"Um... Who is she?" Snow questioned, tilting her head slightly. She felt slightly mad but didn't let it show in her voice. For the most part, her anger stemmed from her jealousy that he has another girl with him when he refused to let Snow come along. There is Crystal too, but Snow didn't mind her as she is a kid.

"My name is Kristine, I am an Earth Dragon." Kristine greeted with a smile.

This confirmed for Snow's suspicion, but it still confused her. She failed to understand why he would choose a species of Drakes weaker than the one he already has. Afterall, Earth Dragons are ranked the third weakest, right above Zombie and Dark.

Crystal stood a bit behind with Alan, while Kristine talked with Snow. Alan finished saying something to Crystal, after which she ran towards Snow and gave her a hug. Snow only started getting more and more attached to Crystal as time passed.

"I am sure you have several questions, like why choose a species weaker than you? Or why not take you with me if I was taking anyone other than Crystal to begin with? And why is this girl with us to begin with? I will answer all of them." He informed, as if reading her mind, the third or fourth time now. She did have all these questions, and was eager to find the answers to them.

"Well, as for the first question, she is probably stronger than you, probably. Second, I didn't take you so you can train while I get the hard work done, and we needed to travel a lot without any rest, which would be too much for your stamina. Lastly, she is our new ally, and will be joining us now, and is also part of the reason I needed to go." He answered all her questions one after the other.

Those were all her questions. She got their answers, though they weren't really satisfactory.

"Fine then, let me prove that I, an Ice Wyvern which is the third strongest wyvern species, am stronger than this Earth Dragon." Snow challenged the girl to a battle. She felt slightly hurt because Alan believed an Earth Dragon would be stronger than her, and she felt compelled to prove him wrong.

"I have no problems with that, is that fine with you?" Alan inquired. Kristine.

"I was hoping to get some rest, but its fine, I don't mind." Kristine mumbled, sounding slightly exhausted.

The both of them walked a bit further to create some distance, neither of the two seeming to be a melee fighter. Snow observed that Kristine didn't carrying any weapons on her, gesturing towards her also being a caster. It would be an easy victory for Snow as very few compared to her in magical abilities.

Snow summoned her staff, aiming at it Kristine just as she lifted her hand. Snow shot ice spears, more than she could before, around forty of them, and stronger with thicker layers of ice. Kristine closed her fist of the arm she pointed towards Snow, before pointing upwards with her finger. A wall rose in front of her, blocking the ice spears which shattered as they collided with it.

The way Kristine manipulated earth seemed similar to how Snow manipulated ice, not the normal Earth Dragon method. The wall returned into the ground and Kristine walked towards Snow. "Oh? You're approaching me completely unarmed." Snow questioned mockingly as she primed her staff to attack.

"I can't defeat you without getting closer," Kristine answered, knowing her capabilities.

"I won't be so sure about that." Just as Snow said this, ice crystals shot up from the ground around Kristine, aimed right at her. Snow smiled at Kristine as the ice spears neared her. "It was short but fun."

The ice crystals smashed into Kristine, but Snow didn't see any blood. Before Snow could react Kristine started walking towards her again, easily breaking through the ice crystals. Startled, Snow shot another barrage of spears at Kristine. They collided with her body and shattered instantly, not even leaving a mark. Snow realized at this moment, that she made a big mistake. Earth Dragons have really tough scales, and Kristine possessed scales even tougher than usual. Snow's ice attacks weren't doing anything, and she needed to come up with something new right away to stand a chance at winning.

She charged in, spinning her spear in her arm, aiming to attack Kristine with it. Kristine sidestepped the first strike and ducked under the second, though barely. Snow tried stabbing Kristine but she grabbed the spear with her bare hands, the sharp crystal leaving no mark as she punched Snow in the guts. Snow coughed up some blood, dropping to her knees. Just as she opened her eyes, she saw Kristine's foot rising towards her head, right before she blacked out.

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This time she woke back up pretty quick, just at midday, when everything just in the morning. Snow looked around, the surroundings appearing the same area she fought Kristine in, just north of the academy. She found Crystal lying beside her, and Kristine sitting down some distance away, staring into the distance. Alan didn't seem to be there, and she didn't see him even after getting up and looking around.

She came to sit beside Kristine and talk, but neither of them said anything for quite a long while as they sat side by side. The two simply looked in the same direction, towards the east. The tall trees of the rainforest were slightly visible all the way here, the darkness inside the rainforest easy to tell even from such a great distance.

