Chapter 346: 121. Running Wild (6k)
“I can hear you. I’m just observing the composition and effect of this magic. Although I’m not proud of my magic level, indeed, I have seen most of the magic in this world, and this magic is very… magical. It should have been designed before my theory of the source of magic power to the soul, yet it has a direct effect on the soul, which makes me very curious.”
After hearing Fisher’s words, Valentina put down her hands that had been acting as a trumpet in front of her mouth, then spread her arms wide, turned her head to look at the distant, vivid, vast land, took a deep breath even though she could smell nothing in her dream, and smiled at Fisher, saying,
“Of course, my mother is a very powerful magician, and everyone in the Northern Region acknowledges that. However, the reason I invited you here today is not to study the principles of magic; that kind of brain-burning stuff is not what dreaming should be about, right?”
At the end of her sentence, Valentina turned her head to look at Fisher, revealing a slightly mischievous smile for the first time, just like the bright sunlight shining on the snow.
“Dream…”
Watching the girl in front of him become lively and bright for the first time, Fisher couldn’t help but chuckle in amazement.
“Yeah, so let’s not think too much. I haven’t been back for a long time; let’s explore a bit!”
Valentina placed her hand over her brow to shield her eyes from the dazzling sunlight, scanning the distance.
The place where the Snowflake Fortress is located is the northernmost point of the entire world. Every midsummer, the bright sunlight lovingly illuminates the day and night here. The marvelous phenomenon known as “midnight sun” now detaches from the reality of winter, creating a breathtaking scene in this dream that may or may not be an illusion.
“That way, follow me!”
Valentina quickly determined a direction and followed the path illuminated by the dazzling sunlight on the snow, a direction opposite to the massive Snowflake Fortress behind them. Fisher could only see a vast expanse in the distance, unsure of what lay in that direction, but he could vaguely hear the sound of the ocean.
“Swish, swish~”
“Crack, crack~”
From the invisible sea not far away, the ice blocks were continuously shoved and collided against the land by the restless waves, producing crisp sounds.
Beside her, Valentina turned back and smiled at Fisher, then fell backwards down the slope where they were standing. She slid down like a graceful fairy, and her familiar posture made it obvious that she had done this many times before.
Fisher’s gaze followed her soul far out until he realized that she left no traces in the snow where she had slid down the mountain. Curiously, he bent down to touch the snow beneath him; his fingers met not the expected cold but something that felt like a “snow-like” substance, not real snow.
“Bang!”
At that moment, something soft suddenly struck the back of his head. The impact was light, as if a winter spirit brushed past him.
He reached up to touch it, and a cold sensation surged straight into his fingers. Surprised, he pinched the snowball that had hit the back of his head, realizing it actually felt like real snow.
He turned to look and saw that the Valentina who had slid down the slope was somehow back behind him, holding a neatly shaped round snowball.
“Everything you see here is an illusion; it’s a projection of the scenery in my mind and my memories. However, there’s something magical: if you want to obtain something tangible here, you can construct it by combining magic power with your imagination. Although I don’t quite understand the principle, it requires a lot of magic power. For instance, creating these two snowballs has made my head start to hurt. Here it comes, bad guy!”
As Valentina was explaining, she suddenly threw the snowball in her hand at Fisher’s head without any regard for fairness. He tilted his head just in time to dodge the flying snowball. Before Valentina could attempt another snowball attack in frustration, a snowball larger than her body suddenly zoomed towards her and knocked her down to the ground.
“Thud!”
“Fisher!!”
Valentina covered her head, shivering from the cold white fragments on her. Instinctively hugging herself, she yelled at Fisher.
Fisher winced, clearly feeling the pain of the effort required to create things; it seemed that here, one could indeed use magic power to construct things. Although this large snowball required relatively little magic power, it still gave him a headache. He held his head and suddenly began to understand the principles of this magic.
But now, with the beauty beside him, and as she had said earlier, he did not bring up the study of magic anymore but focused on the dreamscape that this magic produced.
Valentina sat on the ground, looking angry just a moment ago, now gazing at Fisher’s pained expression. She couldn’t help but giggle and smooth her skirt, standing back up to say to Fisher,
“Fool, who knew you could condense something without me teaching you? But luckily, what you condensed was a snowball. If it were something more complicated, you’d better prepare for some pain! By the way, especially with living things, never try to condense a living creature! Not even a simple animal, got it?”
