At dawn, Leviathan slowly descended on the far northern lands.

The cold wind howled, and snowflakes danced in the air. Before them lay an endless expanse of white.

Roswitha stepped onto the ground through a transport beam, squinting slightly to keep the snow from blowing into her eyes.

She raised her hand to shield her brow and looked into the distance.

“I think we may have underestimated things. This doesn’t seem like the kind of place where luck would be on your side.”

“A phrase from human society suits situations like this perfectly—well, not a phrase, exactly, more like four words.” Leon emerged from behind her, moving to stand by her side.

“Which four words?”

“Since we’re already here.”

The queen shook her head helplessly and let out a small laugh.

Indeed, "since we’re already here" fit all sorts of unexpected predicaments.

After three grueling days of travel, they had finally arrived in the far north. Turning back now without even starting their investigation would certainly not be in line with how the couple operated.

“Well, brave survival enthusiasts, this marks the final destination of our journey: the forbidden ground of the Dragon Clan—the Far North!”

Oh, right. This time they had come under the guise of an “outdoor survival challenge.”

Naturally, someone had to take charge of the “survival” aspect.

“For the next three days, we’ll be undertaking a survival adventure here. During this period, there will be no backup, no guides, and certainly no gourmet meals or cozy fireplaces magically appearing when things get tough. All we have is a brave heart willing to challenge nature!”

This was precisely why Leon never participated in survival challenges.

Why bother leaving the comfort of home, the warm embrace of a soft bed, and the taste of delicious meals just to rough it in some godforsaken wilderness?

You dragons, he thought, are probably way too comfortable in your usual lives. Do you have nothing better to do?

If you enjoy survival challenges so much, why not take on a real fight—say, a one-on-one match against General Leon? Wouldn’t that be far more thrilling than freezing here in the snow?

While Leon was indulging in his internal monologue of complaints, groups of survival enthusiasts and Saint Hiss Academy students had already begun to organize into two separate teams.

“They say all these students are part of the academy’s Youth Dragon Division, here to take part in a field assessment,” Roswitha explained.

“A field assessment in a place like this?”

Roswitha nodded. “Yes, it’s a tradition at the academy. Your own mentor has said before that if someone wants to become a stronger warrior, it’s essential to complete a journey through the Far North.”

“Fair point.”

Leon exhaled deeply, and the warm air condensed into visible puffs in the frigid environment.

He looked at a few small clusters of students in the distance, hesitated slightly, and then asked abruptly, “Do you think Noa might’ve sneaked along to join this?”

“Noa won’t even enter the Adolescent Dragon Division until next year, so… she probably wouldn’t.”

Leon’s question had planted a seed of uncertainty in Roswitha’s mind. She couldn’t be entirely sure. After all, their eldest daughter wasn’t someone you could judge by typical standards for young dragons.

What five-year-old would dare to ambush an opponent of Dragon King level—twice, no less?

What’s more, Noa had inherited both their spirits for self-challenge to near perfection.

Given the chance to train in the Far North, Noa might actually show up.

However, as Leon and Roswitha stood beneath Leviathan for a while, watching the students disperse, they didn’t spot their eldest daughter anywhere.

Leon sighed quietly in relief. “Maybe we’re overthinking it.”

Truth be told, he wasn’t keen on his daughter coming to a place like this.

At least—not at this moment.

There would be plenty of time in the future to train and grow stronger. There was no need to rush.

If Constantine truly was here, Leon feared Noa would be put in harm’s way.

The couple turned their attention away and began walking toward the crowd ahead.

It was time for them to focus on the task at hand.

But shortly after the pair left, two heads popped out from behind Yuna—Noa and Helena.

“Have they gone?” Noa asked.

“Yep, they’ve gone quite far now.”

The lively Thunder Dragon princess stood on tiptoes, watching Leon and Roswitha’s receding silhouettes.

“As expected, the legendary Silver Dragon Queen is so elegant! And your dad is so handsome—what a perfect couple.”

Having grown up surrounded by the stunning appearances of her parents, Noa was long immune to remarks about their elegance or compatibility.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she stepped out alongside Helena.

“By the way, little Noa, why don’t you want your mom and dad to know you’re here?” Yuna asked as she withdrew her gaze.

Looking at her parents’ figures disappearing into the blizzard, Noa paused to think before replying,

“My dad’s a total softie for me. If he knew I was here, he’d probably stay glued to my side the entire time.”

Yuna seemed to understand, adding, “So, you’d rather rely on yourself and your friends to complete this assessment, isn’t that right?”

Noa nodded firmly. “Exactly. And… if I can return home afterward and present them with the results of completing this Far North field test, they’ll be even happier.”

Yuna tilted her head slightly, surprised. “Are they… the kind of parents who care a lot about grades?”

“No, they don’t care about grades. They care about me. But right now, grades are the most straightforward way for me to demonstrate my abilities to them.”

Noa turned her gaze away, adjusted the backpack on her shoulders, and stepped into the snow.

“I’ll become as strong as them one day—stronger, even.”

Her small figure gradually disappeared into the swirling snowflakes.

Helena called after her friend and hurried to catch up.

Watching Noa’s fragile silhouette shrink in the distance, Yuna glanced back at the couple.

After a long while, a faint smile curved her lips as she murmured to herself,

“You will, junior. Someday, you’ll grow into a warrior stronger than you could ever imagine.”

Yuna turned to follow the group, officially beginning their field assessment journey.

...

As the survival challenge went on, Leon and Roswitha had discreetly slipped away from the group.

Before leaving, Leon cast a tracking spell on the person leading the challenge, just in case they got lost later.

With that taken care of, he and Roswitha felt free to focus on tracking down Constantine.

