Three Days in the Northern Frontier

The Northern Countries, the passes.

The tall, thick stone city walls cast a heavy line against the leaden sky. The wind, blowing from the north, carried a granular chill, sweeping past the people queuing to enter the city.

It was their turn.

A guard stepped forward, his armor gleaming matte in the cold wind. He blocked the way for the four men.

"Routine inspection, who are you?"

Just as Fern was about to step forward, Lowell had already taken the first step.

He clasped his hands together in front of his chest in an awkward gesture, and his expression turned solemn.

"This humble monk comes from the Eastern Tang in the East, on his way to the Western Heaven to worship Buddha and seek scriptures."

He turned to the side and pointed to the three people behind him.

"These are my three disciples who are protecting this humble monk..."

The guard stared at him suspiciously for a full five seconds, his brows slowly furrowing.

"A monk?" He looked Lowell up and down in his casual travel attire. "Doesn't look like one! And why are you heading Western Heaven, towards the northern pass...?"

Fern stepped forward and pushed Lowell back.

"Please ignore him." Her voice was steady. "Lord Lowell is rather fond of joking."

She took two folded pieces of paper from her small bag and handed them over.

The guard took it and unfolded it. His eyes swept over the paper, and he subconsciously straightened his back and a smile appeared on his face.

"A very warm welcome to everyone!"

He handed the paper back with both hands, his voice filled with clear respect.

"Lord Fern, First-Class Mage! Lord Frieren, First-Class Mage! Have a pleasant journey, everyone."

He stepped aside to make way and gestured for them to pass.

The group entered the city gate.

Frieren walked beside Fern, her emerald eyes curving into crescents.

"Fern has become an 'adult' too."

Fern carefully put away his identification and gave a soft reply.

"I've always been the eldest sister." She paused, her gaze sweeping over the somewhat deserted streets inside the pass. "So, are you staying in this town for a few days?"

"No." Frieren shook her head, her long, silvery-white hair swaying with the movement. "This is no longer the volcanic area. Because it's a border crossing, although it's considered a town, it mainly has daily necessities, not hot spring inns or magic bookstores. We have enough supplies, we don't need to resupply, let's leave directly."

Fern nodded.

"I see."

Lowell, who was standing nearby, smiled upon hearing this.

"Yes, it's very convenient with me around, isn't it?" he said casually. "Otherwise, without a different dimension, compression magic alone wouldn't be able to carry many supplies, and supplies are very expensive in this kind of situation."

Fern glanced at him, her pale purple eyes remaining calm.

"Hmm, indeed." She paused for a moment, "But you use 'convenient' to refer to yourself, Lord Lowell, you're quite casual."

Lowell shrugged.

"What's the big deal? I'm not Tenten from Naruto."

The group did not linger inside the gate, but headed straight for the exit at the other end.

They showed their identification, and the guards saluted respectfully, watching them leave.

"May the First-Class Mage have a safe journey."

After leaving the pass, I embarked on the dirt road heading north.

The wind seemed to pick up a bit more, whipping up the fine sand from the ground, which rustled softly against my legs. The view opened up, revealing a vast, undeveloped plain covered with sparse, withered grass in the distance. The horizon was low, and the sky seemed exceptionally high and distant.

They hadn't been gone for more than a few minutes.

Fern suddenly stopped in his tracks.

She slightly raised her head, her pale purple eyes gazing around, her hair being blown back by the wind.

"So that's how it is. This is the Northern Plateau."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was clear in the open air.

Frieren stopped too, blinked her emerald eyes, and curled the corners of her mouth upwards slightly.

"As expected of Fern," she said. "I only just sensed it myself."

Liletta, walking at the back, didn't speak. She simply raised her hand silently, gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist, and clenched her fists. Her golden eyes calmly swept across the surrounding wilderness, her face expressionless.

Lowell, with his hands behind his head, continued walking leisurely, his steps even swaying lazily.

"Good luck, Fern." He said without turning his head, his voice carried slightly by the wind. "The grunts in the Northern Plateau are really strong. We've changed maps, to higher-level maps. If this were a game, you'd see 'Threat Level: High' in the top right corner."

As soon as the words fell—

"Crack, crack."

From a patch of waist-high withered grass on the left, came the sound of a dead branch being broken by footsteps.

Immediately afterwards, a similar noise was heard from behind the earthen slope on the right.

Five or six figures emerged from behind different hiding places.

They are about the height of an adult, walk on all fours, and have a body covered with a rough, grayish-brown skin. They have a long, narrow head with a protruding snout topped with three sharp bony spurs growing side by side. Their tails are thick and drag behind them.

They surrounded them from several directions, emitting low, threatening growls from their throats. Six pairs of dark yellow eyes were fixed on the four people in the middle of the road.

Fern loosened his grip on the luggage.

The staff was silently summoned, its tip pointing at the enemy.

She didn't look at Lowell or Frieren, but calmly watched the nearest monster, her pale purple eyes reflecting its slow crouching posture, preparing to pounce.

