Chapter 264 Onward
Raven and Helena stared at Northern, waiting for a response.
Certainly, he would have a lot to share with them, after all, he had been studying the writings on the walls.
Northern exhaled and raised his head.
"There are a lot of things, and most of them are irrelevant to our cause right now." He stopped for a few seconds, looking down.
Then he raised his head and continued, his gaze fiercer.
"But what stood out the most... is how the Tower got here."
Their eyes grew wider as he spoke.
He explained to them the mechanism of the Tower and the fact that it could move.
Every time his mouth spoke, their eyes widened, even Raven couldn't contain the amazement that filled her.
Northern took them to the first floor and showed them the mechanism, explaining that it was supposed to serve as a prison.
But he also made sure to leave out some core information that would spin up intrusive questions about what these things had to do with him.
Then they got to the main point, which was more concerned about what part of the information Northern had digested was useful toward their quest to the Sleeping Mountain.
There was nothing that spoke of the record of the Lord of Lotherliwan.
However, the flying ship was mentioned.
Turns out the ship itself was an offspring of the Tower, more like a means of travel that Fagnur used every now and then.
Although little pieces of information were missing, such as why the ship was outside and not inside, who had driven the Tower out of the rift, and what exactly happened to that person.
There were many speculations. The one Northern wanted to believe the most was that the last person to operate the Tower, be it Fagnur or not, had taken the ship out to achieve something.
However, they were caught up, probably by the wild and unpredictable monsters out there.
Which all the more hinted that where they were about to venture was not short of an abyss.
Only misery, despair, and death awaited them.
After briefing them, the ratio of information Northern let go to the one he held within was 20:80.
They rested a while, and when small rays of light began to penetrate through the castle walls, the cohort got up and resumed their travel.
Venturing forward wasn't as difficult as it was before they entered the Tower.
They left quite early in the morning and had covered a reasonable distance before the morning heat began to sear into their skin.
Even at that, it was to a bearable degree, and no one was currently worried about anything.
The cohort was unusually silent. Terence was silently walking behind Northern.
Raven and Helena walked in front, with the Feral Sage serving as their pathfinder.
While Northern spoke way less, he had not even muttered a word since they left the Tower.
The fact was, he had a lot more to think about than he had to talk about.
His mind was so preoccupied that he didn't even bother himself with how angry he was with Helena before now.
He wasn't even currently thinking about the things she had said to him, her opinion of him, and his fears.
All that really mattered was the tremendous amount of information he had gotten from the Tower.
About Tyrants.
About Origins.
And about the Chaos Prince's cruel fate.
Clearly, in the text, the Chaos Prince was an evil being, one that all forces allied to fight and defeat, and were not even able to.
Not until Tyrus got involved.
And things didn't go smoothly for him either.
Fagnur had not stated what happened exactly, but he did say dealing with the Chaos Prince left him in a much direr state, a heavy price much more than he thought he would be willing to pay.
It seemed like the Chaos Prince gave whatever world he was in a lot of trouble to endure.
He was a menace!
A couple of hours later, as the heat of the daylight star began to get tormenting, they finally reached the mountain.
The cohort stood at the threshold of the Sleeping Mountains, where the imposing peaks rose abruptly from the earth, their summits lost in the swirling mists above.
The base of the mountains was a magnificent weave of vibrant greens and browns, where the dense forest met the rocky terrain.
The air was cool and invigorating, filled with the earthy aroma of damp soil and the fresh scent of pine.
Towering trees with thick, gnarled trunks and sprawling canopies formed a dense forest that blanketed the lower slopes.
The forest floor was a mosaic of moss-covered rocks, fallen leaves, and clusters of delicate wildflowers in hues of blue and purple.
Ferns and mushrooms thrived in the shadows, adding to the lush undergrowth.
Streams and rivers, fed by the melting snow and glaciers above, snaked through the terrain.
Their clear, cold waters carved narrow valleys and created small, cascading waterfalls that filled the air with a soothing murmur.
The cohort, with curiosity etched across their faces, ventured further into the mountain, glancing around the magnificent landscape and admiring the serene beauty it had to offer.
Each soothing sound created a rhythm that whispered peace into their hearts.
In fact, they may have been deluded into thinking that making a home for themselves in such a place would not be a bad idea.
However, Helena's voice rang out at that moment.
"You guys better remember that we are on a journey... this is not peace. It's merely an illusion. Following the map would have protected us from it."
Northern glanced around.
'An illusion? Mind attacks again?'
He didn't know if he could classify it as that.
Because he had an impressive resistance to mind attacks, however, just now, he too had thought about not returning home.
He had tried to imagine what life here would be like.
The forest seems to have everything one needs, it wouldn't be a bad idea to start building a shelter and live as a sentient being of the mountains.
Except that his level of resistance to mental attacks was not as impressive as he thought they had to be something at play here.
And from the shadows... came an army that brought nothing but destruction.