Date: Day 3, Frost Range Trial
Location: Western Slope – Ruins of Team B's Camp
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We scouted the western ridge at dawn.
Me, Leander, Yukari, and Selia.
Snow was thicker than expected. Trees stood like old ghosts. But that wasn't what made us stop.
It was the footprints.
No signs of a struggle — no drag marks. But every set of prints just… ended.
As if the snow swallowed them.
Or something else did.
---
Leander found scorch marks — but no sign of fire.
Selia said the air smelled wrong. Not rot. Not magic. Just wrong.
Yukari crouched beside a tree and brushed frost off the bark.
Claw marks. Five-pronged. Deep.
Too high for a bear. Too thin for a wolf.
She didn't say anything — just looked at me.
I understood.
We weren't alone.
---
We returned to camp and found Mireille already there.
She didn't look surprised.
She'd followed the signs herself. When I told her about the tracks, the burn marks, the silence…
She frowned and spoke quietly:
> "There's a creature in northern folklore. Velgrem. A shadow stalker. Hunts in cold regions. Drawn to magic heat and heartbeat. They don't kill for hunger. They… collect."
I asked what that meant.
She didn't answer.
---
After a long pause, she made her decision:
> "From this moment forward, all teams are allowed to use mana. No restrictions."
The others didn't hear the whole story.
Just that "a scouting party found traces of lesser monsters."
They were relieved.
But I saw how tightly Mireille gripped her sword.
How she glanced at every tree like it might move.
---
We returned to camp. I told the team.
Everyone pretended it was nothing. But their sleep was restless.
Alice offered to guard me again.
Lily said she would stay too.
So now I sit between them, writing by lantern light, while Riya complains about snow in her boots and Leander sings off-key.
> This is how we live before fear.
Laughing too loudly.
Holding warmth like armor.
---
Tomorrow, we'll start rotating night watches again.
I've redrawn our camp layout. Moved us closer to a cave for backup shelter. Placed enchanted signal stones from Yukari's pocket near entry points.
The bell is still in my coat.
And tonight, I keep it near my hand.
---
> "Velgrem… devours footprints so none may follow."
That's what the old tales say.
I intend to leave a path anyway.
Even if I have to carve it through snow and shadow.