Initially, they had presumed that finding a burning stitch-monster in a sea of endless white wouldn’t be too challenging.

But they needed Roswitha’s Primordial Power to sense its presence.

Magic of the same origin could resonate, a principle taught in basic magic classes.

However, it remained to be seen whether this applied to ancient Primordial Magic as well.

Ensuring no one was around, Roswitha began condensing her Primordial Power.

Soon, the surrounding snow and wind seemed to be pushed away by an invisible force, swirling around Roswitha without touching her.

At her feet, patches of snow began to melt.

Leon quickly put an arm around her waist as a precaution, worried that the ground beneath her might suddenly collapse.

Fortunately, Roswitha’s control over the Primordial Power was highly refined, and before long, a milky-white orb of light coalesced before her.

The first step was a success.

The couple exchanged glances, sharing a quiet smile.

Next came step two.

Holding the orb aloft, Roswitha closed her eyes and focused on sensing magical waves.

After waiting a while, she furrowed her brows slightly.

“What’s wrong? You didn’t feel any traces of another Primordial Power?” Leon asked.

Roswitha opened her eyes, waved away the orb, and nodded. “No, there’s no reaction or resonance whatsoever. But it doesn’t make sense.”

“Logically,” she continued, “every Dragon Clan source originates from the Primordial Dragon King, Noa. The Primordial Power I’ve gathered should resonate with that energy. So why is there nothing...?”

Leon pondered for a moment before hazarding a guess.

“Your grandmother probably tried the same thing when they came here. But it still took them years to find even a faint trace of Primordial Power. I suspect something is obstructing the resonance between these powers.”

After a pause, he added, “Or maybe the strength of our current Primordial Power isn’t sufficient to establish a connection.”

The queen frowned in thought. “Not strong enough, huh… But this is the best I can do right now.”

Leon patted her shoulder reassuringly. “It’s fine. We expected obstacles like this from the start. Don’t lose hope—we’ll think of something else.”

Thinking of another method was easier said than done, though.

Leon tilted his head back to look at the sky, still a featureless expanse of white without even a clear outline of the sun.

He stared at the heavens for a while, finding no inspiration, before lowering his gaze to the ground.

The snow beneath his feet was thick, and below it was the so-called “unburnable ice layer” Constantine reportedly couldn’t pierce.

And beneath that ice layer lay endless treasure.

“Roswitha,” Leon spoke suddenly.

“Yeah?”

“How do you think your grandmother and her team preserved the Primordial Power they discovered?”

“How they... preserved it?”

Thinking for a moment, Roswitha answered, “Perhaps they stored it in some kind of vessel?”

“A vessel from Noa’s era? Seems unlikely.”

Leon crouched and scooped up a handful of snow, watching as it melted into water in his palms.

“I’m more inclined to believe that the immense Primordial Power was sealed beneath the ice. What your grandmother collected might’ve been a portion of energy that had leaked from that seal.”

Hearing this, Roswitha was interested. “A seal?”

“Hmm. This snowpack, and even the ice layer beneath it, are all part of the seal.”

“But if it’s a seal, doesn’t that mean we’ll have an even harder time finding the source of the Primordial Power? That would also make it impossible to locate Constantine.”

Leon stood up and patted the snowmelt off his hands. “No, it’s actually the opposite. If the ice layer is a seal, and your grandmother and the others managed to acquire a portion of the leaked Primordial Power, then it means that somewhere within this seal, there’s a flaw. And this flaw might just be our only chance to glimpse this ancient power.”

He turned to look at Roswitha, about to continue speaking, but his gaze suddenly froze on her chest.

“Babe, your chest is glowing.” Leon pointed at her.

Roswitha had been engrossed in his analysis, listening intently, when he suddenly brought up her chest glowing. What kind of nonsense…?

She didn’t think much of it, assuming Leon was referring to the light from her Dragon Mark. So she casually replied,

“Seriously? Are you getting turned on by me out here in the freezing snow? Forget it. If you whip that out, that thing will just freeze solid.”

“...”

Leon was speechless. “The Dragon Mark’s light is purple, but your chest right now is glowing white.”

Only then did Roswitha lower her gaze to look. True enough, a soft white light was emitting from beneath her clothing.

She loosened the collar of her blouse to inspect further, and to her shock, it turned out to be…

“The pendant necklace Grandmother asked Principal Orlette to give me a while back?”

At this moment, the milky-white pendant was radiating a crystalline white light, flickering intermittently.

When Roswitha tilted her body slightly, the light momentarily grew brighter, only to return to its unstable flickering state shortly after.

Noticing this, Roswitha held the pendant and stepped forward a few paces.

This time, the glow dimmed slightly.

Then, as she stepped back to where she’d been before, the glow returned to its previous intensity.

“Didn’t the old lady say what this thing was?” Leon asked, clearly surprised.

Roswitha shook her head. “She only said it was a belated wedding gift for me, made of some very rare material.”

“Taking this long to make good on a wedding gift… Sounds pretty fishy if you ask me.”

Leon pondered for a moment before making a bold guess.

“Do you think this thing might be tied to the Primordial Power in some way? After all, the old lady spent years working in this far-northern region. And not long after returning, she gave you this necklace. No matter how you look at it, it’s… suspicious.”

Roswitha nodded in agreement.

Previously, they hadn’t known that Grandmother Veronica had been searching for Noa’s power in the far north. But after learning this, and considering the timing of her gifting Roswitha the necklace, it was impossible not to connect the two events.

“So… we follow wherever this necklace leads?”

“Yeah. It’s the only clue we have right now.”

Amid the snow and wind, the white glow guided the two of them forward, leading them toward that ancient and mysterious power.