> Dragons are fucking ferocious! Don't you understand? They live only to pillage and hoard treasure for themselves! This is why I am personally leading a full scale campaign in one day to eradicate the dragons from our land!
— Excerpt of King Drag Onsuck's speech, moments before he was taken by a dragon in front of all the officials and citizens of the Holy Capital.
***
Catherine/Borealis has been in the world of Vencura for 1 month, and she had accepted the fact that she wasn't going back to Earth any time soon.
On the plus side, her parents had given her plenty of goblins to train with, and that allowed her to level up her skills and herself as well.
In her nest, she pulled up her status screen again.
Borealis
Dragon (Ice), age 9 months
Level 3
Class: None
XP: 90/200
0 attribute points available.
HP 170/170 MP 60/60 IM 70/70 Strength 13 Dexterity 10 Intelligence 14 Mind 11 Armor Value 12
Abilities:
Skills:
[Dragon of Ice]
[Symbiotic Crystals (Ice)]
[Frost Breath]
[Identify]
[Claw Fishing]
[Advanced Claw Combat]
Spells:
None
She was level 3 now, and all of her skills tiered up at least once. Nothing exciting happened though, save for the increasingly menacing goblins Father brought every time she trained.
She had also tried to [Identify] her parents, and she got these boxes:
"Father"
-[Blizzard]-
(Creature)
Dragon (Ice), age 42 years
Level 23
Class: [Warrior]
"Mother"
-[Crystal]-
(Creature)
Dragon (Ice), age 35 years
Level 21
Class: [Crystal Mage]
She was now continuously reminded that she still had a long way to go before she even reached the power level of her parents.
***
Borealis roared at the three goblins, or rather, the three goblins that were left of a 10-goblin group. Despite their injuries, the biggest one charged with a warhammer, while the others staggered behind with rudimentary blades.
She felt the warhammer bonk painfully against her scales, and she felt the other two blades cutting into her body.
She roared in pain, but it did less than nothing to prevent the goblins from attacking again.
She was too in pain to think, and in that moment, she poured her inner snowstorm into one mighty roar. Cold shockwaves emanated from her dragon maw and whipped up frost and snow all around her. The three goblins were knocked down by the shockwaves, and promptly half-frozen as well.
Congratulations! You have slain [Goblin Warchief] and [Goblin Warrior] x9!
+150 xp
Level up!
1 attribute point available.
Borealis collapsed on the floor, groaning.
"It's alright, you did a great job!" Mother said.
She picked herself up and washed herself in the underground river.
After some talks with Father about battle positioning, she dragged herself back to her nest, where she'll have more health regeneration.
Just as she got in a comfortable position, two new boxes popped up.
New skill [Snowstorm Roar] learned!
[Snowstorm Roar] (Active)
(Skill) [Uncommon], around self, T1.
Uses 15 IM.
Uses 15 MP.
Uncommon skill of Ice Dragons that requires a basic understanding of the freezing winds that reside within their bodies. Considered a halfway point between true spellcasting, it manipulates your inner energies by consuming MP.
Channel your inner snow storm into a mighty roar, dealing FROST damage and knocking smaller creatures down in a short range sphere around you, inflicting [Frostbite] status effect.
The damage and knockback power will increase as the skill tier goes up.
Now this is interesting. A halfway point between true spellcasting, eh?
Borealis was ecstatic to show the boxes to her parents, who congratulated her success and sent her off to sleep.
***
About a week after her obtaining [Snowstorm Roar], Borealis trotted over to her Mother's sleeping cave. She peeked inside, and saw Mother curled upon a fur mat, reading a scroll.
"Mom, I have a question." Borealis said.
Her mother looked up from her reading. "Yes?"
She took a deep breath.
"Can you teach me magic?" Borealis asked.
"Magic? I'm not the teacher type, you know." Her mother said with a wry smile.
Just as she began to deflate, her mother said, "But! But I can get a private tutor hooked up at the Academy if you are very interested. They cost quite the sum, after all."
Borealis immediately pounced on her chance. "Yes, I'm very interested! Please, I would love to learn about magic."
Mother snorted so hard she nearly fell over. Borealis frowned a little. I suppose I put way too much emphasis on love.
