Chapter 146 - A Rugged Mountain Road
Chapter 146: A Rugged Mountain Road
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The roaring winds surrounded the mountain.
The girl was stronger than Soran had initially imagined. As soon as it dawned, she woke up and blushed slightly as he noticed she had been sleeping on Soran’s thighs; instead of acting all weird about it, she just stood up silently and began to tear away the useless things she was wearing including the lace of the exquisite dress and some ribbons affecting movement. She even tied her hair up into a single ponytail, then simply coiled it up. She also tied the legs of her trousers with ribbons and soon looked much cleaner.
The girl’s decision and willingness was much appreciated by Soran. He nodded silently and handed her a long sword.
Traditionally, the nobles had to learn six arts, which included writing, painting, poetry, dance, etiquette, horseback riding, and swordsmanship. Since the girl was a Princess of Arendell, she had certainly learned these six arts; she should still have some level of swordsmanship, just that she doesn’t have practical experience.
For example, even though Gloria seldom used weapons to fight, she would still be able to use the sword proficiently if it was necessary. The same was true of the girl in front of Soran, even though they had been slightly spoiled in the past.
Never underestimate the women in this world.
Male chauvinism may have been a thing in previous generations. However, in this world, if you were a bull-headed male chauvinist, the northern Witches would hang you up and beat you. Then the Drows would wipe you, followed by beatings from the Amazons and Naga Sirens. These ladies would make sure that you would never again have a sense of male chauvinism [Note: Countless males got slapped in the Underdark! ]
The females in this world also had powerful positions.
This fact could be seen in two aspects. The first was the number of queens in the world that held a third of the powerful positions in kingdoms. The second was the fact that many goddesses had Great Divine Powers. In this world, more than 60% of the deities were female, and their powers were stronger than a considerable proportion of the male deities! There were even some that were very well known: Earthmother, The Grain Goddess, the Highlady of Silvermoon, Night Baroness, Goddess of Magic, Lord of Flames (God of Elemental Fire), Lady of Joy, Lady of Love, Goddess of Riches, Goddess of Good Fortune, and Queen of Spiders...
If someone had read the list of the pantheon of deities in ancient literature, there would be no more male chauvinism.
Women were stronger in this world since their soul imprints were the felines [dangerous creatures]. Especially after they had mastered a rare grade power, they would be able to avoid the monthly bloodshed BUFF. Men were not necessarily better than them even when they had to lose blood every month. Now that they could even rely on powers to avoid bleeding, it was more difficult for the men to compete with them. This was especially true in the domain of life, reproduction, and nurturing; female deities practically dominated all those positions, which was the core of race multiplication!
The highest god of the Halfling was a female deity of protection, and the highest god of the Drow was the Queen of Spiders. If the Goddess of Life had not fallen, the current high god of the Elfs wouldn’t be where he was right now. At least 75% of the domain of the Elves were controlled by female gods. Even now the high god of the Elves was sometimes male and sometimes female.
Female.
Ha-ha! Do you know why older women were stronger than men? That’s because they don’t have the monthly bleeding BUFF!
Soran had once looked for trouble in the Underdark and was beaten to silence by the female Drows.
There was a popular saying in the pubs, “Male chauvinists have to go to the Underdark; it is their heaven and their hell!”
When they see males raised by female Drows as sex slaves, their expressions would be wonderful.
Soran also learned to be good after traveling to the Underdark.
In the past, he did not kill women, but now he would kill female enemies without even blinking.
The road in the valley was rough. Soran was still able to cope with it but the girl behind him was having a hard time. Then out of nowhere, she slipped and her knee was cut open; Her eyes were teary with pain. If Soran hadn’t grabbed her arm in time, she would have rolled down tens of meters. The girl seemed to have a bit of a stubborn temper as she limped in pain. Even though she was clearly in pain, the girl still clenched her teeth and went on.
After some time, Soran had seen enough. He stopped at a leeward position and stooped to deal with the wound for her.
“Don’t move.”
