The entire city of Frostburg was almost flooded last night, and several properties were destroyed. The authorities and citizens were still trying to figure out where the deluge of water had come from. All they knew was that the water had come like a broken dam from the Abandoned District, which didn't make sense.
Naturally, something shouldn't have been possible since Frostburg was not close to the sea. In fact, the entirety of the Snowhelm Kingdom didn't have a sea because all their oceans had turned frozen due to the extremely cold atmosphere.
This made the citizens panic, and they were protesting through the flooded streets, demanding to know what was going on. The city mayor had a bitter smile on his face as he tried to calm his citizens. How was he supposed to tell them that he was as clueless as they were?
"Buy your daily newspaper!" A skinny boy ran around with a bundle of newspapers that had the bold title *Mysterious Flood Ravages Frostburg*.
A silver-haired youth dressed in black clothing stepped on the flooded street, approached the boy, and tossed one silver coin to him, buying one of the newspapers. The silver-haired youth read through the content with narrowed eyes. Beside him was a dark-haired girl.
"Nothing. It seems he escaped before the authorities arrived," the boy said and threw away the newspaper. He had hoped the content of the news would include information about that mysterious youth with lightless eyes, but it seemed the youth, along with everyone else, had escaped before the authorities arrived on the scene.
Though hours had passed since the fight, the silver-haired boy could vividly remember the fierce little panda that had turned this city into this state. It made him even more curious to learn more about the boy who seemed to be controlling the panda.
Fortunately for him, the newspapers weren't helpful. The reason he was hell-bent on learning more about this boy was because of the latter's overwhelming power. He needed to know his competition very well.
'That speed and dagger arts... he's someone who could easily get promoted to the Alpha class back in the academy... he even looks so young... just who is he? The only students with ultimate skills are the top ten, and they're all in the special class.'
'No wonder this mission is ranked as an A-ranked mission,' he thought.
But with this sudden development, the boy believed this mission should be at least AA.
At first, he had only been cautious of other factions that were also hunting for the Elemental Beast, but now that Nox had stepped into the picture, he had another worry in his mind.
Based on what the silver-haired boy witnessed, Nox might actually be the most troublesome competitor.
'Sigh, when I return, I'll tell the professors to increase this mission to AA, no, triple A!' The silver-haired boy frowned as he left the stall that was selling the newspaper and said to the dark-haired girl, "Come, let's go back to the hideout."
As he walked, the silver-haired boy shivered slightly due to Snowhelm's freezing atmosphere. Even the water had become chilly, and the citizens who were demanding answers from the mayor had rushed back to their homes out of fear of getting sick.
'To think one little panda could force everyone out of their homes and inside...' He shuddered, but it was not because of the freezing water—it was because of Nox, who had the powerful panda under his control.
At the same time, inside a tavern that was just opposite the newspaper stall...
A youth with dark hair with strands of red was looking at a figure who was seated opposite him.
"Emily! Bring your most expensive wine!" The dark-haired youth shouted at the top of his voice, and the curvy, beautiful saleswoman served them, flashed Nox a smile, and left.
Though Nox was nine, using Shadow Oblivion had made him grow taller than his peer group. His bones were rigid, and his lithe muscles were firm. He had grown more handsome as the years passed. Now he looked more like a thirteen-year-old than a nine-year-old.
Nox stared at the figure and took a sip of the wine. "I knew we'd meet again, but I didn't expect it to be ." Nox stated, setting the cup on the table. "What brings you to the Snowhelm Kingdom? Are you also after the Elemental Beast?"
"I should be the one asking you that question... What are you doing here?" the figure retorted with a frown on their face.
Nox's heart pounded as he gently removed the mask from the figure's face. He held his dagger tightly with his other hand, not wanting to be caught off guard. After all, out of all the masked individuals, this one seemed to be the most skilled.
However, despite still being alive, the figure, strangely enough, remained motionless as if they'd given up on the fight. This was a tactic! Even Nox had used it before—pretending to give up only to strike when the opponent was unsuspecting.
Kicking the sword a bit further from the figure, Nox finally steeled his mind and took off the mask swiftly, revealing a white-haired beauty.
He stared at the person, shocked.
"Yes, me! You and I are going to have a long talk... because you have a lot to explain," the girl retorted with a visible frown on her face.
Though four years had passed and the white-haired girl seemed to have become more mature and developed, Nox could never forget this face. After all, it was the second ranker in the mock tournament.
"What am I doing here?" Nox asked. "Of course, I'm here because of the Elemental Beast, and I figured you're here for the same reason."
"Sigh." Wendy sighed. Deep down, when she had seen Nox, the older sister in her had hoped he wasn't here for the Elemental Beast because of the powerful groups that were after the beast. Just like her group, the other factions were taking down their competitors.
It was very deadly and was classified as an A-ranked mission.
"I guess since you already know the reason for me being here, it won't hurt if I tell you the rest of the story."
Wendy took a deep breath, her expression turning serious. "The Academy received a mission from the Vermilion Royal Academy to hunt down an Elemental Beast and bring its crystal back to the academy. Because of the friction between the two nations, it was classified as an A-ranked mission, but considering the recent developments, I think it should be upgraded to at least AA."
"At first, I didn't want to take the mission because of the risks involved, but the principal offered all of us Beta students a promotion to Alpha students and access to more of the mission if we could complete it. With an Alpha student—who is, by the way, an extremely annoying bastard—as our leader, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea, so I accepted the mission."
"But now that I think about it, the offer was just too good... it's as if they knew all this would happen."
Nox's grip on the wine cup tightened. "What do you mean?"
"The beast's power is immense, and it's not just us that are after it," Wendy stated. "Other academies and even a Bronze-ranked guild are involved too. Because we are illegally here in the first place, those guilds would stop at nothing to claim the crystal, even if it means killing a bunch of students.
And to be honest, if there is anyone with a high chance of getting the crystal, it should be them."