Soran was walking not too fast.

The team spent nearly a whole day covering a distance of just 30-40 km. Particularly, upon entering the forest, they found that the velocity was decreasing dramatically. Estimates showed that two or three days were needed if they wanted to reach the Elf Nation. All along the way, Vivian was hiding her little head behind Soran but the freezing winds still rendered her face red. Aladdin had lost all his energy and he could do nothing but follow behind. Among them, only Soran and Gloria felt relatively easy since the former possessed 20 const.i.tution and the latter was supported by the magic power.   

Night fell.

The team pitched camp in a valley that was on the lee side. Little Vivian got down and moved her body a little bit. Then she began to help Soran put up the tents. But her little figure was only fitted with a little strength, so she was more of representing in most cases. The halfling was so exhausted that he slumped down  on the rock. A long while had pa.s.sed before he started recuperating and helping others. They used the fairly dry firewood to make a fire and it was exactly the moment when the Level-0 magic arts came in handy. Very soon, it was getting warmer.

Soran was roasting meet by the fire and Gloria taking a rest.

The halfling seemed to have regained a little strength but remained silent. He was holding a pan and frying the mushrooms. Vivian stood behind Soran, ma.s.saging his shoulders. The little girl was trying quite hard but the strength was too little to be felt. When she noticed Gloria nearby showing the same look of tiredness, she immediately came near and gave a ma.s.sage as well. The halfling had joyfully expected the same treatment but his hopes were dashed by Vivian’s direct negligence.

The temperatures were falling rather quickly.

It was close to zero degree centigrade. At this time, Soran moved his muscles a bit and took off his clothes.

The two persons by his side looked somewhat shocked. Especially, Gloria was looking at him as if looking at an idiot. Soran just smiled and waved his hand toward Vivian, trying to remove her worries. Then he walked out and directly covered his body with ice and snow. In the very end, his whole body except the head was enveloped in ice and snow. Gloria and the halfling opened their mouths wide and simply couldn’t understand Soran’s crazy behavior.

“Doing this could heighten my resistance to the coldness,” explained Soran who looked a little pale due to the extreme coldness.

20 const.i.tution.

Soran could already actively train some of the low-level resistance abilities. When the team went to high-level places like areas in the abyss, they would have to face coldness that turned much more unbearable. Soran was just trying to train his abilities beforehand. Const.i.tution was adaptable and extra abilities could probably be mastered under the special circ.u.mstances.

Half an hour pa.s.sed rather quickly.

When Soran’s lips were showing a little paleness, an array of statistics began to appear:

“Training completed.”

“You have suffered 12 points of frostbite and collected a point of resistance to coldness! ...”

“You have collected the ability information of [weak cold resistance].”

“Huhuhu!”

Soran pushed aside the ice and snow and came by the fire to warm up. Meanwhile, he took out a bottle of treatment medicine, murmuring, “You could leave me alone since I haven’t gone mad. It is simply a special training method and it just so happened that I have met the criteria for this method. Some pros will train themselves in the extreme environment, just like me.”

12 points of frostbite.

If the same happened to a commoner, he or she would freeze to death, since it was rather terrible to cover oneself with ice and snow for half an hour.

“Shall I support you with a point of resistance heightening?” Gloria cast a glance at Soran and her expression was full of confusion. She could not understand his self-abuse behavior, despite the fact that she had indeed heard that some pros would train themselves in the extreme environment. However, most of these pros were monks by profession. Seldom would a wanderer like Soran need to confront the extreme environment.

Soran answered slowly by shaking his head: “No, thanks. If so, the effect of training will be weakened.”

A while pa.s.sed.

Soran ate a bowl of hot soup to recover his energies and then again took off all his clothes except a pair of undershorts, covering his body with ice and snow.

The halfling couldn’t help but twitch his lips, muttering: “What a maniac!”

Evening closed in.

By then, Soran had successively covered his body 4 times. The frostbite rendered his face completely pale and he looked rather weak. Vivian was in such a worry that she tried to persuade Soran to stop doing so. However, he just waved his hand and said: “I am Ok. I can hold on and will not fall behind in tomorrow’s marching.”

“Truly a lunatic.” Gloria looked quite puzzled, though she was, in a sense, shocked by Soran’s behavior. 

He was really a stubborn and crazy guy.

Once again, Soran wrapped up his body in ice and snow. When the frostbite reached 60 points, the hint finally started to show difference.

“Training accomplished.”

“You have suffered 6 points of frostbite and collected a point of resistance to the cold environment! ...”

“You have mastered the ability of [weak cold resistance].”

Soran succeeded.

As the statistics were gradually appearing, Soran suddenly felt a wave of warmth surging in his body, which had grown somewhat adaptable to such coldness.

Even when his whole body was covered with snow and ice, Soran felt that the coldness was no longer so biting as before.