Snow finally made up her mind to talk and started the conversation. "So, how did you and my friends meet? Did they meet you recently or they knew you for a while?" She asked a small question, which had been bugging her since she saw Kristine.

"No, we met just a few days ago, they attacked me and won. The condition was that if I lost I had to follow his orders." Kristine answered with a shrug. Her voice sounded adult-like, and Snow did get the impression that Kristine was much older than her, even though she looked the same age.

"As for how we met," Kristine continued, "I was resting in my cave deep underground, knowing I was completely safe, because it was like, very deep underground. For a couple days I had been sensing vibrations coming from above ground, but I didn't pay it much mind, thinking it must be humans mining for ores. Though I was thinking about it for that entire day because the vibrations were very close, and I was able to hear something like small explosions.

"Then, suddenly I heard a very loud sound and found that someone had broken into my cave, and it was the two of them. On seeing me master did have a smile that seemed sinister, but in the few days I have been with him I figured he isn't a bad person. He asked me to join the team without giving a fight because it was just a waste of time, and it was, he defeated me easily, all by himself. And so, I agreed to his conditions and joined the team."

Snow now felt, a certain way she couldn't even describe. She didn't like that Kristine called Alan 'master' of all things, and the fact that even though Kristine defeated Snow so easily, even she was still no match for Alan. It is truly terrifying to try and think of the extent of his abilities. Snow didn't know if she was just weak or everyone here was far too strong, even though she could easily kill everyone she fight before coming to the academy.

Alan returned shortly after as well, and all of them started the return journey towards the academy, which wasn't all that far. During this journey none of them said anything for a long way, but seeing the quiet and awkward atmosphere someone needed to start a conversation.

Alan took the initiative with a question. "Are you all getting along well? I hope I am not forcing you to stay together even if you don't want to."

"It's nothing like that!" Kristine and Snow exclaimed in unison. It startled him a bit, and the two of them felt a bit embarrassed as they glanced at each other. Crystal also made a low growling sound, though it sounded more like a purr. Snow guessed she probably meant to say that they are getting along well.

"Well, that's good. By the way, Snow, how did your training go?" He questioned, glancing back with a smile on his face.

"You have already seen how it went, not good at all," She mumbled.

"No, your attacks were really strong. If you would have made a sharper and tougher ice spear then it would have easily went through my scales." Kristine informed, trying to cheer Snow up.

"That is true. You should probably spend the rest of the month creating your own ice spells," Alan also chimed in.

"I don't have the ability required to create spells, or any equipment which can," Snow pointed out.

"You do have one, the bracelet is capable of storing and creating spells. The created spells only work if you are wearing it though," Alan replied.

Snow looked at her bracelet with a sigh as she decided she is going to start creating spells from tomorrow, being far too tired to do such currently.

"I do have one question," Kristine mumbled.

"What is it?" Alan inquired.

"What is she supposed to do in the team?" She questioned, pointing towards Crystal. "She seems too weak to be able to fight anything in the dungeon in this place, no offence, she is strong, just not strong enough."

"She is there just to be cute and helpful in any way she can be, is that answer satisfactory?" Alan answered, slightly annoyed, or maybe mad because of how she asked it. He patted Crystal on the head after saying this, not seeming to be the manipulative mastermind Snow thought of him to be in the slightest.

"It is an okay answer," Kristine accepted.

"I am hoping the three of you are prepared because the things we will encounter aren't anything like the monsters on the surface." Alan warned them as they reached the academy.

When they arrived at the academy, there was something they needed to figure out. Where was Kristine going to be staying, as she wasn't one of the students there. The only reasonable option was in Snow's room, but there wasn't really enough space for three people on one bed. They were thinking of what to do when Crystal tucked at Alan's coat and stood right beside him. From what they could understand she meant to say that she can sleep with him for now. Alan didn't have any problems, neither did anyone else.

Snow and Kristine went to sleep as well,nand it didn't take Snow much time to figure out that Kristine was quick to fall asleep. She fell asleep within two minutes, not snoring or anything of the sort at the very least. Though after a few minutes she did wrap her arms around Snow, pulling her close into an embrace. Kristine's body, being warm blooded, felt very warm to snow, and surprisingly she didn't feel hard either. Despite not liking it at first, Snow did not mind the warmth after a short while, even growing to like it as she drifted to sleep.