Chapter 25: A Flawless Plan
Year 833 of the Falling Stars Era, November 1st, Winter, Heavy Snow.
Moldavia, Nissier Snow Mountain, Winterfell Academy.
The night was deep.
A squad wearing school uniforms walked through the night. They remained silent, not even lighting a torch or using illumination magic. Instead, they moved through the darkness, making no sound at all.
This was the Ice Gale Forest, a full twelve kilometers from Nissier Snow Mountain. In the depths of winter, the abnormal mana here would freeze falling snow into ice. The howling wind would be filled with sharp ice crystals, and only magical beasts capable of controlling frost mana could survive here.
But it was not yet deep winter, and there was no snowfall around Nissier Snow Mountain. Aside from the faint cold wind, there was nothing else obstructing this student squad.
Winterfell Academy had been established for about a year. Most of its students now possessed the abilities of a novice spellcaster, and the outstanding ones among them had already completed the Black Iron Revelation, becoming professional practitioners.
After all, these were the children with the best elemental affinity in the entire Northern Territory. Their talents were already considered excellent, and with systematic training and generous investment, this pace of progress was only natural.
But this four-person squad was entirely composed of Black Iron rank. They were undoubtedly the top performers in the academy, yet now they were exploring the forest late at night, seemingly searching for something.
The cold wind swept through, stirring up a layer of icy sand. Suddenly, a male voice complained from within the squad: "Is that Ice Wraith here or not? We've already searched most of the forest, and the detection magic still hasn't reacted at all."
"Nick, keep your voice down!"
A lowered female voice scolded with a hint of anger: "This is the Ice Gale Forest. Besides Ice Wraiths, there are plenty of other magical beasts! Don't stir up trouble!"
After being scolded, the male voice quieted down, but he still muttered back unconvinced: "Karin, you said that detection magic scroll you bought could directly find the target, but so far, it's done nothing but lead us running around the forest!"
"It clearly shows it's nearby. Its lair must be..."
While the two were walking and arguing in low voices, behind them, a pair of siblings with platinum-blonde hair exchanged helpless glances, then shrugged in unison.
Ivan and Amira, the siblings who aspired to become Dragon Slayers, were now in the Ice Gale Forest, completing a task assigned by the academy.
Winterfell Academy was different from most noble mage academies. It emphasized actual combat, practical operation, and real-world application. Theoretical courses wouldn't be covered until the fourth year's advanced curriculum. The early education focused on mana perception and control. Only after a solid foundation was laid would higher education proceed.
Because of this, once most students had basic combat capabilities, the academy began assigning them various task objectives to complete.
Whether it was a Dire Bear, a Four-Horned Armored Deer, a Great Frost Butterfly... or the Ice Wraith that Ivan and the others were currently tracking.
These Black Iron-rank magical beasts were identified by the academy's mentors and marked as student tasks. Students would form four-person squads to hunt these beasts, comprehensively training their search, tracking, stamina, teamwork, and magical application skills.
Since Ivan and Amira were among the top students in terms of strength, their tasks were naturally among the most difficult. After careful selection, they chose the Ice Wraith from a pile of elite Black Iron magical beasts. Then, the two brought along their friends and headed to the Ice Gale Forest.
"Target spotted!" Ivan and Amira suddenly exclaimed in unison.
Although they appeared to be arguing, all four were highly alert. The moment the detection magic reacted, they instantly formed a formation and advanced toward the target's direction.
Ivan and Nick stood in the front row. One held a cross-shaped longsword, the other a collapsible tower shield. Behind them, Amira and Karin held a longbow and a crossbow, respectively, on alert.
Nick was a sturdy youth with Dwarf blood. Although he was only one meter forty-five tall, his muscles were more developed than an adult's. If not for the faint glow of enhancement magic flickering around his hands, no one would think he was a mage apprentice.
Meanwhile, the red-haired girl Karin was pulling out bottles of simple holy water from her bosom. She deftly applied it to her arrowheads and casually handed a few bottles to Amira.
Low-rank mage battles were never about holding a staff and leisurely casting spells. Before their spellcasting abilities matured, most mages supported from the rear with longbows and crossbows. Some mages with melee combat capabilities also needed to fight on the front lines.
However, this didn't mean they didn't use magic. Amira and Karin both chanted softly, drawing in surrounding elements to empower the two in front and their own bows and crossbows. This resonance technique unique to human mages allowed them to cast spells on multiple targets simultaneously.
The next instant, from the darkness of the distant forest, a faint blue ghostly light suddenly flickered. A humanoid luminous entity, floating in midair and surrounded by layers of ice armor, appeared before them.
Its venomous gaze swept over the four living people before it. The vengeful spirit of an adventurer who had died in the cold let out a silent soul scream. Pale blue frost mana surged, and ice spikes began to form in the air.
"Nick, hold the shield and advance to cover."
"Amira and Karin, use holy water arrows for rear support. Be careful of other magical beasts attracted by the noise!"
As the squad leader, Ivan issued a series of commands decisively. Then, he himself rushed forward, closely following Nick, and began...
"Is that for real?!"
Startled without warning, the red-haired girl immediately got angry. This half-Dwarf was like a rock—good in every way except his voice was always this loud, no matter how many times she told him to change. Just as she was about to flare up and argue with Nick, Ivan and Amira quickly stepped in to calm things down.
"It's fine, Karin. With his voice that loud, even the magical beasts will be scared off."
"Yeah, Karin-sister. If worst comes to worst, we can just leave Nick behind to hold the rear. It'll be fine."
