Once I was satisfied with the amount of crafting we’d done, I made some preparations to go to Zone Ten. My next stop was Green City, which faced the Great Snow Forest in the north.
“All right, although it’s summer in the real world, we’ll be marching through the snow here.”
“Honk honk!”
“Kee-hee!”
Part of the information I had purchased from Maple pertained to a certain event that took place in the snowy forest.
“The area around Green City should be fine, but there’s apparently more snow the further into the forest you go.”
The snow made it difficult to walk; even riding on a mount was slow. I wanted to be able to fight while riding Carro to complete the school quest I just received, but that might not be possible in this forest.
Of course, I didn’t really expect myself to defeat very many enemies in Zone Ten anyway. The enemies were strong here. I could defeat way more enemies in thirty minutes around the Town of Beginnings than I could in three hours in this area. Having combat skills geared specifically towards fighting in the snow would make things easier, but the battles would still be tough if I were the only one in my party who had them...
So, in my current party, I had brought along Rick, who was lightweight enough to be able to fight on top of the snow, and Perca, whose Skate skill allowed him to slide atop it. I also brought along Fau, Lilith, and Eine, since they could fly, and Drimo, who could deal long-range attacks with earth magic and was powerful enough to push his way through the drifts.
“Okay, we’re headed to a shrine in the backwoods of the Great Snow Forest. It’ll be night by the time we get there, so we’ll have to be careful.”
“Aye-aye!”
“Chirp chirp!”
“Tra-la-la!”
I was less than comforted by my monsters’ enthusiastic responses. Had they actually understood what I was saying? Even Perca and Lilith looked more pumped than usual, like they were ready to do something mischievous.
“D-Drimo! I can count on you, right?”
“Squeak,” Drimo replied with a thumbs-up.
“Drimo, you’re the best!”
“Squeak squeak.”
“You’re right. We need to stop messing around and get going.”
“Squeak.”
Feeling heartened by Drimo’s encouragement, I led us out of Green City. Thanks to Drimo clearing a path in the snow ahead of me, it was very easy for me to follow. Man, sometimes I felt bad how much I depended on him.
“Chirp chirp!”
“Wha? An enemy?”
At some point while we were walking through the snow, Rick suddenly let out a cry of alarm. A second later, three monkey-like monsters jumped out of the shadows. They had white fur and were each about the size of a baby gorilla.
They were called Mini Yetis, and they were known to attack by throwing snowballs with their long arms. They were the most well-known monsters inhabiting the Great Snow Forest, though it was no surprise they were famous, given that they were yetis. The name alone was enough to garner attention.
My party had gotten stronger, so three Mini Yetis posed no issue for us, no matter how aggressive they were. Drimo and Eine held down the front as tanks while the rest of us went all-in with our attacks. If we kept this up, we’d win without taking much damage at all. Though to be fair, top players could apparently take these monsters down in a single blow.
However, the Mini Yetis were acting erratically. They were targeting me like crazy! I wasn’t being super mindful about how much aggro I was generating, but it was still weird how they ignored Drimo in the vanguard and kept attacking me instead.
We managed to win the battle, but I ended up taking a bit of damage. I tried to figure out why the yetis had targeted me.
Then it hit me. I was wearing the sparkly miracle herb corsage on my chest.
“Maybe the yetis go after shiny things?”
It was either that, or the corsage had a hidden provocation effect or something. I decided to take it off for now. And sure enough, in the next fights, I was not targeted.
“Well, sorry, Eine. Looks like I’ll have to keep the corsage off for a while.”
“Tra-la...”
Seeing how disappointed Eine looked made me want to put it back on, but I really had no choice but to keep it off around here. Forgive me, Eine! I’ll wear it when we’re just chilling out at home!
And so, we continued making our slow and steady way through the snow. When we stopped at a safety zone along the way, we ran into a familiar face, one I hadn’t seen in quite some time.
“Oh? Is that you, Yuto?”
“Akari? Wow, it’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has! It’s good to see you again. And your monsters!”
“Aye-aye!”
“Chirp chirp!”