As any young cub would, Snow quickly forgot her duties and tried to entertain herself while fidgeting around. Luckily, no one decided to come bother Greyson during this time. This time, Greyson was able to sleep the entire day through until the next morning. Once the sun peaked in through the window, he was roused from sleep and slowly got out of bed. Yawning, he stretched out feeling his muscles loosen. Rubbing his eyes a little before opening them, Greyson felt super refreshed after a long night's rest. He cracked the window open and looked outside. The room he was staying in was rather elevated and had a good view of the rest of the city. Today, his vision felt clearer as he breathed in deeply and smelled the distinctly fresh morning air. Mouth-watering scents of the restaurant nearby also wafted over. Stomach growling loudly in response, Greyson quickly made the decision to head out for breakfast. Pulling on his pants and throwing on a loose blue cotton shirt, he grabbed his brown cloak and quickly tied the laces on his boots.

"Hey, you three, if you want food, you better get up now. Otherwise, you'll just have to starve this morning." Shouting behind him as he left, Greyson did not bother waiting around.

Like magic, all the ears of the animals lifted up. Food? No longer feeling sleepy, all of them jumped up in response to quickly chase after Greyson. Before long, Greyson could feel the familiar sensation of them crawling up his body. Theo took his spot on Greyson's head while the other two hopped up onto Greyson's shoulders. Eyebrow twitching slightly, Greyson did not make any comment and just let them be. After living with them for so long now, his skin had grown much thicker. With a slight skip in his step, he eagerly walked down the cobble road leading out of the imperial palace into the city. The restaurant was right outside the gate so it did not take long before Greyson arrived. Pushing the doors open, he sat down at one of the empty tables and ordered some food for all of them. Just hearing the chopping from the cutting board and pleasing sounds of stew boiling, Greyson and the animals grew in anticipation. This early in the morning, there were less patrons than usual since most people would eat breakfast at home, so Greyson's wait was not long. A slew of dishes was placed in front of him. Without further ado, all of them dug in heartily.

"Hmph, who is this country bumpkin? Ruining my appetite so early in the morning. Even sharing his table with animals, how vulgar." A loud sneer echoed across the room.

Interrupted in the middle of his meal, Greyson glanced over just out of curiosity. He was greeted with the arrogant and disdainful expression of some middle-aged woman. Looking opulent and slightly overweight, she was the picture of a wealthy madam. Rolling his eyes and inwardly shrugging, he just ignored her. Anyways, her words were not really incorrect. So what? He was a country bumpkin who ate with magic beasts. It's not like her insults really mean anything to him. Obviously surprised that the boy just looked over once without reacting, the woman felt slightly unfulfilled. If Greyson knew her feelings, he would definitely feel that she had a screw loose. She wanted to continue, but the insults were all swallowed back. If she continued speaking out, then it would be truly against etiquette.

"Really~? Seeing them eating so happily just makes me want to join them and eat this restaurant's food." A voice defended Greyson.

Finding the speaker's voice and tone so familiar, Greyson looked up from his food to check. To his surprise, it really was someone he recognized, Teacher Leilena! Almost bursting from his seat, Greyson's face lit up with excitement. Although her hair was now a dark blue, her face was exactly the same as before.

"And who are you?" Knowing those words were directed at her, the woman sniffed contemptuously.

"Just a friendly bystander who felt your words were incorrect."

"Well, if such crass behavior builds up an appetite for you, then I truly must question your upbringing."

"Which upbringing of yours taught you to loudly complain and insult innocent people minding their own business?" Not giving an inch, Leilena did not get angry, but continued talking back.

"You!"

"Me, what?"

"Hmph! If I knew this restaurant was so low-class, I would have never come in the first place." Almost spitting the words low class, the woman jumped up from her seat and walked out in a fit of anger.

Watching this, Leilena just sneered at image of her disappearing back before turning around towards Greyson. Smiling awkwardly, she seemed to be at a loss for words for once.

"Hey~ Grey Grey. You've grown so big now I could hardly recognize you!"

"And you've changed your hair." He teased back. However, unexpectedly, Leilena's expression grew ugly for a split second before she managed a forced smile.

"Hm? This? Yeah..."

Finding the atmosphere growing more uncomfortable, Greyson tried to change the topic.

"You are participating in the selection, right? I saw your name before on the list! At first, I thought it was someone else. I did not realize that you were under the age limit. How is everyone back at the academy? Are all the Head Teachers doing well? Actually, after I saw your name, it made me really want to go back and see everyone." Even surprising himself, he proactively asked a bunch of questions.

"Ohhhhh..." Narrowing her eyes dangerously, Leilena looked over at Greyson. "Grey Grey, are you trying to tell me I'm old-looking?"

"Huh?" Taken aback, Greyson finally realized his blunder. "No, of course not! I just respected you as a teacher along with the rest so I just treated you as an elder in my heart. Just going off physical appearance, you could be my sister."

"Hmmmmm... well I guess I'll let that comment slide." Winking playfully, Leilena showed she was not truly upset. "Actually, I'm not quite sure how everyone is doing right now. You see, I left pretty soon after you." Visibly downcast, Leilena expression rapidly changed after she spoke. She seemed reluctant to bring up this topic.

