God Complex - Vol. 1

XLI. Skewed Morals-Part I.

The silence that Jun and Arkshan traveled in was neither mutual or uncomfortable.

It was an odd type of silence as they made their journey to the town of St. Tóflin. Jun noticed that the vegetation and settlements were different the more north they went in the Yimpan Empire.

The farms of villages and towns seemed to not be sprawling on for miles upon miles. Rather, the farmlands and houses were more congregated in tighter spaces. The populations also dwindled in size as did the houses.

Villages were less densely populated while the houses looked to be smaller and built only out of wooden logs. Even the roofs varied from either hay to straw to wooden planks. Multistory houses and buildings were nonexistent in the Northern architecture.

Settlements only had the basics when it came to public buildings. A place to buy alcohol, small market place, and a place for lodging.

Northern vegetation was also very bland and eerie in a sense.

Medium size brush and bushes dominated the landscapes. Along with few trees that littered it in the most seemly random places. All of the trees were either fir, evergreen, birch, or dead.

It was absolutely colorless compared to the fields that surrounded Perenykisk. As no flowers seemed to grow anywhere up here.

And for some reason the sky also seemed to be bland as well. It was just strips of dark blues next to lighter blues near the mountains. With only few streaks of white clouds to give it some color and variation.

The only thing that was different in the sky was the dark, ominous fog that surrounded the mountains in the distance.

Though Jun had to admit that at night it was absolutely gorgeous. The stars and colorful galaxy could be seen even clearer than down in Perenykisk. It even rivaled the beauty of the night sky back in the East.

But he did have to complain about the weather. It was absolutely freezing. Even though Jun expected it to be cold the more north they went. It was colder than he would've expected.

And it was supposed to be early spring.

A cold gust of wind blew past Jun which was the final straw in his endurance for this ungodly cold.

"The cold pierces the bone up here! I'm literally freezing to death!" Jun complained as he wrapped his arms tightly around his shoulders. Rubbing his hands up and down furiously.

"Oh shut it!" Arkshan groaned, breathing out a large gust of steam. Jun had noticed that the more north they went up that steam constantly could be seen flowing out of Arkshan's nose.

Even when he wasn't irritated.

"I'm going to become frozen milk any moment!" Jun wasn't going to stop complaining at this point. He had endured this cold for roughly two days since they left Górsinburg.

And the fight they had in the clearing.

"What the fuck is that?!" Arkshan yelled angrily as he stopped walking to look down at Jun. Steam blowed in his face. He welcomed the brief warmth as he stared up at the intense amber eyes.

"Ice cream!" Jun shouted back as he started to shiver from another strong gust of wind. It felt like some sort of blizzard was on its way developing. Minus the snow.

The wind was sharply cold and awfully dry. Causing Jun's face to start flushing pink.

"Then die quietly!"

"No! I'm going to continue until I'm out of this damn cold!" Jun continued to glare up at Arkshan. His stubbornness unwavering. Arkshan hissed as he stared right back.