Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 903 - 902: Journey to the Far North

Dragon!!

Gawain’s gaze instantly froze, lingering for a long time on the forcefully written letters, as if he could see through the slight tremors at the edges of the handwriting, the intense emotional turmoil Modir Vealt felt as he wrote those letters.

Then he lifted his head and looked at the map hanging not far from the desk — on the map, the entire view of the Loren Continent has been precisely marked, but the vast ocean outside Loren Continent and the possibly existing new continent are beyond the perspective of his satellite monitoring, and thus only symbolically outlined with general positions:

Deep in the Endless Ocean southwest of the Loren Continent lies the sentinel towers of the elves’ ancient myths, whose existence has been confirmed through ground scans by the Firmament Station;

Southeast of the Loren Continent, across an ocean at an unknown distance, is the "new continent" discovered 700 years ago by Gawain Cecil’s expedition group, part of whose coastline has also been confirmed through the Firmament Station;

In the far seas of the eastern Loren Continent, beyond the storms and currents, lies the Aeo Continent ruled by the sea demons, and their capital, Antawen.

North of Loren Continent, beyond the Sacred Dragon Kingdom’s coastal peninsula, is the Eternal Storm, which humans have indeed observed, and opposite the Eternal Storm is the Dragonkin kingdom: Talronde, which currently only exists in indirect data.

The Land of Dragons is located in the extreme north, possibly even near the Arctic Circle, where numerous icebergs likely float around, consistent with the details Modir Vealt mentioned in his notes...

"Did he mistakenly pass through the Eternal Storm... drift near Talronde..." Gawain couldn’t help muttering to himself, "Is this considered fortunate or unfortunate..."

Muttering, he bowed his head, focusing back on Modir Vealt’s incredible journey of adventure:

"... In the ensuing short period, I remained in a state of heightened tension, shock, excitement, and other mixed complex emotions— it was a dragon! A real dragon! At first, I suspected I was hallucinating due to prolonged solitude and drifting, but I soon realized everything I saw was real, the dragon even hovered on the horizon for a bit...

"I nervously watched the dragon, not knowing what it would do to me, the ’uninvited guest.’ I was certain the dragon had noticed me— just as I could see it. But for some reason, the dragon merely hovered in the sky for a while, then flew straight into the farther distance...

"The dragon seemed to disregard me... or perhaps just regarded the pile of broken planks I was on as some kind of floating debris on the sea? I don’t know how to feel now. On one hand, I’m really worried that the dragon might suddenly turn back and trouble me, given my current state, surviving is unlikely. On the other hand, I wish it would come to me... This might be my only hope to escape the current predicament if the dragon is friendly...

"I spent a cold night in anxious unease... or perhaps it was a long twilight.

"After crossing a certain boundary, the sun on the horizon never set below the sea, it remained rising and falling within a certain altitude range, cycling through ’dawn-noon-dusk-dawn’ in sequence. Everything was just as ancient scholars calculated, our planet tilts as it orbits the sun, causing prolonged daylight or night at both the northern and southern poles... I think I’ve made another important observation, yet no one knows if I’ll ever have the chance to bring this precious knowledge back to the human world...

"X month X day... On the third day after sighting the dragon, I saw a massive... wall of storms on the distant sea.

"Initially, I thought it was the Charged Cloud Wall of Chaotic Turbulence and tensed up greatly, but soon I realized it did not contain that kind of violent, uncontrolled magic power, the top of the cloud wall lacked the eerie glowing phenomenon, and it showed no sign of movement, yet it was far larger than the cloud wall of Chaotic Turbulence... The cloud wall spanning across the ocean like a true ’world barrier,’ with countless large and small vortices swirling underneath, the winds and waves were despairingly high... I think I know what that is.

"It’s a part of the ’Eternal Storm’! From the tallest peaks of the northern parts of the Dark Mountain Range, using the Eye of the Mage or other observational devices, one could see its echoes projected in the sky, and from the coastal peninsula of the Sacred Dragon Kingdom, its edge can even directly be seen, while I, right now, am in a sea domain no human has ever reached, observing the storm up close...

"Damn, I drifted in a huge circle and floated to the other side of the Eternal Storm!!

"The continent is just over there; the coastlines of the Sacred Dragon Kingdom or Violet Kingdom are on the opposite side of that cloud wall, Goddess of Magic, fate has truly played a colossal joke on me... I can now finally confirm the continent’s direction and thus my way home— incidentally confirming that it’s a dead end.

"I earnestly considered the possibility of passing through that storm to return to the continent, only to laugh at my own naivety and boldness, and then considered if it’s possible to circumnavigate that massive cyclone... and laughed at myself again.

"But after laughing, I thought my second proposal might work... bringing forth human courage and resilience, it’s indeed possible. Just think, I’ve already drifted this far, setting off from the eastern Loren Continent, circling this vast ocean to the side opposite the Eternal Storm, then why can’t I circle half again to its other side? Although now I’m worse off than before, the boat has become a pile of broken wood... but facing challenges is better than perishing on this endless ocean..."

Reading this, Gawain couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

When he read the first half of the notes, he thought young Modir was too reckless (in fact, he seemed similar in his old age), but now he can’t help but admire Modir’s courage and resilience. Having drifted alone on the sea for months, even reaching the north and south poles, and in the end, still mustering courage and will to try circling around the "miraculous phenomena" like the Eternal Storm, that’s a determination no ordinary person possesses.

"Seems he inherited the obstinacy of early pioneers..." He couldn’t help but softly express his admiration, then smiled, continuing to read on—

"X month X day, I must record today’s events, I... once again find myself at a loss to express my feelings.

