Chapter 10:
Summit Of Stars: Journey To The Top Of Another World
1
“Looks like I have to buy coffee for my supply" Dwargo looked at his coffee supply which had run out.
“You really love coffee, huh? I thought you would like alcohol more." At first, Wolly is surprised when he sees Dwargo often drinking coffee because he imagines Dwargo to be like a Viking who really likes alcoholic drinks.
“Hahaha, it doesn't look right at all. The majority of the Dwarver race likes alcohol, but I love coffee more than any drink in this world. It feels like it provides very strong energy. This is different from alcohol which will only make your head hurt." Dwargo explained.
“Looks like you're addicted to caffeine," said Wolly with a smiling face with her eyes closed.
“Caffeine? What is that?" Dwargo looked surprised because he heard a word that was very strange to him. Likewise to the others. The words sounded strange to them.
“Ah no no, forget it" Wolly forgot that she was currently in a world that was very different from his previous world. She would try to be more careful in the future, not to mention a word that sounded foreign in this world.
“Hey look, we've arrived at the Capital!" Grisyela, sitting in the front seat driving the horse carriage, informed the others that the Capital was already within their sight.
From a distance a large, sturdy wall is visible. The closer you get, the more you see that the wall is also very high. The road to the wall is slightly uphill. Behind the wall is the imperial capital of Edinburgh. Edina. Right after approaching the wall, you can see a very large, high gate. Currently, the gate is tightly closed because not many people travel in winter. Right in front of the gate several guard soldiers guard the gate and check anyone who will enter the city.
"Very big!" Wolly was amazed to see the wall and the gate.
“How nostalgic..." Grisyela took a deep breath and closed her eyes with a smile.
“Oh... so this is the very famous fort and capital?" Dwargo looked at all the walls and gates while stroking his beard with his right hand.
“I didn't expect it to be so big" Luvicer also looked amazed.
“Please stop for a moment" a guard soldier stopped Wolly's group of horse-drawn carriages.
“We are the soldiers guarding the gates of the Capital. Anyone who will pass through this gate must provide a reason and proof to enter the capital. And we also have to check your luggage," said a guard soldier firmly.
Grisyela looked at Luvicer so that he would explain because Grisyela was trying to hide her identity.
“There are four of us, I'm Luvicer, he's Dwargo, he's Wolly, and the one in front is Grace. We want to enter the Capital to complete the climbers test. "And here is proof of a letter to explain why we didn't bring a merchant with us" Luvicer explained then gave a letter that had been written by Viyapari previously with the approval of General Douglas which was also written on the paper.
“This?! Sorry for the disturbance. You are permitted to enter the Capital. Open the gate!" After seeing the letter, the guard soldier was shocked and ordered his colleagues to open the gate so that Wolly's group could enter the capital.
“It turns out it's not that difficult to enter the capital, huh?" Said Luvicer.
“Of course, it's easy because I deliberately asked Douglas to add his signature to the letter Hahaha" Grisyela laughed.
“No wonder Hahaha" Dwargo and Wolly laughed.
Slowly their horse-drawn carriage passed through the very large gate. The horse-drawn carriage was moving slowly, pulled by a horse that looked tired. The snow fell more and more and the wind blew stronger. Right in front of them, the view of the Capital was very clear.
Wolly was surprised to see the sights of the capital for the first time.
In this winter, snow falls in large quantities, but the atmosphere in the capital does not look quiet at all. The noisy voices of people on the main street could be heard very clearly when Wolly and his group set foot in the capital. Lots of horse-drawn carriages running from one place to another. Not only horse-drawn carriages but also large yaks can be seen pulling the cart behind them. This very busy activity in the middle of the season made Wolly, Luvicer, and Dwargo very surprised, while Grisyela just smiled as if she was used to seeing that sight.
“Welcome to the Capital, Edina!" Grisyela seemed to welcome her friends.
“I didn't expect this place to still be as busy as before, even though there are lots of buildings that are unfamiliar to me," said Grisyela, observing the buildings in her view.
