Chapter 104: The Frigid Nightmare
From the beginning, Olivia isn’t an Aulander. She’s the daughter of a merchant from one of the seven countries of the Southern Lands, Rhodes Kingdom, and she specially travelled here to study Alchemy.
As a foreign student, she doesn’t have any property here and her luggage is scant. After throwing her medicines and reagents into a Spatial Equipment, packing her books and notes, refunding the deposit and returning the key to the landlord, she is ready to leave.
By the way, the East Mist Communal Country is also one of the seven countries of the Southern Lands. Half of the land of the seven countries altogether was part of the original Mist Country. If I were to reunite the Mist Country again, it would mean merging two countries together and claiming land from two other countries. Under current conditions, it isn’t feasible.
Olivia is quite delighted, being able to become the disciple of a Master Alchemist and to leave this country. After all, in the eyes of other countries, the people of the Southern Lands are barbarians who wear fur coats. Although she is happy over the fact that it isn’t snowing half of the time in a year, she has met with numerous bothersome matters through these years when she was studying.
Now that I’m done with the ‘Miraculous Alchemist’, it is time to look for the ‘Master of Magic Engineering’ Timmy Lade. While searching for him, I stumble on some trouble. However, this isn’t my first time meeting with such problems.
There is still 17 to 18 years before Timmy Lade makes a name for himself. The current Timmy Lade… Alright, I wasn’t surprised in the least when I saw a snot-filled rascal. At the very least, this time, I managed to the find the person in question. This is significantly better than the last time, when the ancestors of the historical heroes that I was looking for were still in their egg and sperm form.
But I met with some trouble when persuading the guardian of the kid.
Timmy Lade has an elder sister and they were interdependent on one another. When she finally returns, I soon realise that she is a person we are familiar with.
“Olivia, Kathleen?”
“Tea… Teacher Dana! Why are you here?”
“This is my home, I’m still curious over why you lot are here. Didn’t you all leave school already? What are you all doing here? Is something up?”
The calm-looking lady in front of me looks like she is in her early thirties. Her solemn face has a dignified atmosphere to it but there is a trace of bitterness on her beautiful face. Looking at her flat contours, I recall the milk story from before…
“Puuu!”
Alright, it is too impolite to be laughing out like that. Reyne, I will make sure to report you to Kelly when we get back. You will be in for some remedial etiquette classes… I laughed as well? Un, at the very least, I didn’t spurt out. I retained some basic respect for the lady.
“Nice to meet you, Teacher Dana. I’m Kathleen’s Knight mentor. I require the help of an Alchemist, so Kathleen recommended me to you. This is a long-term contract and I’m afraid that you may lose your job at the school as a result. However, I can ensure that the remuneration will be generous. Furthermore, there will be opportunity for you to climb to higher grounds. This man over here is the Master Alchemist Yingou Beyar. He is a Gold-rank Alchemist, you can have a chat with him.”
Given that Timmy Lade is interdependent with his elder sister, kidnapping the rascal by himself isn’t a practical solution. On the other hand, as long as we are able to hire this teacher here, Timmy Lade will naturally tag along with us.
However, what is unexpected is that after hearing my words, Dana’s face lights up, as though she is moved by my offer. But the next moment, her face sinks again.
“I’m sorry. While I really do require a new job, we have already decided to leave this city. I’m afraid that I would be unable to accept your goodwill.”
“Leave? Why?”
Initially, she refuses to speak but under my relentless questioning, she finally gives in.
Actually, the reason is quite simple. She feels that the city isn’t safe, so she decided to leave.
The reason why she feels that the city isn’t safe is because she could see the silhouette of that gigantic figure just outside the window.
The gigantic body of the Nine-headed Dragon Emperor Hydra fills almost half of the entire river. The proud dragon heads could be seen even a few districts away. The Dragon Breaths every now and then might not mean anything much to the entire city, but to the unlucky fellows who got struck by it, it is definitely an instant death.
This isn’t some Nine-headed Snake in some marsh regions who inherited a portion of the Dragon Bloodline. The Sea Monster Hydra which has survived numerous tribulations since ancient times is a God Beast. It has obtained a portion of God Power from very early on. If a grade must be given to his bloodline, then his would definitely not be too far off from my Double Diamond Bloodline. When this kind of existence reaches the realm of a SemiGod, a human SemiGod doesn’t mean a single thing in his eyes.
