"Awhooo~"

With a mournful howl, a flash of white broke free from Anton’s grasp.

All that remained in Anton's hand was a tuft of fur pulled from the creature's tail.

The proud young dragon man slowly stood and, with a flick of his wrist, tossed the fur into the air, letting it drift away with the wind.

"Anton, we've already started the assessment. Why are you still acting so distracted?"

Yuna approached, her tone tinged with displeasure. "Polar snow foxes are incredibly rare. If we successfully capture one, our assessment score will skyrocket."

Anton clapped his hands together, brushing away the lingering fox fur, his expression one of complete indifference. "Rare or not, it’s still just a B-class Dangerous Beast. Catching low-level critters like that is hardly a challenge."

"You!—"

Yuna found herself utterly exasperated by this man.

Seeing this, their two other teammates quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"It's alright, Yuna. It’s just a snow fox. I’m sure we’ll run into another one later," said a girl named Diane, who was also one of Yuna’s close friends.

Meanwhile, the other teammate—a boy—slung an arm casually around Anton's shoulders and laughed, "My man Anton has skills for days. Catching a snow fox is nothing to him. If he lets one go, it’s no big deal."

This boy’s name was Raymond. Though his rugged exterior made him seem brash, his words revealed a considerate and emotionally intelligent mind.

Standing a little ways away, Noa silently observed the seniors’ squabbling. From the time they had landed and begun their journey, this kind of bickering had already occurred at least five times.

Everyone seemed well accustomed to such petty quarrels.

But Noa, who had only been recently invited to join this team, felt an entirely different sense of urgency. Like Yuna suggested, she only wanted to focus on capturing Dangerous Beasts that could significantly boost their assessment scores.

What she didn’t want was to watch their overconfident senior strut about for attention.

Helena, noticing her friend’s silent frustration, leaned in and whispered a few words of comfort.

"Don’t worry. Big kids like making a fuss, but they’ll get serious soon."

Noa nodded slightly but chose not to reply.

After more complaints, Anton began grumbling loudly again.

"At the end of the day, this assessment is just like last year’s. Can’t they add anything fresh for once?"

"What kind of ‘fresh’ are you even expecting? This year we’ve got Noa and Helena joining us. Don’t you dare stir up trouble," Yuna warned.

Hearing this, Anton cast a glance at the two younger girls, snorted coldly, then mumbled under his breath, "I said from the start they’d just slow us down."

"What’s that supposed to mean? Anton! When you were Noa’s age, didn’t it take you three tries just to pass the entrance exams?" Yuna defended her junior fiercely.

She underestimated, however, just how shameless Anton could really be.

Shrugging casually, Anton countered, "So what? She’s here because she wanted to be. Since she’s joined us, she should be treated like anyone else. If she feels she’s not up to it, she can always head back to the instructor. No one’s going to care either way."

"You—Anton—!"

"The senior is right."

Noa’s face remained expressionless, her voice as cold as ice. "Since I’ve joined, I’ll ensure the assessment stays on track. Equality for all—whatever tasks you take on, so will we."

Her good friend Helena stood firmly by her side. "Exactly! We’ll be joining the Adolescent Dragon Division next year. Don’t think for a second we’re pushovers!"

Startled by the younger girls’ assertiveness, Yuna looked at them for a moment before breaking into a smile of approval.

Diane clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "You girls are so amazing~!"

Anton, however, maintained his sneering attitude. "Talk is cheap. Let’s see how brave you are when we come across an A-class Dangerous Beast. Don’t wet your pants and run off with your tails between your legs."

This time, everyone collectively decided to ignore his nonsense.

With that minor incident behind them, the group resumed their journey for the assessment.

What they hadn’t anticipated, however, was that the B-class Polar Snow Fox Anton had just let escape would be the only Dangerous Beast they encountered for the next two hours.

The rules for this outdoor field assessment were both straightforward and strict: the rarer and more powerful the Dangerous Beasts a team captured, the higher their score would be.

If any team managed to slay a particularly large Super-Dangerous Beast, other participants could kiss annual scholarships and the Headmaster’s personally bestowed Medal of Honor goodbye—those rewards would definitely belong to that group members.

Such recognition would all but guarantee a limitless future for those students.

But… back in the harsh reality…

They had now gone a full two hours without encountering a single Dangerous Beast.

If this continued, other teams would soon leave them far behind in the rankings.

"How is this even possible? I thought the assessment area was supposed to be filled with Dangerous Beasts. Not seeing a single one? Really?" Anton frowned in disbelief.

Yuna took the opportunity to tease him. "Clearly, they’re hiding in fear of the mighty aura of Sir Anton, the Great warrior of the Dragon Clan."