As she continued, before Fisher could nod in agreement, she suddenly threw another snowball straight into his face. Just as he was lost in thought, the unexpected cold snowball caused a black line to appear on his face. He raised his hand to wipe the snow off his face, and Valentina quickly covered her mouth, afraid to reveal her unladylike side, but couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Pfft!”
Fisher, with a deadpan expression, suddenly reached out to grab the mischievous Valentina. But the next moment, her body suddenly became quite light, as if she were freed from gravity, floating up into the air. In mid-air, she bent her legs and floated away like a butterfly for quite a distance.
“And also, in dream magic, you can float like a soul, just like this.”
Then she turned back, making her hands trumpet-shaped again, and shouted at Fisher,
“Come catch me, big fool!”
Fisher sighed, stood up, and watched as Valentina landed back on the ground. Then, as if to tease him, she put her hands behind her and beckoned him, signaling him to follow her direction. Next, without looking back, she ran wildly into the distance.
“Tap, tap, tap!”
Before Valentina could run very far, the expressionless gentleman behind her quickly reached her side, gently patted her shoulder, then ran past her, heading even farther away. However, the smile on Fisher’s face was distinctively dismissive, as if saying,
“Is that it?”
“Fisher! You’re cheating! Wait! Why are you so fast here too, after being so impressive outside?”
“Guess.”
“Ugh! Bad guy! Wait for me!”
Seeing that she couldn’t outrun Fisher, Valentina, in a fit of frustration, pulled out several more snowballs. One hand held a few snowballs as “ammunition,” while the other hand aimed and acted as the “launcher.” She ran and hurled snowballs at Fisher’s back.
“Don’t run, Fisher!”
“Don’t throw; it’s freezing! You won’t hit me anyway, and then you’ll have a headache afterward.”
“I won’t! I want to throw! Haha, you stop right there! Fisher!”
In the vast, snowy expanse before the giant Snowflake Castle, there are no constraints from the real world. The white-haired young lady in a black gown and the gentleman Nali in front, leisurely as if taking a walk and even throwing out some teasing remarks, played around, throwing snowballs and interrupting each other’s conversations, only the nonstop running remained.
Valentina’s speed was not fast, and even in this dream, her stamina was not extraordinary. Here, both movement and constructing items consumed magic power, which manifested as fatigue and pain in the soul. With the Soul Supplement Handbook enhancing Fisher’s soul, he was significantly more comfortable than Valentina from the moment he stepped in.
However, he didn’t fully showcase his soul strength. Instead, he maintained a speed roughly equal to Valentina’s, keeping a close distance, allowing her the chance to aim with the snowballs in her hand.
“Ha! Got you!”
As previously mentioned, Valentina’s magic power was simply not enough. After playing for a while, she became quite fatigued and started panting. Yet the smile on her face didn’t cease. To prevent her from exhausting her magic power further, Fisher slowed down considerably, leading Valentina to believe she had caught up with him. In a burst of effort, she grabbed his shirt, trying to stop him.
But feeling her delicate hand on his back, Fisher suddenly turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist. They spun around in the snow, after which Valentina found herself pressed down beneath him.
“Haha.”
She panted beneath Fisher in small breaths, and the joyful smile on her face, her rosy cheeks flushed from exertion, and her light silver eyes gazing at him bloomed at this moment, just like a flower that had just emerged from clear water, making him momentarily cease other thoughts, wanting only to watch her like this.
“I’m so tired. Fisher, I want to take you to see something beautiful, do you want to come?”
Fisher released the grip on her waist and sat down in the snow, looking at her with a smile.
“Sure, where to? You lead the way.”
“Follow me, let’s run there, hurry!”
Hearing Fisher’s consent, Valentina quickly sat up. Without having completely stopped her heavy breathing, she stood up and started moving in another direction.
Seeing her panting from fatigue, Fisher smiled and reminded her,
“Still running? You’re already tired like this; can’t you walk a bit slower?”
“No! I want to run! Hurry, it’s not far from here!”
