Pioneering the Apocalyptic World - Chapter 133

Chapter 03: Let’s cross the mountains

It seems that the realm of the wind god and the realm of the earth god are separated by a high and long mountain range.

There are mainly three routes to move between the realms.

The first route is to go straight over the mountains. There are some steep parts, but not all of the route is dangerous, so we will have to choose relatively safe parts to cross. At present, I don’t have any way of flying, so we have to walk steadily to get there.

The second route is to go along the large river and take a detour from the southeast side. Although it is quite a long detour, it is fairly safe if you follow the river shore near the base.

The third route is to go north and cross the sea. This is also a longer detour compared to going over the mountains, but it’s not as long as the southeast route.

Of these, I chose to cross the mountain. That’s because–

“Because it’s the most promising route in terms of materials, right?”

“… You understand me very well.”

YES, that’s right.

Well, because there are a lot of minerals in the mountains, right? It’s a material type that tends to be in short supply near our base, so I want to get it…

However, my decision was not made solely based on the materials.

It seems like the southeast route is quite far away. Putting aside going downstream, we are talking about going upstream, so we won’t be able to get on a boat and just go quickly in that direction, it’ll probably take too long. Huh? After taking a lot of detours so far, how I dare to say that? I’m sorry.

As for the northern sea route, it’s simply scary. After all, I still haven’t been able to create an underwater breathing item. We don’t know what kind of monsters are there, and if the boat is destroyed, it’ll be the end for us, which is a problem.

Well, the mountains are dangerous too, there are risks such as sand and dirt collapsing from above and falling down, or simply slipping and falling down… But for me, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

“Well, since it’s about Rion-sama, when you knew that there are materials there, you’d probably do that.”

“Sounds like a thing that Rion would do.”

“It can’t be helped since it’s about Rion-san.”

… Ah, yes. I’m so grateful that you guys seem to understand…

But when I consider not only the materials, but also the time and risk, that route seems to be the best… I don’t plan on climbing any steep slopes.

In my game days, it might have been safer to dig into a mountain and create a tunnel (as long as you were careful about the material above you, there was no danger of it collapsing). But currently, I cannot make an unlimited supply of high-rank pickaxes, so that method cannot be adopted. Let’s think about tunnels only after the world is at peace, the number of residents increases, and it becomes necessary to travel back and forth between the realms.

Speaking of tunnels, I wonder if there are dwarves somewhere in these mountains?

While elves are a race that specializes in magic, dwarves are a race that specializes in blacksmithing and craftsmanship. They often lived in mountains and mined them to obtain materials for making items.

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough knowledge about blacksmithing. I want to keep in touch with them, both to ask for their teachings and to have them take over the task of making alcohol for the Earth God.

It seems like they could live there. However… In this ‘state’, it would be impossible to encounter them unless we were extremely lucky.

“… I thought it was huge like the great river, but… That’s even more overwhelming…”

Regulus was looking at the mountains with his mouth wide open. Not only Regulus, but also me and everyone else, although our expressions may differ, our impressions are the same.

A mountain range as far as the eye could see towered in front of us.

I wonder how long it is from end to end. Once you see this majesty, I can only imagine how much trouble would be trying to take a detour around them.

However, since they’re also long vertically, it is not easy to climb the mountains. At high places, their altitude is higher than the clouds. However, fortunately there are some differences in elevation between each mountain, I would like to think that we can manage if we choose a lower place to cross. Since it’s summer, it should be much easier to climb compared to winter when it’s covered in snow… I definitely want to avoid climbing mountains in winter. I’m a miko, not a mountain climbing specialist.

… If something were to happen, Uru and I could cross it alone, and once we crossed it, we would create a return stone and pick everyone up. Well, think about it that way, just the fact that there’s an alternative plan is a source of comfort.

“Well then… Let’s go.”

“Umu.”

As usual, I set up a save point (stone statue) at the foot of the mountain, returned once, and the next day after strengthening the statue’s defenses so that it wouldn’t be easily destroyed, I urged everyone to progress.

The earth god has taught me a relatively easy route to climb. However, that knowledge seems to be from before she was sealed, so there is a strong possibility that the terrain has changed. While using it as a temporary guideline, we will have move while adjusting the route.

With Uru in the lead, me and Fricka in the center, and Regulus and Liese in the rear, we set out.

It is said that the rain that falls all over this mountain area converge to form that large river, so I wonder if there is plenty of water here? Despite being in the wastelands, the foothills were covered with trees, making visibility difficult, and the sun was being blocked out, making it a bit dark even though it was still morning. The area underfoot is covered with grass and moss, and is slippery, so we need to be very careful.

“… It looks similar to the forest around Alness Village, but it also feels a bit different.”

Fricka looked around and muttered… By the fact that she is not falling over here, I guess she has grown a little. But I guess that’s better to not tell her my thoughts.

If it was me from a while back, my impression would be ‘isn’t the type of wood a bit different?’ But now although it was only a minor difference, I know that there is actually another difference.

“There’s a difference in vegetation…. Only a little bit, but I think the difference in attributes is more important.”

“… Attributes?”

“Alness Village was the domain of the Wind God, so the influence of the wind attribute is strong, but here, the earth god’s domain is right next to it, so the earth attribute is mixed in… Apparently.”

There was such thing into the knowledge instilled in me by the Earth God… To be honest, there are so many things there that’s hard to search them up at command, so I’m far from using them effectively. As an comparison, even if I have a detailed database, I still can’t easily think of the words to search for the contents. It’s a wasted treasure. Gununu.

Until now, I had a certain degree of understanding of the attributes of materials. Because it can become a catalyst for magic tools.

However, I learned that there are detailed parameters for that attribute value as well.

For example, a garnet. It is a catalyst with fire attribute. I had always thought that it only had the fire attribute, but… It seems that depending on the conditions of the production area, there may be a slight mixture of other attributes.

Therefore, in order to create a higher-ranking magic tool, it became necessary to select a pure fire-attribute garnet with no other attributes mixed in.

“Thinking about it in that way, perhaps all the materials at the boundaries of the realms won’t be of much use?”

“Actually, that’s not always the case; it depends on what you want to make.”

Liese, who seemed to be listening to the story, asked a question from behind.

Certainly, they won’t be very useful in a situation where ‘highly pure substances’ are required.

However, on the contrary, there are cases that can be used for ‘things that may have multiple attributes’ or ‘things that require multiple attributes.’.

For example, If you make arrows using the trees that grow here, you can make arrows that are both light and strong.

“Ah, that’s why Rion has been itching to collect them since a while ago.”

I was shocked by Regulus’ point… I guess it was obvious from behind.

I want materials for research, but if I only collect materials, we won’t be able to progress at all… I can also be responsible sometimes, okay?

“Don’t worry too much and neglect your vigilance, okay? I’m being as careful as I can, but I can’t say it’s absolute. Considering our position, Rion is the one who can protect Fricka the most.”

“…… Yes.”

Uru gave me a warning without even looking back at me. I can’t argue at all, so I can only nod obediently.

“But if it’s during the break time, I can collect them, right?”

“… Can you call that a break…?”

What are you talking about? It’s an important recovery factor for me.