"I have not seen the Ice and Snow Monster you mentioned," Shelley shook her head, denying again, then she tilted her head, feeling the surroundings slightly before she spoke again, "Did it run in here? I didn't feel the presence of any other living beings here."
"It's already dead, I killed it," Colin shook his head, feeling slightly relieved for unknown reasons, and then added:
"I fought it in Ancient North Village until only its core was left, and then chased it all the way here... I thought this place was its lair."
"This isn't it, this place is spec..." Shelley began to reply but caught herself, closed her mouth, paused, and then affirmed, "In any case, this place absolutely cannot be some Ice and Snow Monster's lair."
"I believe you, Shelley... But what exactly is this place, and why are you here?"
Shelley did not answer; she scrutinized Colin carefully and then suddenly said:
"If I'm not mistaken, it seems you have advanced to a Second Rank Wizard, Mr. Colin?"
Colin's expression faltered slightly, and he fell silent.
Seeing this, Shelley's lips curled slightly, and while stroking the tips of her hair by her ear, she asked:
"Where are the remains of that Ice and Snow Monster?"
Colin glanced at her.
Shelley's expression had already returned to calm, allowing him to scrutinize without finding any flaw, just calmly observing him.
Those beautiful blue eyes so clear that they reflected Colin's figure.
"At the cave entrance," Colin shifted his gaze and pointed behind him.
Boom—
Without any visible action from Shelley, the ice wall behind them suddenly moved aside by itself, revealing the pathway they came through.
"Let's go, take a look," Shelley walked past Colin leading the way.
Colin stood still for a few seconds, then finally stepped forward to follow.
Tap tap tap—
The two of them walked side by side, a bright orb of light illuminating the path ahead and elongating their shadows amidst the silence of the corridor, accompanied only by the echo of their footsteps.
After a moment, Shelley turned her head and asked, "Mr. Colin, so you indeed have advanced to a Second Rank Wizard, right? The Fireball and that Fire Element you cast earlier are not witchcrafts a First Rank Wizard could repeatedly cast."
Colin turned his head to look at her, was silent for a moment, and then slowly nodded.
There was no point in denying it; the ability to cast beyond one's rank could be explained by Talent, but the intensity of the battle earlier definitely wasn't something a First Rank Wizard's Magic Power could sustain.
"If I remember correctly, the day Ocasie brought Mr. Colin to join the True Knowledge Society, she said that you had just advanced to a First Rank Advanced Wizard.
"And also, it seems that the time Mr. Colin advanced to an Official Wizard was also not long ago."
"Such a rate of cultivation is undeniably fast, which is also why Mr. Colin you have become a new Golden Feather of the Tin Saint School."
Shelley watched ahead, continued speaking to herself:
"But today, it seems the Tin Saint School's Golden Feathers hardly reflect your Talent, who could have thought Mr. Colin that you would advance again within such a short period, and now you are already a Second Rank Wizard!"
There was genuine admiration mixed in Shelley's tone, she indeed had not expected Colin's rate of advancement to be so rapid.
"What are you trying to say, Ms. Shelley?" Colin stopped, his body slightly tense, and his heart also sank slightly.
This unusual speed of advancement pertained to his biggest secret—Golden Paper.
Even though his impressions of Shelley were positive, he still felt somewhat nervous in this moment.
Shelley too stopped, turned around, slightly lifting her head to look at him, her snow-white hair cascading down her tender cheeks revealing her creamy neck.
Shelley's expression was serious; she fixed her beautiful light blue eyes on Colin and said word by word:
"I think this should be your secret, Mr. Colin."
Colin remained silent, likewise observing Shelley.
Her expression was composed as she continued, "I will keep your secret—as a friend."
Colin was slightly startled, but by the time Shelley finished saying this, she was already turning to continue walking forward.
He caught up with Shelley, remained silent for a moment, then also slowly said:
"Today I saw nothing, and I was never here."
He paused and continued, "Because we are friends, right, Shelley?"
"Hmm." Shelley slowly nodded.
The two of them exchanged a glance, both feeling a sense of relief.
"I never thought you could talk so much about things other than knowledge," Colin said, pausing slightly, his mouth curling into a smile.
"I just don't like to, not that I can't," Shelley retorted with a glare.
Colin raised an eyebrow: "I thought you had a poker face."
Although she had never heard the term before, Shelley quickly caught on and glared at Colin again.
"This is a contract." Shelley thought for a moment and took out a brownish-yellow contract.
She was the first to write the terms that she would not reveal Colin's specific strengths, then handed it to him.
Colin accepted the contract obligingly.
It didn't necessarily mean that Shelley didn't trust him, rather, it might have been Shelley's way of giving him more security.
In fact, if Shelley hadn't brought out the contract, he would have also suggested signing one.
It wasn't about distrust, but rather, about deepening trust.
Watching the contract burn to ashes in the flames, feeling a faint mark settling onto their souls, the atmosphere between them grew even more harmonious.
Both tacitly avoided asking each other sensitive questions.
Colin stopped obsessing about precisely where this place was, and Shelley no longer fixated on his power.
So, they began discussing the ice and snow monsters.
"So, there are totally two ice and snow monsters; you destroyed one on the spot in Ancient North Village, and only the core of the other was left, then you chased it here?"
Shelley frowned: "The ice and snow monsters you speak of might be bizarre creatures born in the Extreme North, but they generally do not attack humans. If they do attack, it's mostly in retaliation... otherwise, it might be due to divine contamination."
Colin raised an eyebrow.
"Divinity is the biggest cancer of this world."
Shelley stated simply, then swiftly changed the topic, her gaze shifting ahead to the tunnel. She spoke quietly: "The Extreme North is vast and seldom tread by humans, seemingly lifeless on the surface, but secretly, like other parts of Siya Continent, it is home to many delightful creatures... well, if you pass through here, and go a bit further, you'll see a kind of bird that doesn't fly."
"They flock together, small and round, clumsy on land but nimble in water like fish."
Colin nodded slightly, finding Shelley's description oddly familiar.
`A bird that can't fly but can swim… Isn't that a penguin!`
This perhaps was common knowledge in the original world, but in this world, it was a rarity known by few.
To avoid revealing more anomalies, Colin didn't continue the conversation, but simply echoed a comment: "That is indeed peculiar."
After a while, they arrived at the entrance of a cave.
Before Colin could speak, Shelley walked to a corner, bent down, and scooped up a handful of light gray powder to examine closely.
"I think I know what monster you're talking about."
Shelley clapped her hands, stood up, and turned around: "Do you want to see the real lair of this ice and snow monster?"
"Can you find it?"
"There's nothing in this snow land that I don't know about."
Shelley gave a slight smile.
She looked down at the ash left by the Snow Monster Core on the ground, feeling a bit annoyed.
This damned ice and snow monster, not only did it come running here, but it also brought Colin along!
Normally, she had a certain deterrent effect on these monsters.
Now this particular ice and snow monster deliberately came here, clearly intending to deflect disaster elsewhere!
Moreover, according to Colin, these monsters also enjoyed the slaughter of ordinary humans, likely already contaminated... Shelley's nose wrinkled slightly in displeasure, not willing to let these pests saturate the snow land.