Soran took out the bandage and ointment. Probably because he was injured frequently, among all his basic skills, the fastest leveling one was his Heal ability. He did not invest one skill point from beginning to end but the skill now had 40 to 50 points.
The girl’s skin was very good, white, delicate and smooth, which felt like silk.
But this also made her skin easy to injure. When Soran took off her shoes, he saw red marks on her foot. Even if it was just a scratch by a stone, Princess Anna’s skin would have red marks. Some places even had small bleeds because of some minor scratches. Her slender, white palms had rarely seen hark work, and she had no callouses whatsoever.
What did all this mean?
It meant that her body was just like a porcelain doll, where a little bit injury would cause, bruises and bleeding.
All the strong had to go through training.
Newborn babies were very vulnerable. Red marks could appear even when they touched soft things. Princess Anna was like a newborn baby; her skin had been too spoiled in the past. There were even tiny red marks on her face when the cold wind blew by. When Soran rolled up her pants to bandage the wound, there were twenty or thirty red marks on her white legs already; most of which were bruised by the rocks while she walked.
And she was dressed!
Soran had some doubts about what kind of life she had in the past. She must have been so well protected.
At least her body condition was good; even though the red marks appeared easily, they also went away pretty fast.
If she hasn’t had any training at all in the past and was in poor health, then those red marks and bruises would probably last for a long time. As an experienced adventurer, Soran naturally would not ask too much from a spoiled Princess, but when he saw what state she was in, Soran hesitated and said, “How about I find a safe place for you to stay, and I’ll prepare enough food and supplies for you. You stay there for a few days, and then I’ll come back to you after about two days.”
“No!” When the girl heard this, she stiffened herself and immediately reached out and grabbed Soran’s fingers. There was moisture in her big beautiful eyes and her voice trembled as she said, “Don’t leave me behind!... I can still go on!...”
Soran let out a sigh and slowly said, “Alright. We’ll take a break then.”
It was particularly troublesome for Soran to bring someone along on such a journey.
Some places were very steep and had no road. Sometimes he even needed to climb with his bare hands. The girl in front of him had almost no wilderness experience; If she wasn’t physically fit, she would probably be a big headache for Soran. The two did not rest for long. As if she was afraid that Soran would leave her in the deserted mountain; after taking a little break, Princess Anna said that she was able to walk.
The girl’s eyes were slightly moist as she probably felt sad for her current situation.
Perhaps because of some distraction, the girl fell again. This time, however, her whole person fell on the snow and her hair was covered with mud and ice. Maybe because she felt grievance and sadness, the girl did not get up after falling; instead, she cried on the snow.
“You alright?”
Soran went up and reached for her, but the girl pushed away his hand in a fit of pique and sobbed, “Don’t bother about me!... just go your way!... I’m useless!... I’m bound to drag you down!... Sister!... Errrr! Anna is so sad! Anna is so scared!...”
Sure enough, she was still a child at heart.
Soran crouched beside her and looked at the crying girl. He shook his head and sighed. Then he carried her neck with one hand and picked her up with the other through his legs. The girl was about 90 pounds, which was slightly higher than that of other girls of this age. This weight was barely within his physical capacity, but it was certainly a physical activity that would consume his energy. If he continued this way, his physical strength would inevitably decrease; climbing and walking would also become inconvenient.
The girl let out a surprised scream while she went into Soran’s arms.
“Come on.”
Soran put her on his back and murmured, “Hold on to me, I’ll carry you on my back. Hurry up! Unless you want me to leave you here.”
The girl hesitated for a bit, but finally reached out and held on to him.
The continued on the road.
In the snowy weather, Soran reluctantly carried the princess who had been very spoiled. His speed was now reduced by about half.
The cheek of the girl was a wet mess, but there was still a faint smile on her face. Her crying and smiling expressions were very funny, but she still held onto the neck of Soran.
The winds on the mountains were very strong!
The girl could not help but get close to Soran’s back, with intermittent sobs and chokes in her cry.
After the big cry she had, the girl was still not emotionally stable yet.