The night of victory feast passed in merriment.
Elantra stuck to Ise like candy floss, which out speaking a single word. The Nikol twins got on like fire with the twin trouble makers of Leian and Ivan.
Elantra followed Ise to the camping tent in the night. The tents usually have two beds. Despite saying everyone is equal in the camping grounds of trial, the subtle differences do exist.
Ise's tent was conspicuously large, far too comfortable and made for a single person.
Elantra showed no signs of separating from Ise despite their arrival at the tent. Ise was almost feeling claustrophobic with how she was followed. She turned around, very much ready to give a piece of her mind to Elantra.
Elantra looked at her with wide eyes, expectantly, very much like a puppy.
Looking at the innocent and pure eyes of Elantra, Ise had an epiphany.
Why in the world is she applying standards she learnt in the fire country to her own people ?
Elantra is a child. Probably before today, just like Ise herself, she had no friends, given her noble status. Given how silent Elantra had been, how she imitated every one of Ise's actions like a robot, her parents probably told her to follow Ise's lead.
She is literally following such an order to the last 'T'.
Should she just crush that young of a child's self esteem to bits , by telling her she was being very very annoying ?
Ise sighed internally.
She couldn't do that, especially to a child.
Isn't it just sharing a tent ?
She would let the duchess bunk with her tonight.
She would just tell Elantra to stay silent.
In any case, the Duchess seems to be very good at following orders.
Even if she's not good at following orders, she at least seemed to be very good at staying silent.
Thus, Ise entered her tent, and allowed Elantra to follow her in.
Ise slept in her bed, and Elantra walked over to the couch as silent as a cat.
She laid down with no words, then turned towards Ise, and closed her eyes.
'Wow ! That's a lot less fussy than I expected. ' Ise thought, as she watched an already asleep Elantra.
Ise did not know how much of a turning point it was for Elantra's cultivation, nor did she know the kind of blind loyalty she inspired in Elantra, just for treating her without contempt.
▬ ●◘● ▬
As was her habit, Elantra woke at the coldest hour of the night.
Ise was sleeping in front of her peacefully, entirely unaware of the cold Elantra is emitting.
The very air frosted into a thin ice sheet, covering elantra like a sphere.
It is as if the entire world is a cold dead ocean all around elantra, and ise is the only being reflected on the surface of the frozen ocean.
Anyone else would freeze over at a single touch.
In fact, almost all the servants, even her own parents, always maintain a ten meter distance from Elantra during normal time. Her sleeping quarters are a mile away from any living being.
Elantra got out of the couch just as silently as she got in, and walked over to Ise, wondering if she had frozen dead, like so many of her servants complained.
Elantra knew what her servants called her when they thought she's not listening.
'Lady Death' They call her.
As she grew up, she learned to keep her powers under far better control. When she was awake, none could tell the difference. When she is asleep, ten feet away from her is more than enough to ensure one does not receive the cold shock from her mana.
However, there's no tent big enough to provide such comfort other than Ise's.
She thought the princess would hate her, but … she was so kind. No matter how silent Elantra has been, she did not despise her company. Then, despite her following the princess in with out any invite, she did not kick her out.
Elantra decided then and there, she would support the reign of princess Ise.
She heard whispers from her father's study.
Many nobles are preparing their sons to be king of Frigia, assuming princess Ise would marry and with her soft nature, she would remain an obedient wife.
Looking at the princess, Elantra did not think so.
Princess Ise is indeed soft.
But she is not weak.
Elantra watched from nine feet away, across the mirror surface of ice, as the cold seeped into Ise, then vanished without trace.
Ise Frost is the only being in the entire world who could probably stay near her and be her friend in this entire world.
She is deserving of my friendship, Elantra decided.
Ise slept peacefully, completely unaware of the emotional changes of her companion.
▬ ●◘● ▬
The next day it dawned bright and cloudy.
All the children set off with mountain climbing gear, all absolutely confident in their own win.
"Go! " Maxim Frost announced.
Some of the children ran, but Ise only walked peacefully.
Looking at her, Maxim nodded in approval. Mountain climbing is not a speed run, after all.
Soon, many children who started running slowed down, save for one.
Leian Batur kept running, just like the surefooted mountain goat, amidst the rocks and snow.
The first hundred meters is the low mana area.
The moment Ise crossed the hundred meter mark, she realized the stark difference in the amount of spirit energy absorbed by her body.
Damn it ! She has the supreme frost body.
Just how much of a waste of resources has she been in her past life ?
Even with the yin seed, even if she doesn't have a supreme frost technique as she did now, she would have been able to cultivate.
Yet, she didn't, for she believed everyone else, assuming her mixture of smallest yin seed, and largest yang meridians would never let her succeed.
Look at this now !
She had a supreme mana absorbent physique, she didn't even know.
Her body absorbs mana faster than it loses it. Even if she is doing nothing, her body cultivates itself. Such an overwhelming advantage, yet, she did not do a thing with it.
Ise wondered, at this rate, could she even blame Fire nation for invasion of her own country ? A lazy pig in the wild is just waiting to be caught by hunters. It is the law of nature.
Could a rabbit have revenge on a wolf for hunting itself ?
Ise stopped herself forcefully. The most useless way of thinking in the world is 'what if'.
Now that she knows, she should just concentrate on improving herself.
Her enemies are not getting any weaker whether she ignores to cultivate, or cultivates with all her strength.
She was away from the nation during the time this crisis developed. She had no idea about how and why of history, save for knowing that her country could not pay taxes on time. Neighboring snow country had taken the initiative to invade and collect from Frigia.
In the process of war, her uncle betrayed, and took over the nation. His god son Ye yul was the commander, Elantra their strongest warrior, and most of the nobility of Frigia perished in the war.
Later, the country turned into a wild wasteland, as her uncle's wife Madea burned down the royal castle. After this news, during the royal hunt, the royal family abandoned Ise by the road casually.
However, even if she was at her strongest, the entire Frigia was at Its strongest, it's not an opponent of Fire prince. This much, Ise herself realized after living in Fire capital.
In order for their country to be safe, she needs to improve herself, at the same time, sabotage the snow princess Celina. One way or another.
Celina had been the main reason Frigia came to the end it did. The Fire kingdom was not interested in Frigia. After all, it's too far, and has too few resources. Except for saying 'oh! We conquered Frigia', the fire country would get nothing out of the entire expedition.
However, snow country was not the same.It would double its territory, at the same time, get Reotanarch mountain, which is considered the place with highest concentration of cold mana in the entire world. Militaristically, Ice and Frost warlocks who do their training at Reotanarch grow at twice the pace, and have thrice the strength.
Ise took ten steps into the mountain.
Her spirit seed leveled up.
She went from neonate to youngling just like that.
She climbed for half an hour, about hundred steps forward, her spirit seed leveled up again.
She's now young, she still has hours to go from the first base station.
The cultivators can shoot either red sparks, or enlist at the base station to complete their time on Reotanarch.
Reotanarch is open to the public for thirty one days, eleven days for students to reach the peak, and remaining days for any and all cultivators in and outside the kingdom.
Usually, by the third day children start giving up, by the fifth day, most of them give up, save for the very tenacious. By the seventh day, almost all children give up, or at least, they reach the summit.
The last person to use the entire eleven days was the count zephyr, who's family kept the title for another five hundred years, due to the achievement.
Ise felt it once again. Putting her body on reotanarch mountain is like putting a wrung sponge in water. It's soaking up the spirit energy like there's no tomorrow.
She is at 'prospect' stage now.
Ise smiled involuntarily, feeling the progress.
She could get used to this !!!