"Hmph. Stupid woman."

"Arrogant man."

Teenagers going through their edgy phases loved to bicker and one-up each other more than anything.

(But why is it that even a certain silver dragon couple—married for five years—still loves doing this? Hmm… baffling, truly baffling.)

After a few more petty jabs, the group was no closer to coming up with a plan to find more Dangerous Beasts.

As the others wandered in uncertainty, Noa’s gaze suddenly fell upon Yuna’s bracelet.

That bracelet, which was said to be crafted from some extremely rare material, seemed to be faintly glowing.

Noa squinted her eyes slightly, then pointed toward Yuna’s wrist. "Senior, is your bracelet glowing?"

Hearing this, everyone turned to look at Yuna.

Yuna glanced down at her wrist and inspected the bracelet.

"Whoa, it really is glowing!"

Diane’s eyes sparkled as she exclaimed, "That bracelet Uncle Odin gave you actually lights up? So cool!"

Yuna blinked a few times, perplexed. "But my dad didn’t say anything about it glowing…"

"Hah, maybe it’s just some cheap trinket from a street market. Ow!—"

Yuna delivered a sharp stomp to Anton’s foot.

Then, raising her hand, she held the bracelet up to the sky.

She had initially assumed the glowing was caused by some trick of the light. But as she raised it, she confirmed that the bracelet itself was indeed emitting a soft glow.

The brightness wasn’t particularly intense, but the flashing was rhythmic, alternating between on and off about every two seconds.

"Yuna, did Uncle Odin ever tell you where he got this bracelet?" Diane asked curiously.

Yuna shook her head. "He never mentioned it. He brought it back as a gift during his last visit home. Before that, he’d been gone for years. The clan elders said he was working on something very important, but once he returned, he completely avoided talking about the years he’d been away."

Hearing her senior’s explanation, Noa couldn’t help but think of her own mother.

Not long ago, Noa had accidentally spotted a pendant hanging around her mother’s neck. When she asked about it, her mom revealed it had been a belated wedding gift from Noa's great-grandmother.

Likewise, her great-grandmother had reappeared after years of absence just to deliver the necklace.

The young dragoness scratched her head, feeling that these two events bore some strange resemblance to one another…

Just as Noa was lost in thought, Yuna exclaimed, "Whoa! The blinking pattern changes too!"

The group saw Yuna pacing back and forth, moving deliberately in different directions.

The bracelet’s blinking frequency shifted accordingly—sometimes faster, sometimes slower.

It seemed almost like… it was trying to convey a message, or perhaps…

Lead them to a specific location.

Yuna eagerly dashed about ten meters in one direction. Sure enough, the bracelet’s blinking grew noticeably quicker.

It became obvious: the closer she moved toward a particular “something,” the faster the bracelet would flash.

The others ran to catch up. Anton suggested, "Let’s just follow Yuna’s bracelet. Who knows? We might stumble upon something interesting."

"But what if we find nothing? Wouldn’t we be wasting our time?" Diane hesitated, concerned.

Anton shrugged as he glanced around the barren surroundings. "It’s not like staying here is going to make any difference. Okay, let’s vote: all in favor of following the bracelet, raise your hand."

Naturally, Anton was the first to raise his hand.

Raymond followed suit almost immediately.

After a moment of hesitation, Yuna and Diane also raised theirs.

Noticing the two juniors not raising their hands, Anton finally seized an opportunity, immediately chiming in, "What’s wrong, little sisters? Afraid to take the risk, so you’re not voting?"

Proving once again that kids could talk big, but when it came to action, they’d chicken out.

"Actually, that’s not the case, senior."

Noa’s tone was calm, her icy delivery reminiscent of the Silver Dragon Queen herself.

She adjusted the straps on her backpack, took Helena’s hand, and met Anton’s gaze head-on. Her words were measured and deliberate.

"Since a majority has already voted, whether Helena and I raise our hands or not makes no difference to the outcome. Senior, surely you understand this is basic logic."

"Pfft—" Yuna couldn’t hold back her laughter.

Diane covered her mouth, giggling.

Even Raymond slapped a hearty hand on his best friend’s shoulder, doubling over with laughter. "Oh, man! Burned by a kid. Classic."

Though Anton was usually thick-skinned when it came to verbal sparring with his peers, being roasted so directly by a younger student hit him harder than expected.

For a moment, Anton’s cheeks flushed red. Still, he managed to maintain a semblance of composure. Picking up his pace, he strode forward, calling back without looking at Noa, "Fine, let’s go. I can’t wait to see you two cry when you realize what you’ve gotten yourselves into, little sisters."