"What? Why did you leave?"

"It has to do with this hair of mine, too. You did not know, but I was actually an orphan, too. But I was dropped off at the doorstep of the Holland family home. The Master and Madam there were kind people and decided to adopt me. Although not the richest or most powerful, my adoptive father was the Head Knight in charge of the city's defenses. My parents provided me with everything possible and did not hold things back due to my status as an adopted child. They treated just like their biological children. And that was how I grew up: loved and happy. However, soon after you left, a group of people came to my home claiming that I was a child of their House, the House of Roland from this very Lunar City. The Roland family is a top tier aristocratic family and the current Master and my biological father is the Royal Advisor to the Emperor. It's a common story, really. This man had an affair with a maid and the maid ran away while pregnant with an illegitimate child. I'm not sure why she ran, and I guess I will probably never find out. Somehow, the man finally discovered this and went searching for the child. Not for any grand reasons such as love or responsibility, but because he did not want their precious bloodline to be tainted. I was forced to start from the very beginning. Learning etiquette: how to talk, how to walk, how to dress, and how to eat. I started using the family methods of meditation which cause my hair to turn the same navy blue as everyone else in the Roland family." Uncharacteristically serious and grim, Leilena recounted the story as if it were not her own.

"You don't like them?" Although it seemed rather obvious, Greyson still asked.

"Like them? It would be good if I didn't hate them. Why do you think I participated in this stupid selection with my original surname and kingdom? I loathe to be bunched together with the Roland family. That man is not even half the father that my adoptive one is. Most of time, I am just locked up within the mansion. Too embarrassing to bring out, but also too important to just let wander."

"You should come back with me! I have some connections in the Idris Kingdom and Beast Empire. If the Idris Kingdom is not far enough, the Beast Empire most definitely is!"

"Ohhh, Grey Grey, you've become quite the man now, haven't you? Hehehe, it's okay. Your teacher is not so weak. Although the situation is rather troubling, there are still some positive sides. Like, what level do you think I am at now?"

"Level? Magister level stage four?"

"Stage four? Nope! I am a magister level stage five magician now! Hmph! They all look down your teacher. They're just jealous of my beauty and talent~. I'm going to suck up all their resources and finances just you wait. They will regret bringing me back!" Almost returning to her previous self, Leilena jokingly bragged.

"Stage five? Then, how did you get only thirtieth place?"

"Of course, because I did not try hard. What benefits would I get other than the Roland family trying to claim all the credit and glory?"

"Well then, this next round we should work together! Dungeons are usually explored in by groups, anyways. I bet everyone else will be teaming up to up their chances and speed."

"Oh~ Teaming up with Mr. Genius? It would be my honor." In an exaggerated response, Leilena faked a look of awe.

...

After they finished eating, both teacher and student headed towards the imperial palace's open plaza. They knew everyone would meet there before heading towards the teleportation circle. After talking and catching up, Leilena was fascinated by Greyson's experiences. Adventurous and playful by nature, she yearned to also go around travelling like Greyson. Greyson, on the other hand, felt even worse. He could tell that his former teacher was not being treated well in her new family. Unfortunately, none of them came along since Leilena was the only eligible younger generation. Otherwise, Greyson thought he could secretly take some revenge against them. No matter what he suggested, Leilena was adamant about not running away. She wanted to use the resources now provided to her, become stronger than her biological father, and walk away proudly.

In a way, Greyson could understand her struggles. Plus, Leilena was actually very talented, as well. Her goal was not unrealistic. After he finally managed to ask, Greyson was able to find out her age. She was already a magister level stage five magician, but she was still only 28. This meant she had great potential! It was not as exaggerated as Greyson, but, compared to the average talent level in the Snow Country, she was at the top!

They did not have to wait long before Prince Braiden and company arrived to lead everyone. Following the rest of the crowd, they soon arrived in front of a large mass teleportation array. Excluding the 64 participants, there were actually a decent amount of people with gold coins to spare it seemed. The participants were let through first, so Greyson and Leilena both stepped into the array rather swiftly. With just a small forewarning, the array was activated. Still slightly unused to the feeling, Greyson's stomach did a couple somersaults before it calmed down. He also braced himself to land. When his feet once again felt solid ground, he opened his eyes to look at his surroundings. He was surrounded by unfamiliar snow and ice for what seemed to stretch for miles. Dungeon entrances were usually hard to find and almost invisible to the naked eye, so he did not bother to look for it. He just patiently waited for Braiden and the rest to arrive. Clearing out the circle for the next arrivals, all the participants anxiously waited at the side.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.

"Hey, what kind of challenges do you think there will be?" Leilena whispered over.

"Every dungeon is different, so I really have no way of guessing." Greyson answered seriously.

"Boo~ obviously! Who doesn't know this? I just wanted to have some fun guessing and anticipating." Pouting, Leilena scoffed at Greyson's boring answer.

Speechless, Greyson felt that he was much more familiar with this current Leilena.