77 You can’t even do this, Senior?
“Aw~”
With a sorrowful howl, a white figure broke free from Anton’s grasp.
In Anton’s hand, only a tuft of fur from the creature’s tail remained.
The proud young dragon slowly got up and tossed the fur into the air, where it danced away with the wind.
“Anton, we’ve already started the assessment. Why do you look so absent-minded?”
Yuna walked over to him, her tone slightly discontented. “The Polar Snow Fox is hard to come by. If we can catch one, our assessment score will skyrocket!”
Anton clapped his hands, brushing away the remaining snow fox fur with a nonchalant expression. “Even if it’s hard to catch, it’s just a B-level Dangerous Species. Catching a critter like that isn’t challenging at all.”
“You!—”
Yuna seriously had no idea how to deal with this guy.
Even the other two teammates nearby jumped in to smooth things over.
“It’s okay, Yuna. It’s just one snow fox. We’ll definitely encounter more later.”
The one speaking was a girl named Diane, who was also a good friend of Yuna.
The other guy casually slung an arm over Anton’s shoulder and said loudly, “My bro here has got so many skills; catching a snow fox is a piece of cake. Letting it go isn’t a big deal!”
This guy was named Raymond, and while he looked a bit rough around the edges, you could still tell he had some finesse in his words and a pretty high emotional intelligence.
Noia stood silently by, watching the little squabble between her seniors. This kind of bickering had already happened at least five times since they set off.
Everyone seemed used to this little banter, but Noia was a temporary addition to the team and just wanted to catch some Dangerous Species to improve their assessment score, not stare at a cocky senior preening himself.
Helena noticed her friend’s feelings and stepped up to comfort her softly, “Don’t worry, big kids love to mess around. They’ll get serious soon enough.”
Noia nodded, not saying anything.
After chatting for a while, they heard Anton start complaining again.
“Really, it’s just like last year. Can’t we have some new stuff?”
“What new stuff do you want? We have Noia and Helena joining us this time. Don’t go suggesting anything weird.”
Hearing this, Anton glanced at the two girls and sniffed dismissively, muttering, “I said before we left that they’d just hold us back.”
“Hold us back? Anton, weren’t you still figuring out how to pay for the monthly membership at that age?” Yuna shot back, fiercely defending her admired junior.
But clearly, she underestimated Anton’s thick skin.
He shrugged indifferently, “So what? They wanted to come here. Since they’re here, they should be treated equally. If they think they can’t keep up, they might as well head back to the teacher. Nobody’s going to complain.”
“Anton, you—”
“What the senior said makes sense.”
Noia, expressionless, said in a cool voice, “Since we’re here, we shouldn’t hold up the progress of the assessment just because of us. Equal treatment; whatever you all do, we’ll do too.”
Her close friend naturally backed her up, “That’s right! We’re moving up to the Young Dragon division next year. Don’t underestimate us!”
Hearing this from the two girls, Yuna initially went wide-eyed in surprise but then broke into a satisfied smile.
Diane, the senior nearby, even started clapping, “You girls rock!”
Only Anton maintained his disdainful attitude, “Anyone can spout big words; just don’t come crying if we run into an A-level Dangerous Species later.”
This time, everyone intentionally ignored his jabs.
After the small spat, the team continued on their assessment journey.
However, they never anticipated that the B-level Dangerous Species—Polar Snow Fox—that Anton had just let go would turn out to be the only Dangerous Species they encountered in the next two hours.
The standards for the outdoor assessment were clear and simple: the rarer and stronger the Dangerous Species a team captures, the higher their score.
If they could take down a large ultra-dangerous species, well, they wouldn’t need to say more; the annual scholarship and the honor medal personally awarded by the principal would be theirs.
Students who earned this honor would surely have a bright future ahead.
But… back to reality.
They had, for a full two hours, not encountered a single Dangerous Species!
At this rate, the scores of the other teams would quickly widen the gap.
“How could this happen? I remember there were loads of Dangerous Species here. Why haven’t we seen a single one?” Anton questioned.
Yuna seized the chance to tease him, “Isn’t it because they’re all hiding from our great dragon warrior Anton’s aura?”