"Then I'll begin."

She said.

The next second, the monster slammed its hind legs into the ground, dust erupted, and its massive body shot towards Fern like an arrow! The others also started moving at the same time, flanking him from different angles.

Fern remained motionless.

She simply raised her staff, the tip of which traced a very short arc in the air.

"Whoosh--!"

Three condensed white beams of light burst forth almost simultaneously, tearing through the air and striking the heads of the three monsters precisely. The beams pierced through, exiting from the back of their heads, and carrying with them a small amount of dark fluid.

The figure, which had been pouncing in mid-air, froze, crashed heavily to the ground, twitched twice, and then remained motionless.

The other three were already close. One leaped from the side, opening its large mouth full of fine teeth, and bit at Fern's neck. Another attacked along the ground, targeting her calves. The last one circled around to her rear, its tail sweeping across like an iron whip.

Fern deftly slid half a step to the side and back, avoiding the frontal bite, while simultaneously slamming his staff downwards.

"Buzz!"

A pale purple, honeycomb-shaped Defensive Magic circle unfolded beside him, just enough to block the sweeping tail.

"Clang!"

A heavy impact rang out. The defensive array flashed with light, but it withstood the blow steadily.

The monster, hurtling along the ground, had already reached Fern's feet, its three bone spikes aimed at her ankles, and thrust out fiercely—

Without even looking, Fern lightly touched the ground with the toe of his left foot.

"Bang."

A subtle burst of magic propelled her body upwards by half a foot, just enough to allow the bone spurs to glide past beneath the soles of her shoes.

While in mid-air, she twisted her wrist, inverting her staff and pointing the end downwards.

"Laugh."

A tiny, extremely fine purple ray pierced the back of the demon's neck.

The monster froze instantly, then collapsed, no longer moving.

From the first one lunging out to the last one falling, it only took three or four breaths.

The wilderness fell silent again, with only the sound of the wind remaining.

Fern landed lightly, brushing a few specks of dust from the hem of her robe. She put away her staff, turned to Lowell and Frieren, her expression calm, as if she had merely brushed a leaf off her clothes.

"Resolved."

She said.

Lowell looked at her, blinked, and then clapped.

"Excellent, excellent!" he said approvingly. "Clean and efficient."

Frieren nodded, a hint of pride in her emerald eyes.

"Yes, Fern's judgment was very accurate."

The four continued on their way.

Liletta released her grip on the sword hilt and silently followed.

This is just the beginning.

For the next three days, they traveled along the desolate roads of the Northern Plateau, where attacks were almost constant.

The next day at noon, as they passed a weathered stone forest, the ground suddenly rose up. A gigantic humanoid monster, over fifty meters long and made entirely of mud and gravel, crawled out from the ground. Two curved, Demons horns grew from its head, and two eerie green flames Burning in its eye sockets. With each step it took, the ground trembled slightly.

Fern hovered in mid-air, her staff flashing out in rapid succession. Compressed beams of Ordinary Attack Magic rained down, precisely striking the monster's joints. Gravel flew, and dirt crumbled. The monster swung its fist, which she nimbly dodged, simultaneously striking the flames in its eye socket with a spell.

The eerie green flame flickered and then abruptly went out.

Its massive body froze, then disintegrated, turning into a pile of ordinary earth and stones.

"That's it? I didn't even expect that," Fern said.

"This is a compressed Ordinary Attack Magic! Even Teacher Ma was rendered incapacitated by this thing in one hit. What good is being big?"

"And who is Teacher Ma?"

"You'll see in a while. Although I don't really want to get involved... I still have to go through the motions."

On the evening of the third day, while resting by a dry riverbed, the rock wall on the opposite bank suddenly cracked open. A giant python, as thick as a water bucket and covered with dark purple scales, emerged. It raised its upper body, revealing five heads and ten cold, vertical pupils that simultaneously locked onto the four people by the campfire.

Fern stood up, her staff held horizontally in front of her. Without waiting for her opponent to attack first, a point of intense white light shone from the tip of her staff.

"Call out--!"

A beam of light, much thicker than before, shot out and instantly pierced through the central head. The giant python's other four heads let out sharp hisses and pounced at the same time.

Fern moved with light steps, his figure flashing in a small space to avoid the bites. His staff either pointed or swept, each swing bringing with it a sharp magical blade that precisely sliced across the python's neck.

The four heads fell to the ground one after another.

The enormous snake's body twisted and crashed onto the riverbed, raising a cloud of dust.

On the third day, at sunset.

Fern had just used a series of swift magical beams to shoot down a gigantic bat-like monster with a wingspan of over thirty meters that swooped down from the clouds. The monster crashed to the ground with a dull thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

She slowly descended, landing back on the ground, her breathing slightly faster than usual, but still steady. Fine beads of sweat glistened on her forehead in the last rays of the setting sun.

Lowell lowered his hands, which had been clasped behind his head, and clapped again.

"Not bad, not bad, Fern." He walked over, a smile on his face. "Although Liletta sometimes helped, Frieren and I hardly did anything these past three days."