“Do you know where the Climbers Guild head office is?" Wolly asked Grisyela.
“Don't know. I don't know at all because when I was here, the Climbers Guild didn't exist at all Hahaha" Grisyela answered with a laugh.
“You—we should have asked the guard earlier. Well, we have to look for it ourselves. " Luvicer shook his head in disbelief.
“Wait, it looks like the building over there is the climbers guild office" Dwargo pointed to a building that looked the same as the one in Porta Town.
"You're right! That building looks exactly like the one in Porta Town." Wolly responded to Dwargo's words.
Then the four of them walked towards the building by horse carriage. The building was located not far from the gate because it was immediately visible when entering the gate. It seemed that the building was deliberately placed in an easily visible position and close to the gate so that people would not bother looking for where the climbers' guild headquarters was.
Inside the building, the atmosphere was lively but unlike the office in Porta Town, the Climbers Guild Headquarters did not have tables lined up like a dining area or bar. People were seen standing, chatting, and doing other activities at the reception desk in the middle of the building. The reception desk was round with many tables and officers in that place. It was seen that even though the contents of the building looked very crowded, the situation remained orderly.
Wolly and her group stepped closer to one of the reception counters that looked empty. Led by Luvicer who represented the conversation, they reported to the reception counter officer and handed over the letter that Viyapari had written earlier.
“Please wait a moment, we will process it." The young woman, at least eighteen years old, was the officer who would help the Wolly group process. She was seen leaving the counter and walking towards a door with a sign saying only officers were allowed to enter.
While waiting for the officer to return, people around began to stare at the Wolly group. They felt that the Wolly group was unusual because it contained several races in the group. Unlike most climber groups whose members are mostly humans.
Then the receptionist counter officer came and brought some papers.
“Thank you for informing us through the letter. We will immediately inform the palace about the problems you experienced on the trip. Next, here are some guidelines about Climbers and Mount Jeevan. This paper contains several items that you must prepare before starting your journey to Mount Jeevan. You must report the items you have obtained to the climber's office in the north of the capital because they will be checked whether they meet the requirements or not. Only after that will you travel to the Mount Jeevan area. Thank you for trusting us!" The receptionist explained in a friendly manner. Her warm smile made anyone who spoke to her feel calmer. In the end, she bowed her head to Wolly's group before they left the receptionist counter.
“Okay, let me read first and explain to you all the important things." Luvicer started reading some papers given to him by the receptionist earlier. Meanwhile, Wolly, Dwargo, and Grisyela stood leaning against the wall.
“It is recommended that each group have someone with advanced healing skills... I only have basic ones. What do you think we should do? Find someone with advanced healing skills? There are also some lists of required items listed here. We may have to divide this task," Luvicer explained with his right hand holding his chin.
“I know someone who can do advanced healing magic. She also learned it from my mother. She is from the capital and I also have to invite her because I promised." Wolly replied to the words about someone who has advanced healing magic.
“Do you know where she is now?" Luvicer asked. Then Wolly shook her head because she had no idea where the person was right now.
“What's her name?" Grisyela asked.
“If I remember correctly, her name was Mary Lancaster Edina" Wolly answered Grisyela's question after trying to remember.
“Hmm... Lancaster Edina..." Grisyela seemed to know something about the name.
“Alright! It's been decided that Wolly and I will pick up that person. Luvicer and Dwargo, you two prepare what items need to be purchased. Use this to buy them" Grisyela gave Luvicer a holy gold coin.
“Wait! This doesn't explain anything!" Luvicer felt a little annoyed because Grisyela hadn't explained anything.
“Hahaha! Just let them be, they might find a solution. Okay, we have to buy the items on the list right away." Dwargo laughed when he saw Grisyela and Wolly had left and ran away from his sight. Then Dwargo and Luvicer started walking to look for the items on the list.
2
Wolly and Grisyela went north while Luvicer and Dwargo headed west, which was the largest trading area in the capital.
