Vol. 3 Ch. 77

"Awwoooo~!"

With a pitiful howl, a white figure slipped free from Anton’s grasp.

Left in his hand was just a tuft of fur yanked from the creature’s tail.

The proud young dragon stood up slowly, letting the fur drift from his fingers, carried off by the wind.

“Anton, we’re already into the assessment. Why are you still so unfocused?” Yuna approached him, her tone a bit reproachful. “Arctic snow foxes are rare finds! Catching one would’ve given us a huge boost in our assessment scores.”

Anton clapped his hands, brushing off the stray fox fur, and shrugged indifferently. “No matter how rare, it’s still just a Class B threat. Catching a critter of that level isn’t challenging at all.”

"You—!"

Yuna was exasperated. She was out of patience with him.

Their two other teammates stepped in, trying to smooth things over.

“Don’t worry, Yuna. It’s just a snow fox. We’ll probably come across another one,” said a girl named Diane, one of Yuna’s close friends.

The other boy, Raymond, slung his arm over Anton’s shoulder with a grin. “My buddy’s got all sorts of tricks up his sleeve. Catching a snow fox is child’s play; it doesn’t matter if this one got away.”

Raymond looked rugged, but his manner showed that he was actually quite thoughtful and good-natured.

Nearby, Noa stood silently, observing the little spats among her seniors. They’d been bickering like this at least five times since they set out.

Everyone seemed used to the minor squabbles by now.

But as someone who was only invited to join this team last minute, Noa just wanted to capture dangerous creatures that could boost her assessment score, as Yuna had explained earlier.

Not stand around and watch this show-off of a senior.

Helena, sensing her friend’s thoughts, leaned in to whisper comfortingly, “Don’t worry, older kids like to mess around. They’ll get serious soon.”

Noa nodded but stayed quiet.

After a round of debate, Anton began complaining again, “It’s the same thing every year. Can’t they come up with something fresh?”

“What kind of ‘fresh’ do you need? This time, we have Noa and Helena joining us. Don’t try to pull any funny business,” Yuna shot back.

Anton glanced at the two younger girls and let out a cold snort, muttering, “I said from the start that they’d be dead weight.”

“How so? Weren’t you around Noa’s age and hadn’t even passed the entrance exam?” Yuna defended her young friend fiercely.

She seemed to have underestimated how thick-skinned Anton was.

Shrugging nonchalantly, he replied, “So what? She came here on her own. If she thinks she’s not up to it, she can just head back to the teacher. Nobody will hold it against her.”

"Anton, you—"

“He’s right.”

Noa’s voice was cool and expressionless. “Since we’re here, there’s no need to hold up the assessment on our account. We’ll do what you do; nothing more, nothing less.”

Her best friend chimed in supportively, “Right! We’ll be in the Young Dragons Division next year, too. Don’t underestimate us!”

Yuna looked a bit surprised but then gave a pleased smile.

Diane clapped, “Way to go, girls!”

Only Anton kept up his scornful attitude. “Big words are easy. Just don’t go running with your tail between your legs when we run into a Class A threat.”

This time, everyone ignored his remark in unison.

After this little detour, the group continued their assessment journey.

They hadn’t expected that the snow fox Anton let escape would be the only dangerous creature they’d encounter over the next two hours.

The assessment standards were straightforward: the rarer and more powerful the captured creature, the higher the team’s score.

Catching a large, super-dangerous creature would earn them the annual scholarship and an honorary medal presented personally by the principal.

Such a distinction guaranteed a bright future for the students who achieved it.

But… there was a problem.

They hadn’t encountered a single dangerous creature for two hours straight!

At this rate, other student teams would pull ahead in the score tally.

“How is this possible? I remember the test grounds being full of dangerous creatures. Why aren’t we seeing any?” Anton asked in frustration.

Yuna seized the chance to tease, “Maybe they’re all hiding from the overwhelming presence of our grand dragon warrior, Anton.”

