“Woohoo~ The Lynn Subjugation Squad is setting off!”
The mother wolf leading the way snapped out of it, casting a glance at the two-legged beast who was somehow in high spirits.
To call it leading the way was a stretch; in truth, the mother wolf was simply limping across the snow, with her three little pups following in a single-file line behind her, and Lynn trailing behind the pups. From a distance, they looked like a snowfield expeditionary force with extremely shabby equipment.
He unfurled the scroll containing the “abstract drawings” of the strongholds, looking like an emperor fretting over which concubine to favor.
“This one, this one.” He pointed at a spot at random.
The mother wolf lazily looked up, then began leading him through a series of twists and turns with her paws.
After walking for nearly half a shichen, the mother wolf stopped in front of a rocky slope. The slope was covered in thick snow, with several jagged boulders half-buried in it, creating natural crevices and caves between them.
She tossed her head, then picked up her three pups one by one with her mouth and limped back behind a distant boulder, exposing only half of her head. Her face practically said, “Sir, this way.”
“Ugh—it smells terrible...”
A foul, fishy stench carried over with the cold wind, causing Lynn to pinch his nose in disgust.
“Wait, inside this cave, it couldn't be...”
He recalled Sena's sorrowful advice during his special training.
“Young Master... before entering a magical beast's nest for the first time, in addition to making a complete backup plan, mental preparation is also extremely important.”
As if recalling some unpleasant, socially embarrassing memory, her face was filled with utter despair. “The environment inside... while fighting, it's really hard to maintain a tidy appearance.”
“You... must be extremely careful. At least... don't let your teammates capture any recording crystal footage of you.”
Lynn swallowed hard, his thoughts returning to the present.
Inside this place—it couldn't be some dragon's pool or tiger's den resembling a sea of feces and maggots, could it?
“If that's the case, I'd rather go another three hundred rounds in a duel with Gorilla Sena.”
Gazing at the pitch-black cave entrance, Lynn took a deep breath and made a decision that went against his ancestors.
Looking at the mother wolf, who had a puzzled expression that said, “Two-legged beast, why aren't you going in yet?” he smiled sheepishly. ‘Actually, I think... outsmarting them is also a valid style.’
“For example... how about throwing a fireball into a dry cave filled with furry magical beasts?”
The mother wolf instantly retreated a few steps, scurrying off with her pups to hide behind a boulder even further away.
Mother wolf: Two-legged beast, are you a demon?
Lynn: Oh, you flatter me.
He channeled his mana, and a tiny spark danced in the air.
Compress, refine, and compress again.
An almost massive amount of mana was crudely poured in all at once. In moments, the spark grew larger and larger, roaring as it spun into a massive fireball.
The scorching heat melted some of the snow on the ground, revealing the grayish-brown earth beneath.
The mother wolf, poking her head out in the distance, gaped in shock. She gave a hard tap to her equally dumbfounded pups.
‘See that? Look how incredibly wise your mother is!’
But the two-legged beast showing off his great power before them frowned, seemingly unsatisfied with the spell's power.
Lynn smacked his lips. “I always feel like something is missing... What is it...”
He pondered deeply, then suddenly looked at his palm. “Right, it's wind!”
Wind feeds fire. In nature, this is the most eternal truth.
Even in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when the Chancellor famously burned Red Cliffs, didn't he also ascend the altar to pray to the heavens for a mighty easterly wind?
Today, Lynn obviously didn't need to go through all that trouble.
Although his mastery over wind magic was far inferior to his fire magic, which was boosted by his traits, it was still more than enough for a simple task like aiding combustion.
“Tier 2 spell—Wind Control.”
The bone-chilling wind of the Northern Plains welcomed a new guest today. Carrying a grand and mighty momentum, it swept forward from Lynn's side without looking back.
Propelled by the wind pressure, the highly compressed fireball flew into the cave entrance with a whoosh.
As if their peaceful slumber had been disturbed by this significant commotion, the defenseless Bear One and Bear Two inside the cave scratched their butts and rolled over.
Opening their bleary eyes, they collided head-on with the rapidly approaching fireball.
Fireball: Surprise, buddy!
The two bears: Thanks a lot.
In the blink of an eye, the terrifying flames engulfed their massive bodies. Roaring to shake the heavens in pain, the first bear scrambled and crawled toward the cave entrance.
‘As long as... as long as I can reach that place...’
The light of the cave entrance grew larger and larger in its eyes. Before it could show even a hint of joy, it saw a figure holding a sword against the light, waiting at ease.
“Ah... I didn't expect one to actually make it out...”
“As expected of a bear, so thick-skinned...”
Who... was that?