From the very start, this Nine-headed Dragon Emperor is almost an invincible existence in the mortal world. Due to its overwhelming strength, the Hydra’s movements is also restricted. Its aversion towards fighting is quite apparent. However, if you were to approach him and get on his nerves, then who can you blame when you are the one seeking death?
This is like a prologue of a large-scale war game. A few powerful figures come out to lecture you and fight with a few old friends to brush up their existence, but this are all simply part of the storyline. As a rookie, you can just treat it like a movie and just watch the show. However, if you think that you can solo the boss and charge forward, screaming ‘Die, evil! I want to slay the dragon’ and get instant KO-ed, who else can you blame for it?
At the very least, after understanding the prowess of the other party, Darsos doesn’t intend to break through recklessly, nor does he want to anger the master of the Nine-headed Dragon, the Queen of Storms. Looking at how he is trying to avoid battling while sending letters to numerous great Churches, he is obviously waiting for the Order Gods to deal with this problem.
Of course, if the Nine-headed Dragon were to come ashore, Darsos would probably stake everything in and make a final stand to protect his country. The Hydra also understands that and it doesn’t intend to escalate the battle. That’s the reason why the battle is stuck in a stalemate. On the contrary, the ones who were working the hardest are the Seafolks under its command. Other than there being a powerful being pressuring them from the back, the main reason for it was because of a coincidence.
In order to display their extravagance, the Magic Lamps were hung by the river coastline and the fuel used is the highest grade luxury of the human world, the expensive Mermaid Oil. Mermaids are the favored children of the sea, well-reputed as the royals of the Seafolks. Thus, when the Fishmen of the White Whale Tribe saw those oil lamps, it is equivalent to a human watching an Ogre cooking human meat. No matter what, they would go into a frenzy. Naturally, the fight escalated.
Even if the Seafolks are unable to get past the solid defensive line and the temporary barriers set up, the Auland Empire still suffered considerable losses. The appearance of the Nine-headed Dragons has caused the Pier District to be submerged in water. There are a portion of civilians who managed to escape on time, but at the same time, there are also a portion who are unlucky and swept away by the river water along with their houses, fated to never appear on land again.
“My uncle and his entire family lives in the Pier District. Also, my boyfriend’s house was struck directly by the Dragon’s Breath, not a single bone remains of his family. Thus, we decided to leave this depressing city.”
There are quite a few people who choose to leave the city because of such reasons. Dana is just one of them. It is just that her luck is really bad. Despite just dating her boyfriend for just 2 weeks, he met with such a tragedy.
Many of the wars on the continent are the same as well. Regardless of who wins or loses, no matter how sacred or reasonable the reasons for the war are, the ones who suffers first are the weak ordinary civilians.
“That’s great. Oh, I am not talking about your kins. My apologies, lady. I have misspoke. What I meant is that this job requires you to move to a foreign country as well. Since you intend to leave this city, then this job may be suitable for you.”
“Really? Can you fill me in on the details?”
Alright, since the other party also intends to leave the city, the generous remuneration of the employment contract easily moved the heart of Dana, who was worried for the future.
When the two future rising stars were finally under my command, I couldn’t help but fall into deep thoughts.
“Since I interfered in their fate, will they still be as influential as they were in ‘history’? Will they still reach the pinnacle like how they did previously?”
But looking at it from another perspective, even if I do not interfere, the fate of those two would have changed anyway. Since the sudden invasion of the Seafolks would cause Timmy Lade to leave, then regardless of whether he becomes a Master Engineer or not in the future, there is already no basis for the both of them to work together in the future. If so, there is not a possibility for the emergence of the Magic Engineering Study. However, my interference may relight this possibility once again.
“Oh well, why should I think so much about it? At the very least, they are both good buds. If so, I should just wait patiently and groom them as an outstanding rookie. Un, since I introduced Olivia to Yingou, I should introduce little Timmy to Jinya. If the Magic Machinery Dragon were to be born in the future, it should be in the style of the Gnome Explosion Study.”
———
There is an ancient legend in the Southern Lands. Every year, in the few days when snow blocks all passageway to the great ice mountains, in its deepest core, spirits and monsters will emerge for a festive gathering. Regardless of whether it is the Specters, the Snow Woman, the Yetis or the Snowman, all that should be present will be present.
