Ash moved forward with great effort through the snowy plains of BlizzViel. The snow was piled so high that it reached his calves.
Gabriel and the others struggled as much as he did, even though they had snowshoes strapped on to make walking easier.
Meanwhile, Jagu bounced joyfully in the snow, as if inviting someone to play along with him.
This annoyed Ash, and he grumbled at Jagu who were lunging at him, causing both of them to tumble into the snow.
The wind blew fiercely, chilling them to the bone despite their thick, layered clothing, making it hard to stay warm.
As night fell, they found a shallow cave with an overhang and started a campfire to brew hot coffee to warm themselves and roasted the meat from the beasts Ash had hunted in the savannah.
Gabriel and Albert were already sound asleep when Liliana moved closer to Ash, leaning her body gently against his.
Ash squinted slightly as he glanced at her, but then he wrapped his arm around Liliana's shoulder and pulled her close to his chest.
Liliana was a bit surprised by Ash's unusual reaction, but she smirked and hugged him tightly in return.
"It's so cold," Liliana whispered softly.
Ash remained silent, his expression calm and steady.
She looked up at Ash's face, curious about his silence, but Ash met her gaze and smiled.
"Stay still like this, and you'll feel warm," he said.
Not expecting him to act this way—so unlike his usual self—Liliana began to think that Ash might finally be interested in her.
She placed her cold hand on Ash's face, and he gently held her hand against his cheek.
The warmth of his skin made her smile, and she pulled his face closer, kissing him softly on the lips.
This time, Ash responded to the kiss gently, but gradually it became more intense.
Their breaths began to become ragged.
He started kissing her neck and shoulders, making her moan slightly.
Then he pulled her body closer and began kissing her chest, making her hugged his head and buried her fingers in his hair.
But suddenly Ash stopped his actions, pretending to hear Gabriel waking up. She was also surprised and returned to her original position.
Liliana's breath and face turned red as she buried her face in Ash's chest, while Ash smirked.
'It's time to find out what she's planning by teasing me like this,' Ash thought to himself.
"Better if we sleep," Ash whispered softly.
Liliana simply nodded, her heart racing this time because of Ash's actions.
***
The next day, they continued their journey toward the location of the object they were searching for.
However, the snow was no longer at calf height—it had risen to knee height.
With Mason gone, and them forgetting to retrieve his items when he was devoured by the Komodo creatures, they now found themselves without a snow blower.
Gabriel's suggestion to use Spidy proved unsuccessful as Spidy couldn't handle the cold.
The same went for Centaurion, who was equally affected by the freezing temperatures.
Ash finally understood why no living creatures could survive in BriezzViel. The environment was too harsh for any form of life to endure.
The trees, reduced to just trunks and branches, stood scattered randomly across the land. Not a single green plant could be seen.
The wind blew relentlessly, often so strong that it made it hard for them to breathe.
Finally, with great effort, they arrived at the site where the objects they were searching for were located.
The site was located right beneath three large, flat oval-shaped stones. Two of the stones were positioned on either side, while the third rested on top of them, resembling the shape of a doorway.
Gabriel, assisted by Albert and Ash, dug through the snow beneath the flat stones. Once all the snow was cleared away, they uncovered a large iron door that lay flat with the ground.
As they lifted the iron door, it let out a loud, screeching noise from the rust.
Underneath the door, they found an entrance leading underground with a staircase descending into the earth.
The stone staircase was completely dark, so Albert went in first and lit a torch, ensuring it wouldn't go out from the wind.
Once his torch was lit, he began lighting the torches hanging on the walls of the place.
The stone path gradually became illuminated by the torchlight, and they all entered one by one. Gabriel, who was the last to enter, closed the entrance door behind him with a loud thud.
Albert kept walking, lighting all the torches hanging on the walls as the others followed closely behind, including Jagu.
Ash observed the corridor carefully and noticed that its walls were made of hardened clay. The texture was smoother, with a dark brownish color, resembling dried mud or pottery.
The corridor stretched out for a considerable distance and ended in a large room. In each of the room's four corners stood braziers for torches.
The walls and floor of the room were constructed from iron plates, and there was a single open doorway directly opposite the entrance to the room.
Albert lit the braziers one by one and then extinguished the torch he carried.
Gabriel then motioned for the whole team to sit in the center of the room.
"Alright. Now, we will go over all the items we need to find and figure out how we're going to locate them," he said once everyone had taken their seats.
"These are all the items we will be searching for," he said while handing out a piece of paper to each person.
Ash took his paper and read the list:
1. Ancient Scrolls
2. Rune Stones
3. Potion Bottles
4. Dragon Scale
5. Crystal Orb
6. Firestone
7. Silver Dagger
8. Enchanted Swords
9. Worn-out Map
10. Elven Bow
"Hmmm. Not too many," Ash said, prompting laughter from the rest of the group.
He stared at them in confusion as they continued laughing. "Did I say something wrong?"
Albert, still chuckling, explained, "You have to collect at least twenty of each item on the list. So, in total, that's two hundred items."