“I didn't expect the expenses needed to enter the Jeevan Mountain area to be this much. We need at least two big Yaks that cost fifty gold coins each. And some other equipment such as tents, cooking utensils, and herbal medicines. if we don't bring those, then we can't enter the Jeevan Mountain area." Luvicer looked dizzy looking at the list of mandatory things that must be had to enter the Jeevan Mountain area.
“Hahaha lucky I met you guys. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to enter the Jeevan mountain area alone.” Dwargo laughed.
“Excuse me, we would like to buy two Yaks" Luvice and Dwargo approached a man who was seen selling large Yaks. Several Yaks were seen in a fenced area so that the Yaks would not escape and run throughout the city.
“Oh, Climbers? I suggest you buy these two Yaks. Because these two Yaks are in their productive age. They can walk all day long carrying heavy goods." Said the Yak seller who was seen wearing a very thick furry jacket.
“Okay, we'll buy it. Is this enough?" Luvicer gave one holy gold coin.
“This is too much! Wait a minute, I'll get the change." The salesperson ran into a shop and came back quickly.
“Thank you very much! For these two Yaks, we will deliver them directly to the North Climber Headquarters. It will be easier for you to bring the Yaks from there than from here. In whose name will I send them?" The seller wrote a note on the paper after Luvicer signed the paper.
“Wolly's Group" Luvicer answered. After that, the Yak seller thanked him, and then Luvicer and Dwargo continued their search for the next items.
“Can we stop by for a coffee at the shop over there?” Dwargo pointed to a shop that had a coffee bean symbol on the building.
“Ah, of course. Let's go there." Luvicer agreed to Dwargo's request.
Luvicer and Dwargo walked towards the coffee shop. But along the way, people always looked at them with a surprised look. It was natural because it was rare for people other than the Human Race to walk around the Capital. But the two didn't care about that and focused on walking to find the things they needed.
Dwargo looked at the coffee beans being sold in the coffee shop while Luvicer waited outside the shop and ate peanut snacks. Dwargo looked at the entire stock of coffee owned by the shop chose the one that suited him and then bought it for stock. He bought coffee that had been ground so that it was easy to serve. After that Luvicer and Dwargo walked back to look for other items.
While they were walking, suddenly from a distance they heard a commotion. People were seen screaming and running.
Luvicer and Dwargo looked at each other as if they had the same thought. After that, they tried to run to where the riot came from. People were running towards them in fear. They both kept running in the opposite direction to the people running.
“Help! Help! anyone help!" Some people screamed, it seemed they were being attacked by a group of wild animals along with monsters. Some big wolves, big bears, goblins, and orcs were destroying everything around them.
“Dwargo!" Luvicer shouted at Dwargo. Then Dwargo put down the things he was carrying and slid quickly to fend off the attacks of the monsters that were aiming at the people.
Luvicer uses his ice magic to freeze some monsters that are running around attacking people. Then Dwargo uses the hammer in his right hand to destroy the frozen monsters into ice shards that scatter everywhere.
Some monsters they managed to kill very easily. but the damage caused by the monster was very severe. Some vendor tents were destroyed. Until finally some guard soldiers came to the location.
“What happened here!?” A guard soldier holding his spear was shocked to see the dead monsters lying around.
“We don't know how there are monsters here. We just ran here after hearing the commotion and stopped. These monsters are the ones that are attacking people," Luvicer explained while Dwargo was cleaning his hammer that was stained with monster blood.
“Okay, thank you for helping-" Before the guard soldier could finish his sentence, suddenly a very large explosion was heard so that the smoke effect from the explosion was very clearly visible from the view of the guard soldiers, Luvicer, and Dwargo.
Then they ran together towards the source of the explosion.
3
“Hey look! Isn't that the S rank Climber?" In the chaos caused by the explosion, someone shouted causing people's gazes to focus on the two people he pointed at.