There tend to be a basis for all legends. For this, it is the Frigid Nightmare.
Nightmare, it refers to the demons who looms in our sleep. In reality, the Frigid Nightmare is the common term used for the nameless magic beings living in the ice mountains.
They are intangible beings of magic, yet they are corporeal existences. They are just like the Aurora Lights unique to the Southern Lands. They come in all shape, forms, colors and varieties and yet, when you approach them, you realise that there is nothing there at all.
There is a few thousand years of history to their legends. Southerners would often tell their own children to not head to the great ice mountain in days where it is snowing heavily. That is until one day, a man who didn’t believe the legends intentionally chose to meet the Nightmare of the icy mountains on the day of a blizzard.
He is the ancestor of the Mist Royalty. No one knows exactly what happened in the depths of the ice mountains, nor do anyone know who exactly was the one who ventured there. But, after this incident, the Aurora Knights who turned the heads of the entire continent started appearing in this country of snow.
Knights have always been a backbone of the human armies. This is due to the fact that all kind of mounts can make the originally weak humans become powerful. Even a rookie climbing up a Griffin would make him a tier-3 troop. However, for the weakest of the Aurora Knights to be a tier-4, this proves how powerful the Frigid Nightmare is.
The Frigid Nightmare is a spiritual being, it doesn’t have a fixed form. It is also due to this Aurora-like indeterminate property that allows the Knights to be have strong adaptation capabilities and high growth potential.
The Frigid Nightmare will grow along with the young Knight whom it has linked its soul to. They will absorb nutrients from the soul of the Knight. That is the reason why the beast each Aurora Knight is contracted to is different. A large portion of Nightmares will choose to assume the form of beings living in the ice mountains such as the Snowman and Snow Leopard. Of course, the one people are the most envious of are the Snow Women, despite their weak battle capabilities. Alright, I don’t think I have the explain the reason for this, all men should be able to comprehend it.
However, in order to make it convenient for a group battle, all young Nightmares will be trained to assume the form of the Storm Eagle, Armored Arctic Bear and Ice Unicorn. This would allow the charging army of Aurora Knights to be able to switch among a flying assault, furious charge and violent stampede in a just a few short minutes. Without any doubt, they are the sovereign of the snow.
As a top-tier magic being, the Frigid Nightmares possess high intelligence. A young Frigid Nightmare would already have the intelligence of a three to four year old child whereas a mature Frigid Nightmare is often even smarter than humans. The reason why most of the Aurora Knights who have a Snow Woman Frigid Nightmare remain unmarried could be attributed to the fact that they have fallen in love with their contractual beast.
Due to the existence of the Bloodline Contract, those of the Mist Royalty can obtain the acceptance of the Frigid Nightmares with greater ease. Many descendants of the Royal Bloodline would have a double identity as an Aurora Knight, making it a very prestigious job to attain among the civilians. In our generation, Karwenz is also an Aurora Knight. His Nightmare is able to transform freely between an Ice Dragon and an Ice Behemoth. In normal times though, it would assume the form of the Snow Woman. Not only is it strong, it is also pleasing to the eye, making others very envious.
Alright, at this point, everyone should have already guessed it. The reason why I keep emphasising that I am envious of those who have a Frigid Nightmare who can transform into a Snow Woman is because I don’t have one myself. In fact, I am not even an Aurora Knight.
Silver-rank, this is the bare minimum required to gain the acceptance of these proud ice magic beings. Back then, I was still a Bronze-rank rookie. By the time my power rank reached the standards, our country had already plunged into a long-term war and changing my power type at that moment wasn’t a practical decision. Thus, I could only look on at the cute intelligent elder sisters by the sides of the Knights with envy and resentment. Then, in my 2nd life and 3rd life, the Aurora Knights have already went extinct in this continent. If another one were to appear all of a sudden, won’t I be exposing my own identity? I am still not that foolish as to seek my own death.
Now to the present, my power types have already been confirmed and I have a plan on how I should develop on in the future. Given that I already have too many types of power in my hand, adding in an Aurora Knight into the mix would be much more disadvantageous, compared the benefits it brings. Thus, I can only look at those Snow Woman elder sister with envy and resentment.