“Hmph, boring woman.”
“Conceited man.”
Middle-schooler banter at its finest!
(But why do certain silver dragon couples who’ve been married for five years enjoy this too? Pfft… so puzzling.)
After bickering for a bit, everyone was still at a loss for how to find a Dangerous Species.
Just then, Noia casually looked at Yuna’s bracelet.
The bracelet, supposedly made from extremely rare materials, seemed to be emitting a faint glow.
Narrowing her eyes slightly, Noia pointed at Yuna’s wrist. “Senior, is your bracelet glowing?”
Upon hearing that, everyone turned to look at Yuna.
Yuna lowered her head to check her bracelet.
“Wow, it really is glowing!”
Diane’s eyes sparkled excitedly, “Uncle Odin gave you this bracelet and it’s even blinking!”
Yuna blinked, a little confused, “But my dad didn’t say this thing would glow…”
“Huh, is it something he bought from a street stall? Hey!—”
Yuna stepped down hard on that guy’s foot.
Then, she raised her hand, pointing the bracelet at the sky.
Thinking it might just be a light issue causing the glow, she raised it high and confirmed it was indeed shining all on its own.
The brightness wasn’t very intense, but the blinking frequency was quite stable, alternating darkness and light approximately every two seconds.
“Did Uncle Odin mention where he got this bracelet?” Diane asked.
Yuna shook her head. “He never mentioned it. He gave it to me when he came home recently, but he hadn’t been home for many years. The clan elders and relatives said he was doing something significant, yet once Dad returned, he didn’t say a word about his past few years.”
Listening to her senior, Noia suddenly thought of her mom.
One day, she had randomly spotted a pendant necklace around her mom’s neck and found out it had been a wedding gift from her great-grandma.
Apparently, her great-grandma had also suddenly shown up after being gone for a long time to give that necklace.
Puzzled, Little Dragon Maiden scratched her head, feeling there was some strange similarity between these two matters…
Just as Noia was deep in thought, Yuna suddenly exclaimed,
“Hey~ the flashing frequency is changing!”
Yuna began pacing back and forth, constantly switching positions.
And the flashing frequency of her bracelet was indeed changing.
It hastened and slowed unpredictably.
It was like… transmitting some kind of information to them or…
A specific coordinate.
Gleefully, Yuna sprinted off in one direction for a dozen meters; the bracelet’s blinking frequency got noticeably faster.
Clearly, the closer she got to some ‘thing,’ the faster the bracelet blinked.
The others ran after her, and Anton proposed, “Let’s follow Yuna’s bracelet. We might find something fun.”
“But what if we find nothing? Wouldn’t that be a waste of time?” Diane looked worried.
Anton shrugged, surveying the area, “As if staying here is going to bring us any rewards. Let’s put it to a vote—who wants to follow the bracelet, raise your hand.”
Anton naturally raised his hand first.
Then Raymond, the senior.
Yuna and Diane hesitated for a moment before raising their hands too.
Seeing the two younger girls not raising their hands, Anton seized the opportunity and said, “What’s up, you two? Afraid to go, so you’re not raising your hands?”
Sure enough, kids love to talk big, but when the time comes to show their skills, they get all chicken.
“Not at all, Senior.”
Noia’s tone remained flat, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Silver Dragon Queen.
She adjusted her backpack, took Helena’s hand, and looked at Anton, saying calmly, “Since it’s a vote, and you’ve all made your stance clear, whether we raise our hands or not won’t change the outcome. Senior, you don’t know basic logic?”
“Pfft—” Yuna couldn’t suppress her laughter.
Diane also covered her mouth, chuckling softly.
Raymond was practically in stitches, slapping his buddy on the shoulder, “Got put in your place by a little girl, huh~”
Anton’s thick skin was usually only against people his age.
But that sharp tongue from a five-year-old was like a dagger to his heart.
Anton’s face flushed, though he still managed to maintain some dignity, striding confidently forward, turning his back to Noia.
“Let’s get moving then! I can’t wait to see your crying face, junior.”
—
Please take the night off, everyone. I’m temporarily taking a leave today. Love you all, mwah!
(This is also the first time in seven months I’ve taken a break, by the way!)