Before the snow-maned bear's tiny brain could figure out an answer, a sharp pain in its chest ground its movements to a halt.
Looking down, the slender silver sword had already sunk entirely into its chest.
The youth before it unhurriedly drew out the silver sword, flourished it to fling off the dark red blood, and dried the blade.
Thud—
Amidst the splashing snow, the massive body of the magical beast crashed heavily to the ground.
Only then did the mother wolf dare to poke her head out from the crevice in the rocks, casting an unbelieving glance at the two-legged beast who had seemed so frail in her eyes.
Meanwhile, at the center of attention, our student Lynn was grumbling to himself.
“This is really a pain...”
He poked the massive corpse of the snow-maned bear in annoyance.
“Isn't there some setting in this world where magic crystals just drop directly upon a kill?”
Pulling out a knife, he began to aimlessly search the corpse for the magic crystal while muttering curses.
...
At the same time, inside the inner building of the Gunier manor.
The hunting competition had already been underway for a whole day. Aside from the contestants who had failed under the onslaught of the icefield wolves in the first round, the remaining participants who passed had all shown their unique talents, beginning to display their brilliance.
Titled elite adventurers, prominent nobles, and highly capable follower mages... had already kicked off a lively new round of discussion in the inner building.
A massive magical screen continuously flickered with real-time footage of the seeded contestants who currently held impressive victory points.
“Oh, this kid... is performing quite well...”
“I think his name is... Anger? Although he's just a commoner, his swift movements and keen tracking skills...”
“Although his strength isn't enough to handle more powerful monsters, by casting a wide net for weaker ones and accumulating kills, he has already obtained nearly 100 victory points!”
The plump noble, stroking his beard, sighed in admiration repeatedly and looked at the companion conversing beside him. “Hey, old man, you have to let our territory have this prospect!”
However, his companion stared at him with a strange look, watching him until he felt a bit unnerved before speaking up. “Did you not attend the banquet tonight?”
“Uh... no, I arrived a bit late.”
“If you had, you would know. This kid has already been recruited by the Reinhardt family.”
“Reinhardt!?? Well... alright... no one can compete with them anyway.” The plump noble sat down dejectedly, but then suddenly slapped the table.
“Then this one—our Durbin family must recruit them!”
The screen he pointed to was filled with bright orange. A roaring, raging fire burned everything to ashes. The dancing flames resembled guardian knights, firmly shielding their highness in the center.
The cherry-haired girl's gaze was cold. She stood tall and straight atop the massive corpse of a magical beast, not uttering a single word.
“Look at that! That proud stance, that unrivaled magic! My goodness, she is the spitting image of Her Highness Princess Anna!”
Before he could even finish, the noble and cool girl he spoke of broke character in an instant.
“Not in this direction either...”
Lilian lowered her head, irritably biting her index finger.
“Young Master, where on earth are you?”
Much like Lynn, who was highly unaccustomed to being away from Lilian, Lilian's “Lynn energy bar” had run completely dry at this moment.
‘If I don't replenish my Young Master energy soon...’
The fierce growling of beasts not far away interrupted her thoughts. A pack of wolves, eyes gleaming with ferocity, surrounded her like a tide.
She lowered her eyelids as violent flames gathered in her staff.
“Tch, troublesome pests, one after another...”
In the inner building, the plump noble was still rambling on with his grand theories, but his companion, who could no longer bear to listen, interrupted him. “She is also from the Reinhardt family.”
The plump noble's eyes instantly widened. “The Reinhardt family again??”
“Sir Durbin, there's no need to be so excited~” A priest dressed in clerical robes chuckled, stroking his beard. “May the light of God watch over you.”
You old geezer, speaking so casually only because your own Saintess has already racked up a whopping 200+ victory points, firmly holding first place.
Ah, every single one of them...
He bit his handkerchief in jealousy, looking over at the real-time leaderboard of victory points displayed nearby.
First place: Veronica, 245 victory points
Second place: Lilian Anasette, 170 victory points
...
Ninth place: Anger, 90 victory points
Sixty-seventh place: Lynn von Reinhardt, 25 victory points
Catching sight of the name at the very bottom, the man put his smile back on, pretending to ask casually, “Speaking of the Reinhardt family—it seems Young Master Lynn has run into a bit of trouble.”
“After all, it's his first time participating, so he lacks experience. Look, his victory points haven't changed in a long time...”
Before he could finish his sentence, a cry of surprise cut him off.
“Hey, hey! Look at that number—”
“For real?”
...
Sir Durbin's eyes widened. In his astonished vision...
...the victory points behind Lynn's name began to climb at an extremely shocking rate.
Rate on N.U.
