636: Chapter 1 The Snow-Covered Town_1 636: Chapter 1 The Snow-Covered Town_1 The chilling wind whipped across the earth, lifting vast amounts of flying snow and blurring the boundaries between the sky and ground.
The snow on the roads reached over half a ter deep, making travel exceptionally difficult.
No one could be seen on the roads between the villages in this unending, silent snowfall.
This was Icebound Town, at the southernmost tip of the Neville Federation, on the Yarran Continent.
So people believed it to be the coldest part of the human territory, the limits of what ordinary humans could endure.
Once south of Icebound Town for another 120 kiloters, the Dragon Worship Autonomous Prefecture, with a territory of less than 500 square kiloters, cos into view.
Cross through it and the Magical Beast Forest, like a mythical frozen realm, awaits.
Here, only two seasons existed throughout the thirteen months, a winter lasting nine months blanketing everything in snow, and a brief four-month sumr revealing the true face of the earth.
The harsh conditions made normal passage difficult, and under normal circumstances, there was no need for travel at all.
Hence, this fertile land languished under the harsh conditions, becoming a forgotten world within the Neville Federation.
Pass through this forgotten world, and the Magical Beast Forest, the second-largest forest in the Yarran World, awaited, perennially covered in snow.
The forest spanned close to four hundred thousand square kiloters, snow-free for only four months during which robust evergreens flourished, basking in the warmth of the sun.
Once the harsh winter took hold again, the green was replaced by a blanket of white, transforming the forest back into a winter paradise.
Within this frosty domain prowled a great abundance of magical beasts, especially Upper Rank ones, their variety second only to the Yarran Continent.
There were hundreds of thousands of differently shaped beasts, earning the forest its na.
Most of the magical beasts in the forest were Ice-attribute beasts, capable of surviving in such freezing conditions.
The largest population being the Gold Rank beasts, which here, were barely more than prey.
It was the Legendary magical beasts that held sway, numbering in the tens of thousands.
Close to the southernmost part, nurous Demigod magical beasts even nested.
Such a climate and the intensity of the magical beasts made the forest a place feared by many adventurers.
Though the forest was abundant in precious resources, the corresponding danger far exceeded other places; many Upper Rank adventurers would rather venture to the misty offshore islands than set foot in this snowy world.
However, what drew the most attention in the forest was not these factors but rather the towering mountain range in the middle of the forest.
Each peak was teeming with wildlife.
Remarkably, there were no high-rank magical beasts, who instinctively feared this mountain range and wouldn’t dare venture close.
Their instincts were correct because this mountain range was known as the Dragon Mountain Range, ho to the Guardians.
Almost hundreds of dragons resided within this towering range, each healthy adult dragon possessing Demigod Rank strength.
Their collective might was formidable, their strength rivaled only by the Triclops in the First Epoch Mythical Age, and the Sea Race in the third and fourth epochs.
Nevertheless, people were not concerned about the dragons invading other races.
The Dragons were destined to be guardians, a role predetermined by Lord Yarra when he created them.
Their nature made it impossible to alter their purpose.
In the absence of any global crisis, they lacked ambition and curiosity, preferring to laze around in their dens.
Out of the thirteen months of the year, they spent nine to ten months hibernating.
The remaining ti was spent preparing to sleep or awakening, hunting only once or twice a month after waking up.
The rest of their ti was spent basking in the joy of sleep.
Despite their imnse power, they were content with their lives, living leisurely and not utilizing their strength to serve their interests, a phenonon that puzzled most intelligent beings.
They could only attribute it to the marvelous work of Lord Yarra.
Nobody really knew if it had anything to do with Father God Yarra.
However, though most intelligent beings could not understand, there always existed so odd individuals in this vast world.
These individuals hailed from various races.
They admired, envied, and even worshiped the dragons’ way of life.
They yearned to live leisurely like the dragons, but could not attain that lifestyle within their society.
As a result, they autonomously gathered in the forsaken land at the southernmost part of the Neville Federation, the closest they could be to the dragons.
They began settling there, battling the cold, defending against the occasional beast from the forest while slowly forming a self-sufficient society entirely different from the outside world.
