Travelling to BlizzViel

That morning, Ash was preparing to journey to the northern region in the game. The trip would take some time, so he packed plenty of supplies.

His inventory was mostly filled with food, drinks, clothes, and other necessities that might be useful there. John had given him some gold coins and gemstones just in case he needed them, even though Ash had insisted on refusing.

"This is a gift from an uncle to his nephew, you must not refuse it," John had said yesterday.

He also gave Ash some advice on how to survive and how to face opponents stronger than him, whether they were humans or animals. Ash was very grateful to him and promised to return quickly.

A jeep carrying five members of the expedition set off, accompanied by some town residents, including John.

Ash watched the small town recede from his view with a heavy heart. The town had begun to feel like home, especially because of Uncle John, the family he had just recently found again.

Liliana, who was sitting next to him, gently patted Ash's hand, "We will come back," she said reassuringly.

Ash looked at her for a moment, then nodded.

The team consisted of five people: Gabriel, who sat in the front passenger seat, Mason, who was driving the jeep. Liliana, Albert, and Ash himself sit at the back seat.

John had personally asked Gabriel to look after and guide Ash, while Liliana insisted on joining the team this time. The other members volunteered to come along.

Throughout the journey, they exchanged stories and jokes, making the trip enjoyable. Eventually, they arrived at the bank of a large river. By then, the sun was directly overhead, marking midday.

A large bridge, wide enough for two cars to pass, connected both sides of the river. They stopped for a moment before crossing the bridge to have lunch.

After finishing their meal, they directed their jeep to cross the bridge. The bridge was made of wood, and some of the planks were already damaged.

Ash held onto the edge of the jeep with a sense of dread, looking down at the river from the high bridge.

Mason noticed him through the passenger side mirror and laughed, "Relax, Ash. We've crossed here many times."

"Hahaha," Ash laughed nervously and shyly, as Liliana also giggled at him. He quickly pretended to be busy, flipping through his system screen.

[Player: Ashborn Locke]

[Player Number: #23875]

[Level: #2.1]

[Stats:

⇒ Strength: 25

⇒ Endurance: 25

⇒ Agility: 25

⇒ Intelligence: 25

⇒ Magic: 75]

[Extra Point: 10]

[Skills:

⇒ Hunter: Level: #6]

[Sword Skill:

⇒ Shadow Dance: Level: #5]

"Hmmm. My stats only increased a little," he said, trying to avoid looking at the river below the bridge.

He then allocated his extra points, adding five each to Strength and Agility, raising both stats to thirty.

After finishing, he opened the Game Map to look at BlizzViel again, the place where they would be searching for items. He had checked its location last night and was a bit bothered because it was far away.

He clicked the option for "Find Others," and the place didn't show any players present.

'That's odd,' thought Ash. 'Why was no one at BlizzViel? Was it a place players avoided, or was there something else?'

He remembered the place where the Pterodactyls nested. There were no players there either when he checked his Game Map.

Upon reaching the other side, Ash closed his eyes for a moment, thinking this time might also be dangerous. But now he had Jagu and his summoned creatures.

He opened his eyes and petted Jagu, who sat between the passenger seat and the driver's seat. Jagu turned his head and started licking his face, making Ash push his muzzle away to stop the licking.

***

The jeep they were driving passed through a tropical rainforest. Ash noticed that this rainforest was different from the one he and Maya had stayed in for a few days.

The leaves and trees here were denser than those Ash and Maya had encountered. Not only that, but the sounds of wild animals were much clearer here.

They arrived at a small red brick house without any plaster as the sun began to set.

According to Gabriel, this place was one of the stopovers for the Sassi Hunters on their missions.

They got out of the jeep parked in front of the house, and Jagu joined them, sniffing every inch of the place.

When they entered, the house felt very cozy, with furniture and a fireplace that made it seem like an ordinary home.

There were three bedrooms on the second floor, and Gabriel assigned two rooms for the male members and one room for Liliana.

After they changed clothes and had dinner, they discussed their plan.

"So, we will collect two hundred items, consisting of ten types, and for each type, we need to get twenty," explained Gabriel.

"We've been to BlizzViel before, so hopefully, this time it will be easier than previous missions," Gabriel continued, pointing to the location of BlizzViel on the map spread out on the table.

BlizzViel was situated on one of the outer sides of the snow-covered mountains in the northern region of Finding Objects, far from Sassi.

"There are many creatures there that we've never encountered before. The snow is knee-deep, which will make movement difficult," he explained further.

All team members stared at the map with serious expressions, including Jagu, who sat on one of the wooden benches by the table.

"There are two options for us to get through the knee-deep snow to reach the item locations. One is using the snow blower, which we only have one of, and Mason has it with him now." Mason raised his right hand as he heard his name being called, and grinned.

"What's the second option? We only had the snow blower before," asked Albert, still looking at the map in front of him.

"The final option is to ride the Giant Spider that Ash possesses," said Gabriel, looking at Ash.