For now, that guess seed the most plausible.
’I never expected it to reach all the way inside the gate.’
A space where people could no longer live.
Looking at the Blue Hole, now frozen over completely and hardly any different from the outside, Walfred clicked his tongue.
’Well, fishing’s off the table now.’
In the end, he left the gate with nothing to show for it.
Walfred headed south again.
Across the frozen Passaic River, he passed Newark Technology Park, where he’d once shaken off Hector. A little farther on, a familiar sight ca into view.
A pure white mbrane. The boundary of the White Do.
’Finally...’
He was getting out of here.
Walfred quickened his pace. Just as he was about to pass through the white mbrane and head outside,
Thump!
"Hm?"
His foot bumped into sothing.
What was that? Was he imagining it?
Walfred reached his hand out in front of him. And he felt the solid sensation of touching a real wall.
"...!"
His eyes went round.
It wasn’t his imagination.
The boundary of the White Do had turned into a transparent wall, blocking his path.
"What? Why...?"
Couldn’t he get out?
When he’d co in so easily?
As he puzzled over the inexplicable situation,
Ding!
-----
[Notice: Escape Impossible]
[To leave the Forbidden Zone, [Nest of the Frost Dragon], the owner’s permission is required.]
-----
The system alert gave him his answer.
Walfred’s eyes widened.
’I see. So that’s why...’
That was why not a single one of the people who’d gone in to search the White Do had ever co back.
To think there’d been a restriction like this.
Walfred let out a low sigh.
But unlike those who hadn’t been able to leave this place, Walfred had a way out. After all, the owner of this very nest was right beside him.
"Elsa."
"Yeah, Daddy!"
"Want to head outside together?"
"Okay. Let’s go!"
Elsa smiled brightly.
And in that mont.
Swish!
With the sound of a curtain being drawn back,
the boundary of the White Do that had been blocking his path split open to either side, forming a passage. It was a sight reminiscent of the parting of the Red Sea.
Walfred passed through the passage with Elsa in awe and stepped outside. The wall then closed at a rapid pace and went still once more.
’I’m finally out.’
He’d successfully escaped the White Do.
Walfred took a deep breath in. The air on this side was definitely less cold than inside the White Do.
And then.
"Huh?"
His body suddenly felt heavy.
As if lead weights had been tied to his arms and legs.
And then.
The reason his body felt heavy beca clear.
Ding!
-----
[Notice]
[You have left the Nest of the Frost Dragon.]
[The Blessing of the Frost Dragon effect is diminishing.]
▶Cold/Frost Resistance: [-30%]
▶Dragonkin Skill Tolerance: [-20%]
▶Enhanced Physical Abilities: [-250%]
-----
The mont he saw it,
Walfred recalled sothing he’d forgotten.
’Oh, right.’
[Blessing of the Frost Dragon] doubled its effect only inside the [Nest of the Frost Dragon], didn’t it?
So now that he’d co outside, the effect had naturally diminished by that much. It felt like sothing given and then taken away, which was a letdown, but there was nothing to be done.
It wasn’t as if he could spend his whole life inside the White Do, after all.
As he was quietly accepting reality,
"Daddy, Daddy."
Elsa suddenly tugged at his hand.
Her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Where are we going now?"
Ah, co to think of it, he hadn’t told Elsa where they were going. Realizing his mistake belatedly, Walfred t her eyes and answered.
"I’m planning to go to Key West."
"Key West? Where’s that?"
"It’s a big island down south."
"How big?"
"Hmm, probably ten tis bigger than where you were?"
"Wow! Really?"
Elsa’s eyes shone with curiosity.
After that she peppered him with all sorts of questions about Key West, but there wasn’t much Walfred could answer.
’Well, I don’t really know either.’
Walfred had never been to Key West.
Actually, he’d been so busy just scraping by that he’d never once gotten on a plane like everybody else.
As he gave a self-deprecating smile,
sothing suddenly flashed through his mind.
’Wait, a plane?’
In that mont, Walfred looked at Elsa.
Elsa was a dragon. And her original form definitely had wings.
In that case...
"Elsa."
"What?"
"I’m just asking on the off chance, but if you turn back into your original form, can you fly?"
If she could, it’d be huge.
There’d be no need to walk the whole way. They could travel as comfortably as boarding a plane.
"Yeah! I can fly!"
Elsa answered with a smile on her face.
It was good news.
Walfred asked, his face full of expectation.
"Can you do it while carrying ?"
"Carry you? Where?"
"On your back, or maybe your neck..."
In novels and movies, people usually rode on the neck or back, after all.
Elsa, anwhile, closed her eyes as if thinking it over.
Then she shook her head from side to side.
"My body’s still too small, so no."
"...Ah."
That snapped him back to his senses.
Now that he thought about it, Elsa’s original form had only been a little bigger than a small dog.
She and Walfred were in completely different weight classes.
Just then, Elsa spread both arms out wide.
"But if my body gets bigger, it’s fine!"
"How do you make your body get bigger?"
"You just eat lots of snow."
"By snow you an..."
"The stuff I ate with you yesterday, Daddy!"
Snow of pure mana.
At those words, Walfred furrowed his brow.
’And where am I supposed to find that again?’
He’d never even seen it anywhere outside the White Do to begin with. And even if he could find it, he had no idea how much would be needed.
So in the end, did he have to give up on traveling by flight?
As he quietly let out a sigh,
Ding!
-----
[Notice]
[Partial system restoration complete]
[Your departure from the Forbidden Zone [Nest of the Frost Dragon] has been confird. From now on, you may freely use the Hunter Community.]
-----
A notice that he could access the Hunter Community.
And on top of that,
the alert he’d been waiting for appeared.
[A new feature has been unlocked.]
[System: Hunter Shop]
[Would you like to access it now?]
At last, a place to spend his coins had appeared.
Walfred’s eyes lit up.
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