But Nick wasn't paying attention to his companions' comments about him. He was just panting heavily and said: "Gold? A whole house full of gold?!"
"Gold?!" x3
The three in the back exclaimed in unison, utterly astonished.
Without any further words, Karin immediately ran over to the injured Armored Deer, whose eyes were lively and pure, completely different from ordinary Armored Deer. She decisively aimed her crossbow at its head and said viciously to Nick: "Quick, make it spill everything, or I'll shoot an arrow through its head!"
Although Ivan and Amira weren't as excited, they exchanged glances, then slowly stepped forward with fierce expressions, mana beginning to gather in their hands.
The four surrounded the Armored Deer, instantly scaring it so much that its legs went weak. Nick didn't hesitate to continue his interrogation. After a while, the Armored Deer stopped talking, and Nick stood up, excitedly shouting to his other three companions: "Hahaha! This Armored Deer knows where the gold is!"
"Calm down, Nick." As the squad leader, Ivan was always steady. He squinted at the trembling Armored Deer and said: "Don't take an animal's words too seriously... Where's the gold?"
"Yeah, it's just an Armored Deer. Can it even tell the difference between gold and other minerals?" Amira nodded in agreement with her brother. A ball of silver-white cold light flickered in her right hand, chilling mana radiating everywhere, nearly scaring the Armored Deer into fainting: "It might be lying to save its life... Where's the gold?"
Karin was more direct than the siblings. She simply asked: "Where's the gold?"
It wasn't surprising they were so obsessed with gold. They were just tired of being poor for too long.
Although Winterfell Academy had low tuition and waived fees for basic textbooks and experiments, advanced supplementary materials, extracurricular tutoring, and extra spell experiments all cost money. While Nick and Karin's families weren't poor, they couldn't provide much funding. Ivan and Amira's family was slightly better off, but Old Man Edward couldn't spare too many extra gold coins.
As the top students in the academy, these four had long outgrown the shallow knowledge of basic textbooks. They urgently needed to buy advanced textbooks and seek extracurricular tutoring from mentors. They also needed money to upgrade their equipment to better complete task objectives. In fact, they chose to hunt the Ice Wraith because it might condense a low-grade Frost Crystal, which could sell for a few hundred gold coins—much more profitable than any beast hide.
"In a Dragon's Nest."
Nick said succinctly.
The smiles gradually faded from the other three's faces.
"A Dragon's Nest?"
Ivan muttered, his expression strange.
"A Dragon's Nest?"
Amira whispered to herself, her gaze cold.
"Are you an idiot, Nick?!"
It was Karin again, cursing outright. She spat bluntly: "Why not say it's in your heart! Damn it! That's a Dragon's Nest! Everyone knows Dragon's Nests have gold! Do you dare to go?!"
"In the Dragon's Nest that the Lord wiped out!"
Nick didn't change his expression at all despite his companions' suspicion, disdain, and insults. His expression was firm, his words clear and forceful: "That Ice Dragon's Nest! After the Lord killed those Ice Dragons, he hasn't sent anyone to recover the resources yet. Under the ice layer, there's a whole floor's worth of gold! We just need to go there and dig it out!"
The other three immediately felt it was plausible.
Ivan murmured: "A flawless plan."
At the same time, near the Dragon's Nest on the Extreme North Icefield.
A squad of black-clad figures walked through the blizzard of the icefield.
They were surrounded by barriers that resisted the wind and snow, quickly arriving at the ruins of the Dragon's Nest. The leading black-clad figure said in a hoarse voice: "It's here. The hometown of those Northern White Dragons. Joshua van Radcliffe wiped them out but didn't send anyone to recover the resources. Those plague poison mists might still be inside."
"Recover them first." A sharp female voice rang out from within the squad. She commanded without ceremony: "Dig quickly. We don't have much time. The High Priest is about to arrive. We need to stir up chaos in Moldova as soon as possible to facilitate the Priest's exploration of the ruins."
"Yes!"
The many black-clad figures responded in unison. The next moment, they swiftly advanced toward the Dragon's Nest ruins and began their excavation and exploration.
Watching this scene, the female black-clad figure pondered their next moves and couldn't help but chuckle softly: "A flawless plan."
The next day, Joshua was at the Lord's Manor, sitting at the dining table eating breakfast.
Today's breakfast was roasted wild boar steak, two eggs, and a bowl of mashed potatoes. For a warrior, this was something that could be finished in three seconds. After eating, he felt uncomfortable—not because he was hungry, but because someone was lying on his back.
The Black Dragon girl was lying on Joshua's back, speaking in a deliberately lowered voice: "Master, um... I haven't been out for a long time..."
"Alright, alright, I understand."
The warrior helplessly nodded: "You want to go for a walk, right? Fine, I'll take you out later... Where do you want to go?"
"The Extreme North Icefield!"
"Fine. Go prepare first. I'll be there shortly."
"Master is the best!" Black immediately cheered happily, then ran off with a clatter to prepare.
Joshua sat in his seat, thinking for a moment.
Although an Ultimate-rank warrior no longer needed to eat, only needing to absorb free-floating energy from the air to survive, eating was still a very pleasant activity. If it was food like magical beast meat, it could even bring benefits to the body.
"While taking Black for a walk, I might as well catch some magical beasts along the way."
Joshua muttered to himself: "I can also stretch my limbs. It's a good chance to see how the magical beasts in the icefield are spreading out now that the White Dragons are gone."
He nodded in satisfaction at his own idea.
"A flawless plan."