Whoosh—
The wind swept across a thousand miles, whipping the fluttering banners atop the city walls. Outside Frost Province City, yellow dust billowed into the air, making it unusually dry.
Among all the smaller nations, the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Frost were considered two of the strongest. Their national strength was comparable, so friction and clashes often arose between them. Both wanted to annex the other and become the strongest nation beneath the Five Great Nations.
As one of the Land of Frost's only two major cities, Frost Province City stood on the border between the Land of Frost and the Land of Waterfalls, built to resist invasions from the latter. The city's defenses were exceptionally complete. Though they could not compare to those of the Five Great Nations, they were more than enough to fend off attacks from other small nations.
However, ever since the Land of Waterfalls changed its name to the Land of Flame, its national strength had skyrocketed as if riding a rocket. In just a few short years, it had surpassed every other small nation. Yet due to the limits of its territory, it still fell slightly short of the great nations, becoming a special existence above the small nations but below the great ones.
Because of this, the Land of Frost grew increasingly wary of the Land of Flame and nearly doubled the troops stationed in Frost Province City, afraid that the Land of Flame might suddenly launch an attack one day.
Strangely, though, after changing its name, the Land of Flame made no further moves. It simply guarded its own territory and showed no intention of attacking outward. The Land of Frost had launched a few probing harassments, but each time it had been beaten back. For a while, the