Vol 8. Chapter 29: First Snow

Saint Heath Academy’s winter break had begun.

Leon kept his promise and started teaching Noa super-sense.

On the day of the first snowfall of the season, father and daughter came to the training ground behind the Silver Dragon Sanctuary.

The maids had already swept the snow from the yard, leaving plenty of space for Leon and Noa to move around. Noa pulled off her black dragon-claw earmuffs, then began her warm-ups. Her little mouth puffed out breaths of mist in time with her movements, and soon her body was warm and limber.

While she stretched, Leon stood at her side with his arms folded, explaining what she needed to keep in mind when practicing super-sense.

"Super-sense is extremely difficult to practice," Leon said slowly.

"Compared to summoning magic or other fixed drills in the form of techniques, super-sense is far more raw and elusive."

Noa stopped her warm-up, raising her head to look at her father, her face full of confusion.

Leon nodded and continued his explanation:

"When I studied super-sense back in the day, my conditions were pretty decent overall, but I still couldn’t quite grasp the feeling of it. To be more specific, I could see the threshold of super-sense, I could recognize it—but only that. No matter how I trained, I couldn’t take even a single step further. In the end, it was only under the unprecedented pressure of my duel with Odin, that I comprehended super-sense."

Saying this, His Majesty brushed the snow from his daughter’s head and shoulders, then rested his broad hand lightly on her shoulder and smiled.

"Papa’s telling you this so you’ll understand—super-sense isn’t something you learn overnight. Even if at some point you feel completely stuck no matter how hard you practice, don’t doubt yourself or become anxious. That’s just the path everyone must take to master it, all right?"

Noa had always held herself to brutally strict standards in her training, and combined with her natural talent, she had been able to quickly master any spell or technique for over ten years.

But super-sense was different—it wasn’t a simple trick you could just learn like a basic move.

So Leon gave his precious daughter a little warning in advance, lest the overachiever princess practice for a while, see no progress, and start to spiral mentally.

Fortunately, Noa wasn’t the same stubborn little girl who once drove herself into corners. She nodded, snowflakes drifting down onto her hair.

"I understand, Dad. I’ll pay attention to keeping my mindset balanced."

Leon smiled warmly, thinking how the old Noa would have pouted and said something like, "I’ll definitely master this, no matter how hard it is!"

To feel his daughter’s growth firsthand—how could a father not feel proud?

"Good. Then let’s not waste any time—let’s begin right away."

"Mm-hm!"

Noa bit her little tail behind her in excitement.

"What’s the first thing we’re going to practice?"

Leon smiled mysteriously, then stood up.

"Step one—snowball fight training."

"Dad, what? Snowball fight?"

"That’s right. Heads up, Noa, don’t let yourself get hit—"

The princess was still bewildered.

"What do you mean, hit by—"

Before she could finish, Leon sidestepped—and a snowball came flying in from the distance, smacking her square in the face.

"First hit, direct! Muse, second sister—was my throw accurate?"

At the familiar voice, Noa wiped the snow from her face and turned toward it.

Her three younger sisters stood not far away, piling snowballs. From the look of it, Leon and Aurora were in charge of throwing, while Muse used snowball tongs to pack the snow into neat spheres, acting as the loader.

"Aurora, do you really have to aim that precisely..." Moon asked hesitantly. "What if big sister retaliates later?"

"It’s fine, third sister. Dad told us to do this—if anyone gets punished, it’ll be him."

Not only did Aurora show not the slightest fear of her big sister, she looked even more thrilled.

"And besides, it’s winter."

Moon squinted. "So what if it’s winter?"

"Winter means thick snow. Even if big sister slaps our butts, it won’t hurt."

Moon: "..."

"Third sister, your lame jokes are colder than the weather today."

"Hmph!" Muse, still aiming, hurled another snowball forward.

As she grew older, Noa had clearly inherited some of her dad’s absurdity and king-of-B jokes. And it looked like third sister Moon fully intended to inherit his title as King of Cold Jokes.

Noa looked back at Leon # Nоvеlight # and asked:

"So this training is just dodging snowballs?"

Leon nodded.

"Exactly."

Then he added:

"Honestly, I wanted to use something else at first, but... considering the consequences, we’ll start with snowballs. Use what’s at hand."

"Consequences? What kind of consequences?"

Leon scratched his temple awkwardly, recalling how during his first month of super-sense training, Rebecca had shot him with rubber bullets and sent him to the hospital with a mild concussion.

"Nothing important. Anyway—dodging snowballs builds your basic reflexes. I know it seems simple, but remember, Noa, don’t try too hard to dodge. Let your body react on its own. It’s hard to understand, but as you practice, you’ll gradually get it."

Now Noa finally understood what it felt like when Dad ran out of new tricks and went to Auntie Claudia for help. As a Dragon King, he was like a walking magical encyclopedia, with knowledge vast enough to rival a grand library—answering anything, explaining everything.

So this is the kind of stuff you fed on back then, Dad. Too bad Auntie Claudia doesn’t get to enjoy it anymore.

"All right then, let’s begin—"

But before Noa could even finish her words, another snowball came whizzing straight at her face.

"Yay! Second hit! Muse, second sister—do you think I could sign up for a snowball-throwing club next term?"

"Third sister, I think next term you should sign up for a club on how to protect your own butt."

"Less talk, more snowballs! Load me up!"

Muse quietly handed her another fresh snowball, silently praying for second sister’s bottom to survive this winter break.

With snow stretching endlessly across the ground, there was more than enough ammunition. And using snowballs for training was fun no matter how you looked at it.

So what if their butts got beaten raw—if it meant getting to see some fun, it was worth it! Only the Silver Dragon God of Fun could save their sore asses now!

Moon looked at the snowball in her hand, then at Noa, swallowed nervously, and said:

"Big sis... Dad’s the one who told us to do this. If you’ve got complaints, take them up with him tonight!"

With that, she squeezed her eyes shut and flung her snowball at Noa.

This time Noa had plenty of warning, and easily dodged it.

"Tch... boring."

"Aaaah!! Big sis!!"

Moon’s face flushed red with panic, even her tail twitching anxiously, terrified her big sister would spank her on the spot.

"If you can hit me twenty times this morning, I’ll take you to the Sky Shooting Range next week," Noa said with a smile.

Moon’s eyes lit up, her tense body relaxing instantly.

"Really, big sis?!"

Noa nodded.

"Really."

"Then I won’t hold back anymore, big sis!"

In that instant, the hesitant Moon transformed into a relentless snowball machine. Her little arms whipped one after another, so fast that Muse could barely keep up with the reloads.

Aurora, naturally, threw with all her strength—after all, the fun of the game would only help Noa’s training. Moon threw the most—mainly out of fear of getting her butt smacked—so she flung snowballs with frantic energy.

But with Noa’s promise, the Queen of Giving Up held nothing back, unleashing full firepower.

Leon stood off to the side, watching with a deeply satisfied smile.

Come to think of it, until today, it had really been a long time since he had simply done something like this with his daughters, something they genuinely loved.

This winter break had come at just the right time.

As the snow continued to fall, footsteps crunching over the frosted ground slowly approached from behind.

Leon turned his head.

Rosvisser was walking toward them at a leisurely pace.

The queen wore a thick cloak trimmed with snowy fur, her silver hair swaying in the cold wind like light, flowing tassels.