“...Aren't they members of the S rank climbers group Ace of Cups!?" A different person's scream was heard from the crowd. It turned out that the crowd was composed of low-ranked climbers around the place and running towards where the explosion occurred.
“They're Cliff and Jenn! We're so lucky to have them here!" The worry that was on their faces at the beginning disappeared when they found out that there was an S-ranked Climber with them.
“Hufft... It seems like we are unlucky to be here" Clint with his slightly long brown hair and not too long beard complained while holding the spear using his right hand.
“How long are you going to be like this? This is our job and we happen to be the closest ones." Jenn stood on top of the building with Cliff holding her bow.
“But still, how do we deal with such a monster here? I also wonder why the monster could appear here. They should only be in Mount Jeevan." Cliff replied to Jenn's words with a lazy tone.
“No matter what, we have to stop that monster from rampaging throughout the city immediately," Jenn replied. The monster in front of the two of them right now was a very large Earth-Dragon. With scaly skin that looked like crushed earth, it appeared on the west side of the Capital. Jenn and Cliff quickly began to carry out a plan to defeat the Earth Dragon.
On the other hand, Luvicer, Dwargo, and some guard soldiers arrive at the location of the Earth Dragon. Cliff and Jenn are seen fighting the Earth Dragon.
“Who are those two?" Luvicer asked.
“They are S-rank climbers! We are lucky because they will defeat that monster! The guard soldier shouted happily because there were S-rank climbers there. Not just one but two at once.
“...they won't be able to defeat the monster. They seem to have a hard time facing it. That's natural because the weakness of the Earth Dragon is Water or if you want to defeat it you have to be strong to be able to destroy a hill. It's written in the notebook of my ancestors" Dwargo replied to the conversation by getting ready to join the fight.
“Do you have a plan?" Luvicer asked with a serious face.
“Nothing. Hahahaha! How can we defeat that monster without the two monsters in our group? Hahaha!" Dwargo laughed loudly. Hearing that made Luvicer annoyed and he thought of a solution.
“Okay... I don't want to show my black magic here. Can you buy some time until Wolly and Grisyela get here?" Luvicer held his head and asked.
“We can't expect them to arrive, but I can hold off the ground dragon for as long as you can if you can give me some strengthening magic." Dwargo said with a serious look.
“Don't worry, I'll do it" Luvicer started to use his strengthening magic on Dwargo. Dwargo's body received the strengthening magic energy so that a bright light was seen surrounding his body. Cliff and Jenn realized what Luvicer and Dwargo were doing.
“I'll catch up later!" After using quite a lot of mana energy, Luvicer looked a little tired and decided to take a short break before catching up with Dwargo. Dwargo quickly dashed towards the earth dragon using the hammer and shield in his hands.
With his power, Dwargo attacked the dragon using his hammer from above until the dragon's body lay on the ground.
“Who are you?” Jenn and Cliff were shocked when they saw Dwargo’s attack made the earth dragon lie on the ground.
“Don't worry, we will help you" Dwargo smiled as he looked at Jenn and Cliff who looked a little tired.
“Dwargo! Keep attacking the dragon. Don't let it go on a rampage! Luvicer came shouting. After that Luvicer used his healing magic aimed at Cliff and Jenn.
“Who exactly are you guys...? Cliff asked with a lazy, tired face.
“We are just a group of beginner Climbers. Don't worry, even so, he is very strong" Luvicer answered by looking at Dwargo and then smiling at Cliff and Jenn.
“No way! What rank did you guys get?” Jenn couldn’t believe it and asked Luvicer a question.
“We both got an A rank. Don't worry, even though we only got A rank, we are sure we can help you both" Luvicer answered with a confident face.
“Wait a minute... Do you guys get an A rank? in just one test? That means you guys are stronger than both of us! Hahaha, I didn't expect this" Cliff and Jenn looked very surprised. Then Cliff laughed and felt relieved.
“We have to help him immediately," said Jenn, who immediately ran and attacked the ground dragon that was fighting Dwargo.
