***
Two days later.
Byrone City.
Aiden had prepared the supplies he needed. Since he was still unable to swing a sword, his best option was to carry a dagger.
Not only a dagger, he brought a few slices of bread and a change of clothes in case there was any trouble in the Fog Hills that made it difficult for him to return.
Once everything was ready, Aiden stepped out of his house in the midnight hour. He heard his father snoring, a sign that he and Leonora were already fast asleep. That way, no one would know Aiden was gone.
He walked in the other direction with the intention of arriving at the Fog Hill, the scene was fairly quiet and deserted, only the chirping of birds and the rubbing of tree branches could be heard.
Not long after, Aiden stopped walking and looked ahead. He had a clear view of Fog Hill, the dangerous place that took Nathan's life five years ago.
'Nathan.May you always be at peace in the beyond,' Aiden said.
After checking that the surroundings were safe, Aiden took out his dagger and stepped inside. His right hand held the dagger and his left held a lit torch.
He continued to walk up the hill, marking every tree so he would know where to go.
The howls of the wolves were getting louder, but not so close. Every time Aiden heard it, he stopped his steps for a moment until the roar was completely gone.
"It looks like the monsters are at the top of the hill," Aiden replied.
When he reached a significant height, Aiden stopped walking and sheathed his dagger. He took the herb compass the old man had given him and activated it.
[Herb Compass]
[Activates Herb Compass]
[Detects herbs in 500m radius]
[Cavern Salt detected]
[Black Moss detected]
[Swamp Root detected]
[Hazel Galangal detected]
[Summer Anise detected]
[Select the herb to go to:]
There were five types of herbs found by Aiden within a 500m radius circle. Of the five, two of them are the type of herb that Aiden was looking for. For each type of herb, Aiden only needs one.
[Herb Hazel Galangal selected]
[Herb Summer Anise selected]
The screen on the herb compass began to show a green arrow pointing to the right side, to take Hazel Galangal. Aiden followed the arrow, not forgetting to mark each tree with his dagger.
Suddenly, the screen on the herb compass turned off and Aiden saw a Hazel Galangal plant growing wild near the trees' roots. Aiden crouched down and picked up the herb, leaving three more materials.
Resuming his journey, Aiden stepped south to arrive at the place where the Summer Anise herb grew.
Not far from Hazel Galangal, the Summer Anise flower grew on a tree branch, forcing Aiden to climb the tree and pick it from above.
"Two herbs can be picked up easily, it looks like I can find the other two quickly," Aiden replied.
Just as Aiden climbed down from the branch, he was shocked to hear a roar nearby.
He looked to the side and around him, the white-horned wolves were good at camouflaging their presence in the fog of this hill.
"They are close to me. I'd better hurry up!" said Aiden.
Aiden set off running up the hill in line with the herb compass, even though the compass had not detected the whereabouts of Blister Leaf and Ocean Sumac.
Occasionally, Aiden glanced back and was shocked to see three white-horned wolves chasing him.
The speed at which the three wolves were chasing him was extremely fast. Aiden felt he had no other choice, so he stopped walking and turned around, looking fully at the three monsters.
[Eye of the Beast King Talent Activated ]
[Skill: Beast Control]
[Beast: White Horned Wolf]
[Level: B]
Aiden's eyes turned bright red, the effect of his Eye of the Beast King talent had activated. He focused the beast control on one of the three wolves, that was because Aiden was still unable to control three beasts at the same time.
"You! Protect me and kill those two wolves!" Aiden snapped.
One of the wolves responded with reddened eyes, the monster immediately fought as it bit and clawed at its fellow wolf pack.
That gave Aiden the opportunity to leave. He managed to escape and found a small cave near a waterfall, the perfect place to hide.
His breathing was ragged, his legs were aching, and the sweat was drying up due to the cold temperature.
Not wanting to freeze to death, Aiden opened his bag and took out a blanket to cover his body, but it still felt cold.
'It's strange, it's not cold outside, but why is it so cold inside?' Aiden asked.
He watched the cave walls carefully. His attention was distracted when he saw that the rocks on the cave walls were covered in ice flowers, a unique but strange sight.
'Ice flowers?This isn't the mountains, nor the poles.It should be warm during the day and melt these ice flowers,' said Aiden.
Aiden turned his head and looked towards the depths of the cave, somehow he felt a strange sensation inside of it.
With great caution, Aiden stepped inside while being lighted by the torch he was carrying. To his shock, there was an ice nest inside the cave, with a single egg stored inside of it.
Aiden didn't know what creature had made this nest; wolves are mammals, they don't lay eggs.
Slowly, Aiden walked closer while examining the surroundings of the nest. Intrigued by the herb quest, the man activated his herb compass again.
[Herb Compass]
[Activating Herb Compass]
[Detect herbs in 500m radius]
[Black Moss detected]
[Hazel Galangal detected]
[Pearl Cassia detected]
[Blister Leaf detected]
[Ocean Sumac detected]
[Cliff Caraway detected]
[Select the herb to go to:]
Sure enough! Blister Leaf and Ocean Sumac were in the surroundings, meaning the search for the four herbs was almost over.
'I'd better take the egg home to protect it,' Aiden replied.
He took out the items in his bag so that the rugby ball-sized egg would fit comfortably in his bag. Once it was properly stored, Aiden left while following the instructions to find the other two types of herbs.
About 30 minutes of searching, Aiden had completed the four types of herbs he needed. The situation inside the fog hill was getting tense, there were howls of wolves appearing from various directions.
"I have to go home before it's too late," said Aiden.
Aiden headed down the hill by sticking to the markers he'd made on each tree. The way down was much easier than the way up, and Aiden could see the ban monument at the bottom of the hill as a sign that he had made it out.
Finally, Aiden was fully outside the fog hill. He managed to find the four types of herbs, as well as a mysterious blue egg.
"People might get suspicious of me. I'd better return home," Aiden said.
Not wanting to linger, Aiden went to his house by entering through the back door. It was 4am, and Aiden had been gone since midnight.
That meant Aiden had been in Fog Hill for four hours. Four precious hours because he was able to find four types of herbs and a mysterious egg.
Aiden opened the door to his room and locked the door from the inside. He placed the four herbs on the nightstand and the mysterious blue egg on the bed.
Unexpectedly, Aiden's hand felt a piercing chill as it touched the egg's surface.
"I've never found an egg like this in my life. Are there monsters with ice attributes?" Aiden asked.
Even so, Aiden saw no sign that the ice egg would hatch anytime soon. Aiden was a researcher, he'd been doing it for years and he knew what to do with this egg.
"I'm not going to incubate it, I'd rather change the environment around it to make it favorable for hatching," Aiden said.
"I need to prepare some things, but I don't know where to start."
"It's best to ask the old man. He should have the answer."