The Road to Snow Bear Territory

Fran still doesn't know why Snow Bear Territory is called Snow Bear Territory, but she can analyze it from the name.

It's probably because either there are many Magic Creature called ' Snow Bear ' in Snow Bear Territory, or the snow here is heavy and there are many bear-like Magic Creature, that's why it's called Snow Bear Territory.

But what Fran never expected was that the reason this place was called Snow Bear Territory was so simple, and had absolutely nothing to do with any Magic Creature that lived here.

"Our lord's surname before he became the lord here was Snow Bear, so of course it's called Snow Bear Territory."

When she asked the villagers in a village she passed by, she only received this one answer, which was somewhat different from her idea that the place was named after some kind of Magic Creature.

Regardless of the true origin of the name Snow Bear Territory, there are actually very few bears among the Magic Creature in Snow Bear Territory.

Unlike the area around the Northern Lands Society, which is now devoid of Magic Creature, the Snow Bear Territory boasts a high degree of Magic Creature diversity.

Because the fireplace at the Northern Lands Society was so warm, many Magic Creature tried to get close to the Northern Lands Society, but ended up being hunted by the residents of the Northern Lands Society.

This resulted in the fact that there were not many settlements or even Magic Creature around the Northern Lands Society.

The Snow Bear Territory is different. Whether it's because the survival pressure at the Northern Lands Society is too great or something else, the Magic Creature here are very active.

When Fran arrived at the small village, she encountered three different Magic Creature.

There are wolves, rabbits, and leopards—all sorts of unique Northlands Magic Creature.

Fran encountered these Magic Creature. She didn't know if they intended to attack, but she attacked first anyway.

Because her Monster Hunter Profession only yielded a pitiful few Hunting Medal, she was worried about not having enough time to collect more.

In this other world, the Magic Creature that are easy to find have long been wiped out by our predecessors; what remains are Magic Creature that are not easy to find.

So when she encountered these Magic Creature, she simply threw a fireball at them, instantly killing them.

Although she has collected three new medals so far, her attributes have not improved much.

This is partly because she only collects Magic Creature of Formal Rank, and partly because her current attributes are simply too high.

Previously, five medals would slightly improve one's physique, but now it takes at least ten medals for even a slight improvement.

Fran didn't have any good solutions either. Perhaps letting her focus on hunting Magic Creature for a while would increase her medal count and give her a slight boost in attributes.

However, the other path she took led to much faster advancement.

By publishing a few Paper and writing down her new understandings, she can gain a lot of proficiency in her Arts. If it weren't for her already high attributes, she feels that even the extraordinary-level Fireball could boost her Arts.

Therefore, it's not cost-effective to send Fran specifically to hunt these Magic Creature, especially since she's still short of Battle Merit to exchange for some Battle Mage skills.

She liked the [Forced Fusion] skill very much; it dealt high damage, and its power was even more astonishing in the hands of a mage with such high Mental Power.

After leaving the small village, Fran headed towards Snow Bear City, the seat of the Snow Bear Territory's lord.

Snow Bear City is located in the center of Snow Bear Territory and is the central hub for most roads within the Snow Bear Territory. If you want to follow the roads, Snow Bear City is a necessary route.

Fran had another purpose in coming to Snow Bear City: to rest for the night.

Fran's destination was the mines in Snow Bear Territory, which was located at the other end of Snow Bear Territory. To get there, she would almost certainly have to pass through Snow Bear City.

Snow Bear City isn't far from the mine; it's only a day's journey round trip. So she can rest in Snow Bear City and go to the mine to carry out her mission the next day.

On her way to Snow Bear City, she deliberately ventured a little further off the road, using the extra time to explore and see if any other Magic Creature would come looking for her.

This led her to discover many different kinds of Magic Creature, which she killed one by one and turned into her own medals.

When she hunted down the tenth Magic Creature, she suddenly felt a change in her body.

The Monster Hunter's private space began to appear in her mind, where, thanks to Fran's efforts these past few days, the number of medals she had accumulated had reached double digits.

The edges of the ten medals Fran had just earned were covered with a thin layer of frost.

Below this row of medals was a passage of text that Fran didn't know, but Fran could read.

[You have hunted ten Magic Creature from the Northern Territory; they will become your power, deepening your understanding of frost.]

Keep hunting! The next reward will come when you have fifty medals.

Fran touched her chin, feeling the affinity she had for frost within her.

According to the Elemental School, it means a slight affinity for ice elements.

This affinity is similar to the Wind Element she gained from the Swift Wind Breathing Technique she had just learned.

Once Fran acquired the Gale Swordsman Profession and raised her Swift Wind Breathing Technique to the Extraordinary Level, her Wind Element affinity increased significantly.

She felt that this affinity had about four levels, and the ice element affinity she had now was at the first level.

After her Swift Wind Breathing Technique reached the mastery level, her Wind Element affinity reached the second level, which was much stronger than before.

If she had the Gale Swordsman Profession alone, or if she could push the Swift Wind Breathing Technique to the Extraordinary Level, it would probably be the third level.

She achieved the fourth level of Wind Element affinity by combining the two.

However, her current ice element affinity is somewhat of a liability.

She drew her longsword, which was covered in frost. This frost would inflict ice elemental damage on enemies upon impact.

but...

She took out the Purple Shortsword again; the runes she had engraved on it could emit the power of approximately level three ice elemental affinity.

So the ice elemental affinity she acquired is currently useless; she'll have to hunt more Magic Creature to get it.

However, this incident also made her realize that the Monster Hunter Profession can obtain elemental affinity, so if she ever needs any elemental affinity in the future, she can use this Profession to farm it.

Fran's luck wasn't so good from then on; most of the Magic Creature she encountered were ones she had seen before, and none of them could be used to earn medals.

When she arrived at the city gate of Snow Bear City, she added three new medals to her badge.