"You were right, Astor! I made the right choice!" Dawn chuckled as he grabbed Astor's shoulder once again.
Right choice? Anyways... he really likes touching my shoulder, doesn't he? Astor grimaced. However, after a second, he too turned north and stared at what lay beneath the rising pillar of white light.
The glacier they had climbed at the beginning was just a small extension of the real glacier, which was now practically covering everything from east to west, and north to south.
However, right in the middle of this giant frozen body was a deep circular ravine.
This giant ravine separated a large chunk of the glacier, and right in the middle of this chunk was the source of the veil.
It was a statue. A large stone statue of a man in his mid 20's, clad in armour, wearing a long draping cape.
The statue stood on a circular stone platform, which was encompassed by a circle of pulsing runes.
The same runes in which the artifacts speak in...
The statue held onto a giant staff, almost as tall as itself, with both hands. And from the tip of this staff rose a blinding white light — the beacon
"Those runes. They are made from the dust of a special type of Element Ore. If I can reach those runes, and they don't teleport me to another hellhole — I can find my way back to human civilisation!" Dawn said, snickering.
Teleport...? Astor wondered. Perhaps the voice he had heard in the alley had done something similar to those runes.
Dawn began walking north once more, now heading to the statue. Astor and Rose started walking right behind him, now at a faster pace than ever.
The massive ravine was at least 20 meters wide. There was no way they could just jump over that.
However, luckily, there were two old wooden bridges connecting the main body of the glacier to the chunk separated by the circular ravine.
And after a while of walking, once they reached the outer edge of the ravine, they began to trace it westwards.
Eventually reaching one of the old wooden bridges that was held together by two ropes, as it waved in the wind above the pitch darkness of the ravine.
Can this thing really hold the weight of 3 people?! How old even is it?! Astor doubted the bridge and its mouldy wooden planks. But seeing how Dawn had already taken a step onto it, he calmed himself down.
After Dawn took a few steps forward, Rose began walking on the bridge as well.
Now, Astor was the only one left standing on the glacier.
He was about to take a step onto the bridge; however, before he could, he felt something strange once again... the same feeling of terror, and the same chill down his spine.
He slowly turned south; however, he saw nothing but the jagged and bumpy floor of the glacier for miles, dimly reflecting the light of the beacon and the rising sun.
But as he focused, he saw something moving. A dark, distorted figure was sprinting to the side of the ravine opposite them — towards the second bridge...
What?! Don't tell me... However, as the distorted figure approached closer, Astor could see that it was the silhouette of a wolf... a large wolf.
Regulus?! But how?! How can a wolf climb a slope like that?! Damn it! Astor wanted to think and come to an answer, but there was no time to do so. He rushed onto the bridge as fast as he could.
Dawn and Rose had already made it halfway across, but after feeling the bridge shake, they suddenly stopped and turned back to look at Astor.
"H-Hey!? What the hell are you doing?! You want all of us to fall and die?!" Rose yelped.
And as for Dawn... he simply observed Astor's terrified look and understood what it meant. Turning back around, Dawn began sprinting as fast as he could to reach the opposite end of the bridge.
By now, the wolf had made it to the second bridge and had begun crossing its narrow body, making it shake violently.
However, unfortunately for the trio, the bridge did not collapse, and the wolf made it onto the separated chunk of the glacier before Dawn could.
And by the time Dawn could make it to the opposite side of the bridge, the wolf had sprinted and had already reached the statue.
Then, right as the sun finally began to peak above the edge of the horizon, its first warm and golden rays hitting Astor and the glacier all around him, the wolf finally revealed its true self. It's white fur shimmering under the bright light of the beacon.
But something was strange...
As a few minutes passed, and Astor and Rose crossed the ravine and made it onto the separated chunk, the wolf continued to stay still — it didn't move.
It simply stood there beneath the staff of the statue, as if waiting for something to happen.
What the hell is wrong with it?! Not hungry anymore? Although Astor was so terrified seeing the wolf once more, he couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that he had misjudged the scale of Borealis once again.
Regulus, a monster the size of a house, was not even a quarter the size of the stone statue.
As Astor took a step forward to stand right beside Dawn and Rose, Dawn turned towards him and asked a question, "Hey, Astor. Maybe it's a little late to ask this, but do you know how to fight?"
"Well, of course, I know how to fight. I have lived my whole life in the Sink. But if you're asking that to know if I can fight that thing... then my answer would be no." Astor responded in a calm, yet shaky voice.
"Really? The Sink? I didn't know you were from that hellhole. As for the second part... well, that's too bad. If you want to return home, then you'll have to do as I say."
Dawn responded as he let go of his sword, making it pierce through the surface of the glacier, melting the ice and boiling the water as its tip went deeper in.
He then stepped forward and slowly removed his cloak, throwing it to his side, revealing his slender, pale body, and the bandages strapped to his torso... However, Astor noticed something strapped to Dawn's chest, hidden beneath the bandages.
A large green crystal, the size of his palm. At first, Astor thought it was just an ordinary rock, but as he stared at it, he realised that it was pulsing faintly...
Element Ore! Astor realised.
Element Ore is a special type of mineral that is formed only in harsh and specific conditions. It is a clump of a type of raw Element.
But because of the harsh conditions they require to form, they are extremely rare! Ever rarer than jewels and gold!
Most royals and nobles wear them as fashionable and expensive accessories. And yet here Dawn was, travelling around a deadly continent with one the size of a man's palm, strapped to his chest.
Just like Gates, Ore could also be classified into tiers and types. The green colour meant it was of the Tempest Element, and as for the haziness and dullness within the crystal, it wasn't of a very high tier.
But still, how did Dawn have such a large Element Ore??
Who is this guy...? Astor suspected that Dawn couldn't be just any ordinary criminal, but now he was sure of it.
"60 seconds," Dawn said, removing his sword from the glacier,
"I need you two to fight it for 60 seconds." He then flipped the blade around and pointed the hilt at Astor. Holding it loosely in a way suggesting Astor take it.