Valentina turned her head and smiled at Fisher, signaling him to hurry, causing Fisher to helplessly stand up and follow her as they ran off into the distance.
Soon, the two of them reached the end of the snowy ground opposite the Snowflake Fortress. An endless ocean filled their view. This seemed to be the North Ocean in reality, known as the coldest ocean in the world, situated even further north in the Northern Region.
In front of them, chunks of ice began to float on the surface of the North Ocean, which had started melting due to a slight increase in temperature. Each piece reflected the sun in the sky, making the scene incredibly beautiful.
“We’re here; this is the place.”
Valentina was genuinely too tired to run anymore, so she gracefully sat down in the snow before the ocean and patted the spot next to her, signaling him to sit down.
Fisher didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down as well, though his posture was a bit rough compared to her hugging her knees. However, in this dream, with only the two of them present, Valentina certainly didn’t mind how he settled.
Once Fisher was seated, they didn’t speak, simply gazing quietly at the beautiful scenery on the vast ocean before them, occasionally interspersed with the calls of seabirds, the sounds of ice blocks colliding, and Valentina’s heavy breathing. For a while, after Valentina’s breath had calmed down, she stared absently at the sparkling ocean and asked Fisher,
“Is it beautiful here?”
“Yeah, it’s very beautiful.”
Valentina hugged her knees a bit tighter, then rested her head on them. This relaxed position allowed her to close her eyes comfortably, as if wanting to feel the wind that was supposed to be blowing across the ocean. But since this was a dream, she felt nothing at all. Moments later, she reopened her eyes and said with some amusement,
“Actually, Fisher, you should have noticed, right? The further away from the fortress we get, it feels as if there’s only snow. Because before this, I had never personally been to the northern side of the fortress, so of course, I didn’t know what scenery was there. In reality, this ocean should be several days of walking distance from the Snowflake Fortress. But I’ve never seen it personally; I only knew what the North Ocean looked like because of the photos my mother left behind.”
As Fisher looked at the vivid and extraordinarily beautiful ocean in front of them, and turned his head to see nothing but the white expanse of snow on land behind him, he suddenly understood: she had never been here, so of course, she couldn’t reveal its true appearance in her dream.
While he was observing, Valentina’s voice continued,
“I’ve been instilled with the idea that my life is limited since childhood. For a long time, I believed that everyone could only live to thirty, and everyone had some handicap or flaw. It wasn’t until the unscathed Heidi Lin was arranged by my family to serve me that I realized only we are special.”
“However, I don’t feel it’s unfair. On the contrary, I cherish the kindness others show me even more—my parents’ care for me, Haldor’s teachings, Heidi Lin’s meticulous care, my companions’ genuine treatment, and even your contributions to make me happy and joyful. I want to repay those who have given me so much, make my family free from the shackles of illness, let Haldor live a bit longer, ease Heidi Lin’s burdens, and ensure my companions receive greater rewards.”
“Because of this, I have many concerns, worrying that my flawed self might drag you down. So even if it’s just a false role, I must strive to appear reliable and calm.”
Fisher looked at her beautiful profile; her expression was as calm and reliable as usual. But he glimpsed a warmth in the peripheral vision of her eyes that could move a person. He spoke,
“So, when I just told you that I still want to climb the snow mountain and reach the Parasol Tree, you instinctively thought about how you could help me, right? You want to repay me for the help I’ve given you during this time?”
Valentina slowly straightened her legs that she had been hugging. The black skirt spread out on the ground in a fan shape, covering her thighs. Her hands supported her from behind as she tilted her head slightly.
“Yeah, because you see, Fisher, have I really done anything for you on this journey? On the contrary, you have been accommodating me and helping me. I can feel that you have no desire for worldly riches or power. Only when I provided you with a subhuman subject for research could I see a hint of satisfaction in your eyes, which sometimes made me feel quite guilty.”
“Especially when it’s you who wants to reach the Parasol Tree, why do you still ask me if I have a desire to give everything to achieve something? Why do you still want to take me to the Parasol Tree to help me fight for a bit of hope to survive?”
Listening to her, Fisher propped up his cheek with one hand and sighed,
“Valentina, do you really think living this way and thinking this way isn’t exhausting?”
“Exhausting? Why?”
