Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As they went north, the weather got colder by the minute.
Frigid winds bore with them dust particles as they howled across the plain and sent nameless plants flying all over. A grim atmosphere descended upon the plain as the cold wind seemingly announced the world’s barren state. There were little to no tall plants across the vast plain. Due to the cold climate, there were only low, lifeless plants and a scattering of wild grass. It was not a place suitable for life…
…or hunting.
Hunting grounds and plants for foraging were, of course, still around, but they were not nearby. Dozens of kilometers away, there was a lush coniferous forest surrounded by patches of open fields and a few herds of herbivores as well as a couple of predators. Their existence fed the two small primitive settlements there, and conversely, the settlement was also game for the predators.
It was a time when men and beast were on the same level of the food chain.
Hao Ren, clad in a leather robe with a torn side, stood on a protruding piece of rock. His clothes were worn out but to the primitive locals, his getup was still something wondrous. He looked into the distance, deeper into the barren plain, thinking: This barren place looks the same everywhere, but I don’t have to worry about getting lost now that I’m here. There was a very obvious “signpost” farther out across the stretch. It was a massive white cone that reflected sunlight. From a distance, it looked like a white tower, but in reality, it was a massive block of ice and was reverently called “Tatumnu” by the locals. It translated into “a grave of ice”, which was a rather awe-inspiring name.
Hao Ren turned back as two little boys clad in beast hide looked at him with fear and reverence. Their skin was a little brownish, and their faces were painted with dyes made out of plants and animal blood. In their hands were spears made out of rock. They were the settlement’s warriors, yet when they looked at Hao Ren, they felt nervous. The reason was simple; their fear stemmed from an overwhelming show of force that was beyond the comprehension of these primitive warriors. Hao Ren had used a shining long spear to kill a mammoth by himself, and that terrifying scene left a mark in their minds.
They were guides that he found on a need-to basis. In a land that lacked any landmarks or any workable records of cities, and in an age where the landmass was different, it was difficult to move about without a guide. In one of his backtracks, Hao Ren got lost in the Gobi Desert for close to a month. So, if the situation allowed, Hao Ren would, by hook or by crook, get a guide or two to go with him.
Fortunately, further back in time, it was much easier to get their cooperation. Most of the time, Hao Ren just needed to show them powers beyond their understanding, and the people, steeped in animistic beliefs, would immediately bow before him.
However, there were other issues, especially when it came to communication with the ancient primitives. While the translation plugin could solve the language issue, there were still differing world views that needed to be accounted for. Majority of the time, Hao Ren had to work out if whatever rudimentary language they spoke was actually what he thought they meant.
At times like this, Hao Ren would miss his companions who had already left him. Lily, Hessiana, Hasse, and Hesperides… While the last two had a chilly relationship, and they would trade verbal barbs, their perception of the world was similar at the very least.
However, they were now all gone. Hesperides left by 4,705 BC and Hasse stayed with Hao Ren until 6,012 BC. After that, Hao Ren had been traveling alone across the massive temporal backtrack, searching across ancient Earth.
“So that is where the god sleeps?”
Hao Ren shook his head as he rid himself of all unnecessary thoughts and pointed at the massive ice block.
The two tribal warriors shook their arm once. That was their way of affirming something. The taller guide then spoke, “Yes, that is it. Surrounding ice always melts away, but not that. This was once our hunting ground, but no one dares to approach it now.”
Hao Ren nodded in understanding. He had already learned of it back in the village. The plain was not so barren not too long back. Even with the post-ice-age climate resulting in the scarcity of vegetation, there were still roaming animals on the plain. Although not a huge amount, it was enough to sustain a few small settlements during that difficult time. Then a “god” crossed the plains, and her wrath was incurred when someone killed her prey. She froze the entire area as a result. That led to the tribes moving to the forest with roaming predators, and now only two settlements were left.
The “god” now lived in that place, and the tribes all believed that even though the ice had melted away, a mountain-like block of ice remained on the plain. Sunset or fire did not even cause it to melt, and around the ice block, it was difficult for any plant life to sustain itself. Animals avoided the place out of fear too. All of it was proof that a god was there.
