Frostbound

Chapter 249 - Yellowstone

Hendricks

The trip to St. Louis was entirely too long and arduous, but he and his team were finally here. Not that the endpoint had anything flashy enough to be excited about. Most of the Pylon Cities they passed through on the way here were... sparse with their accommodations.

Not that he would complain, as most had much bigger problems than an appropriately furnished inn.

Gonzalez joked that they were the modern pioneers, traveling for months on end Westward like they were on the Oregon Trail. Going from the coast to the middle of the country made for a less-than-pleasant trip and every member of his team was ready for the days on the road to be over.

St. Louis wasn't at all how he remembered it. He hadn't been here recently, but even if he had been, it would still be remarkably different.

The City itself had seen better days.

A once busy and populous City had been mostly reduced to ruins. The River splitting it down the center did more harm than good, cutting the entire city in two.

Every bridge that used to span it was thoroughly destroyed during the terraforming and another had yet to be built. Hendricks had assumed that at least something had been done to allow crossing, but he was mistaken.

Hendricks' mission was to find the obelisk and confirm the intel they had.

Which was made impossible if he couldn't cross the river to see it.

"Jackson, you've got a Water affinity, you think we can swim it?" he asked.

The team arrived the previous evening and got some well-deserved rest in a... questionable inn but were now standing before the monstrosity that hindered their journey.

The River was massive. So massive Hendricks had trouble seeing the other side. The only way to do so was to use the elevation to your advantage as being riverside made it impossible.

Jackson just looked out over the gushing water that moved quicker than any could hope to swim and firmly said, "Not a chance. Even if it were possible, we'd end up miles downstream, if not dead."

"Gonzalez, you think you can build something?" Hendricks asked. The man used to be a combat engineer and while he didn't pick it up as his Profession, he was more than handy enough for small things.

"Water as rough as that? Not unless this shithole of a City has a professional shipyard hidden away somewhere." He said dismissively.

Swimming and crossing by boat were out, how else were they supposed to get to the other side?

"How does the City cross?" Grant asked. He'd been annoying to get used to at first, but he repeatedly proved his usefulness, even if he wasn't former military. "There has to be a way to cross if the information on the obelisk got over."

Hendricks wanted to kick himself for not seeing that glaringly obvious hole in logic. If the obelisk was on the Western side of the river, and information about it reached the East Coast, there had to be a way across or word wouldn't have spread.

His team continued throwing out ideas until an elderly gentleman came walking over to their not-so-inconspicuous group. The man carried a tacklebox in one hand and a fishing rod in the other with a wide-brimmed straw hat to complete the ensemble.

A quick [Appraise] was enough for Hendricks to dismiss the man as a threat. He was only level 57 and it was in his Profession, not his Class. Which was Fisherman, if the getup wasn't clear enough.

His team shot looks at the approaching man and stopped talking as he neared, waiting for him to speak.

"If you're looking to swim it, I'd advise against that." His voice was slightly gravely, but it came out clear and concise. If a bit condescending, but all older people were like that.

"How come?" The idea had already been shot down but it didn't hurt to fish for information.

"A few brash idiots tried it," the man huffed, "Didn't even make it a quarter of the way before they were pulled under. Watched it happen myself."

Jackson muttered, "The current doesn't look that strong so close to shore."

Not even a quarter of the way was only a few hundred feet from shore and Hendricks had to agree with Jackson. While the water moved quickly, they had enough stats to power through. Base humans wouldn't stand a chance, but they were much more powerful than that.

The man heard Jackson, which spoke of a higher Perception than expected, "It's not the Water you've got to worry about. It's what lurks underneath."

The group all looked at each other suspiciously. They'd traveled through areas with much higher mana density than where they currently were which made them hesitant to believe the man's words.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The Haunted Woods were much worse than anything the River held.

Sure, for the old man, the beasts would be difficult, but not for someone like Hendricks. He'd gained over 90 levels in his Class fighting up the East Coast. A paltry River beast wasn't enough to stop him.

"I seen that look before. You don't believe me. No one believes me. They all think I'm just an old man telling tall tales. That is until they go under and never come back up. Mark my words, you will not make it across." The man said.

Digging deeper, Jackson asked, "Then how do people do it?"

"They don't!" the man laughed, "At least not here they don't."

That didn't make any sense. There had to be a way to cross. Enough time had passed for that much at least. If not a bridge, a boat or raft of some kind.

"You can't be serious? All this time and there still isn't a way to cross?" Gonzalez said.

"Not a safe one." The old man said. "Boats get gobbled up by the beasties, rafts can't handle the current. Swimmin's a fool's dream and flying doesn't work either."

"Flying?" Hendricks couldn't help but ask. All their testing and research back in the New Capital aiming to rework planes hadn't borne fruit. The engines had to be completely redesigned as the strict tolerances didn't work anymore.

