Chapter 55: Ice Crystal's Assistance
The curling smoke rose from the fire and drifted outward along the holes opened on the roof. After everyone entered, the door of the igloo was closed by the ice crystals. The thick ice walls separated the cold outside and left the warmth in the igloo.
On the jumping flames, thick strips of meat were scalded neatly cut. Under the licking of the flames, large drops of fat were oozing out from the tender strips, and the fat dripped into the flames, making continuous hissing sounds. As the flames were scorching, the strong fragrance drifted out from the strips, filling the entire igloo. Adventurers who had been tortured by fatigue and cold for a day felt indescribable comfort and comfort under the comfort of the sudden warmth and fragrance.
The girls took off their shoes and socks and sat beside the fire, baking their cold hands and feet. Even with thick cotton boots, the temperature around them was too low. After a day's journey, their hands and feet were frozen to the point of being their own. Now, under the warmth of the flames, blood that was like frozen into ice finally began to flow again, and the numb hands and feet returned to their warmth, with a little tingling pain in the warmth. Even the unconscious Vivian acted like everyone under the pressure of Catherine. After all, not feeling does not mean that the hands and feet will not be frostbite. In such a harsh environment, numbness is sometimes more fatal than cold.
"It smells so good." Freya put his hands beside the fire and rubbed it, "In the cold winter, everyone sat around the fire. The beating flames reflected on each face is bright and dark. The aroma of food spreads around. The smell of strong wine makes people drunk. Some are playing the piano, some are singing loudly. The orcs dance the wildest dance on the grassland. Everything next to the fire is so poetic, as if the protagonists in the epic story descended into the world from the legend. Hello, I warn you, I didn't say anything this time. If you dare to knock me with a staff, I will fight you to the death."
"Go." Vivian snorted regretfully, curled her lips, put down the staff she had just raised, looked up at the grilled meat strips. She swallowed her saliva and said, "It's strange. Maybe it's because she's stressed and is very happy every day. Now I feel like everything I eat and have a good appetite."
"So you're just saying that you're hungry, too." Freya licked her lips and said expectantly: "I decided that I'll eat ten yuan later and two large pieces of bread so that I can have a good night's sleep."
"Stop dreaming." Catherine snorted coldly, raised her lips and said, "You are allowed to eat at most four pieces. By the way, you are only allowed to eat one piece of bread, and there is no sweet food after meals, because you have overdose of food at night."
"Sister, you are so cruel." Freya said in horror: "You have been working hard for a day. You must not let me eat enough. If you don't eat enough now, you will not have the strength to rush on the road and fight tomorrow. Maybe I will be bitten to death by the monster. Do you have the heart to watch me become a monster's food?"
"Don't worry, your body-like monster can't be eaten and will be overwhelmed." Even during the cooking process, Panis did not forget to turn around and then retreated under Freya's sorrowful gaze. He lowered his head to continue his work.
"You're coming less." Catherine turned her head and looked at the beautiful princess's shining eyes: "The amount of food I ordered for you is enough for you to consume in one night. If you want to eat more, it's just a greedy thing. And there's breakfast tomorrow, so you won't let you go hungry, so you'll give up."
"Hmm. Demon." Freya hid in the corner with her head in her arms. If she only looked at her resentful eyes, even the statue of stone would be heartbroken. Of course, if she saw her whole body, the statue would be heartbroken. But that was another reason.
With a "swish", Panis picked up a brush soaked in sauce and honey water and carefully applied it to the meat strips that exuded a strong meat aroma. The half-cooked meat turned a faint golden color under the action of honey water. The meat aroma, the sauce aroma and the sweet fragrance of honey water mixed together, fully stimulating the girls' appetite.
"I want this, commoner." Lina looked up like a proud queen, looking down at Panis, pointing to one of the roasted meat strips, "Also, the butter on my bread should be thickened."
"Yes, as you wish, Her Majesty the Queen." Panis cooperated with Lina with a wry smile, put the roasted golden strips of meat on her tray, and then helped her apply a thick layer of butter on the soft and warm bread, and handed it respectfully to the silver-haired girl. Lina took the tray, maintained her reservedness, sniffed the smell obscurely, and said proudly: "It's okay to make it, common people, you will be my royal chef in the future."
"Then I'm really frightened." Panis sighed, and distributed barbecue to the ice crystals who had already surrounded him as if they couldn't wait. They reminded him: "This is specially prepared for you. Just like back then, it tastes very strong and you should like it. When we are full, you will be satisfied. Let's talk about serious things."
Then, the four ice crystals wrestled in the igloo just to compete for four plates of food. Theoretically, ice crystals do not need to eat. As long as there are sufficient free ice elements in the environment, they can directly replenish them and never feel weak. For them, food is not meaningless, but rather a burden. After chewing and swallowing the food, they will try to convert the elemental energy that can be used in the food into ice-attribute elements, and then decompose the rest of the inconvertible parts into free energy and excrete them out of the body. Therefore, after eating, they can obtain very little energy, and instead spend a part of the energy to process these foods, the amount of expenditure is more than what they have obtained, so from the perspective of reason alone, no one will be stupid enough to eat.
However, the ice crystals are naturally curious and lively. These ice crystals have their own hobbies. A small number of them are particularly interested in human food. They like the special taste, which is a unique taste that cannot be experienced in the permafrost wasteland. Therefore, they like to eat with humans they recognize and are willing to repay these foods. More than a hundred years ago, when Pennis was still Kyle, he used food to buy the heart of the blue hands of the ice crystal. This is also the reason why the blue hands asked for food as soon as they solved the problem of wine.
