Ice Damage

Garos landed on the wilderness at the outskirts of Iron Fir Hills, pinching the Silver Frost Ring between his claw tips. The ice crystal core embedded in its face glimmered with a faint blue light, and 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.

That meant they had most likely been made by a dragon Alchemist. Judging from the similar structures of the dragon patterns, they might even have been forged by the same dragon.

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

"Having someone to rely on must feel great. Unlike me, all alone and able to depend only on myself."

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

Silver-white frost blasted from his mouth, and a half-meter-thick layer of ice rapidly formed over a 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, frost patterns spread across its surface. The chill also crept from his claw up his dragon arm, forming ice crystals on scale after scale.

The cold seeped through the gaps in his scales, freezing Garos's skin and flesh. It felt like countless ice needles repeatedly stabbing through him, bringing intense, piercing pain.

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

"Just a light touch, and the ice damage already restrains me this badly."

Garos frowned.

There were four major types of basic 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.

Because he had never had the conditions for targeted training before, his resistance in this regard was the ordinary weakness of a fire dragon. Ice attacks that struck him could deal double damage due to elemental restraint.

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

"The existence of a shortcoming will severely limit my growth and leave me with weaknesses that can easily be exploited."

"There are many forms of ice damage. I need to start adapting to it in advance."

Garos thought.

His scorching dragon blood began circulating rapidly through his body. The dark red patterns on the Red Iron Dragonet's scales lit up with a molten glow, hissing as they evaporated the frost clinging to them into white vapor.

Immediately afterward.

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

The Flowing Fire Wing Ring could enhance speed and coat both wings in a layer of flame, increasing fire damage. The Watcher Necklace, meanwhile, was purely defensive and could withstand Garos's full-force strike.

"The wing ring is pretty good. Its effect is similar to the Tail Ring. Maybe it can help stimulate Adaptive Evolution in my wings."

After using the Tail Ring many times, Garos still felt a tingling numbness in his tail even without activating the lightning enhancement, along with the occasional sensation of an electric current 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 only because there had not yet been any concrete result from the evolution.

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 apart from my Electric Fire Breath having a trace of lightning affinity, I have nothing else related to lightning. The compatibility isn't high enough."

"I'm inherently fire-aligned. If my assumption is correct, this wing ring might allow me to complete Adaptive Evolution in my dragon wings first."

By the time he had figured out the specific effects and strength of all three Alchemy items, the night had deepened.

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

Garos put away the Alchemy items and strode toward the rock wall, which was covered in a thick layer of ice that had not yet dispersed. Then he raised a claw and slammed it down. Ice chips scattered beneath his sharp claws, 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 condensed was as hard as steel and radiated a biting chill, making it perfectly suitable for the current Garos.

As for directly attacking himself with the Silver Frost Ring.

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

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

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

He trained the hardness of his scales and the strength of his muscles while slowly adapting to ice damage.

This was a gradual process that could not be achieved overnight. But as a long-lived dragon, Garos had no shortage of time, and he had always been patient.

Each time his body was invaded by cold.

It felt as if countless ice needles were piercing through his body, causing immense pain.

Yet Garos had long grown accustomed to the pain of his body. Rather than feeling distressed by it, he silently thought that this pain was proof that he was gradually growing and evolving.

Once he looked at it that way.

Even as he felt pain, a faint sense of pleasure arose in his heart. Pain and exhilaration intertwined, becoming the key that allowed Garos to persist without rest.

Beneath the bright moonlight.

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

At the same time.

Beneath the moonlight covering the same sky.

The Copper Dragon Deborah flew toward the north of Ser Wilderness, crying all the way.

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

Gradually.

As dawn broke and a hint of morning light rose, Deborah arrived in the northern Wilderness, where the air was of a normal temperature and no longer felt hot. After circling briefly in the sky, she folded her wings and dived toward a place surrounded by several mountain peaks.

The air here was neither cold nor hot.

The dense crowns of red maple trees melded into one continuous expanse. When the wind blew through them, the flourishing branches and leaves swayed like a sea of fire burning across the earth, creating a dazzlingly beautiful sight.

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

It was made entirely of metal and decorated with a few flowers and vines, its overall design exquisite and beautiful.

A man and woman who appeared human stood outside. The man was handsome and the woman lovely. Holding hands as they leaned against each other, they strolled along the stream, admiring flowers and playing in the water with smiles on their faces. Whenever their gazes met, their eyes brimmed with tender affection, their love so deep it seemed ready to drip out.

Whoosh!

A violent gust swept over.

The juvenile Copper Dragon, nearly ten meters long, circled overhead, its shadow covering the two of them.

Yet neither showed any fear. Instead, they waved at the Copper Dragon.

"Dad! Mom! I got robbed! All the Alchemy items you gave me were taken by a hateful Hybrid Dragon!"

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