“Wait a minute! Have you ever faced an earth dragon before?” Luvicer quickly stopped Cliff who wanted to catch up with Jenn.
“Our group has faced the Earth Dragon before, but at that time we had more than twenty members to face it. Right now it seems impossible with just the two of us. Only high-ranking climbers can face the Dragon. Unfortunately, we are the only two high-ranking climbers in the capital. We can only wait for help from the palace." Cliff explained with a worried expression.
“Our group has faced the Earth Dragon before, but at that time we had more than twenty members to face it. Right now it seems impossible with just the two of us. Only high-ranking climbers can face the Dragon. Unfortunately, we are the only two high-ranking climbers in the capital. We can only wait for help from the palace or wait for mid-ranking climbers to come to this location." Cliff explained with a worried expression.
High-level climbers are climbers who have SS and S ranks. Mid-level climbers are climbers who have ranks between A and B. Then low-level climbers are those who have ranks C to E.
Around the place, there were many low-level Climbers. They couldn't join the fight against the earth dragon because they were aware of their abilities. Even the two S-rank climbers couldn't do much against the earth dragon.
“We have to wait for two members of my group to come here. They will defeat the earth dragon easily. I guarantee it." Luvicer said to Cliff with a confident look.
“That's impossible! Are you crazy!? Even a group of five S-ranked members would have a hard time defeating that dragon" Cliff replied with an incredulous look to Luvicer's words.
“Trust me! We must hold off the dragon as long as possible until they arrive!" Luvicer asserted very seriously. After that, he ran to help Dwargo and Jenn followed by Cliff who still doubted Luvicer's words.
“Dwargo! Hold that dragon back from the front and keep provoking the dragon! You two attack the dragon's body parts!" Luvicer began to try to take the lead in the fight against this earth dragon.
“Divine Shield!" Dwargo received the earth dragon's attacks continuously but he was easily able to avoid and parry the attacks. Occasionally he also attacked the earth dragon using the hammer in his right hand.
“Is that holy magic!? How can he use that!?" Jenn was shocked to see the magic that Dwargo used. So was Cliff. They couldn't believe that there was someone else who could use holy magic other than their group leader.
“Honestly, I don't know either, but one thing is for sure, he is very strong," Luvicer praised Dwargo's strength in front of the S-ranked climber.
The four of them continued to try to defeat the earth dragon with their maximum strength, but Luffy seemed to still be holding back from using his black magic.
You can also use white magic!? Even though you're a Demon!?" Cliff was shocked when Luvicer used basic white magic.
“I can only use basic level magic, so it seems like it will be difficult to help defeat the Earth Dragon," Luvicer replied with a smile but his gaze remained focused on attacking the Earth Dragon with basic ice magic.
“It seems like my attack had no effect at all," Jenn said.
“Of course! How could your bow and arrow possibly pierce the earth dragon’s skin?” Cliff replied looking overwhelmed and having difficulty in injuring the earth dragon.
“You too! Your spear won't be able to penetrate it!" Jenn replied to Cliff's words with an annoyed look.
“Hufft... looks like they are very close" Luvicer smiled seeing Cliff and Jenn's level.
Not long after that, there was a tremor, the ground moved and something appeared from underground so it looked like a very powerful explosion.
Unexpectedly, two earth dragons emerged from the ground, causing anyone who saw them to feel a heavy pressure that made them desperate. The low-level climbers ran away from the place while the middle-level climbers tried to withstand the pressure of the situation they were facing.
“This isn't real, right!?" Cliff was very surprised and so was Jenn.
“Jenn! We have to get out of here immediately!" Cliff looked panicked. But Jenn looked speechless and couldn't say anything.
“Dwargo! I'll do it!" Luvicer shouted at Dwargo. Dwargo immediately understood what Luvicer wanted to do considering the current situation that could only be done if Luvicer used all his abilities.
“Everyone! Get behind me now!" Dwargo shouted so loudly that everyone could hear him. Cliff and Jenn immediately moved following Dwargo's words without hesitation.