“The [personal ability] of weak cold resistance: In the process of confronting the coldness, you have gradually grown adaptable to the environment. You will get accustomed to most cold climate and your resistance will be enhanced to fit special cold environment. From now on, you will become immune to any coldness injuries below 1 point. When you are attacked by magic or quasi-magic, any injuries with the effect of freezing will be weakened by 1 point.” [The prerequisite: beyond 16 const.i.tution.]

Soran’s face soon pinked up. He cast a spell to dry his whole body and then put on his clothes.

The change had taken place in just an instant, stupefying the two persons nearby. In the very beginning, Soran was frozen stiff and pale. By stark contrast, he was now safe and sound as if nothing had happened. “This is how it worked?” murmured the halfling, his fingers s.h.i.+vering a bit.

Aladdin looked so tempted as if he was going to have a try, but he gave up in the very end.

He was afraid of being frozen to death.

In the past, Soran had been swimming in an icy river for quite a few days to master the [weak cold resistance]. Now he was blessed with const.i.tution and the ability of rebirth so that he could try more difficult training methods. As time went by, the trainee would find it more difficult to enhance this ability. To enhance the ability and develop [low cold resistance], one must explore specific geographical environment. Conservative estimates showed that several hundred points of frostbite were needed for mastering [low cold resistance]. Without a priest’s help, one could hardly succeed in a short time.

The effect of immunity to 1 point of cold injuries sounded just so-so but it could save a person’s life at the critical moment. When enhanced to a certain degree, the effect could effectively help the owner confront all kinds of magic arts. A great many soldiers in the backlands had, due to their living environment, developed weak cold resistance. That was why Gloria was somewhat resistant to cold.

It was the most difficult to train the ability of fire resistance since one couldn’t roast himself or herself in a fire.

Only gradual injuries would work and make the body grow adaptable and resistant accordingly. In order to train the ability of fire resistance, Soran had moved about in volcanic environment for a long time. Not until he fell into lava did he manage to strengthen this ability to the next level. It was the easiest to train the ability of poison resistance though the training process was grievous and took more time to finish. Soran had no time to train this ability.

The next day.

Soran had become obviously more effortless for the travelling and the influence of biting winds on his body had completed disappeared.

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The halfling had probably been influenced by the good example set by Soran. He tried to confront the coldness but did not dare to go too far, only wrapping up himself in snow with clothes on. When coming out, he found his lips s.h.i.+vering uncontrollably. Even so, the effect had been achieved to a certain extent. At least, his body had gradually grown adaptable to cold climate and it was getting much easier than at the very beginning. A long time was still needed before the halfling mastered the ability of [weak cold resistance], but short-time training had already enabled him to adapt to relatively cold weather like men in the backlands.

The team had travelled for another 3 days.

They had covered more than 100 km and Soran was carrying Vivian on the back all through. When the trees around grew tidily aligned and the traces of roads more obvious, they knew that they were reaching the domain of elves. This was a place blessed by G.o.ds. That was why the snow in the City of Fallen Leaves was thinner than that of outside. Places blessed by G.o.ds would possess unique power. Otherwise, G.o.ds guarding other places would make trouble at will, such as the G.o.ddess of Plagues and the G.o.ddess of Diseases.

When they spread plagues and diseases, the fear of the commoners would enhance their power.

In this world, we could always find the followers who prayed due to their awe.

The snow on the road was growing less and less and the moving animals more and more. Soran caught sight of some marks, some traces left in the trees. They were left by elves’ building guards. The elves tended to exclude other animals but did not treat them as enemy. It was neither quite easy nor rather hard to enter their domain. On the afternoon of the same day, the team saw the elf villages. The place was not so beautiful as what they had imagined. It was composed of delicate tree houses. It turned out that the elves also cut down trees to build their houses.

The glory of greater elves just belonged to the past and they had been destroyed together with the Mystery Empire. The remaining elves just paid more attention to the quality of life than other living creatures.

The elves might look more beautiful or handsome but the beauty was not beyond the imagination. The overall level was somewhat higher than that of the mankind.

Vivian was measuring the surroundings curiously. The elf guards cautioned the team against making trouble and then let them in. The elf villages sprawling along the frontier were more connected with other creatures. As they explored the forest further, the examination was growing stricter, especially in places close to the Elf City. The city was off-limits to the commoners. Here were also some men and semi-elves, though they existed in a small number. The elves could farm as well since nature alone wouldn’t offer enough food to such a large population.

The villages were surrounded by clear rivers and nearby was some tilled land . The mediocre elves were not inaccessibly elegant and they were not pros by birth.

Similarly, the true ability was improved by training.

The most noticeable was an extremely tall tree. Such a tree could be found in every elf village and it was the legendary ancient Tree Guard (the challenge of Level 12).

However, it was still in a slumber.