The Systems Challenge-Chapter 427: Invisible Mountain

The hunting party came back with limited success. Partly because it appeared that there was a line where the animals wouldn't cross. Elwin was baffled by it and Bart couldn't come up with and explanation, no matter what hypothesis either threw out to try and explain it.

Not that Jonas really was that surprised. Especially with how Owen and Jonas seemed to accept that strange things were going to be found in this world that likely wouldn't have a logical explanation, as far as they were concerned at least.

Although, they did at least manage to find a herd of deer a good distance away from where they had been and were able to take down two. All because of Owen's archery skills.

Elwin was strong enough to drag one back on his own while Jonas and Owen carried the other one. Neither were that large, and so weren't that heavy. The problem came with how much meat they'd be able to get from these. Or at least the problem with the deer directly. Jonas knew that they'd need more than just meat soon enough, but couldn't think of what else they could do to replenish any grains, fruits, or vegetables with their current surroundings.

Although, if nothing else, it would allow them to fill their stomachs for a few more days at least, while they continued their search for the library, and maybe even return to civilization where they'd be able to try and find a way to get something of substance to eat that wasn't pure meat.

Jonas also didn't care for Elwin's suggestion about waiting for the next day in before really harvesting what they could off of the deer, so when they arrived at the camp, where Elmo, Heather, Elin, and Sonya were currently enjoying a warm fire in the late afternoon light, Jonas started to do what he could with his daggers to not only harvest what meat he could off of the carcasses, but also to clean the hides so they could look at selling those once they reached some sort of civilization.

Shortly after they returned, Kim returned with more firewood. With Patricia and Patrick returning well after dark. Though, even then, with their clothing disheveled, it was clear what else they'd been up to other than just gathering firewood.

Jonas was content with how the night was uneventful. Even with limited conversation among anyone, leading Jonas to believe that they were either really tired or just preoccupied with something that no one seemed keen on sharing at all.

In the morning, whether they were tired or not, everyone seemed ready to go almost before the sun even rose. Which made Jonas wonder if their biorhythms were getting used to a world without clocks and with the sun as the indication that they should get up. Which, in turn, still felt like a novel idea to Jonas.

When they were all ready, with everything packed up, they started heading north. Though, as they moved along, Jonas couldn't help but wonder if maybe Elwin had a point about taking a day to harvest the meat, since it was hard to dry any of it while they marched. Especially since he knew it'd go bad that much faster if it didn't get dried, salted, or went through some other process to stay preserved.

However, what he didn't expect was that a mountain would appear our of nowhere in front of them. He had his suspicions about it when it hadn't been there a minute ago, making them thin that it was a wide field they were currently crossing instead of a mountain they were heading straight for.

"Any idea where this came from?" Elwin asked, not bothering to slow down on his approach.

"Not a clue," Kim replied absently, making Jonas wonder if she might have any theories, at least, on the matter that she wasn't saying.

"What if it was covered with an invisibility field?" Elmo suggested. "Although, if that's the case, it's hard to say why it'd have a field like that around it in the first place."

"Maybe the library we've been searching for is on the mountain?" Elin offered enthusiastically.

"Let's slow down here," Kim said , making Jonas wonder if she saw things getting out of hand too. Especially if hit came to the fact that they might have to climb a cliff wall or two before they were able to determine if this actually was around where the library actually was.

"Why would the library be out in the middle of nowhere like this?" Elwin complained. "Shouldn't libraries be where those who would benefit from them are located?"

"Maybe this was used to store top secret magic?" Owen asked, though with his tone it was hard to say if he was merely offering a suggestion or taking a shot at Elwin's remark.

"I think if it has every book written that maybe that would be reason enough for it to be protected magically," Elin mused.

"Whatever the reason for the library to have magical protection or not, I have to wonder if the library isn't here, then what would be here?" Patricia commented. "I mean, we don't know for sure if the library is here or not. So, if it isn't here, then what else might be here?" Patricia paused for a moment as she took a deep breath, looking like she was collecting her thoughts for a moment. "And if it isn't the library, then what might happen if whatever is here in either removed or destroyed? Would the mountain stop being invisible then?"

"Not a bad hypothesis," Heather remarked. "Though, I'm not sure what else it might be. Also, how would we know what it is if we actually find something that could be whatever we were looking for."

"You know, while we're talking about it, do we really have to climb the mountain?" Sonya asked, sounding almost like she was pleading with them. "Can't we find a way to go around it so we can see if there's an easier way to climb it?"

"What's wrong?" Heather asked, looking at Sonya with an expression mixed with concern and suspicion.

"I'd just rather not have to climb that far," she admitted bluntly. "I'd rather not climb the whole way up if we're just going to go down the other side without reaching whatever it is in here that is what the invisibility field, or whatever it is, was meant to protect."

"Come on," Heather replied dismissively. "How're we supposed to know if it's up there or not? As far as we know, it'll be up there and if we walk around it, we'll find out that we missed right where it is."

"You know, I think I'd be with Sonya on this one," Kim said, surprising Jonas a little. "When I located the library, it was in a valley, so if the library is here, then it wouldn't be as likely to be up there in the first place."

"And what if this isn't the library?" Heather challenged, a smirk playing at her lips, which made Jonas wonder if she was making the challenge just for the sake of it rather than because she thought differently. "What if it's some ancient magical weapon?"

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"If that's the case, then we can form a base camp to work with as we search for any reason for this mountain to be made invisible. Although, at the same time, as far as we know, anything that's portable could be moved around as well. Which means that it might not be in there anymore if that's what had originally been there in the first place."

"Do you really want to debate about what might be here and if its still here or would you rather expend your energy with hiking?" Jonas asked, feeling a little irritated with the discussion around him. He wasn't sure what it was about it that made him so annoyed, but it was clear that it was getting on his nerves. Although, he supposed that it was because their arguments, in his opinion, were completely inane.

"Actually, I think going around the mountain might be a good idea," Owen remarked. "Maybe we'll find an easier way up the mountain. Especially since there's nothing to say that climbing the most difficult part of the mountain will be where we'd find any magical artifact. All it really would do would tire us out and put us in unnecessary danger."

"I agree with Owen," Elwin chimed in. "It might not look like it, but it could get dangerous if we go up that way without it being apparent."

In the end, the decision was made to walk around the mountain, with only Elmo agreeing with heather to climb up the mountain directly. Which Heather clearly found rather annoying, although Jonas suspected that the biggest part was the fact that Sonya disagreed with her on the matter. Even if it was just because she wanted an easier route to take.

Jonas wasn't sure how large the mountain was, but he doubted that it'd take more than a few days to walk around its base. Assuming they actually did that. If they did, he had a feeling that they'd be heading up where they'd been, regardless of how difficult of a climb it might get.