Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 502: Chapter 301 Hill Preparing to Settle in the Valley

Even though he was being lifted into the air by a broad bear paw, Hill didn’t feel embarrassed at all.

The Earth Bear’s overwhelming motherly love had already flooded him.

”Hill, I am Grace.” Grace quickly set down the skinny Hill, having discovered that Aurelio didn’t like being picked up once he’d reached adulthood, and Hill was already a bit bigger than Aurelio at that age! Little bears always had a stronger sense of pride. She turned to point at the two large bears following her closely, ”These are Sharlene and Ula.”

Sharlene and Ula, one after another, nudged Aurelio back with their paws and showed Hill a warm smile.

”Welcome home, Little Hill.”

Hill smiled gently, ”Hello, Grace. Hello, Sharlene. Hello, Ula.”

”Let’s walk back!” Grace turned to lead the way. ”The camp is a mess right now, so you can help tidy up. I’m due to give birth next month, and they’re both a bit further along. In the meantime, you’ll take good care of us!”

”Aurelio has to go to the Redwood Forest to see the Clan Leader, and there’s no help in the territory, so you’ll be with us.”

Hill laughed, understanding that Grace was likely worried he might want to follow Aurelio to the dangerous World’s End, and so she insisted on having Hill stay behind to care for the three expectant mother bears.

Seeing Aurelio already preparing to leave, Hill quickly called out, ”Take these two rings with you as well.”

Aurelio took a glance at them, ”Hill, have you struck it rich?”

”Sold off the demi-god’s shield and curved blade.” Hill laughed heartily, ”I gave Grandpa some Mithril and Star Meteoric Iron, and in return, he gave me a bunch of legendary equipment, which I also sold.”

Aurelio waved his bear paws happily, ”Wonderful! In that case, I might not come back; I’ll just ascend to demigod over there.”

He rolled joyfully on the ground, carefully placing the rings into the space of the cedar tree. ”There are enough supplies in the main house for the little ones for a year after they’re born, and then they can eat freely. You won’t need to go out; other bears will hunt and bring back food.”

”Any special needs?” Hill asked calmly. ”If low-rank magical beast meat is okay, I’ve brought a lot, as well as many fruits. I’m just not sure how much the little ones eat.”

Grace interjected, ”For the first ten years after they’re born, they can only eat low-rank magical beast meat. You don’t need to worry. After I give birth, I’ll go out hunting. Most of the food Aurelio brings back is high-level magical beasts, which they can’t eat until they’re fifty years old.

You brought fruits? We can eat those too! Aurelio only thinks about meat; he hardly ever brings any fruits!”

”Those fruits are enough for me for a whole year!” Aurelio protested, ”You guys could never finish them in a few days! You must have hidden them away!

I don’t know how you manage to eat so much!”

Hill chuckled as he watched Aurelio, who had spoken the blunt truth, receive three affectionate pats from the motherly bear paws. No matter the species, it’s never wise to argue with pregnant ladies about food portions.

”I’ve planted many fruits in my domain, all magical plants of intermediate rank or higher,” Hill said with a smile. ”I’ll place them in the main house shortly, and you can choose what you want.”

Aurelio responded bluntly, ”If there are plenty, I want some too! I didn’t even get to eat the ones I brought back.”

Hill nodded, ”Lots and lots.”

Surrounded by the four bears, Hill entered the grand main house.

This main house, which Hill had lavishly built using high-grade space crystals, was initially meant to be a large castle for himself.

But rather than having it as a mere toy, this was a far better use. The house sprawled over four thousand square meters and rose five stories high.

Even with the four bears inside, the space still felt ample.

”The Clan Leader absolutely loves this house,” Grace remarked, ”He was overjoyed to know it was an Alchemy House built by his descendants. He howled with happiness atop the mountain for quite some time.

We never imagined there’d be a house that could fit all the bears, even if it’s a bit cramped. It’s perfect for gatherings; no need to shout too loud!”

Four thousand square meters still felt cramped?

Hill looked at the several large bears around him. The biggest one, Grace, was ten meters long and about three meters tall. When he was lifted by her, Hill felt like he’d risen three stories high in an instant.

Even the smallest, Aurelio, was eight meters long.

If he weren’t standing among these three mother bears, Hill might have thought he was pretty big.

Only at this moment did he deeply understand why Aurelio always called him a bear cub.

But the number of Earth Bears was quite considerable!

Neither the dwarves nor the elves would know the exact number of Earth Bears; otherwise, how could they think exterminating the entire tribe would be so easy?

For the Earth Bears, the revival of the Goddess of the Earth was paramount; the bear clan had no interest in a life-or-death struggle with the elves or dwarves.

