The expedition reached the abandoned settlement shortly after noon.
Frostmere had once been a prosperous mining village.
Now most of its buildings were empty.
Broken carts stood along the road.
Several houses had collapsed.
Snow covered the remains of the old marketplace.
Captain Roland ordered the students to search in pairs.
Adrian was assigned to Gareth.
Leon and Kael explored the northern section.
Elena remained with the medical team.
Adrian and Gareth entered an abandoned house.
The furniture had been overturned.
There were scratches on the walls.
Gareth examined them.
"Something attacked this place."
Adrian nodded.
He noticed several small footprints near the fireplace.
They were not human.
He followed them toward the back room.
A wooden box lay beneath a broken table.
Adrian opened it. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Inside was a collection of old documents.
Most were damaged by moisture.
One page remained readable.
It contained a drawing of the abandoned watchtower.
Beneath it was a sentence.
When the winter guardian awakens, the knight beneath the tower shall rise once more.
Adrian read it twice.
The watchtower and the Frostfang Wolf were connected.
He folded the paper and placed it inside his coat.
"Find anything?"
Gareth approached.
"Some old documents."
Gareth looked at the drawing.
"That tower?"
"Yes."
"I've heard stories about it."
"What kind?"
"People say an ancient knight died there while protecting the northern villages."
Adrian nodded.
"Interesting."
They left the house.
He was examining a broken statue.
"Have you found anything?"
"Some documents," Adrian replied.
Leon looked at the paper.
His expression changed.
"This symbol..."
He pointed toward the drawing.
"It resembles something I saw in the academy's ancient history records."
Adrian folded the paper again.
"Perhaps."
Leon looked toward the mountains.
"We should investigate that tower."
Adrian gave a small smile.
"Captain Roland may disagree."
Leon laughed.
"Then we'll have to convince him."
Adrian wasn't convinced that would be a good idea.
The tower was an inheritance site.
He had no intention of allowing Leon to discover it before him.
But he also couldn't openly oppose him.
For now, he would wait.