“I hope this will work. Master has taught me a lot. This will be a test to prove my true ability." Luvicer remembered the time when he trained with Margaret. He tried to concentrate fully.
4
The air was getting colder with strong winds hitting every corner of the capital. Snow fell faster so that it was seen piling up on several buildings and streets in the capital. In the middle of it all, a dark light was seen covering the sky. Black to dark purple lightning was seen appearing. A small black ball was seen appearing surrounded by black light very quickly.
The black ball in the sky was getting bigger. Luvicer concentrated fully on using his black magic to launch a deadly attack. Meanwhile, Dwargo tried to hold off the attacks of the three Earth Dragons simultaneously.
“What is that?” Cliff pointed at the black ball floating in the sky.
“I don't know. Come on, we should move too!" Jenn was about to move to attack one of the Earth Dragons.
“Don't move! Don't move anyone! Stay behind me! Just wait a moment!" Dwargo shouted while resisting the attacks of the three earth dragons.
The black ball seemed to be getting bigger and its color looked different. A dark purple aura circled the ball very quickly. Blacklight seemed to continue to appear around the ball. Black lightning and thunder were heard getting louder. Luvicer tried his best to create something with his black magic.
A strong wind blew suddenly. Some boulders on the ground were seen floating slowly. Air pressure seemed to pull everything up. But this only happened in some areas. More precisely in the area where the earth dragon was.
“Black Hole!” Luvicer shouted. He used his black magic to fight the three earth dragons at the same time. Luvicer's black magic was a black ball that slowly grew bigger and sucked up everything around it. This time his magic was so big and strong that the three earth dragons were seen floating in the air and several objects around were sucked into the black ball.
Dwargo was still in a defensive position so that he and the people behind him would not be sucked into Luvicer's black magic.
One of the earth dragons flew high into the sky and was sucked by the black ball. It was seen that the dragon was sucked into the black ball. However, when only one dragon was sucked into the black ball, Luvicer had already run out of Mana energy so he had to finish it right away.
“Damn! Looks like I can only go this far" Luvicer used all his abilities. The black ball was seen slowly getting smaller until finally the black ball quickly disappeared along with whatever was sucked into it. The two earth dragons and other objects that were previously floating in the air had now fallen back to the ground so that it looked like a big explosion.
“...he defeated the dragon alone!? This is impossible!" Cliff was shocked after seeing Luvicer successfully defeat one of the earth dragons alone. Jenn and the other mid-level climbers also looked shocked and speechless. Meanwhile, Dwargo laughed.
“Dwargo! I'll leave the rest to you! I'll sleep for a while..." Luvicer was seen falling and lying down in a deep sleep because he had used up a lot of Mana's energy.
“Can you still fight?” Dwargo looked at Cliff and Jenn.
“We still can... but it still seems impossible since we're facing two earth dragons" Cliff answered with a worried expression.
“Cliff! We can't just give up. Did you see that just now!? He managed to defeat the dragon by himself. Thanks to him, we only fought two dragons!" Jenn replied to Cliff's words with an excited expression.
“Okay... we'll try. But what should we do?" Cliff asked, looking at Dwargo.
“We just need to keep the dragon in this place so it doesn't destroy the other side of the capital" Dwargo prepared to start fighting the Earth Dragon again.
“I will handle one dragon alone. You two and the others go and attack the other dragon. Let's make sure they don't get too close to each other." Dwargo explained briefly and casually. Then he ran towards one of the earth dragons to fight it alone.
"Anyone who can still fight, come with us!" Jenn shouted in front of the middle-ranked Climbers. Although they realized that their strength was not enough to defeat the Earth Dragon, they realized that they also had to fight by helping Cliff and Jenn. Then they all ran to where the other Earth Dragon was. Some of the Guard Soldiers in that place could not do anything so what they did was help the people around to evacuate from that place.
Apart from that, the guard soldiers were also seen running towards the palace to report the incident they saw.
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