He counted on his fingers.

"If there were levels, Fern, you've leveled up more in these three days than you did in the previous two months."

Fern raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Upon hearing this, the corners of his mouth turned down slightly.

"That kind of arcade game level?" Her voice held a hint of disdain. "I don't really like that."

"Well, in short, it means your strength has improved." Lowell readily changed his tune.

Fern thought for a moment and nodded.

"Hmm, yes, I can feel it." She looked at her palm and clenched it. "Although my actual magical power hasn't increased much, the monsters of the Northern Plateau, besides their combat strength, also have a strong fighting spirit. I feel that my experience in dealing with them has indeed increased a lot."

Lowell nodded, his expression becoming serious, even exaggeratedly respectful.

"Greetings, Lady Fern, a skilled First-Class Mage."

Fern raised her eyes, her pale purple pupils gazing quietly at him.

"Please don't make fun of me like that," she said, her tone flat. "I still have a long way to go."

"No way." Lowell dropped his affected expression and smiled. "At your age, having this level of skill is already very impressive."

Fern didn't reply, but simply turned his head to look at the last sliver of dark red sunset on the horizon.

"Is that so?" she said softly.

Frieren walked up to her, her silver hair gleaming softly in the twilight.

"Of course," she said firmly, "For humans, Fern is already one of the strongest."

Fern remained silent for a while, neither confirming nor refuting.

She simply inhaled lightly, then slowly exhaled, and carefully put away her staff.

We walked for a while longer.

Before dusk completely swallowed the wilderness, a glimmer of light appeared ahead.

It was a solitary two-story stone and wood building, standing on a slightly raised mound beside the road. Warm yellow light shone from the windows, standing out prominently in the deepening night.

"Let's stay there," Lowell pointed.

As you approach, you can see an old wooden sign hanging in front of the small building, with the words "Travelers' Home" carved on it in rough strokes. Under the porch, a blond man is sitting on a small stool, surrounded by several children of different ages. The man is holding a small knife and whittling a piece of wood. The children watch quietly.

Hearing footsteps, the man looked up.

He saw the four approaching, especially Frieren and Liletta, whose unusual appearances were being watched with curiosity by the children. A hint of surprise crossed his face, but it quickly turned into a friendly smile.

He put down the wooden block and the knife, and stood up.

"A few travelers?" he asked gently. "Would you like to stay overnight? Of course, though the conditions are rather basic."

Lowell nodded.

"This is troublesome."

"No trouble at all." The man waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over the four of them, lingering especially on the mage robes of Fern and Frieren. He rubbed his hands together, a hint of embarrassment in his smile.

"Um... actually, there's something I'd like to ask you all for a favor."

He pointed to the back of the small building, to the desolate wilderness that appeared even more profound in the night.

"This area has been rather unsettled lately. Some monsters are roaming around, attacking passersby, especially a humanoid monster to the north that looks like Demons; it's attacked many people recently. While my children and I have some ability to protect ourselves, ultimately..."

He stopped speaking and looked at Lowell.

"You don't seem like ordinary people. If it's convenient, could you help us clean up? Of course, we'll do our best to offer compensation."

Fern stood to Lowell's side and slightly behind. Upon hearing this, she looked at the man with her pale purple eyes, then at the children beside him who, though dressed warmly, clearly hadn't had new clothes in a long time.

"Okay," she said before Lowell, her voice steady. "We'll handle it."

The man breathed a sigh of relief and quickly thanked him.

"Thank you so much! Please come in, it's cold outside. I'll go prepare rooms and hot water right away."

The group entered the small building.

The interior appears more spacious than the exterior. The first floor serves as a large hall that also functions as a dining room, with a fireplace burning brightly, radiating warmth. The furniture is simple, but the place is kept clean.

The man led them to a table by the fireplace and asked an older girl to pour them hot tea.

Fern took the ceramic cup, holding it in both hands, feeling the warmth emanating from its walls. She looked up at the man adding firewood to the fireplace.

"Hello, I have a question," she said.

The man turned his head.

"Why don't you move?" Fern asked, her voice clear in the warm room. "This place is so dangerous. Wouldn't it be better to move to the city? Look at the conditions... they're not bad. It shouldn't seem like you can't afford to move."

The man paused for a moment as he added firewood.

He straightened up, dusted off his hands, and walked back to the table to sit down. The firelight flickered on his face, illuminating the fine lines at the corners of his eyes.

He was silent for a few seconds, then smiled, a smile that held something complex.

"Who would willingly abandon their homeland?" he said.

The voice was soft and calm.

Fern looked at him, her pale purple eyes shimmering slightly in the firelight.

She didn't ask any more questions, but simply lowered her head and sipped the scalding hot coarse tea in her cup.

The firewood in the fireplace crackled softly, sputtering a few sparks.

The children, standing a little distance away, curiously and furtively observed the new guests, whispering among themselves.

The wilderness outside the window was shrouded in boundless darkness and silence.