The mana made the forces involved wildly different and the structural integrity failed within moments of the engine starting up, if it even did start.

Fuel was another issue but wouldn't matter until they had a working plane.

"Yeah, two idiot brothers thought they could paraglide across if they got a high enough start. Climbed into a hot air balloon using fire magic and jumped out with their gliders." The old man recounted like it was an everyday occurrence and not something seen in a cartoon.

The idea was... out of the box, but it sounded like it would work. A high enough elevation and the crossing would be guaranteed.

"What happened to them?"

"Just because most of the threats are water-bound, doesn't mean all of them are. Dragonflies and Mayflies the size of my head ate them alive. One tried to drop into the River to escape only to be eaten by a different Beast."

Not for the first time, Hendricks had to wonder what the world had come to. Men being eaten alive by Mayflies of all things sounded asinine, yet he doubted the old man was lying.

Something like that was a large enough spectacle that asking around would confirm the story.

Well, shit.

They were still a few months away from the countdown reaching zero but he still had to send word back to The Admiral. If they didn't cross soon, it wouldn't reach the Coast in time.

Jayla

She hated traveling. Even before magic came and Endurance made the trip tolerable, Jayla hated it. She got road sick in cars, motion sick on trains, and whatever kind of sick you got on planes.

Anything other than walking with her own two feet was an annoyance at best. Boats were by far the worst, but luckily their entire journey was over land.

The first leg of her journey was coming to a close as the smoke-spewing mountain was already in view. An active volcano wouldn't be the first spot she would choose to settle, but Travis was an idiot.

The fact her City relied on them for Trade rankled her. Being forced to play nice with Travis of all people, was enough for her to scream.

While she stood by the fact building on the slopes of a Volcano was a monumentally stupid idea, it was useful for something. Minerals were abundant. Iron, copper, tin, and any and all common enough metals could be found and extracted.

It was ludicrously expensive in terms of effort required, but the sheer amount more than made up for it. The refining capabilities of Travis's City more than tripled what hers could pull out of her own mountain.

Mining was slower, but much less prone to erratic eruptions.

Her army followed behind her as she marched towards the mountain. The scenery was something to be admired if one cared for that type of thing.

Jayla didn't, which made the miles of greenery and forest no different than all the others they had passed through. Even if the elevation gave the eye a lot more of it to see. The once National Park was just another tree-filled forest to travel through.

As they approached, she could feel the stone growing stronger underneath her feet. The Mountain here was old and it was invigorating to walk upon. Even if it had a taint of fire that she found distasteful.

The smell was another mark against the city, as the sulfuric and smokey air was hard to ignore.

The Walls came into view a quarter of the way up the summit from what she could tell and she had to begrudgingly admit they were solid work. The stone was merged with near-seamless joints and driven deep into the ground for stability.

It was nearly up to her own Wall's standards, which was something she took pride in and helped build herself. A small smile played at her face as she looked over the stonework but fully disappeared when the gates rumbled open.

Tavis stood smiling with open arms as she walked toward the gate.

"Jayla, you look as beautiful as ever," Travis beamed as he looked over her entourage. His eyes kept coming back to her more often than she liked.

"Travis," She said gruffly in greeting.

"Don't worry, I've prepared the finest room for you to stay in and rest. The trip must have been long and tiring." He said and guided her into the City.

She wanted to snap back, 'Of course it was,' but held back. He had made the journey himself and knew exactly how long it was.

Instead, she allowed herself to be guided and followed behind.

As they walked, she took in the City around her. It had grown since the last time she was here, nearly as much as her own City had. Temporary shelters and makeshift buildings became permanent, multi-story stone structures.

The roads were planned and flattened out, and the steps the City carved into the mountain face were quality work. Tiered Cities were a must when working with such uneven terrain. Even though she stipulated that Travis was an idiot, he had the brains to delegate the City Planning to someone who had one.

Other than the city's growth, Travis had grown as well.

His fiery explosiveness mixed with steadfast stone aura was meshed neatly together instead of the choppy pieces it used to be. If what she expected were true, he was close to upgrading his affinity.

The flow was still missing, but he was getting close enough to Lava that it wouldn't be long now.

The man himself still looked the same. Flowing, coal-black hair that came down to shoulder level extended into a perfectly manicured beard only a few inches long of the same color.

His back and arms showed a man experienced with hard labor while still holding an explosiveness deep inside. While his clothes did their best to cover it up, it was obvious that underneath the flowing layers of cloth, he was wrapped in muscle.

If he were less... Travis, she may have found him charming.

"I recently had the perfect sauna built not too long ago that would be perfect to melt away the travel fatigue, if you want, I can even join you for a soak." He turned and offered with a blinding smile showing pearly white teeth.

Yep, he hasn't changed.

It only took a firm look for her to answer that. While a sauna sounded wonderful, she would rather cut off an arm than do so with him.

The less time she had to spend in his presence, the better.