Chapter 233 Better Not
When Aion finally could see Freijard in the distance, he could only see snow in all directions. They arrived in good weather since it wasn\'t snowing. However, the temperature was cold enough that it forced Aion to put some leather layers under his armor to avoid frostbites.
"Freijard is a nation that lives in relative peace, and it is also one of the three largest Islands in the known world," Sauros explained. "The weather is rather tough for pirates, and the nearest nations are thousands of miles away, so attacking this place for them isn\'t worth it."
"In that case, only the monsters of the labyrinth are the real problem," Aion said. "It is hard to say if people here are strong or not."
"Exploring the labyrinth is one of the main businesses here, but they also rely a lot on fishing and farming," Sauros after. "As for their strength, isn\'t that impressive since their sense of urgency is at a low point."
The sea breeze moved along the country\'s coast until nightfall. After that, it stopped near one of the port cities. As soon as they stepped on the snow, Aion confirmed that it was pretty slippery, unlike back home, in which the snow melts pretty fast.
Aion had an easy time skating on the snow since he had some experience in his previous life, and he could propel himself pretty easily with wind magic. It was quite fun to do that…
"We don\'t have to make any stops along the way. All the things that we will need can be found near the labyrinth," Sauros declared. "So, we will walk toward it during the night. The others will come to this place once a week to check if we have returned."
"Do you know how deep the nest group had arrived in the labyrinth?" Aion asked when they began to walk.
"Rumors say that fifty years ago, a group managed to enter the dungeon and advance for two weeks before they were forced to retreat due to low supplies," Sauros replied. "Still, with your magic and Seris\' inventions, we should be able to break that record easily.
If anything, Sauros sure looked confident, even though getting the statue now should be way harder than in the other places.
In any case, the group kept walking during the night nonstop. Aion could have made all of them fly, but the cold wind, while moving, was bound to freeze them. The sky was cloudy as well, so it would be freezing up there… for many other reasons, it would be better if they get used to the cold of the country as they go.
When morning came, Aion\'s nose was leaking a little since the Lancer class didn\'t have much resistance or physical endurance. Still, he got used to the cold. Meanwhile, the other two were trembling all over.
"I have a feeling that you guys will have a hard time inside the labyrinth," Aion said.
"... It will be fine… inside the labyrinth… I can use my power to increase our speed… that will keep us warm," Seris said.
"Using time magic against cold… that sure is a fancy way of using one\'s mana," Aion shrugged.
In any case, the entrance of the labyrinth was pretty close to the place they stopped, so things improved a bit when they saw a large camp that was almost like a town ahead. Seris and Sauros hurried up to approach some campfires and get a bit warmer.
Meanwhile, Aion wanted to see things with his own eyes, but he couldn\'t since he covered them. It was better than using the disguise relic… in any case, he saw plenty while they were approaching. Aside from the tents of those that entered the labyrinth to gather materials or try to conquer, there were people that were buying materials and selling Weapons, armor, and tools. Sole were also offering their services of scout or fighting inside the labyrinth. All that made things pretty lively.
Once they felt a bit better, Sauros and Seris guided Aion around while they were buying things like charcoal, knives, ration, water… and even maps of some areas underground. For some reason, no one was selling large mapped areas, even though no one was actually trying to reach the final part of the labyrinth.
In any case, those three didn\'t draw much attention while they were moving around, even though Aion had his eyes covered. Some people looked at him with weird eyes since he was walking with a spear in his hands, though.
"It seems that you are standing out for an unexpected reason," Seris said.
"Your brother was the one who said that I would stand out if I didn\'t have one and walked with you two," Aion frowned.
Sauros and Seris also had their own weapons that they weren\'t going to use. Their real equipment was going to be finished inside the labyrinth once they got enough data about the things that they were going to face.
Speaking of which, most of the things that Seris brought were too big for them to carry around, so Aion just hid them inside his inventory, and they didn\'t ask anything.
"I guess we are ready to go now," Sauros said. "Just to be safe, act like I am the leader of the group."
"But you are… aren\'t you?" Aion asked. "Or is Seris pulling the strings in the shadows?"
"That sounds like something I would enjoy," Seris said.
"I think it would be better if you guys didn\'t talk much outside the labyrinth as well…" Sauros said and then sighed.
As they approached the entrance of the place, more people began to look at them, but they acted like that wasn\'t their problem. People were curious since they hadn\'t seen them around, and they were walking like they knew what they wanted and would achieve no matter what it took, and that was uncommon for newbies. Still, no one tried to stop them, even more so since the whole group had a peculiar air around them…