62nd of Season of Air, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Newt could not help but open his jaw a crack as Dandelion swished past him and the two Everfrost Palace disciples.

“You can do it,” the immature sagely man mouthed, smiling and winking like a mischievous imp, before disappearing in a sudden burst of speed. His head was turned towards Newt, the message for him alone, since the women could not see it.

Newt’s mouth opened a bit more, but before he could process what had happened, a giant worm followed a hundred yards behind the former sect master, slithering so fast it kicked up shards of frozen dust. The creature was two feet thick, its pair of five-foot-long stinger-tentacles poised to strike while the cloud of ice following in its wake made it seem infinitely long. Newt did not know why, but to him, for some inexplicable reason, the featureless, alien worm seemed infuriated to the brink of insanity.

The creature was thundering straight for them. Then the trio dispersed, Newt jumping to its left, the girls to its right, but the monster still lunged towards Newt, unstoppable like a raging triceratops.

It opened its complex maw and spewed a cloud of ice. The ensuing hailstorm was much weaker and its spread narrower than that of the more evolved specimen. Still, the finger-sized chips of ice spelled death for the unprepared or weaker cultivators.

Newt was none of those. The chill burned upon contact with Magmin Scales, the shrunked ice shards exploded into flakes after hitting Granite Crust. Shrouded by a cloud of steam, Newt soared out of the frostworm’s way just as the beast was about to slam into him.

The frostworm crashed into the rock with a boom, shattering ice, but failing to damage the reinforced rock. Newt landed on the dazed beast’s back, and following Dandelion’s explanation, thrust his spear between the frozen plates at what he guessed was the frostworm’s head.

He was about to unleash Magmin Flames, but the frostworm reared and leashed out with its twin stingers. Newt cursed under his breath and allowed himself to be thrown off. With a burst of scalding air, he steadied his body and landed on his feet five yards behind the frostworm.

The air screamed, and a tail thicker than a tree appeared from the icy mist. Newt tried to jump out of the way, but the thick appendage slammed into his flank, catapulting him across the cave.

He smashed into the wall, face first, with all the elegance of a rock. The unexpected attack and the sudden collision with the cavern’s ice-crusted wall made his world spin. The worm hissed, and Newt turned around to see the four-segmented maw open, lined with countless rows of needle-sharp stakes. He stared at death, failing to comprehend what was happening, when a volley of spear-like icicles stabbed into the exposed softer flesh.

The maw closed with a hiss, and the worm crashed into Newt, ramming him into the wall. Luckily for Newt, he projected Granite Crust an inch from his skin. The rock-hard formation bent, deforming and pressing into Newt’s skin.

In panic, Newt conjured another layer, just against his skin, but to his dismay, the outer shell disappeared into motes of deep-yellow earthen spiritual energy. Magmin scales still hung beyond his skin, failing to protect Newt from the bone-chilling frost now inside the barrier.

He dropped the pointless barrier, only to discover it was far from pointless. The world of ice assailed his body from every direction, biting and cutting without mercy, snapping him out of his daze. Before he could gasp, he activated Firewall, the third realm version, and flames burst around him, drowning the frostworm’s head in fire.

Ice and fire fought for a moment, then Newt’s runes focused on power and eruption showed their worth. The thick sheet of ice protecting the frostworm’s carapace exploded, and the monster reared once more, freeing Newt just as its stingers were about to reach him.

Gasping for air and smelling roast, Newt covered himself in Magmin Scales. He sent a blast of heat beneath his feet, jumping a dozen times in a row until he opened enough distance from the brush with death he had just suffered.

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The ladies of Everfrost Palace came to his rescue. The cold, indifferent creatures from the previous hours suddenly became fairies of ice and slaughter. Puresnow’s frigid sword struck the super-heated shell, the sudden changes from freezing to boiling and back to freezing shattered the chitin like glass, and the pale-blue blade slashed deep into the monster’s flesh.

