Surviving The Fourth Calamity

After Lynn's visit, Hill finally felt what true dead of winter was like.

The reason Lynn shamelessly asked Hill for a grand fruit meal was not only because he knew mages always had a lot of supplies, but also because once the severe cold arrived, he wouldn't be able to leave the tavern.

Many single adventurers choose to move into a tavern in winter; they don't want to be alone in a dark little house, idly burning firewood.

Moreover, there are some people who have no problem using a knife to chop people, but asking them to calculate how much firewood they need to survive the winter is like asking for their life.

These adventurers would rather save some money and give it to Lynn.

But likewise, Lynn doesn't dare leave the tavern carelessly. Adventurers, even if not from an evil faction, are not exactly saints.

Without sufficient deterrent, the tavern could turn into a den for demons, and Lynn would not let his place become a headquarters for evil forces.

No matter where Lynn got the information from, on the day after he left Hill satisfied, the temperature outside plummeted, and the heavy snow almost blocked out everything as it fell to the ground.

Quel'var Town fell into complete silence, and Hill also received the last batch of books from Mage Hughes, along with his brief apology letter. Within 45 days, Mage Hughes could no longer copy books for Hill.

Hill estimated for a moment and understood why Hughes had braved such heavy snow to leave; Hill had given him several gold bars over time, and today's books had almost completed all the orders.

Although full of desire for money, Mage Hughes would not violate the law of equivalent exchange.

However, sometimes, if you don't know the true value of things, then their equivalent exchange might not be so honest; of course, if you are unaware, it is still equivalent. He trades his knowledge for your ignorance.

What truly made Hill realize the horror of the northern winter was that the Forest Array he summoned was affected by the weather.

It was a real projection, supposed to endure several times more than the local plants, but perhaps the dimensional space it originated from had never been so cold before. Even though it didn't affect their main body, these giant trees had also fallen into a deep sleep.

The maze was safe because these tall trees continuously monitored everything around; their sleep suddenly reduced the maze's power by half.

Maybe just as Lynn said, no one would come looking for trouble at this time, but Hill was still a little uneasy.

But he thought about many methods, most of which would probably need Marsha to oversee, and Hill didn't want to waste his Tower Spirit's energy guarding an empty snow field every day, waiting for an enemy that might never appear.

In the end, Hill reluctantly tried the Water Element Puzzle Lock, and unexpectedly, it succeeded. Indeed, ice is water.

The snow grew heavier and denser, merging with the ice mist floating in the air.

Hill looked at the maze outside every day, wanting to know if anyone came to test the power of the puzzle lock.

But it seems that even the visitors from the shadows couldn't endure this harsh environment, or maybe they couldn't conceal their presence in these conditions?

Hill's maze remained quiet, just like Quel'var Town, aside from the sound of falling snow, there was no other movement.

Although it was in a dimensional space, it wasn't completely unaffected by the outside world; outside the villa, the narrow stretch of coast had formed a thin layer of ice, and the beach had turned into a natural slide.

Agleya, however, really liked this icy environment. Every day, she would break the newly formed ice in the early morning and search for her thoughts in the icy water mixture.

She was practicing very hard, trying to bring her spells together into a ring, even forming a puzzle lock.

Hill lay lazily on his long sofa, watching Agleya's struggles, sipping fruit wine, and occasionally glancing at the long list of spells hanging in the center of the study, feeling like he was back in the Magic Tower in Teraxil.

Back then, he sat on the balcony outside the study, enjoying his breakfast with the numerous fun episodes of Agleya's daily battles with the Undead Tribe, leading a pleasant and comfortable life.

But since leaving Teraxil, even though in a safe place, Hill had always lived on tenterhooks.

After all, safety is relative; facing the unknown world, no one can be completely reassured.

Instead, after arriving at Ferun, Hill no longer worried about his safety; he had countless ways to escape.

No matter how severe the chaos, at least Ferun Great Land wasn't so easy to be blown to pieces or to slip into the Bottomless Abyss.

And Hill also knew what imminent danger was about to come.

Although for ordinary people or low-level professionals, encountering any dragon would be catastrophic, it wouldn't necessarily pose a danger to Hill.

He hadn't wanted to come to Ferun at first, not wanting to see a world full of wounds, and it wasn't suited for him to travel everywhere.

Hill didn't know how others might choose upon arriving in the world of Ferun, but he would definitely travel across the whole of Ferun and then go see the other continents of the Toril World.