"Earlier today, I began executing that daring ’detour plan.’ After some meditation and rest, I felt my magic was sufficient to drive this pile of broken wood safely around the edges of the Eternal Storm, so that’s what I did, successfully approaching that cloud wall. And then... damn it, then the blue dragon appeared again!

"If there are later readers here, you could never guess what that blue dragon did — she (I now know she is a lady) swooped down from the horizon, flying straight at me and my ’warship,’ looking extremely anxious. I heard a thunderous voice shout ’don’t act recklessly’ at my ear, and then that terrifying claw suddenly grabbed the hull of the poor ’New Adventurer.’ It seemed she wanted to scoop me up along with the ship, but she certainly didn’t expect that the ’New Adventurer’ was rickety from top to bottom. The magic attached to the dragon’s claw disrupted the magic circuit among the wood, and the dragon’s immense strength crushed everything directly... what happened later followed the principles of magic and material perfectly.

"Finally, I lost even that pile of ’broken wood,’ which shattered completely and was swallowed by the ocean waves almost immediately.

"Worse still, afterward, I ended up hanging on this blue dragon’s claw, not knowing what she was thinking... The only good news is I’m still alive, and my notebook is still with me...

"Now, I’ve been tossed onto a huge iceberg floating on the ocean, and the dragon is with me. Just now, we’ve finally cleared up the misunderstanding. This ’lady’ clearly mistook my approach to the Eternal Storm as a suicide attempt, whereas I briefly introduced my adventure experience and my desperate plan to return home... It’s obvious this dragon lady is somewhat disappointed and lost.

"But I am ten thousand times more disappointed and lost than she is!!

"The only thing now stopping me from dueling with this wicked dragon is my rationality as a human and restraint as an aristocrat — I certainly can’t beat her.

"Additionally, I casually, indifferently mentioned the name of this wicked dragon — she calls herself ’Melita Ponia,’ claiming to be a member of the Talronde Council..."

Gawain’s hand trembled, almost tearing off a page of the ancient and precious original volume.

He never imagined he would see My Little Pony’s name in such circumstances!! All this time, the dragon Modir Vealt encountered while lost in the Arctic Circle six hundred years ago turned out to be that creature?!

Moreover, at that time, Melita claimed to be a member of the Talronde Council... Shouldn’t she be the high-ranking agent of the Mithril Vault? How did the council come into the picture? What is the connection between this council and the Mithril Vault?

A fleeting curiosity about Talronde society and Melita Ponia herself sprang up in Gawain’s heart, but soon his thirst for knowledge made him refocus on Modir’s travelogue — the Arctic journey of that adventure duke clearly has more to tell, and the subsequent content appears even more captivating:

"...After a moment of awkwardness, I had to start discussing with that wicked dragon how to deal with the situation moving forward... Fortunately, despite her rude behavior, this dragon lady is still reasonable and also feels guilt... Okay, I can retract my ’wicked dragon’ comment; she does feel quite apologetic for the damage caused...

"I first negotiated with her to see if she could help me return to the human world — to a dragon, flying across the ocean shouldn’t be too difficult. But she said she temporarily does not have permission to head to Loren Continent. She mentioned some kind of application and assessment system, indicating that dragons like her need to submit an application to the higher-ups in dragon society to visit other continents and await approval... This indeed comes as a surprise, even shocking. Bards have always described dragons as fierce and savage creatures, akin to high-level monsters, never considering such intelligent creatures might have their own society and civilization. So now I am confident that humans have seriously misjudged them... I can’t help being curious about these dragons’ daily lives.

"After this, I asked the dragon lady if she could find me a place to stay. I figured this should be possible if dragons all live in this northern place; they should at least have a... settlement or nation, right? Even if not, the dragon lady should have her own dragon nest, shouldn’t she? It’s certainly better than continuing to drift on the frigid Ice Ocean...

"However, things didn’t go well. This dragon named Melita refused my proposal, stating that if the higher-ups of the council knew what happened here, it might affect her economic status for the next half year, so she absolutely cannot take me to Talronde... Damn it, why do dragons need to consider economic issues?! Can’t they just honestly kidnap princesses and princes on human continents?!

"In short, my plan to add an important entry in my adventure notes seems to be a failure. This dragon lady evidently does not intend to let me visit the kingdoms of dragons... But the situation isn’t too bad because Miss Melita at least proves to be responsible — although she seems more concerned about her economic situation, she hasn’t chosen to abandon me on this iceberg to perish to protect her income.

"She said she can take me to a ’resting place’ near Talronde... This resting spot doesn’t seem to be inhabited by dragons, but it’s considerably better than floating on an iceberg in the ocean...

"Frankly, I don’t quite trust this dragon; although she is relatively polite, her conduct makes one suspicious — if my magic were still at its peak, I think I would rather drive this iceberg to challenge the Eternal Storm again, but... there aren’t that many ’ifs’ in the world.

"I must acknowledge my weakness; I must admit I... have no choice.

"I agreed to Miss Melita’s proposal, and then... was hung on her claw and began flying even further north.

"Just to clarify: much of this note was completed while hanging on a dragon’s claw — this might be counted as a unique ’adventure achievement.’ What other adventurer has had an experience like mine?

"...After some time of flight, when I felt my magic was starting to become sluggish, something finally appeared in my view.

"I first faintly saw a very vast land, which seemed like a continent, a piece of land located in the extreme north, unknown to humans. I couldn’t see it clearly, but it seemed protected by some massive barrier, inside which was lush scenery. Just as I wanted to concentrate on observing it, the dragon took me flying in another direction — if my sense of direction is correct, we should be heading northwest of that continent. We flew in this direction for a while before finally reaching the destination —

"A huge metal tower towering over the ocean."