Chapter 124: Last Cave – Snow Valley

Ugo’s POV

Last Cave

The damp air slammed against their faces as Ugo stepped into the last cave with Rio in his arms and Levi following a step behind.

The path was narrow and muddy at first, the same as the others. Ugo’s feet dipped the moment his boot touched the ground.

He hadn’t passed through this cave path before, so he didn’t know exactly what experience Moon, Nox, and Axe had gone through.

He was still unconscious when Moon and Nox took him into Starlily Sanctuary.

Walking this path made him remember that moment, and he felt a faint regret.

Regret for not being beside Moon at that time.

He had a lot to say to Moon.

His heart was filled with questions, dread, fear, and expectation.

But this was not the time to talk things out. The time was limited and turbulent.

But with every moment that passed, Ugo was getting afraid.

Will he ever be able to talk things out?

Maybe he could.

Or maybe he could not.

Yet he yearned for a day when he would not have to worry about anything and could just have a stroll around Starlily Pond while holding Moon’s hand.

Shameful as it was, that seemed more beautiful.

As they walked past one tunnel and turned into another, cold vapor started to rise from the ground with every step.

The deeper they went, the colder the air became.

Rio’s little white frosty fur started to fluff up. He kept sniffing the air, his cold demeanor slowly fading.

After a long stretch, the tunnel suddenly opened.

Ugo stopped.

For a moment, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

There was no cave wall ahead.

No narrow passage.

Instead, the ground suddenly dropped away into a vast glacier.

Below them stretched a vast glacier, covered in layers of white snow and clear blue ice. The cliff descended into the frozen valley, with a narrow winding path of ice along its side.

The glacier continued far into the distance, surrounded by towering frozen mountains. The cold wind was swirling in the void.

Ugo tightened his arms around Rio.

Levi stepped beside him and looked down.

"What’s this?"

Ugo did not answer immediately. Something about this place felt strange.

It was not simply cold.

The entire glacier seemed to be breathing.

A thin layer of mist moved across the ice, and beneath it, faint blue light traveled through the frozen ground like blood through veins.

Ugo looked at the winding path. It was so narrow that it was almost impossible to go down.

He looked at Rio and thought, ’Can he go down any way?’

As if feeling his gaze, Rio also looked at him. Then he slowly slipped down from Ugo’s hand.

When he reached the edge, he howled once.

Awoooooo!

A little snowball spat out from his mouth.

Then he howled with more energy.

AWOooooo!

This time the snowball was bigger.

Rio stepped on the ball and, in front of Ugo and Levi’s eyes, he slowly but steadily went down as the snowball descended.

"..."

"..."

Ugo and Levi stood there speechless.

After a while, Levi broke the silence. "Um... I think we only have one way to go down by that winding path. Your pup has left us alone."

Ugo didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. At least leave them a way out before going down. His little brother is as icy as always.

He sighed and started to climb down, using his vines to lock onto the edge so he would not fall suddenly.

Levi, on the other hand, was more at ease.

Ugo narrowed his eyes as he saw his fluent steps.

Seeing Ugo’s suspicious look, Levi explained, "I have climbed such trails many times before. And I awakened my wolf spirit two years ago."

Ugo suddenly felt like he had eaten a bitter pill without even knowing.

He didn’t care much as he slowly descended.

Upon reaching below, he found Rio was sitting on the ice as if he owned it. Still very poised and prideful.

When they both landed, Rio suddenly lifted his head. His ears twitched.

He stared toward the deeper part of the glacier, then started walking without waiting for them.

Ugo and Levi exchanged a glance and followed.

The open glacier stretched endlessly.

Snow crunched under their boots. The cold wind never stopped, but it felt clean and fresh. After walking for a while, they saw something that didn’t belong in a frozen land.

A clear blue pool.

It sat in the middle of the white ice field, perfectly round, and somehow refused to freeze. The water was so transparent that they could see the bottom.

Soft silver light glowed from underwater plants. Schools of small spiritual fish swam slowly in circles, their scales flashing blue and white every time they turned.

Levi pushed his monocle up and crouched at the edge.

"Interesting. There is something very pure here... and very cold."

He is not a mage, or else he would know it was the spiritual energy in the air.

Ugo looked down. Under the clear surface, he could see an underwater land.

Smooth white stone paths, glowing ice flowers, and deeper in the center, something bright pulsing behind a thick ice shield.

But there was one more thing that caught Levi’s eye.

He murmured, almost like he couldn’t believe his eyes, "Moon’s Tear­!"

Ugo was also surprised.

There were hundreds of bright moon-like pearls lying lazily on the water bed.

Rio howled once and jumped straight into the pool, splashing cold water.

"Rio!"

Ugo stepped forward, but Levi held his arm.

"Wait. Look carefully."

The little pup swam faster, as if the freezing water was his flesh and bone.

He went straight toward the glowing thing behind the ice shield.

But things weren’t so simple. As soon as he got closer, a huge shadow moved.

From the deeper water, a massive ice-scaled fish rose.

Its body was longer than three grown men. Cold blue eyes locked onto Rio.

The fish circled the ice shield protectively and released waves of freezing energy.

The water around it instantly turned into sharp ice needles.

Ugo’s brows twitched hard. He didn’t see that fish at all earlier. It seemed it was made of water itself.

Rio stopped a short distance away and growled low in his throat, but even he didn’t dare get closer.

Ugo’s face turned serious.

Levi muttered slowly,

"That’s the guardian. Whatever is behind that ice shield... we can’t take it by force."

Levi studied the shield through his monocle for a moment, then shook his head.

"It seems like ice marrow or high-grade water essence, but still a little different from what I saw before."

"Extremely rare and valuable. Can we take down the fish? What kind of fish is this?" he added.

"No. Take Rio back first," Ugo said without hesitation. His gaze never left little Rio, who was still underwater and just keeping a distance, yet never tried to come back.

Clearly, he planned to steal those things.

Ugo felt a headache.

He shot a vine into the water to grab and take Rio back. But the pup slipped stubbornly.