Fisher continued to gaze at the ocean in front of them. The tranquil sea surface was devoid of any extra sound, making his voice especially clear.
“I mean, reciprocity, while it offers a good boost for relationships, constantly trying to calculate exactly how to repay others’ kindness tenfold actually goes against the love those who contributed to you might have had. Whether your parents, Haldor, or Heidi Lin, perhaps when they selflessly give to you, they never think about repayment. To compare what they have given to you with a request for reward might undervalue their sincerity.”
“Just as I asked you earlier: if you have a desire to live for something you’re willing to sacrifice everything for, then I’ll take you up the mountain, to gamble and strive. So, put aside your thoughts of having to repay me; I’ll ask you again.”
Before Fisher could finish, he suddenly felt Valentina gently resting her head on his shoulder. Her fragrant white hair and warmth interrupted his words. He turned around in surprise, but before he could see her expression at that moment, a soft, tender mouth pressed against his.
The only response to the sudden halt of Fisher’s voice was her innocent kiss.
At this moment, she closed her eyes, and the fluttering lashes like butterfly wings proved her fluster, but she still tightly pressed her lips against Fisher’s, causing his pupils to constrict momentarily as he felt her warm soul constantly approaching. He couldn’t help but close his eyes and tilted his head to return her kiss.
This touch of the soul blurred the passage of time. Unsure of how long it lasted, until Valentina’s face turned extremely rosy and she could hardly breathe, she gently released Fisher’s lips, bowing her head slightly.
Fisher savored the fragrance of her lips, instinctively wanting to call her name, but was interrupted by her action again.
“Valentina.”
“Shh, look quickly.”
Valentina extended a finger to press on Fisher’s lips. Just before he could call her name, she looked at the calm sea surface. Fisher fell silent, only tilting his face toward the sea as her delicate finger gently nudged his cheek. In an instant, a crisp sound like a baby’s cry suddenly came from under the ocean surface.
“Goo goo!”
Following that, the sea surface, which had been covered by ice, suddenly bulged up. From the sunlight-dappled, colorful waters, a gigantic, winged whale with a massive horn leaped out. Its wings were transparent and iridescent, and its slender body bore small eyes like beans on either side.
Fisher instantly recognized it as the rare magical creature of the North Ocean, the Rainbow Wing Whale, although it had not been seen for a long time. It was said that these creatures lived beneath the ice caps at the bottom of the North Ocean, where another ecosystem existed, making it exceedingly rare to encounter them.
Since Valentina had this in her dream, it implied that her mother had seen the Rainbow Wing Whale in the photo, evidencing her mother witnessed this marvelous creature.
“Goo goo!”
“Swish, swish!”
The grand, colorful figure covered in splashes of seawater filled Fisher’s vision. Amid the shock and awe of such an “absolutely stunning view,” the breathtaking girl beside him wasn’t looking at the scene before her; she had seen the Rainbow Wing Whale many times in her dreams. Instead, she kept gazing at the man beside her, whom she had never met before.
With the sound of crashing water and the whale’s cries in the background, Valentina turned around, closed her eyes, and yelled out to the ocean again,
“I want to run freely in the snow with Fisher just like today!”
“What?”
The sound of the enormous ocean whale was too loud; Fisher could only vaguely hear her say, “want to be with him doing something.” He feared Valentina wouldn’t hear him, so he shouted back.
Valentina laughed, gently leaning against Fisher’s shoulder, still cupping her hands in front of her mouth as she yelled,
“I’m saying! I want to be together with Fisher just like in my dream today! To run freely in the real snow! I want to have a snowball fight with him! I want to see the Rainbow Wing Whale with him!”
Valentina’s calls grew louder, encompassing everything around, drowning out all other noise.
“I want! To stand up from my wheelchair! I want to go to many, many places with Fisher!”
The dazzling light grew brighter and brighter; even the sweetest dreams have their time to extinguish, but in this moment, the wish that the girl poured her heart into shouting, along with her warmth and fragrance, floated up and firmly entered an everlasting memory.
She said that one day, she wanted to run freely in the snow with Fisher.
Please vote, tip, and support me; it’s incredibly important to me!
Thank you very much for your support!
(End of Chapter)