“Hmph, childish woman.”

“Pompous man.”

Nothing like the middle-school phase, where teens live to roast each other.

(Although, why is it that a certain Silver Dragon couple, married five years now, still act like this? Baffling… truly baffling.)

After a few more quips, the group still hadn’t figured out a way to locate any dangerous creatures.

While pondering, Noa noticed something about Yuna’s bracelet.

The bracelet, supposedly made from an extremely rare material, seemed to be faintly glowing.

Noa narrowed her eyes and pointed at Yuna’s wrist. “Senior, is your bracelet glowing?”

Everyone turned to look at Yuna.

Yuna glanced down at her bracelet.

“Wow, it really is glowing!”

Diane’s eyes sparkled. “Your dad, Uncle Odin, got you a bracelet that even sparkles!”

Yuna blinked in confusion. “But he didn’t mention anything about it glowing…”

“Hah, maybe it’s just some trinket from a market stall. Ouch!—”

Yuna stomped on Anton’s foot, cutting off his snide remark.

Then, she raised her hand, holding the bracelet up to the sky.

She’d assumed it was a trick of the light, but as she held it up, she realized the glow was indeed coming from the bracelet itself.

The glow wasn’t bright, but it pulsed steadily, alternating every two seconds.

“Yuna, didn’t Uncle Odin say where he got that bracelet?” Diane asked.

Yuna shook her head. “No, he didn’t. He brought it back when he returned recently after years away. The clan elders said he’d been on some important mission, but my dad never mentioned his whereabouts.”

Hearing her senior’s explanation, Noa suddenly thought of her mother.

One day, she’d noticed her mom was wearing a new pendant necklace, which, as it turned out, was a wedding gift from her great-grandmother.

And her great-grandmother had also reappeared after a long absence before giving her mom that necklace.

The young dragon scratched her head, sensing an odd similarity between the two situations…

As Noa pondered, Yuna suddenly exclaimed, “Hey, the blinking speed changes!”

They watched Yuna pace back and forth, shifting her position frequently.

The bracelet’s blinking speed changed accordingly.

Sometimes it sped up, sometimes it slowed down.

It was as if it were… sending a message, or perhaps…

Pointing to a location.

Excited, Yuna jogged about thirty feet in one direction, and the bracelet’s blinking intensified.

Clearly, the closer she got to whatever this “thing” was, the faster the blinking became.

The group ran over, and Anton suggested, “Let’s follow Yuna’s bracelet. Maybe it’ll lead us to something interesting.”

“But what if it’s nothing? Are we just going to waste our time?” Diane asked, sounding concerned.

Anton shrugged and glanced around. “Like we’re going to find anything just standing here. Let’s vote. Hands up if you’re for following the bracelet.”

Anton was the first to raise his hand.

Then Raymond followed.

After a brief hesitation, Yuna and Diane raised their hands as well.

Noticing that the younger girls hadn’t raised theirs, Anton immediately took the opportunity to jab, “What’s wrong, girls? Too scared to follow, is that it?”

Typical kids, he thought. They talk big, but when it’s time to act, they freeze up.

“That’s not it, senior,” Noa said, her tone calm, almost mirroring the Silver Dragon Queen herself.

Adjusting her backpack and holding Helena’s hand, she looked at Anton with a steady gaze. “Since it’s a vote and the decision is already made, whether we raise our hands or not won’t change the outcome. Simple logic—did you not follow that, senior?”

“Pfft—” Yuna couldn’t hold back her laughter.

Diane giggled behind her hand.

Raymond laughed even louder, clapping his friend on the shoulder, “Burned by a little girl!”

Anton’s thick skin served him well with his peers, but having a five-year-old throw shade directly at his pride was another story. His face flushed slightly, though he managed to keep his composure as he strode forward, his back to Noa.

“Then hurry up. I can’t wait to see you cry, little sister.”