Chapter 581: Crystal Tree Forest

Dashing towards the crystal tree forest in the distance with the blizzard behind them slowly increasing in speed as it drew closer with each passing second, Verdell couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous looking back towards the blizzard behind them. Having more than enough time to sense the chaotic mana within the blizzard while Scaly was the one escaping with all her strength.

Because of this, he also understood that the blizzard chasing them from behind was far beyond any of the blizzards he had encountered in the past when he had travelled through the northern region to reach the Adventurer Guild’s main city in the region.

Back then, it hadn’t been difficult to deal with this kind of blizzard, as just hiding inside a crystal tree forest would have been enough to endure the blizzard. The crystal trees themselves not only shielding from the blizzard but also breaking up the chaotic mana currents that drove the blizzard to become so deadly even to high level adventurers.

However, looking at the blizzard chasing behind him and Scaly, he understood that just hiding within a crystal tree forest wouldn’t be enough to shield the two of them, thus leading to him proposing that they needed to find some cave or other place to shield themselves from the blizzard when it inevitably caught up with them.

In fact, the reason why he had even proposed hiding within the tree crown of a crystal tree, something that seemed like it wouldn’t work in the slightest when it came to avoiding this kind of deadly blizzard, had to do with the fact that a crystal tree crown was where this magical trees magic was concentrated and also where it was best protected. Capable of easily breaking apart the deadly mana currents of the blizzard if they found a large enough crystal tree whose crown they could hide within.

Problem with this was the fact that crystal tree crowns were by far the hardest places to hide given how they were not only too small for a dwarf like himself to fit inside the safe area of a crystal tree crown, let alone a dragon the size of Scaly, but also because it was the place where the local monsters generally tended to inhabit and hide away when a blizzard appeared.

Even worse, should they find a large enough crystal tree for the two of them to hide inside, they would almost certainly end up having to fight the monster that had made said crystal tree home. Almost definitely concluding with said crystal tree crown being damaged or destroyed in the process...

Rustle~

A bit lost in his own thoughts as he kept his gaze on the approaching blizzard in the distance, Verdell was forced to look away as he suddenly saw several crystal trees emerging at the edge of his vision before they were the only thing in sight as Scaly dove headfirst into a crystal tree forest. The deadly approaching blizzard he had been eyeing disappearing from view in the process, as the only thing in sight became the magical crystal trees native to the northern region along with the equally unique foliage that also took on a similar crystalline appearance that made one question how the herbivores of the north could survive eating something that looked like shiny rocks shaped like plants.

Of course, this kind of question was nothing compared to the profound sense of shock he had felt the first time around upon learning that the local adventurers that had decided to make this northern region their home ate these unique crystal plants.

Still... He had to admit, while these unique crystal plants didn’t exactly look appetizing and more so looked like some kind of expensive jewelry kept by those nobles from the elven race loved showing off, they were delicious and were a great addition to what he usually ate. Especially some of the crystal herbs that could be ground into a unique spice, though, those spice crystal plants were rare to the point where it was pretty much impossible for someone to get their hands on the unique crystal spices outside the northern region.

Expensive was the only word he could use to describe those spices, as even when he had stayed in the northern region, he only had a few rare opportunities to taste them.

As for outside the northern region... he didn’t even dare think about buying the different crystal spices.

Just the price of a few hundred grams was more than enough to bankrupt a less well-off noble house, let alone an adventurer like himself.

Then again, the reason behind this kind of terrifying price also had to do with the simple fact that no one was currently actively farming these unique crystal spice plants and the bits that leaked out of the northern region came from merchants travelling through the deadly region and enlisting powerful adventurers to search through the crystal forest for these precious crystal spice plants.

Maybe in the future, when the northern region was better developed and the guild managed to properly establish itself in the region, the price of crystal spice would drop as cultivation became possible, but for now, it was impossible and the price of this unique spice would remain at a level that most people outside the northern region could afford.

But then again, for adventurers travelling to the northern region like himself, this was a good thing, as they could sell those crystal spice plants and make a tidy profit when leaving the northern region. More than enough for even an S Rank Adventurer to take a yearlong vacation.

BANG!

Thinking about something as meaningless as crystal spice plants and the current market situation of these unique crystal plants while being dragged through the crystal forest by Scaly, Verdell found his attention being dragged back to the present by a loud bang, as the dragon he had been riding crashed headfirst into a large crystal tree that had appeared before her without any warning-

"Huh?"

Swish~

"Ah!?"

Thud~!

Throwing the dwarf on her back off in the process as she herself came to a sudden stop. The dwarf in question finding himself slamming headfirst into the crystal tree before slowly sliding down it to land on top of Scaly’s head that had now been buried in the snow.

Where in the world?! I swear there wasn’t a tree in front of me...

All the while the dragon was starting to question what had just happened, sounding like someone trying to come up with an excuse for their car insurance provider after accidentally driving into a tree.

Still, a tree couldn’t exactly move, so it wasn’t the best of excuses to say the tree had suddenly jumped out in front of her.

"An illusion crystal tree!? No wonder you slammed headfirst into it..." But as she was struggling to comprehend what had happened, the dwarf that had been rudely interrupted during his internal musing on the crystal spice plant market had the time to properly examine the crystal tree she had just headbutted.

Still, just calling it an illusion crystal tree wasn’t enough, as she eagerly lifted her head out of the snow. Signaling for him to explain in more detail what he meant, with him not being surprised about her rather embarrassing accident.

"No need to look at me like that... This kind of crystal tree is rather unique and has developed some illusion magic abilities that allow it to stay hidden. The reason you didn’t see it before slamming into it was because of this. Only... After headbutting it, you also undid its illusion magic and thus revealed it. Making it look like it appeared out of nowhere." Feeling the gaze of the dragon eager to learn and at the same time also come up with a reason to explain why she had just headbutted a tree, Verdell slowly explained what had happened while also looking towards the tree in question.

Although crystal trees were magical, it was not every crystal tree that developed a magical ability like the illusion-based crystal tree before them.

Those that did develop such an ability were undoubtedly the strongest of the crystal trees and at the same time also the largest.

However, the crystal tree before them wasn’t large by any means and could even be considered smaller than average, something odd given how it should have been one of the largest crystal trees around to develop a magical ability.

Unless...

"It developed underground. Meaning there should be a large underground space for it to develop. Not just that, but also one that is mana rich. " Muttering this to himself, Verdell’s eyes began to shine brightly as he stared downwards towards the snow-covered ground. Knowing that this little crystal tree might not just have revealed a perfect hiding place for the two of them, but also a potentially mana rich cave that would undoubtedly be home to precious unique plants or herbs that could be sold for a fortune to the guild.