The frostworm let out a shrill hiss, its water-aligned spiritual energy rumbling like a storm through its body, forming a wall of ice, to protect the exposed flesh. Puresnow ignored the effort, her glacial sword severing ice like mist, the element parting before a tool designed to slash frost-subtype enemies.

Suddenly, the frostworm spasmed, trashing blindly with its tail and rolling on the massive cavern’s frozen floor. Puresnow and Everlast slid away from it, watching the monster’s death throes without emotion.

After confirming that the frostworm really was dying, Everlast skated around it and reached Newt.

“Are you all right?” Her face was frosty, but she still graced Newt a smile. “I was afraid the frostworm would flatten you when it smashed into you.”

Yeah. You and me both.

“I’m alright.” Newt smiled back, dropping Granite Crust, but keeping Magmin Scales for warmth, the few moments of intense cold still clinging to his skin and bones. “Thank you for saving me.”

His face was pale, his smile nervous, and Everlast could not help feeling sorry for the child.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be here. You’re not ready yet.” She wanted to say more, but Dandelion appeared out of nowhere.

“He has to be here precisely because he is not ready and should not be here. He needs proper training.” The man’s grin was insufferable and infuriated Newt while Everlast nodded hesitantly, but still spoke her mind.

“The frostworm could have crushed him.”

“That is why I said, he needs proper training.” Dandelion said, his grin unswayed by the prospect of Newt’s horrible demise.

“What did you do to anger it so much?” Newt was going for a curious voice, but the words unfortunately came out as an embarrassing squeak.

“I wonder.” Dandelion shrugged the very image of innocence. “When I found that frostworm, it was slowly burrowing into the tunnel wall, it seemed to be struggling with how tough the rock is. To grab its attention, I lobbed a ball of fire into the tunnel. Then I kept repeating it until the worm got out.”

Newt frowned, imagining the scene, then his eyebrows shot up, and his tight lips went slack.

“You roasted its butt until it came out of the hole.”

“You said that, not me.” Dandelion smiled. “Frostworms seem to have real issues crawling backwards, from what I can tell. I hazard that they rarely have to do it.”

Newt was speechless, but the mental image startled a laugh out of Everlast. The woman covered her mouth while Puresnow stared at her in shock.

“Did you arrange all this for the sake of his training?” she asked, pretending nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Well, you saw how bad he was. He stabbed the thing in the head, then needed a whole second to remember he should order his flames to burst into the wound and cook the worm.” Dandelion spoke as if Newt was not there, and the youth’s face turned red as he listened to the conversation.

“And when it hit him, he just stared at those teeth, waiting to be devoured—”

“Wait!” Newt screamed again, his face turning into a tomato. “You were watching the whole time!”

Dandelion nodded, suddenly serious. “Luring a monster here, dumping it on you, and just running away is irresponsible, and while I am the leader of this group, my job is to make sure we all get out of here alive, preferably in one piece, without wasting my healing pills and elixirs.”

Dandelion drew a breath after rapidly delivering the leader speech.

“Anyway, your skills with the spear are lacking. I could teach you, but you would owe me a favor, of course.”

Newt wanted to shout ‘no’, but the rational part of him stopped him. He should at least see what Dandelion could do with a spear before refusing the offer.

“How skilled are you with a long-sword” Newt and Dandelion snapped their heads toward Everlast.

For some reason, Newt’s heart jumped with joy whenever someone or something wiped the stupid grin off Dandelion’s face. The mature man recovered almost instantly, overwriting shock with a serious face as he nodded, but that moment of surprise was precious to Newt.

“I would say I am good enough to show you some tricks, if you are interested. If you find my effort worthwhile, you may reward me however you see fit.”

“I would like that.” Everlast’s face bloomed with a smile, and Newt wondered what had changed. Apparently, he was not the only one, Puresnow stared death at the former sect master.

“You’re just an upstart third realm wanderer, what could you possibly teach Senior Sister Everlast?”

Without warning, the woman pounced at Dandelion. She raised her sword and held it in both hands as she slashed downwards to cleave him in half.