Yes, Snow Woman elder sister. There were only two people who were accepted by the Frigid Nightmares during this period of time. One of them is a male Knight named Elohim. The usual form that his Frigid Nightmare assumes is that of a Snowman, or rather, should I say Snow Ape? Although it is shockingly unattractive, it possesses great strength and incredible agility, making it extremely suited for a chaotic battle.
Other than because that Nightmare was a companion of his ancestor, a greater part of the reason why he was accepted is because he is the only Gold-rank Knight of the Royal Knights.
The advantages to using a Nightmare left behind by their ancestors is that they are able to skip by the long cultivation period. However, this would also mean that many gaps will appear in the coordination of the Knight and the Nightmare. They won’t be as harmonised in thoughts compared to a duo whose Knight cultivates his Nightmare from young.
As for the other new Aurora Knight, it is Reyne who I pulled up forcefully using the Golden Ring. Right after she reached Silver-rank, the bunch of incredulously proud Nightmares who refuses to approve of anyone took the initiative to look for her to contract with. In the end, she ignores the strongly-recommended heavyweight Ice Boar and Ice Giant and chooses a Snow Woman called Seva. Truthfully, those heavyweight giant monsters are the best way to bring up her pathetic fighting capabilities and grant her the ability to survive, an aspect which had been very worrying us.
“They are all very ugly. Look at how beautiful and mature Big Sister Seva is. I must choose her.”
Alright, should I say as expected of a princess? The moment these words are spoken, the hearts of those hulking Nightmares were broken.
But, I also approve of her decision. Although the Snow Woman form is extremely weak in close combat, they have the strongest Power of Ice, allowing them to forge an ice armor and ice weapon in the shortest period of time. At this moment, this is the ability that we require the most.
With the help of Siren Tracy, we swam straight to the bottom of the river. Even if we met with the Fishmen patrol teams, as a high-tier race of the Seafolks, she can easily command those lower-tier Fishmen to retreat.
It is very probable that even a Mermaid would be unable to float when equipped with plate mail and heavy weapons. Thus, to ensure the convenience of movement underwater, all of us were dressed lightly.
By the time we reached the secret underwater base, the giant Snowman forged a whole set of equipment for his own Knight before heading to one side to prepare for battle. On the other hand, Seva created a weapon of ice for everyone else.
【Magic Ice Sword】
【Attack Power: 10 – 12
Tier: Elite
If the wielder is an Aurora Knight, the attack power will be doubled and the weapon will go up by 1 tier.】
【Frost Blade: Deal additional 5 Frost damage.】
【Indestructible Ice: The Extreme Freezing Magic of the Frigid Nightmare has made this Sword of Ice to be much stronger than steel. You can feel free to cross blows with Adamantine weapons】
【Frostbite: Anyone who touches this magic sword with bare skin will suffer 1 damage/second. If the wielder were to put on Arctic Wolf Gloves enchanted by a Frigid Nightmare, he would be immune to this effect for half an hour. Aurora Knights are not affected by Frostbite.】
Now that everyone has a handy weapon, the panting Seva starts to forge an armor for me.
This is the ultra-heavy armor for a job unique to only the Mist Country, the Avalanche Defender. When this heavy armor is put on my body with a door-size gigantic shield in my hand, I turn completely into a moving fortress, assuming the role of a tanker which we are sorely lacking.
Although the Ice Armor also has the Frostbite effect which hurts the enemy as well as the user, my Titan Body ability renders this pathetic 1 damage/second null.
Security alarms echo throughout the entire base. Even the slowest of the Undeads would have already noticed us, who were preparing for battle. Looking at the Undead Knights, Zombies and Skeletons press closer, I stroke the Pale Justice in my hands and ignites the Sacred Inferno on the blade of the sword.
“The Undeads who should have long returned to their graves, using my Sacred Inferno, I shall bestow upon you purification and eternal rest.” After finishing the standard declaration of a Holy Knight when facing Undeads, I somehow felt displeased and muttered to myself.
“Why does that warcry sound so uncomfortable to me. Forget it, I think I will just use the warcry for charging. O Holy Light, that evil is worth a fight!”
Chaotic battle -> Trying to refer to battles where everyone do their own things, imagine the sight when you send tons of footsoldiers in and they just fight as hard as they can to survive (something like that)
And the final warcry, if I remembered it correctly, he used during the Dragon chapter (where Adam and the rest stalked him to ensure his safety), but I’m a bit lazy to check it up so :X