The leopard was about two meters long, with an elegant stride and a body that seemed extremely light. Even when walking on the soft snow, it didn't leave behind any obvious traces.

  After changing into [Frost Form], System saw that the leopard was walking straight toward him, as if he was its target.

  'The sound of tree chopping over there is obviously louder. Why are you coming to me?'

  System felt the frost energy gathering around him. Perhaps it was the frost fluctuations in the air that were attracting the leopard.

  As he sat on a branch, System waved his tentacles somewhat uneasily while gathering frost energy inside his body. With the extra energy, when he used [Ice Spike], the spikes that formed at the tips of his tentacles would be sharper and stronger.

  If this was an ordinary leopard, he'd be fine. System was hiding at the top of a tree, and although leopards had the ability to climb trees, they were far less flexible than he was while doing so. Maybe he could even kill it with his powerful [Ice Spike] and [Frost Mucus].

  But it was obvious that this leopard wasn't ordinary. System saw a human-like expression on the leopard's face. This was especially true for the leopard's quiet and peaceful eyes, which reminded System of the feeling he'd had when facing the old druid.

  'Could this leopard be the old druid in animal form?'

  Druids possessed the ability to transform into various animals. They could change into giant bears, eagles, and wolves. It wasn't impossible for one to have transformed into a leopard.

  However, System felt that the leopard was different from the old druid. Although its eyes were very simir, the leopard didn't have the unique aura that the old druid exuded. Instead, the leopard gave System the feeling that the druid was controlling it from a distance.

  The leopard stared for a while at the oak tree that the giant goblin had cut down, then continued walking toward System.

  Before long, it arrived directly beneath the branch that System was resting on and tilted its head to look up at him.

  The leopard opened its mouth and spoke to System in an unknown nguage.

  The nguage should be the same one that System had heard from the goblins and gnolls. The leopard said something about the Lord of Gciers, but System didn't understand any of the other words. Obviously, the leopard's words were reted to the frost dragon, but System couldn't guess what it had said.

  Although System couldn't understand the nguage, he was no longer alone. He still had the halo floating above his head, so Nellis was able to py the role of transtor.

  After sending a mental message to Nellis asking what the leopard had said, System quickly received her answer. Roughly, it had told him that the giant goblin's act of chopping down oak trees had vioted the covenant between the Lord of Gciers and Winter Wondernd, and breaking the covenant would cause the forest to suffer an unimaginable catastrophe.

  After hearing Nellis' transtion, System's insect face showed a strange expression.

  Why did the leopard tell him these things so seriously?

  He didn't chop down the oak tree. He was just a grasshopper who'd been unlucky enough to obtain frost power. Then he'd made a contract with Nellis and turned into a half-baked magical life form.

  Could it be that the leopard had come to him because System's frost blood, which was born from the Lord of Gciers' yawn, somehow gave him a special aura that was simir to the Lord of Gciers' own aura?

  ...

  System didn't respond to the leopard's words.

  Even if he wanted to say something, his [Mental Transmission] wouldn't work on the leopard, and he didn't have an organ that could produce sounds.

  The leopard wasn't far below System. It was quietly looking up at the branch that System was sitting on, as if waiting for an answer.

  Thus, the tentacled grasshopper and the leopard continued to sit quietly with each other...

  However, only moments ter, System's [Intuition] suddenly sensed something, and he looked up into the sky. He saw that a faint, icy blue ring had appeared in the clouds thousands of meters above.

  The icy blue ring quickly changed from faint to dazzling before finally forming into an icy blue light column with a diameter of nearly five meters.

  In the blink of an eye, the light column suddenly plunged down from the sky, and the leopard was instantly frozen into an ice block...

  "Covenant? Three hundred years ago, the covenant ceased to exist."

  When the light column fell, the thick and majestic voice of the frost dragon spread out, slowly echoing through the nearby area.

  The voice of Aura, the Lord of Gciers, sounded a little angry and regretful. System felt that there must be some unknown story involved.

  He thought that the Lord of Gciers was finished speaking, but he didn't expect to hear its voice again after only a few moments.

  "Hmm? Those eyes, they're so familiar. I seem to have seen them somewhere before."

  This time, the voice of the Lord of Gciers was much clearer. It seemed as if he was speaking to System directly face to face, which made System feel a little uneasy.

  While perhaps Aura had forgotten, System would always remember the moment when he'd made eye contact with the frost dragon.

  System turned his head slightly and looked around. He couldn't locate the figure of the Lord of Gciers, but the frost dragon was obviously watching him.

  Aura could be said to be the most mysterious existence System had ever seen in this world—even more mysterious than the old druid.

  System's body began trembling involuntarily. After his third metamorphosis, his [Intuition] had always been able to py an important role, but it had no effect in front of the Lord of Gciers. System couldn't sense what Aura was pnning to do next at all, and he didn't even know whether it would be good or bad.

  Mortal, magical, extraordinary, legendary, fantasy...

  According to the expnation given by Nellis, the Lord of Gciers belonged to the fantasy level, and it was much more powerful than dragons of the extraordinary and legendary levels.

  Aura possessed all kinds of unimaginable powers. The dragon had inherited a part of the Will of Winter and was the being closest to the God of Winter. Perhaps he was also one of the most powerful beings in this world.

  The Lord of Gciers scanned System's body for several minutes, causing System's trembling body to gradually become numb.

  "Why can't I remember? I clearly saw you somewhere before..."

  "Ah, Forget it. You have good eyes. Go ahead and join the Winter Legion. Maybe next time we meet, I'll remember where I saw you."

  Just like their previous meeting, the Lord of Gciers quickly became impatient and stopped trying to remember.

  System no longer felt a pair of invisible eyes watching him, and everything became calm.

  ...

  "Nellis, do you know what the Winter Legion is?" After hearing the words spoken by the Lord of Gciers before the dragon had left, System sent a mental message to Nellis, who was still floating above his head.

  Although she'd been floating there the entire time, Nellis hadn't heard what Aura had said to System. She asked in confusion, "Winter Legion? How do you know that name?"

  "Didn't you hear? The Lord of Gciers just said it," System replied.

  System saw the halo above his head start trembling slightly, and Nellis spoke words filled with nostalgia and emotion.

  "Winter Legion, the legion that guards the Will of Winter..."

  System, who was waiting for Nellis to continue, found that the frost energy in the air around him seemed to have suddenly come alive. It formed into an icy blue mist and quickly enveloped him.