Re: Monster Vol: 5 (Day181 - Day 220

Day 193

It's been snowing since morning. Although it was snowing yesterday as well, it's heavier today. Nearly 80 centimeters of snow has already fallen as of this morning, and it's likely that it's going to continue to accumulate. Since we have a magic item installed on the shop's door that uses a Wind and Fire Spirit Stone to periodically clear the snow from the area around the entrance, we'll have no problems opening the shop. However, it's unlikely that we'll get many important customers.

Unless they have important business to take care of, most people will just stay in their homes today. Since they need to clear the snow off their roofs, and most of the roads are buried in snow, the situation can't be helped. As for the Foreman and the other craftsmen, I wanted them to take the day off because of the heavy snow, so I contacted them via the ear cuffs that I gave them before.

Having done that, I decided to keep the number of sales clerks to a minimum today, and had all the members that don't have work to do gather in one place. After all, it's the perfect day to train them without reservation for the first time in a while. Also, the snow is just the right thing for this.

This training is so that they can move around perfectly in various environments, such as sprawling plains, meadows that are overgrown with grass, deserts with burning sandstorms, and humid wetlands, among other areas. For that reason, these natural conditions are perfect for us to train in.

With my abilities, I could emulate the environments to some extent, but I can't do it to this scale with my present self. My abilities simply aren't enough. I don't have anything from the temperature reduction system yet, which includes freezing abilities.

I may be able to do it with magic, but honestly, even if it's possible, I don't want to do so since there'd be too much waste. Anyway, after we finished our stretching in the mansion, we adjusted our equipment and left for the training grounds.

All of the members put on a heavy outfit designed to keep out the cold, as well as a thick overcoat that's highly water repellent, which was made from my thread and raw monster materials so that their body temperature won't drop because of the cold wind and snow. They're also wearing leather armor under their overcoats, a backpack on their backs containing weights, and they had their favorite weapons hanging on their waist or shoulders.

With this, the circumstances for our basic march were completed. Of course, the training grounds were dyed white by the snow that's fallen, which is why we prepared ourselves in this way.

When marching in these conditions, it's typical for those marching to advance while using magic items and tamed pets to clear the snow. However, when that's not enough, they'll use manpower to dig and push their way through it. I did think about whether we should do this method first, though.

That said, I'm still uncertain about the stamina of many of the members of ≪Solitude≫, so I decided to pass on that thought this time. The snow levels had increased too much, so I carefully used【Pyrokinesis】to melt the snow in the training grounds. Melting the snow in a wide area caused the level of cold water to rise too much, so I also used【Hydro Hand】to remove the water.

As a result, the ground absorbed a lot of water and became muddy, but I left that alone. While I might be able to more or less remove this water, I think the burden caused by the muddy ground is perfect. Even if I had removed said water, the snow would eventually pile up again. Since this snow would melt when people step on it, the area would still end up in a similar state, so there was no point in me doing so.

After fixing the place up, I took lead of the members that had assembled in rows and columns. Since we were still warming up, I had them continue to run for approximately 30 minutes, with the minimum objective of keeping their formation intact. At first, their lungs were numbed every time they breathed in the cold air as they ran. However, the exercise was generating internal heat for them.