If System hadn't gained powerful eyesight after his third metamorphosis, he wouldn't have noticed the small creatures flying through the air.

  Before the snow had arrived, he'd never seen this kind of insect before. These small insects seemed to be well-suited to surviving in a cold environment. They were extremely small, and didn't even reach a tenth of a millimeter in length. Even when System had just woken up in this world, his size had been dozens of times rger than these little things.

  The white insects had two pairs of wings and looked like flies. Hundreds of them were gathered together, and they could be easily mistaken for snowfkes fluttering in the cold wind when viewed from a distance.

  System tried to inspect them with his tentacles, but they were simply too small. Even if he squished one between two tentacles, he'd still be unable to feel it, so he couldn't use [Perception] to investigate them at all.

  He managed to barely catch one and tossed it into his mouth, but he didn't taste anything at all. He guessed that he'd be able to taste something if he swallowed dozens of them at once, but catching them was far too difficult for him to bother testing that idea.

  ...

  Although the tiny insects he'd encountered in the snow hadn't provided any substantial help, they did give System hope for his survival.

  It was like the time when there had been five consecutive days of heavy rain, after which life in the forest had gradually recovered. Even though the forest was now covered in snow, the creatures here hadn't gone extinct. Even insects could survive.

  If things really didn't work out, he could always go to the azure ke hundreds of kilometers away and catch fish and shrimp like the white bear had done in the past.

  System climbed up a tree and once again used his tentacles to swing from branch to branch as he made his way through the forest.

  According to his memories, there was a tree with butterfly chrysalides on it not far from here. The butterflies should be from the same species as the ones System had found before undergoing his second metamorphosis.

  Previously, he'd had many ants avaible to scavenge food for him, so he'd never needed to worry about food at all. That was why, when he'd found these butterfly chrysalides, he'd only used his tentacles to inspect two of them and ignored the others. The remaining chrysalides would now become his food reserves.

  A few minutes ter, System arrived at the tree the butterfly chrysalides were on. There were about fifty of them densely packed together.

  By feeling them with his tentacles and using [Mental Transmission], he discovered that most of the fifty pupating caterpilrs had already died due to the severe cold. Only three were still alive.

  Moreover, two of the three survivors were extremely weak and would probably die soon, leaving only one butterfly chrysalis filled with abundant vitality.

  After picking up the healthy chrysalis and using [Perception] on it with his tentacles, System discovered that the chrysalis possessed a kind of frost energy. He couldn't determine exactly what it was right now, but it had undoubtedly helped the pupating caterpilr inside survive in the snow.

  After spending some time trying to communicate with the pupating caterpilr using [Mental Transmission] and finding it too difficult, he decided to take the chrysalis back to the temporary nest so that he could study it slowly in the future.

  ...

  While System was transporting more than a dozen of the chrysalides back to the nest with his tentacles, his antennae sensed strange footsteps in the wind and snow. He soon noticed an uninvited guest in the distance—a two-meter-tall humanoid with white skin and icy blue armor.

  The white-skinned humanoid was extremely ugly, with a bald head and pointed ears. From its appearance, System felt that it was somewhat simir to the goblins that he'd seen before, only this one seemed to be a giant.

  The giant goblin held a huge ice-crystal axe in both hands. It kept looking around, as if it was searching for something.

  After a few minutes, the giant goblin found its target. It walked straight up to a tall tree covered with branches and started swinging its axe.

  'Chopping down trees? What's this guy up to?'

  System used a tentacle to toss one of the butterfly chrysalides he was carrying into his mouth. While he ate the ice-cream-fvored gooey filling, he observed the goblin's actions from a distance.

  Just like how System wasn't good at digging, this axe-wielding goblin didn't seem to know anything about chopping down trees.

  Even though System had never chopped down a tree before, he knew that one should keep swinging at the same pce, rather than just swinging the axe randomly toward the tree.

  'Is the goblin using this tree to practice swinging its axe?'

  System felt that his guess wasn't too likely, as it seemed like the giant goblin was simply trying to chop down the tree.

  Although its chopping skills were poor, by relying on its strong physique, it only spent about an hour chopping before the tree finally fell.

  System had assumed that the goblin would do something with the tree once it was finished chopping it down. However, the goblin seemed completely uninterested in the fallen tree. It just shouldered its axe and started searching the area again.

  After he watched the giant goblin leave, System used his tentacles to skitter over to the freshly fallen tree.

  He'd seen this kind of tree several times while traveling through the forest. The tree's leaves were wide and oval-shaped, and its branches sprouted oval-shaped green nuts that grew to about two centimeters in length.

  The tree exuded a very strange odor. System found it very familiar every time he smelled it, but he couldn't figure out exactly what it was that made it feel that way.

  He plucked a green nut from a branch with one of his tentacles. The nut had a hard shell, but the fruit inside tasted pretty good. These nuts provided roughly the same amount of experience as mushrooms by weight, so they'd also make a good food reserve.

  System used his tentacles to continue picking and eating nuts from the tree.

  Suddenly, the sound of an axe colliding with wood rang out again...

  System, who was chewing on a nut, saw that the giant goblin had gone about thirty meters away and was now using its axe to chop down a second tree.

  System climbed up a tree again and went back to watching the goblin from a distance. He noticed that the two trees the goblin had targeted were from the same species.

  'Is there a secret hidden in these trees?'

  System was thinking while eating more nuts. This species of tree exuded a special scent, which he always felt very familiar with, but he couldn't remember why.

  When it came to the appearance of the tree and its fruit, they were somewhat simir to an oak tree and its acorns from his previous life.

  'Oak tree?'

  System's insect face showed a puzzled expression. However, a few moments ter, realization suddenly dawned on him.

  He finally remembered why the smell of this tree was so familiar. The thing with a simir smell wasn't a pnt, an insect, or an animal. Instead, it was the scent of the old druid.

  The giant goblin chopping down oak trees and the old druid who carried the scent of oak must have some special connection between them.

  While System was thinking, his [Intuition] alerted him to a new presence nearby. He turned his head and saw a creature with golden fur and bck spots that looked simir to a leopard in the distance.

  [Frost Form] activated!

  System immediately transformed into his [Frost Form] and used his tentacles to rapidly climb up to the top of the tree.