Or perhaps, every Earth Bear was too precious. The elf deity system and the dwarf deity system might not care about the loss of their tribes, but the Earth Bears couldn’t afford such sacrifices.

Aurelio led Hill to the kitchen area.

Besides this, the house had no other partitions.

The bears probably created such a large kitchen to give the puppets a place to stay, fearing that a moment’s carelessness might break a puppet.

Hill saw that most of the boxes he had given to the Earth Bears were now filled with ingredients, and the puppets were busily preparing various foods. It seemed these three mother bears’ stomachs were indeed bottomless pits.

Hill took out the boxes of ingredients from his pendant.

He handed the boxes filled with fruit directly to the eagerly watching Aurelio.

He sat right outside the kitchen, clutching the boxes tightly, and shouted at the three mother bears, ”No, I must pick some first, or else you won’t leave any for me!”

Though he was still a young bear, Grace and the others let him have his way.

Aurelio quickly picked some fruits, stored them in his cedar tree, carefully kept the relic fragment, bid a quick farewell to Hill, and joyfully ran off.

”Don’t mind him,” Grace laughed, seeing Hill’s concerned look as he watched the flying Aurelio, ”Aurelio always wanted to join us in planting trees.

It’s pitiable for him. No one expected the dwarves and elves to act so ruthlessly. When the Earth lost the Metal and Wood Laws, everything was in chaos.

To prevent the Earth from shattering further, everyone had to plunge into the storm. Those who planned to have children had to give up on that idea.

Aurelio had just been born at that time. The other bear cubs, the youngest of them were thousands of years older than him, had already become demigods long before. When he became legendary, he had to stay here all alone.

Earth Bears are different from humans. Bear cubs are raised by the whole clan. After the mother bears nurse them to full moon, they bring them back to the clan.

We should have been raising them together, but during that period, everyone was fighting for survival, with no time to worry about the cubs.

We could only ensure their safety, with no way to care whether they were lonely or not.

So Aurelio has always wanted to sneak away, but the Clan Leader kicked him back countless times.”

Hill understood that feeling of loneliness, so he could relate to Aurelio.

This valley, surrounded by the Mithril Mountains, was even larger than Hill’s domain.

Although the tall Mithril Range blocked elemental storms and turbulence, no animals could survive here.

Besides the cedars and thorny photinias, the only plants were the low-spreading grasses hugging the ground.

The thought of Aurelio surviving alone in this place for thousands of years made Hill admire his broad-mindedness.

That’s why the mother bears felt pity for Aurelio.

But pity didn’t mean they wouldn’t discipline the young bear.

Hill kept only a small portion of his stored ingredients as a backup and put the rest in the kitchen.

The three mother bears had quickly divided the fruits among themselves, each taking a box.

Fortunately, they remembered to leave some for their cubs, albeit with reluctance, and then slowly retreated.

As Ula left, she glanced longingly at the ten-odd large boxes left in the kitchen, ”We have to go now, or we won’t be able to resist coming back for more.

When mother bears are pregnant, some instincts, especially the urge to hoard, become dominant. It’s best not to see these foods.”

Grace called from outside the door, ”Hill, pick any spot to live in; only we three have taken rooms!”

Hill walked to the door, watching the three mother bears stride firmly back to the side of the house to continue lying down, knowing they needed to conserve their strength and wouldn’t move easily.

He pondered for a while; a Magic Tower wasn’t suitable here, as the area above wasn’t completely free of elemental turbulence.

His house couldn’t be taller than the surrounding cedar forest, or it would lose its roof.

Rummaging through his supplies, he found a peculiarly shaped small house among the legendary items Fran had given him.

Unlike Hill’s usual conch and tortoise shell houses, Fran used the shell of a giant snail from the land.

These snails had many natural predators, so their shells were very flat and even harder than Bex’s tortoise shell, with a peculiar adhesive at the base that allowed it to stick firmly anywhere.

The only drawback was the limited interior space and the fixed position of the entrance.

Once inside, one had to navigate a long, winding corridor to reach the main hall. Such a house would be impossible to escape from if someone blocked the entrance.

Hill didn’t particularly like using it, preferring the more adaptable conch.

But this snail shell house was perfect for this valley.

Hill chose a spot near Grace’s house and the others and placed the snail house there.

The legendary-level snail house stood five meters high. Hill used mana to secure it firmly in place.

He didn’t believe that the elemental storm in this place would never reach down; otherwise, the ground-hugging grasses wouldn’t be so flat.

Hill had already noticed that the Alchemy Huts were all covered with a thick layer of Mithril Plate, a level of extravagance that made him avert his eyes.

However, once his small house was set up, the puppets quickly ran over and helped cover it with a layer of Mithril as well.