16 Impact
It had already been a day since the phenomenon on Sal Vindagnyr happened.
Many low-class people have been curious as to what it was. But ultimately, they just ignored it and returned to their mundane lives.
As for the adventurers, well, it was in their profession's name, adventure. Adventurers were established to fight against the monsters spawned from the evil Gods' lingering hatred. But of course, adventuring to unknown lands is also part of the job.
Naturally, they shall attempt to find out what it was. This was partly because of the requests put in by the Aristocrats.
Speaking of Aristocrats, the impact that the phenomenon in Sal Vindagnyr has affected two big clans.
One was the Lawrence Clan. It had been ages since they had last seen the Anemo Archon, and even dared to take down his statue. As such, they immediately got wary of what had happened in the snowing mountain as it may have to do something with the Anemo Archon reappearing.
As for the Anemo Archon's companion, Dvalin, they do fear him but due to him protecting Mondstadt from afar and not showing himself to them frequently, it had made the Lawrence Clan less scared of him.
As for the leader of the wolves and the former powerful God of Blizzards, Andrius Boreas, frankly, he did not care. As long as the humans stay out of Wolvendom, then he will not interfere with them.
And lastly, the God of Wind and Time, Istaroth. Truth to be told, even though she resides in Mondstadt, she rarely shows herself to the people. All they know is that she is the Anemo Archon's companion and that if one were to perform a specific ritual in a specific location at a specific time, they would find themselves talking to a hooded figure in an antique shop. That's when they'll know that they were facing the God of Time and Winds.
Due to this, the Lawrence Clan doesn't even regard her as a danger.
As for the second clan that reacted to the Phenomenon, it caused them to put their attention to this. It was the Imunlaukr Clan.
The Imunlaukr clan is famed for their ability to produce outstanding talents, yes. However, what the public does not know is their ancestry.
Their ancestor, Imunlaukr, a powerful historical figure, once lived in Sal Vindagnyr.
He was native to Mondstadt, yes, but during his travels, he had come onto the civilization in Sal Vindagnyr. During his stay there, he even met the princess of that nation and developed feelings for her.
But due to the giant pillar that dropped off from Celestia, the Ley Lines in the mountain got severely damaged, resulting in a drastic decrease in temperature.
Seeing the tragedy, Imunlaukr promised the princess that he will find a way to save them. Years passed since then, and when Imunlaukr returned to Sal Vindagnyr empty-handed, there was no one left alive.
Greatly aggrieved and disillusioned, Imunlaukr parted with his sword in Sal Vindagnyr and went to seek out a place to fight. His life afterward is unknown, but he had descendants who became the Imunlaukr Clan.
Decades later, his descendants, then named Imunlaukr Clan, assisted Barbatos along with the other clans in their rebellion against the God of Storms, Decarabian.
And even though decades had already passed, the will of Imunlaukr is still being passed down to the clan. For his wish is to one day find a way for the mountain to witness the warm sun once more, just as he promised.
This is also the reason why this clan is particularly obsessed with exploring Sal Vindagnyr. It is to fulfill their ancestor's will.
* * *
In an undisclosed location in Mondstadt, a dark room with three lamps being its main light sources, there are four people sitting on chairs with a round table in front of them.
"You all have news of it by now yes?" An elderly man with a white beard and a well-defined face said. Wrinkles can be seen on his face, clearly showing his status as an elder.
"Yes." Answered a middle-aged man in his forties. "It is currently the talk of the city right now."
The elderly man tapped the armrest in his chair three times before continuing. "This happened the same day as our exploration of the mountain. Right, Arthur?"
"That is correct." On one the right side of the table, a man in his early forties replied. He is the current head of the Landrich House, Arthur Landrich. "Yesterday, I had sent my second eldest son, Parsifal, along with the knights hired from the Lawrence Clan, experienced adventurers, as well as scribes from our clan."
Arthur eyed the elder for a moment to see if he should continue or not before doing so. "However, during the expedition, an accident happened that caused the lives of most of the members. Resulting in my son, a knight, and an adventurer being the only survivors."
Arthur stopped speaking and let the elder think of the matter.
The elderly man shut his eyes as he thought deeply of something as he tapped the armrest on his chair once more.
After a few moments, he opened his eyelids revealing his ice-blue eyes, and asked Arthur. "Have you questioned Parsifal?"
Arthur nodded, "Yes, however, it seems that he is experiencing amnesia— as he stated that his memories were blurry and can barely remember anything. Currently, he is being treated in our clan."
"Hmm..." The elderly man hummed. "Very well, let the boy rest and ask him once he's feeling better."
"Yes." Arthur nodded.
After a few minutes, the gathering came to an end all the participants stood up and exited through tunnels where others didn't enter.
On one of the tunnels, two people walked together. It was the Landrich Clan head, Arthur, and his butler.
After walking for a few minutes of turning in different directions, a small door appeared leading outside.
When Arthur and his Butler exited, they immediately saw a giant shadow covering them.
Looking up, they were greatly shocked at what they saw. In the sky, a massive azure dragon was flying toward Sal Vindagnyr.
* * *
Meanwhile, at Sal Vindagnyr, Isaac was busy decorating his new ice palace.
He had placed floors and spiral stairs for them. In addition, he even made the snow boars their own place to stay at.
Speaking of the ice palace, Isaac had it quite hidden. He first stirred up a blizzard around his palace so that no one else can see it. And he was already planning with Moccus on terraforming the area around the palace to erect more land on it so that it can be hidden more.
By terraforming the land around it, Isaac would get the thing he desires— a secluded palace hidden amidst the snow storms, where a few dare to venture. Truly, such a tale would be quite a folklore, no?
Well, even if they did reach his palace, they would have turned into popsicles and be placed on the left side of the palace along with the other statues that Isaac froze, which by the way, were still alive.
Isaac then went out of the palace, setting foot into the outside world again.
Daleth and Moccus were already doing the tasks Isaac had given them; Daleth was now heading to Mondstadt whereas Moccus was currently scouting the surrounding area of the mountain with some snow boars.
Just then, the snow in front of Isaac trembled, and in the next second, the cryo whopperflower appeared, bouncing excitedly.
"You rather lively today..." Isaac smiled. "So, did you do as Daleth told?"
The Cryo Whopperflower nodded its leaf head.
"Good." Isaac also nodded in acknowledgment. "Just continue training as Daleth said and find a place for you to grow to a regisvine."
Oh, and yes, Isaac had Daleth explain to him the different monsters in this world. To be honest, he was surprised to hear that some of them evolve into powerful monsters like a p*kemon.
Looking at the small whopperflower in front of him, Isaac was slightly amused. 'To think that this guy can turn into a giant plant of destruction...'
After that thought, Isaac patted the whopperflower and left to explore more of the mountain. 'Should I explore more of the caverns or the ruins? Hmm...'
Just then, while Isaac was walking on the snow-covered path, he sensed something getting closer to the mountain.
Out of pure instincts, he turned his head sideways to see a massive azure dragon in the sky heading his way. 'What the...?!'
* * *
(A/N: From here on out, we're gonna pretend that I included Hilichurls since chapter 1 in the story. Turns out, they have been in Sal Vindagnyr even before Isaac woke up.)