They yearned to live like the dragons, even yearned to beco dragons.
Their thought processes began to resemble those of dragons with each passing generation, their lifestyles inching ever closer to that of the dragons.
As the years went by, over thousands of years, when the Neville Federation was ford several hundred years ago, this group of people who called themselves the Dragon Worship Church had grown to a population of over two thousand, forming seven or eight villages.
Their societal structure had beco quite stable.
In fact, they didn’t have any social structure at all; essentially, from the inside out, they had beco human-shaped dragons.
For so reason, perhaps due to environntal stimuli, or perhaps their faith had received so kind of feedback, these people began to exhibit so dragon-like traits at so unknown point in ti.
So possessed dragon-like vision, so possessed imnse strength, and so even had the capability to breathe similar to dragons.
These abilities, although not comparable to those of real dragons, far surpassed ordinary creatures.
Of course, correspondingly, their mindset was almost no different from that of dragons.
The sa tranquillity, the sa indolence.
Whether it was hunting or annual cultivation, as long as they accumulated enough food for their own family for a year, they would contentedly nestle in their hos and live a tranquil life, without any interest in the outside world.
The existence of such a group of people gave the newborn Neville Federation quite a headache.
By rights, this land didn’t have any competing jurisdiction with the Federation, and the only neighboring territory was the Federation’s own.
Therefore, it should have been considered part of the Neville Federation.
However, on one hand, this territory did not seem to have any potential for utilization, on the other hand, the people there were relatively stronger.
It would be foolish to go to war over this piece of useless land against such group of people.
Furthermore, although the dragons had not reacted or expressed any feelings about these worshippers, no one could certainly predict the dragons’ reaction if these creatures with the mindset of dragons were attacked or even exterminated.
So, after much consideration, the Neville Federation decided to designate this area as an autonomous region.
In na, it was territory belonging to the Federation, but in practice, it was completely governed by the dragon worshippers.
In other words, there was no standard governance.
Thus, the so-called Dragon Worship Autonomous Prefecture was ford in na only.
People who wanted to enter the Magical Beast Forest would definitely pass by the southernmost town of Neville, Icebound Town, and would have to pass through the Dragon Worship Autonomous Prefecture.
It was the only pathway with human activity.
As for other directions, there was nothing but boundless snowfields.
If anyone got lost in these snowfields, it wouldn’t take more than a few days for that person to rge into the snow.
Only in the following year when the ice and snow lted would they be discovered.
For so many years, adventurers who wanted to enter the Magical Beast Forest would choose to cross Icebound Town during the brief sumr, while those who dared to enter the forest in winter were rare to none, often seen not more than once or twice in a hundred years.
However, the inhabitants of this generation’s Icebound Town were fortunate, as they were fortuitous to have encountered one in their lifeti.
It was noon on the seventh of December.
Despite being the warst ti of the day, on ordinary days, so people would erge from their hos to do their chores.
However today, no one was willing to do so.
They would rather hide by the warm stove in their hos, grumbling about the detestable weather of the day.
Snow was falling today, heavy snow.
Large flakes were falling from the sky, making the outdoor temperature unbearably low.
Not only was there snow, but also wind.
The biting gale whipped up the falling flakes, making them whirl in the air and carry tiny shards of ice.
The wind, mixed with snow and ice, pelted against the buildings, making a constant pitter-patter.
No one was willing to be outdoor in such weather for long; it was utterly tornting.
Even if they found it boring at ho, people would instead cram into the bustling tavern, ordering the most potent potato liquor, allowing the alcohol to warm their freezing body.
In the dium-sized tavern, over fifty townsfolk had gathered.
For a town of over four hundred people, this would be quite a number.
Their presence filled the tavern with the fragrance of strong liquor, the scent of smoked at, and, unfortunately, an overpowering body-odor.
Everyone in the tavern held a glass of pungent liquor, their loud conversations making the tavern very noisy.
This was a common scene in the taverns of Icebound Town over the past few centuries.
However, at this mont, the tavern’s door was pushed open.
(To be continued.
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