The four ice crystals were fighting and fighting, while the six people in the adventure group each held plates and watched them calmly, all of which were splashing ice. The ice crystals were playing and fighting with each other was actually boring. They had no pain and were very difficult to get hurt. Even if the ice layer on the surface was broken, the ice elements could be supplemented from the environment in a blink of an eye to form a new ice layer. Therefore, the fight between them was a waste of time and would not have any actual effect.
But now it has a practical effect. Those who win can eat more food. Among the four ice crystals, the most pitiful one is the square ice crystal called the obtuse angle. He is only 30 cm tall. Although he is very strong, his combat power is not inferior to the other three. But after all, his size is too small and he is quickly excluded from the other three. However, the size of the small size is also beneficial. Even if the two meat strips he grabbed were large pieces of meat, it would be enough for him to eat for half a day. As for the remaining three, he would not decide the winner, and the number of people ate them in the end was similar. This result made everyone wonder why they broke out in this melee.
"Haha, it's so satisfying to eat." Lan Hand licked the greasy on his fingers and said happily: "Okay, what did you say just now? What are you looking for?"
"Find a ruin." Panis put down his dining plate and wiped the corner of his mouth and said, "It should be underground, a goblin-style ruin. You should know the architectural style of the goblins. Oh, just know, it's the white metal building. Well, the location is about twenty or thirty kilometers nearby. Have you seen it?"
The four ice crystals had already ended the battle and returned to their original friendly state. They looked at each other for a while, shook their heads neatly, and Lan Hand replied to the friends: "I have never seen it before, at least there is no on the ground. As for the bottom of the ice layer, we will not always dive into the ice layer to play even if we have nothing to do."
"Can you help us find it?" Catherine interrupted, "We can be sure that the ruins are within the scope we just mentioned. I just hope you can find the exact location. This matter is very important to us."
"Go down and look for it." Lan Hand looked embarrassed and said hesitantly: "That's a large range. It's very troublesome to find it, and maybe it's buried under the frozen soil layer. It's a very troublesome thing to sneak into the frozen soil layer."
"Three-day food." Panis was not confused by the blue hand's performance. He knew very well why he was embarrassed. He raised three fingers and said, "After the matter is done, I will provide you with three days of food, and it will not be repeated, no matter how it is."
"This is not a food problem." Blue Hand said in a dilemma: "It's really troublesome for us."
"In addition to the ten barrels of the strongest wine, the specialty of the dwarves." Panis ignored the blue hand's ruling and continued to increase the bargaining chips: "As long as things succeed, after we leave the ice field, we will buy it as soon as possible and send it to you, guaranteed to be within one year."
"It won't be like last time again." Lan Hand's eyes lit up and he asked seriously: "I don't want to wait for so many years."
"I said everything, I guarantee it will be within one year." Panis replied affirmatively: "Since I promised you the exact time, I will not exceed the day, don't worry."
"Okay, that's it." Lan Hand slapped the ice heavily and said loudly: "I promised that I must try the three-day food and ten barrels of the strongest wine. What kind of magical taste is the wine that you praised back then."
"Don't forget the premise." Panis reminded: "First of all, you must find the ruins for us. If you don't find the ruins, there will be no such things."
"Don't worry, since you know the approximate range, you will definitely find it." Lan Hand patted his chest and promised: "In three days, we will bring you the results, so you can wait for good news."
"How do you look for it?" Catherine asked, "You said just now, will you dive into the ice? Can you still dive into the frozen soil?"
"Of course, all the ice is our friends." Lan Hand said proudly: "We can freely shuttle through the ice layer. As long as we want, the ice will be similar to you in our eyes. You can go anywhere you want. However, the frozen soil layer is indeed a little troublesome. It is not entirely ice. It takes some effort to dive into it. But at most it is slower and it is absolutely impossible to get in. And if we are lucky and the location of the ruins is not too deep, we don't even need to dive into the frozen soil layer. As long as we pass by, the ice will tell us everything below."
"It's really a convenient ability." Katherine said with some envy: "Can any kind of ice be penetrate in?"
"Of course, as long as it is ice," explained Blue Hand: "We can control the frost freely, and we can merge with the frost at any time. Using this fusion, we can pass through the ice layer, no matter how thick it is. Well, you see the dull angle, we are like him."
At some point, the obtuse angle, which was only thirty centimeters high, had already reached the corner of the wall and was moving his body close to the wall. Under his touch, waves of ripples appeared on the wall made of ice. The obtuse angle half of the body merged into the ripples, and disappeared in a blink of an eye, as if it could pass through the wall. Soon, a sound came from the sealed door. The closed door of the igloo slowly opened, and the small obtuse angle came in from outside the door, and said a few words with a smug look on his face, and sat back to the side of the blue hand.
"You have also seen that this is the ability of our tribe." Lan Hand explained: "If the goal is ice, we can travel at will without any preparation or consumption. This is our natural ability."
"Then please help me, thank you very much." Catherine stood up and bowed deeply to the ice crystals, and said seriously: "I owe you a favor, don't worry, we will never forget the promised agreement, and will definitely send you the reward you promised, and will never delay any further."
"That's good, that's good." Lan Hand smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth: "I made such an agreement. We will start exploring tomorrow morning, and you can wait for us here."
"We are not relieved to just wait." Catherine refused, "This way, you are exploring under the ice. We still want to search on the ice as we originally expected, so that the efficiency can be faster. Don't worry, even if we find it first, the reward you promised will be given to you. But there is a little troublesome thing like this. If you find it, where can we notify us?"
Chapter completed!