The snowy wilderness stretched on, ethereal, with goose feather-like snow falling like curtains.
Inside an icy cave, Colin raised his hand to examine his latest find—a translucent flower sculpted from ice.
He looked up at the Golden Paper that floated before him, where, in the section titled Exotic Skill, the progress behind Anando's Dice had reached 36/100.
Ever since he had acquired this Exotic Skill, Colin would cast it as soon as its cooldown period had ended each week, barring any unforeseen events.
Most of the time before that, he had either been in Neustadt City or other inconvenient locations, and he hadn't actively sought out treasures, so his gains had been meager.
However, this time in the Extreme North, Colin had planned to try using Anando's Dice after his mission ended to see if he could find some valuable items.
After all, times had changed. He was indeed in need of Magic Stones, and if he could find treasures, even if he couldn't use them himself, he could at least exchange them for some Magic Stones.
Putting the ice flower temporarily back onto the stone platform where it had grown, Colin then took out a round bead emitting cold air, a treasure he had extracted from the belly of a strange transparent fish.
The result of this throw of Anando's Dice was very good, a four.
Unfortunately, in the end, Colin only managed to obtain three of them. Besides the two he had just pulled out, there was also a tiny peculiar snowflake.
Colin recognized that snowflake, known as the Extreme Cold Crystal, a top-notch spellcasting material that could sell for at least one hundred thousand Magic Stones in Neustadt City.
As for the fourth, deeper in the Extreme North, as he flew a distance further, his Frost Talent subtly warned him of danger ahead.
After weighing the options, Colin ultimately chose to give it up.
After all, treasures were just icing on the cake for him at this stage; it wasn't worth taking too great a risk for them.
Picking up the round bead that emitted cold air to examine it, then putting it down again to pick up the ice flower beside it, Colin hesitated for a moment. Following the intuition that the new Frost Talent had brought him, he swallowed it.
The ice flower melted in his mouth like cotton candy. A hint of blue flashed in Colin's eyes, a sign of the spilling of Energy.
About ten minutes later, Colin looked to the Golden Paper.
In the Talent section, the progress behind Frost Talent had suddenly surged forward a full forty-five points!
You see, the advancement of a Talent was not like witchcraft or Meditation Method, which could be improved just by practice.
When he had Advanced to the First Rank Wizard, the progress behind Superbrain Talent had always been zero. It had only increased by fifty points once he had Advanced to the Second Rank Wizard, because of the increase in Rank.
As for Strong Life Talent, it too had to be improved indirectly by raising the Knight Breathing Skill and Knight Level.
After unexpectedly acquiring Frost Talent, Colin had been pondering how to improve this Talent, never expecting the surprise to come so suddenly...
To verify whether this was a one-time event, Colin followed his heart and immediately swallowed the round bead he had obtained from inside of the transparent fish.
Like ice cream melting, a whoosh of cold air spread out in Colin's stomach, and he kept his eyes fixated on the Golden Paper.
After a moment, a small ↑ symbol flashed imperceptibly after the Talent: Frost.
Joy flashed in Colin's eyes.
As the energy of the fish-belly round bead was gradually absorbed, the progress behind Frost Talent also continued to jump.
Then, approximately five minutes later, as the energy of the round bead was completely absorbed, the progress behind Frost Talent finally settled at 69/100.
Swoosh!
A thick, transparent Ice Spur suddenly burst from the ground, its sharp tip emitting cold light, and in the blink of an eye, it stabbed into the ceiling of the icy cave with a loud thud.
Ice shards scattered all around, and the dome of the cave began to shake.
Colin looked at the commotion and nodded satisfactorily to himself.
The progress of 69 might not seem like much, but compared to the initial performance when he had just received the Frost Talent, it was still much stronger.
The power of this spike was about the threshold of a First Rank Witchcraft, and moreover, it required no Magic Power consumption, and the spirit exertion was minimal. It had some practicality.
Of course, that was in this cold land. Should he leave the Extreme North, or come the hot summer, conjuring an Ice Spur with such power wouldn't be so easy.
After a slight recovery of the Magic Power within his body, Colin stepped out of the icy cave.
The cold wind whistled, carrying with it fine ice particles.
He looked back in the direction of Ancient North Village, only to see a thick ink-like darkness.
'The freezing night has arrived,' Colin realized internally.
In the several months-long polar night of the Extreme North, there were also about half a month of special days known as—the freezing night.
Even the stars would completely disappear during this time, and the Extreme North would become so cold it was unlike any place on earth.
Colin silently withdrew his gaze; he thought of that young man who had lost his wife. He wondered how he would follow the compass across the snowy plains during such days, to that Land of Hope which could give him one more chance...
Swoosh!
Colin took off from the ground, protected by the Steel Temperature Resistance Field, so that even the cold wind failed to disturb his clothes.
For a Second Rank Wizard like him, the freezing night was just another ordinary night.
Half a day later.
Colin arrived at Kararli City.
Looking at the familiar city gate, Colin suddenly remembered the scrutinizing gaze he had felt here initially.
'Could that have been Joyce?'
But soon he shook his head, 'Joyce is but one person, the sense of surveillance I detected back then should have come from two...'
Such a thought made Colin frown slightly.
He didn't know whether Joyce's visit this time was on his own accord or at the behest of the Hidosh Family... after all, no matter how useless Joyce was, he was still a member of the Pureblood Family.