The bottom of the pit was much quieter than the ridge.
The White Dragon's Roar had vanished, leaving only fine snow falling continuously from the distant pit opening. The surrounding ice walls were almost vertical, their surfaces so smooth that there was nowhere to step.
Kirito confirmed that Lisbeth was not injured and immediately tried to leave.
Using his agility, he ran along the ice wall, taking more than a dozen steps upwards, but his speed dropped rapidly on the steep sections. His boots slipped off the ice, and he fell back down.
Lin Yuan stood below, reaching out to support his back and dissipate the final impact.
"We can't get up there." Kirito landed and looked at the pit opening. "At least we can't just run up there."
Lin Yuan also tried it once.
His feet could break through thin ice, using the rock below for leverage, but the higher he went, the thicker the ice became. There were no protrusions to transfer power, and a single jump was not enough to traverse hundreds of meters. If he were to forcefully chisel his fingers into the ice wall, he might be able to climb it alone, but Lisbeth would not be able to get out along the same route.
"What about the transfer crystal?" Lin Yuan asked.
Lisbeth took out a blue crystal. She tried to say the name of the town, but the crystal did not respond.
"This is a crystal nullification zone." She put away the crystal. "No wonder people who came to find materials before didn't notice the bottom of the pit. Once you fall in, ordinary players can't teleport at all."
"But the White Dragon can come and go," Lin Yuan said, looking up.
Since the pit is a lair, there can't be only one way to enter: by falling. The white dragon's body is much wider than the pit opening, so without a fixed route, it would crash into the ice wall every time it returned.
It got dark quickly.
The three found a sheltered spot against the wind on the edge of the pit. Kirito took out food and an insulated cloak, while Lisbeth turned on her portable lamp. Lin Yuan didn't have an inventory, so all his supplies were in his backpack, which thankfully he hadn't lost during the fall.
Lisbeth picked up the old sword, which was only half intact.
"The fracture wasn't caused by a single impact." She examined the cracks under the light. "Here, here, and inside the spine, deformation had been building up for a long time. That final impact simply tore all the damage open at once."
"Can it be rebuilt using the original materials?" Kirito asked.
"It can be melted back into a metal ingot, but simply changing its shape is meaningless." Lisbeth looked at Lin Yuan, "The new sword must be thicker and tougher than the system's specifications, and its center of gravity must be adjusted according to his actual movements."
That's why we need the White Dragon's materials.
"That's assuming it actually exists here."
Nothing could be seen at the bottom of the pit except for the snow.
The three took turns resting. Lin Yuan kept watch until late at night and discovered that the falling snow had not completely covered the center of the pit. That area was slightly higher than the surrounding area, and when the wind blew, a small patch of hard shell of a different color would be exposed.
After daybreak, Kirito noticed it too.
He walked to the center and used the Elucidator to dig through the snow. The tip of the sword quickly struck a translucent object. Lisbeth crouched down and took it out; the item's information immediately unfolded before her eyes.
" Crystallite Ingot." She paused for a moment, "It really is the highest-grade forging material."
Kirito looked at the flattened snow around him, then looked up at the pit opening. "This isn't the mine guarded by the White Dragon."
What is that?
"It's a nest. It eats the crystals from the mountains and then excretes the parts it can't absorb here. Only after undergoing high temperatures and pressure within its body does it transform into this metal."
The metal ingot in Lisbeth's hand suddenly became unbearable.
You mean, this is...
"The white dragon's excrement."
She immediately threw the metal ingot to Kirito.
Lin Yuan glanced at the material, enough to make even high-level blacksmiths vie for it. "Its strength won't change because of its source."
"Both of you shut up."
Just then, the sound of dragon wings flapping came from the pit entrance.
The white dragon is a nocturnal monster, returning to its lair at dawn. Its massive form swoops down along the center of the deep pit, the air currents from its wings swirling the snow in all directions.
"This is the export route." Kirito put away the metal ingot.
He had Lisbeth climb onto his back and they ran up the ice wall. Just as they were about to run out of speed, the white dragon passed through the center, and Kirito leaped out, piercing the scales between the dragon's back with " The Elucidator ".
Lin Yuan started from the other side at the same time.
Without a longsword, he could only leave fissures on the ice by stepping repeatedly, relying solely on his leg strength to catch up with the rising white dragon. The wind whipped up by the dragon's wings almost pushed him back to the bottom of the pit, but with the last step, he leaped off the ice wall and gripped a protruding scale on the white dragon's tail with his five fingers.
Bai Long led the three of them out of the deep pit.
Upon reaching the top of the ridge, Kirito drew his sword and leaped into the snow. Lin Yuan also released his dragon scales, landing and rolling to dissipate the force. The white dragon did not pursue, but only circled once in the morning light before flying back towards the distant peaks.
A few days later, the three returned to Lindarth.
Lisbeth placed the Crystallite Ingot on the workbench and then threw Lin Yuan's broken sword into the furnace. The firelight illuminated her serious face, burning away any remaining disdain.
The forging hammer fell for the first time.
A clear, metallic sound echoed throughout the shop.