Chapter 160: The Sleeping Beauty Who Won't Wake Up
Chapter 160: The Sleeping Beauty Who Won't Wake Up
"A temperature difference dilemma for an ice crystal?"
Upon noticing the changes in his quest log, Lindsey's initial reaction was one of delight.
However, he quickly realized the issue at hand.
"A treasure map is great, but an RPG module upgrade..."
Lindsey furrowed his brows.
After the adventure led by An Rui, his RPG Module had hit a bottleneck in terms of advancement. Even after separately defeating the fifth-stage elemental being and monster, he was still a tiny bit short of reaching the next level of abilities.
The abilities in the quest log were indeed powerful.
But the rewards given were often directly proportional to the difficulty of the tasks.
To directly break through this challenging module's bottleneck, the task itself would undoubtedly be just as difficult.
"This is probably going to be a very challenging trial."
Despite his words, Lindsey's expression quickly stabilized.
Having honed his awakening skills for so long, he had long understood that rewards came with risks. Without facing dangers and improving his strength, everything would likely remain just talk.
"I'll take on this challenge."
"Since it's a trapped ice crystal, I should start with this ice elemental being."
Muttering to himself, Lindsey continued his struggle with the glacier elemental before him.
From calling out and shouting, to tapping on its body, and even picking it up and moving it to a different spot.
Assuming there were no hostile actions.
Lindsey tried various methods to wake someone up, but to no avail.
The slumbering glacier elemental seemed completely unresponsive to external stimuli.
It simply stood motionless in place.
If it weren't for the product information explicitly stating that it was a living being, Lindsey might have thought he had made a mistake in his judgment.
"Should I... use fire?"
Lindsey glanced at the Meteor Fire Brooch hanging on his chest.
If he wished, he could summon flames during an attack or even satisfy the requirement by tapping it with the Meteorite Pickaxe.
But such an action was too risky and irrational.
The product information had already stated that the glacier elemental had chosen to hibernate here to slow down its melting process.
Using fire to warm it up now.
The glacier elemental would likely awaken immediately, but Lindsey might also become its target of attack at the same time.
This was the opposite of the task requirement to resolve the dilemma, a case of going in opposite directions.
"You, come here." Lindsey waved his hand, then ordered the bat summon that flew in front of him, "Fly as far as you can; if you're afraid of the cold, fly higher. Find the boundary of this frozen swamp or come back to report the situation to me in an hour."
The bat obeyed and took off immediately.
Lindsey then synthesized a chair and sat down in front of the glacier elemental, starting to tinker with it.
Half an hour later.
The glacier elemental showed no signs of change, but Lindsey's bag now had several newly frozen ice cubes.
Under the premise of not using violence for destruction.
He felt helpless dealing with this slumbering glacier elemental.
Some bizarre ideas even popped into his mind:
"If I make some ice popsicles, will these glacier elementals like them?"
"How did the prince wake up the sleeping beauty? Should I go up and kiss it?"
Just as Lindsey's thoughts were wandering.
A sudden, unexpected message caused his expression to freeze.
The bat he had sent to scout in the distance—had suddenly died! Lindsey instantly stood up from his chair.
He looked towards the east, where the bat had flown, and the sky was noticeably darker than when he had arrived. The cold wind from the frozen swamp still blew from time to time.
The scene before him was no different from before.
"This is a bit exaggerated, isn't it?"
Lindsey scoffed, a hint of skepticism in his expression.
The bat he summoned might not have been the strongest, but it was still a monster, and it had the ability to fly.
Yet, it had been taken out without causing any major commotion.
Lindsey's gaze drifted towards the Glacier Elemental.
Was it this creature's kin that killed the bat, or was there something else lurking in the swamp that posed a threat?
He opened his map and zoomed out once again.
In the fleeting glimpse of the distant scene, Lindsey caught a fleeting red dot.
"Enemies? Hehe."
This discovery instantly lifted Lindsey out of his confusion.
With the idea of conserving resources, he put away the chair he had just crafted.
"Since the Glacier Elemental can't be awakened..."
"Then gathering information from other creatures in this swamp is also an option."
Lindsey ventured deeper into the swamp.
Along the way, he encountered other Glacier Elementals similar in appearance, size, and state of slumber. Their product information and map markers were identical to those he had seen before.
However, their numbers were scarce.
Lindsey continued his journey, not encountering a single Glacier Elemental directly. He maintained a distance of several hundred meters, relying more on the information gathered from the map.
"These Elemental Beings are also quite rare."
Lindsey confirmed the information while occasionally removing the Ice Badger Claw Pendant from his neck to check for temperature changes.
When the temperature dropped below -20 degrees Celsius, the red dot on the map entered the observable range.
Lindsey surveyed his surroundings.
Unlike previous combat situations, the swamp lacked tall trees, with only occasional shrubs slightly taller than the rest.
"Good thing I have a plan."
Lindsey didn't hesitate. He jumped and took out a piece of dirt from his bag, placing it under his feet. Repeating this action, he quickly ascended over ten meters.
Now, with the telescope in hand, the scene ahead was laid bare.
In the swamp, there was a sizable pool of water, distinct from the frozen puddles around it. Even at -20 degrees Celsius, it remained liquid, showing no signs of freezing.
In the center of the lake, a lizard with black scales crawled.
Its body was slender and long, measuring five to six meters, making it a formidable and majestic sight.
On its triangular head, the green snake-like eyes emitted an intimidating glare. Its four limbs were robust and powerful, each toe adorned with sharp claws.
The black scales, tightly arranged and shimmering with a metallic luster, immediately marked it as a formidable opponent.
It resembled a mythical land dragon from fantasy tales.
As Lindsey raised his telescope, the lizard's dangerous gaze was scanning the surroundings, as if it had just experienced something extraordinary.
"This reaction... my bat must have been killed by it..."
Before Lindsey could finish his thought, the lizard's eyes locked onto him, its snake-like eyes radiating intense hostility.
Lindsey froze.
A clue emerged in his mind.
This creature could kill a bat in mid-air.
"Damn!"
Lindsey reacted instantly, jumping to the side and sliding down the dirt pillar he had created.
Almost simultaneously, the top of the dirt pillar, where Lindsey had been standing, exploded into a cloud of dust.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