"Alright dear, I'll talk with your father about it." Mother said after a moment. "Meanwhile, I do have some scrolls you can look at. I used them when I was younger too. Go in our treasure room in the usual way, they should be in the shelves."
Treasure room? The usual way? I guess Mother taught Borealis about it before I got here.
Borealis apparently didn't hide her emotions very well, because Mother looked at her thoughtfully, and her expression turned stern. "I suppose you haven't been there in a long time, so I can't fault you for forgetting. But when you get older, you always have to remember all of the secret entrances, in our home or otherwise."
Borealis quickly nodded.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Mother walked to the central corridor, and quickly went to the end where the cave abruptly ended. She fiddled with the stone walls for a moment, before reaching through the wall and grabbing something on the other side. "There is a lever here. Pull it to make the boulder roll back."
There's a lever through the wall? Borealis grew more and more curious.
Her mother pulled back the lever, and slowly, the end began to move. The wall, of which is part of a massive boulder, rolled back to reveal a large room.
Immediately, three things caught Borealis' attention.
One was the massive pile of golden coins sitting in the corner.
Two was chests that seemed to store very valuable things, as far as she could tell from the shiny — maybe even magical — swords and diamond necklaces poking out of a few.
Three was a large dragon-sized shelf that held many scrolls.
I wonder what will adventurers think if they get here. A neatly organized space instead of a pile of treasure.
"Try to remember next time," Mother said, "I'm going to go back to my cave now." Borealis nodded.
She looked at the scrolls on the shelf, trying to find the ones Mother had mentioned.
The Anatomy of Dragons? I don't think so. Hmm. Guide to Building A Safe Lair? Probably not. Guide to Magic for Dragons? That's the one.
She took the scroll with her and closed the "door" to the treasure room.
In her own cave, she unfurled the scroll and began to read. And read. And read.
[Reading] (Passive)
(Skill) [Common], T1.
Reading is an effective way to gain information. This skill is gained by reading for at least one hour.
As the skill tiers up, you will be able to read faster.
Well, that's helpful, I suppose.
Borealis dismissed the box and continued reading.
From what she had gathered from the book, dragons are more proficient in magic in their "favored element", but it isn't impossible to use another one.
However, she had also found a guide to casting a "first spell", generally recommended to be [Mana Bolt], as it is simple and doesn't cater towards any elements. It had even included a drawing of what the blue box might look like, to her delight.
Ha, [Mana Bolt]. I must've seen that name over a dozen times.
She put down the scroll, and started practicing. She concentrated on drawing pure mana out of her own body into her right talon, and felt a shiver travel down her spine to her right arm. She then concentrated on the idea of pushing that mana out of her talon. She was extremely confused when nothing happened. Then, a large bolt of light appeared from her palm and swiftly struck the cave wall. The spell had ended as suddenly as it had begun, but Borealis immediately started giggling and eventually laughing.
She had done it. Real magic! She would check the notifications later.
"Some form of arcane breakthrough?" Mother poked her head in the cave, where Borealis was still lying on the ground.
"Yes! Well, not really, but still... I learned [Mana Bolt]!" Borealis said.
"Well, good job on your first ever spell! How was it?" Mother smiled.
"It was great! Speaking of, I need to check the System notifications." Borealis replied.
"Ha! I remember when I first learned magic, I nearly injured myself because I aimed it towards myself!"
Borealis laughed again, with her mother this time.
***
After her mother left again, Borealis started reading the notifications.
Congratulations, you have made your first spell! May your journey in the world of magic be fruitful. +5 attribute points.
Congratulations, you have learned the spell [Mana Bolt]!
Congratulations, you have learned the skill [Mana Manipulation]!
Congratulations, you have learned the skill [Spell Creation]!
5 attribute points available!
Huh. I guess leveling up isn't the only way to get attribute points, she thought. Well, no time better than now to learn about my new abilities.
[Mana Bolt]
medium range, single target
(Spell) Lv.1, medium range.
Uses 5 FP.
A universal first step into the world of magic.
Fires a bolt of pure mana that homes onto a target and deals FORCE damage.
The effectiveness of this spell is moderately affected by INT.
A universal first step... Level 1... and moderately affected by INT? What does that mean? Could there be spells that are more "well made" that are affected by it more? Something to think about for later.