The god’s wrath was not over based on what the superstitious tribal people believed in. She wanted the exiled tribes to show their martial might to prove that they were worthy to return. resulted in a quarrel between the two remaining tribes.
Hao Ren did not pay any heed to the tribal people’s blind superstitions. He was only sure of one thing: the god that froze the plains could be no other than Vivian.
“I’ll be going there,” Hao Ren said.
The two warriors behind him leaped up in shock as fear started to appear on their faces. They started to ramble non-stop before they took a few steps backward. “No, no, no. No one can approach the god. We will be frozen and melted away by the next sunrise…”
Hao Ren looked at their terrified expressions and could imagine what sort of terror Vivian’s place of slumber had inspired in the tribal people’s hearts. If he insisted on them following him to dig her grave, those two warriors would probably die of shock right where they were standing in.
Hence, he shook his head. “Go back, I’ll head there myself.”
He then pulled two short alloy swords out of his Dimensional Pocket and gave them to the guides. “As agreed, this is your reward.”
The two tribal warriors carefully received the weapons, which were beyond their comprehension, but they soon realized the weapons’ sharpness and durability, and they were shocked.
Hao Ren did not linger, and he went down the rock towards the ice tower.
The frigid wind started to blow again.
As he ventured further, he began to feel an empty sense of loneliness. As he looked at the barren, frozen land, he felt like the only one left in this world. How long had it been since he went back in time? He pretty much lost count. The multitudes of travel through the chaotic space and time, as well as the following temporal distortion, had messed up his senses. He had gone from the advanced world to the Dark Ages, then to the glorious Age of Mythology before he headed to the prehistoric wilderness. Advanced or primitive, civilized or barbaric, each era was marked with distinctly different architecture, and many contradictory items were scattered across this track of time. As a traveler, Hao Ren was not even sure if he was traveling across a continuous timeline.
The further back he went, the more obvious the feeling got.
Sometimes he landed in a primitive settlement, and other times he ended up in a city of metal with starships above it. From there, he would then land in a theocracy, and who was to say that he would not end up in a steampunk world next…
The otherworldlings did not immediately build up their great civilizations in the Age of Mythology. They too had undergone the rigors of exploration, and most of their initial settlements were half-ruined city blocks or falling Dimensional Pockets. And they had centuries, even millennia to figure out how the things from their homeworld worked. It was only after, that they turned their eyes towards the inhabitants of this planet, the Earthlings.
Right then, Hao Ren had ended up at a point in time where the otherworldlings had just arrived on Earth and were minding their own business.
The massive block of ice was getting closer, and up close, Hao Ren realized that it was massive. The conical structure could have easily been a hundred meters tall, and frosty aura rippled outward from the ice. Almost a good hundred-odd square meters of land was perpetually frozen, and uneven threads of red could be seen underneath the ice. They looked like blood vessels under the skin.
Hao Ren looked beyond the tower of ice and his sight landed on the tip of the mountain behind. He saw a light pillar shoot up from the top and slowly swept across the sky.
That was the observation tower that Odin and his kin had built. The Norse gods, having recently arrived from outer space, were observing this mysterious planet. They had thousands of weak and sick kinsmen who needed food and medication. On the southern side of the plains, a group of runic dwarves was tattooing one of their young bloods and celebrating the creation of their first forge. Over the mountains farther away, Zeus had just landed on the planet and was scouring the mountains for stones that could be worked into construction materials. They were required to repair the structures on Mount Olympus that had been damaged by the dimensional shock. Over at the Nile River, Ra’s sunship was half-buried in the forest, while Osiris and Isis looked resignedly at the damaged thrusters. They began planning for long-term repair works…
As for the humans, they had yet to recover from the chill of the ice age, and their settlements were not ready to welcome the gods. Nevertheless, the Age of Mythology had already begun.
Hao Ren came to the base of the ice tower, and through the thick layers of ice, he could make out the “princess” who was sleeping within the cold ice.
He placed his hand on the ice as he sighed softly. “Vivian, I’ve found you again.
It was 7,715 BC. The ice age was over, and life bloomed once again.
