Aunt told me that our large bag might not hold on any longer; But it was only because our jog turned into a run, and then into a race where the two tried to overtake each other.

After I scolded them for a bit, we jogged properly this time, and within two hours I could see the foot of the mountain, forming at the distance. Looks like we're about to start the climb.