[Mana Manipulation] (Passive)
T1
(Skill) [Uncommon]
A basic magical skill that is the intrinsic part of all magic.
This skill increases your ability to control mana.
Interesting. I bet every person — and dragon — that has touched magic has this skill.
Borealis thought about her stat allocation, and put 2 points into Mind and 2 points into Intelligence. The final point would go into Dexterity, as dragons were still hands-on combatants.
Borealis was now ready for more spell creation.
Following the instructions in the scroll, she repeated what she did last time, but at the same time, channeling her own element of Ice, and focused on the idea of mixing them together.
This time, a bolt of light blue mana with a faint frozen mist trailing behind it crashed into the wall, and Borealis heard a faint crack, almost like crystals shattering.
A blue box popped up.
You have made the spell [Frozen Bolt]!
+1 attribute point!
[Frozen Bolt]
(Spell) Lv.1, medium range.
Uses 8 FP.
A bolt of icy mana homes onto a target and deals FROST damage.
Inflicts one stack of [Frostbite].
The effectiveness of this spell is moderately affected by INT.
To be expected, I suppose.
She mulled over the decision of which stat to increase next for roughly 5 seconds, and immediately put it in Strength.
I definitely don't want to be a squishy mage.
Borealis was now very agitated. She wanted to try making some new spells.
To start with, instead of channeling pure ice, she imagined the sound of snow under her talons (and feet) and snow on the pine trees. She imagined snowflakes falling from the sky, and the snowball fights she used to have. She then focused on the idea of a snowball, but bigger. She could feel a snowball growing in the air, but it was lacking something. It was just snow, after all. She attempted to add a trace amount of Elemental Ice, and suddenly, the snowball gained a lot more depth in terms of magic. As it got bigger though, she could see seams spreading across the snowball, threatening to crack at any moment. Panicking a little, she wrapped Ice mana around the outside, which seemed to work. Finally, she launched the snowball as hard as she could using mana.
The large snowball smashed on the wall, and she could almost feel the ice mana on the surface shattering on impact, causing big chunks of snow to shrapnel. Soon, the snow began to disappear.
Borealis collapsed on the floor and panted a little. She was now very tired. That was... probably too big of a spell for me to make this early on. She rested on the floor for what seemed like a very long time, and then a blue box popped into existence, causing her to sit up.
You have made a Level 3 spell!
You have made the spell [Snowball]!
+2 attribute points!
[Snowball]
(Spell) Lv.3, long range.
Uses 30 MP + variable.
Controlling snow is one of the less explored parts of Ice magic. Though not as visually appealing as a [Fireball], a [Snowball] is effective regardless.
Summons a large snowball enhanced with Elemental Ice and launch it at a target, dealing FROST and BLUGDEONING damage to all caught within its path. If it is dealt enough damage, whether through striking a target or other means, the surface Ice will shatter, releasing large pieces of ice and snow in all directions, dealing additional FROST damage in a small area.
Can optionally spend more MP to increase the size of the [Snowball], increasing damage.
The effectiveness of this spell is moderately affected by INT.
Level 3 spell... I do think I bit off more than I can chew.
Borealis read it some more, and she felt her good mood returning. Seems like a pretty good spell, still.
She wondered if her parents are going to get tired of her showing the boxes. She showed them [Snowball] anyway. In return, she got a huge hug and a stern "You shouldn't push yourself too hard or else you are literally going to pass out".
She was really tired from making [Snowball], so she had dinner and almost immediately passed out in her nest, but not before spending her points. One in Mind, and one in Intelligence. A balanced build is a good build!
Stats:
Borealis
Dragon (Ice), age 9 months
Level 4
Class: None
XP: 40/300
0 attribute points available.
HP 180/180 MP 90/90 IM 70/70 Strength 14 Dexterity 11 Intelligence 17 Mind 14 Armor Value 13
Abilities:
Skills:
[Dragon of Ice]
[Symbiotic Crystals (Ice)]
[Frost Breath]
[Identify]
[Claw Fishing]
[Mana Manipulation]
[Advanced Claw Combat]
[Snowstorm Roar]
Spells:
T1:
[Mana Bolt]
[Frost Bolt]
T3:
[Snowball]