Ice Damage

Garos landed on the wilderness at the outskirts of the Iron Fir Hills. Pinching the Silver Frost Ring between his claw tips, he saw a faint blue glow emanating from the ice crystal core embedded in its face. Even through his scales, he could feel its lingering chill.

He looked closer.

He saw dragon-scale-like patterns on the ring's surface.

And it was not just the ring. The necklace and Wing Ring bore similar dragon patterns as well.

This meant they were most likely creations of a Dragon Race Alchemist. Judging by the similar structure of the dragon patterns, they might even have been forged by the same dragon.

"Did that Copper Dragon have a father or mother proficient in Alchemy?"

"Having someone to rely on must feel great. Unlike me, all alone and with no one but myself to depend on."

Garos shook his head, then pressed the ring to the tip of his tongue, imitating the Copper Dragon's method of use.

Silver-white frost surged from his mouth with a howl, and a half-meter-thick layer of ice rapidly formed over the rock wall thirty meters away.

He extended a foreclaw and cautiously reached toward the dense ice mist that had yet to dissipate.

The instant his claw entered it, frost patterns spread over its surface. The chill continued climbing from his claw to his dragon arm, forming ice crystals across scale after scale.

The cold seeped through the gaps in his scales, frostbiting Garos's skin and flesh. It felt like countless icy needles stabbing back and forth, bringing intense, piercing pain.

It was as though he had fallen into an ice cave—painful and numbing at once.

"I only touched it lightly, yet this kind of ice damage counters me too severely."

Garos frowned.

There were four basic categories of elemental energy.

Earth, water, wind, and fire.

Ice, lightning, radiation, and the like were all mutations derived from these basic elements.

In other words, ice damage was a variant of water damage.

Since he had never had the conditions for targeted training before, Garos's resistance in this regard was merely the ordinary weakness of a fire dragon. Ice attacks could deal double countering damage to him.

"A barrel can hold only as much water as its shortest stave allows."

"The existence of a weak point will severely limit my growth and leave me vulnerable to being targeted."

"Ice damage covers a broad range. I need to start adapting to it in advance."

Garos thought.

His scorching Dragon Blood circulated rapidly through his body. The dark red patterns on the Red Iron Dragonet's scales lit up with a lava-like gleam, hissing as they evaporated the frost clinging to them into white vapor.

Then.

Garos tested the Flowing Fire Wing Ring and the Watcher Necklace one after another.

The Flowing Fire Wing Ring could boost speed and coat his wings in flame, increasing fire damage. The Watcher Necklace, meanwhile, was purely a defensive item, capable of withstanding Garos's full-force strike.

"The Wing Ring is not bad. Its effect is similar to the Tail Ring's. Maybe it can help stimulate Adaptive Evolution in my wings."

After using the Tail Ring many times, Garos could still feel a tingling numbness in his tail even without activating its lightning boost. At times, it even felt as though electricity were passing through it.

He guessed.

The enhancement effects brought by Alchemy items would gradually be "remembered" by his body, which would silently undergo Adaptive Evolution in that direction.

It was just that there were no concrete results from that evolution yet.

Garos could not be certain for now, but one thing was clear: these Alchemy items could definitely stimulate his body's Adaptive Evolution.

"The Tail Ring has a lightning attribute, but aside from my Electric Fire Breath having a trace of lightning affinity, I have nothing else that matches it. Its compatibility is not high enough."

"I'm naturally fire-aligned. If my theory is right, this Wing Ring may allow me to complete Adaptive Evolution in my wings first."

After figuring out the exact effects and strength of the three Alchemy items, the night had grown deeper.

Twin moons hung high in the night sky, casting down clear moonlight.

Garos put away the Alchemy items and walked toward the rock wall covered in thick ice, where the mist had not yet faded. He raised a claw and slammed it down. Ice chips scattered beneath his sharp talons, leaving several claw marks, but the ice did not shatter on impact.

"Hard enough. I like it."

Garos's eyes lit up.

The hardness of ordinary rocky mountains was gradually failing to keep up with the intensity of his training.

The ring's attack was powerful. The ice it formed was as hard as steel and radiated an eerie chill, making it quite suitable for Garos in his current state.

As for using the Silver Frost Ring to attack himself directly.

That method was indeed more efficient, but given its attack power, it would inflict severe injuries on Garos and place him in danger.

He had no elder to protect him now, so he needed to consider the consequences before doing anything.

Next, Garos repeatedly rammed into or struck the ice coating the rock wall.

He was training the hardness of his scales and the strength of his muscles, while also slowly adapting to ice damage.

It was a gradual process that could not be accomplished overnight. But as a long-lived Dragonkin, Garos had time in abundance, and he had always been patient.

Each time his body was invaded by cold.

It felt as if countless icy needles were piercing through him, causing immense pain.

However, Garos had long since grown accustomed to bodily pain. Rather than feeling distressed by it, he silently thought that this pain was proof that he was gradually growing and evolving.

With that change in perspective.

Even as he felt pain, a faint sense of pleasure arose in his heart. Pain and excitement intertwined, becoming the key to Garos's unrelenting perseverance.

Under the bright moonlight.

The Red Iron Dragonet tempered his body alone, unseen by anyone.

At the same time.

Beneath the moonlight of that same sky.

The Copper Dragon Deborah flew northward across the Ser Wilderness, crying all the way.

The Ser Wilderness bordered the Permafrost Tundra to the north, so the farther north one went, the lower the temperature in the air became.

Gradually.

When the sky began to brighten and the first glow of dawn rose, Deborah arrived in the northern Wilderness, where the air was temperate and free of heat. After circling briefly in the sky, she folded her wings and dove toward a place surrounded by several mountain peaks.

The air here was neither cold nor hot.

The dense crowns of red maple trees connected into a vast canopy. When the wind blew through them, their luxuriant branches and leaves swayed like a sea of fire burning across the ground, creating a dazzling and beautiful sight.

Deep within the red maple forest, beside a stream, stood a three-story building.

It was built entirely of metal and adorned with a few flowers and vines. Its overall design was exquisitely crafted and beautiful.

A man and woman who appeared human stood outside. The man was handsome, the woman lovely. Holding hands, they leaned against one another as they strolled along the stream, admiring flowers and playing in the water with smiles on their faces. Whenever their gazes met, tenderness and affection filled their eyes, their deep love seemingly ready to overflow.

Whoosh!

A fierce gust swept through.

The young Copper Dragon, nearly ten meters long, circled in the sky, his shadow enveloping the two of them.

Yet there was no fear on their faces. Instead, they waved at the Copper Dragon.

"Dad! Mom! I was robbed! All the Alchemy items you gave me were taken by an awful Hybrid Dragon!"

The Copper Dragon Deborah landed before them, let out a wail, and burst into tears.