Especially that strange eastern continent, he wanted to know, as the physical manifestation of various god systems, if there was a Heavenly Court, and what kind of dragons the eastern dragons were.

If there were things to do, then in fact, winter passed quickly.

When Hill realized that Agleya's daily ice-breaking activities could no longer continue, the almost solidified ice mist outside began slowly to turn into smoke.

Under the sunlight, the sense of slowly vaporizing in the snowy land looked like a fairyland.

Even Agleya, who was annoyed that the Magic Ring was not yet completed, couldn't help but crowd at the entrance of the Dimensional Space, clinging to the door to look outside, and she was even unwilling to look at the glowing screen in the hall.

On the day when the vaporized ice fog finally turned into water vapor, Agleya plunged into the sea. She already had a bit of inspiration, and now what she needed was to integrate her thoughts.

The sea was her source of power, no matter which world it was from.

Outside, people began to appear in Quel'var Town.

Although it was still the dead of winter, for the Professionals, wearing leather coats was enough to step out of their homes.

However, they still couldn't go to the wilderness, because no matter how thick the leather coats were, they were not their own skin, and movements were still restricted, even bending an arm to draw a bow was impossible.

After spending over a month indoors during the winter, even those whose faith was not so devout would choose to visit their own temple.

This was the first time that so many people had appeared in front of Hill's door.

The townspeople were already very aware of the boundaries of Hill's Maze Formation. Even when passing by in small groups, they would point and make comments, but nobody intended to test whether Hill's maze was affected by the dead of winter.

However, Hill heard that they were betting on him again.

Two-thirds of the people thought that the maze was at its weakest now.

Any tree, once it goes into dormancy, would definitely wait until spring blooms to awaken, unless forcefully awoken.

But these people didn't think a Nature Mage with Elven Bloodline would do something to harm the great trees.

Every time nature's laws were defied to awaken them, it would significantly shorten the lifespans of these trees, and most of the awakened great trees could never become Treants again.

Hill indeed would not do such a thing.

Lynn also thought that Hill wouldn't, but he also knew that in Ferun, people in every corner despised having a powerful presence nearby whose strength they could not discern.

He forcefully drove those who had squatted in his tavern through the winter out; the coldest of the winter had passed, and these people wouldn't die even if they slept on the streets, not to mention that each of them actually had their own homes.

Settling down in Quel'var was quite easy, with no money-grubbing mayor, so one could choose a piece of vacant land in the town for just 5 Gold Coins.

What was needed here was combat ability, no one expected to make much money from these folks.

Whether it was the temple or the library, the most important task was actually defense, so the priests and mages who came here were fairly strong in combat, but weaker in other areas.

Otherwise, the priests of the three temples wouldn't lack interest in preaching.

Lynn checked his supplies, tidied his house quickly, and hurried over to Hill's place.

He knew Hill lived inside a Dimensional Space, so in theory, there shouldn't be any problems.

But to have a Dimensional Space that lasted so long, a golden radiance had already hung over Hill's head; one couldn't manage such a thing without being incredibly wealthy.

Like Hughes, he knew that living in a Dimensional Space during winter would be more comfortable, but he definitely wouldn't do it, otherwise he couldn't live in a mansion, even a cottage could be managed.

Hughes wouldn't even use a Magic Array that brought warmth, preferring to heat with firewood like ordinary people.

Of course, that might also be because apart from copying scrolls, he had no other skills.

Unlike Hill, a Nature Mage, who could easily find ways to make money, Hill would certainly practice Alchemy Pharmacy, which was a fundamental skill of Nature Mages.

With difficulty, Lynn trampled through the snow on the ground and reached the entrance of the maze.

Those lazy people, rather than digging a path, preferred to step into deep holes!

Sometimes Lynn really wanted to do it himself, but he still wanted to maintain the dignity of a sheriff.

And once he dug a path once, he might have to do it for a lifetime, which he was absolutely unwilling to do.

He looked up at Melikai's Temple, only the priests of this Goddess could command those Rangers, wondering if there could be a priest willing to interact with people.

Not to mention the last one who joined the Dragon Worship Church, even the one before that wasn't interested in meddling in others' affairs.

But that one was actually a Druid, so a preference for nature was normal.

The Church of Melikai actually had no organization, sending people anywhere was voluntary, and this parish was already well-established, so it's no wonder there's no priest who likes communicating with people.

But isn't the Dragon Worship Church causing trouble?

For the moment, Lynn gave up thinking, looked up and smiled, "Long time no see, Marsha. Why is there so much fog here?"