I wake up, uncomfortable, lying on the cold and rough floor of a cave. Again.

I sincerely hope I don't always have to sleep like this, not that I usually have to sleep - or that it was my choice to sleep like that.

It's… oddly cold. More so than it was last night.

Opening my eyes, I remember what happened.

Magic.

A layer of frost covers me, the entire inside of the cave, and part of the outside.

Getting up, I brush what ice I can off my body, and walk to the exit of the cave. Luckily, the soles of my feet are rough enough that walking on ice is a trivial matter.

Reaching the exit, There is far more ice than I expected outside the cave, far more than there was total inside of the cave.

No wonder I passed out, if I used this much energy…

I need to figure out how exactly I did that. Concentrating on the feeling that comes with magic, I try and let out a small portion of my reserves, and surprisingly, it works.

Technically.

Even though I used a tiny amount of energy, I expected more than a barely noticeable reduction in the temperature around my hand.

Repeating the process with a little more energy, I barely notice a difference.

Shards?

Surprisingly enough, they decide to be helpful, though I do wish I found information on my magic before I knocked myself unconscious.

This time, I let out my mana, imagining the magic flowing outwards and forming a simple sphere of ice in my hand.

Far more energy than I anticipated is consumed as the magic leaves me. Still, this is quite a small amount compared to how much energy I seem to have.

Feeling my hand getting colder, I watch closely as a thin layer of ice coats my palm, and slowly grows to become a sphere the size of my fist.

Odd.

I still feel a connection to the ball of ice despite it being seemingly completed. It feels like my magic, but then again, that is how I made it. Concentrating on the connection, I feed a bit more magic into the ball, and watch as it grows again slightly.

Throwing the ball away to experiment anew, I feel the connection getting weaker as the ball moves away. As it finally lands, I can barely feel it at all.

What if…

Pouring energy into the connection, I concentrate.

And the ball zips towards me.

Surprised at my experiment working, and at the speed of the ice, I barely manage to get my head out of the way, deflecting the ball into my shoulder.

Ow.

I form a new sphere of ice, much faster than I did the first time. Pouring more energy into the ball, I carefully concentrate on having it hover in front of me, still wary after the last one.

My concerns are not needed however, as controlling my magic seems to be an almost instinctual task, I just seem to have to get the hang of it first.

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Concentrating again, I managed to slowly reform the ball into a cube, with it continuing to hover around me.

After a few hours of practice, my magic reserves are too exhausted to continue.

If it took that long for me to be this exhausted, how strong was that wave of frost when I passed out?

Either way, I've managed to learn how to control multiple small ice cubes floating around me.

I've also managed to create ice without direct contact, and even in midair.

Getting up from the block of ice I'd managed to create to use as a chair, I decided to continue travelling. After all, during my hours of practice, I had yet to see… well, anything. Same old landscape, same lack of life as always. same dark sky, though despite the fact that the day wasn't very bright I could tell night had passed. .

I walked until it began to grow dark again, and my energy was restored enough to continue practicing.

Picking a relatively close cave, I decided to make my way there to take shelter and to practice my magic again.

Unfortunately, life had other plans for me.

As I had almost reached the cave, a sudden thump caused me to turn around - golden eyes stared back at me.

There was something alive here!

I’m not alone, wherever I am.

It was a lizard about as large as I am, covered in dark blue scales, with two legs and large wings coming out of where its front legs should have been.

That must have been why I didn't spot it, its scales were a very similar colour to that of the clouds covering the sky. It was still surprising, considering how good my vision was.

A dragon?

No, the shards tell me it’s far too small.

A wyvern.

Unfortunately, my excitement for having met… well anything at this point, was cut short.

Opening its mouth, I felt the air around it begin to heat up. Deciding that following my instincts was probably a good idea right about now, I dove to the side, just as a blast of fire scorched the rock where I was just standing.

Unfortunately for me, I was still surprised, and couldn't exactly get up before the wyvern reacted.

As it began to charge, I had to knock myself prone once again to dodge its attack.

Recovering from my surprise, I managed to stand up before the creature could get at me.

Putting my minimal magic practice to use, I threw a blast of ice at the creature as it rushed me again.

It didn't stop, but it did slow down enough for me to dodge out of its way without flinging myself to the ground. Throwing more blasts of ice at the creature, it seemed to be doing something, but it clearly wasn't enough as the wyvern roared at me.

Flinching from the loud noise, the wyvern capitalized on its opportunity, and rushed me.

Once again, I tried to dive out of the way - too slow. Its wing clipped my side, sending me flying.

Ow.

Hitting the ground, my side cried out in pain as I rolled to a stop. At least that put some distance between us.

With the wyvern slowly approaching me, sitting up, I tried to stand despite the protests from my injured side. Seemingly sure of its victory, it didn't bother to rush, and it probably didn't need to either. Collapsing back to a sitting position, I tried to stand again.

I managed to get up just as the wyvern reached me, unfortunately not fast enough to dodge its claws as they raked against my arm. Somehow, I managed to stay on my feet. Opening its mouth, I threw a blast of ice down its throat. Or, I tried. Turns out being thrown against solid rock hurts. I didn't have the energy, and it ended up being far weaker than I hoped. It was enough, though. Enough to at least stun the creature.

I couldn't use my magic anymore, I couldn't run, hell I could barely stand.

What can I do?

I tried to think, until I was knocked to the ground by a wing.

I'm going to die here, aren't i.

Holding up my good hand in a weak attempt to block whatever was coming as the beast stood over me, I noticed.

My claws!

I stabbed at the creature, scraping at its stomach from where I lay.

And, shockingly, it worked. The creature bellowed in pain. I must have hit something important, and I wasn't going to stop now that I'd actually managed to do something.

I clawed it again, and this time, it began to back away, bleeding more than I would have expected.

Looking at me wearily, the creature reared up - and took off.

Safe. I couldn't count that as a victory, but at least I survived.

With monumental effort, I stood, and slowly limped my way to the cave.

Reaching the entrance, I made my way inside, going deep into the cave to hide from any more wyverns that may be looking for me.

Safety. With quite a bit of difficulty due to my injuries and, oddly enough, the glow of my eyes dimming significantly, I'd managed to find a small offshoot that was just large enough for me to sit comfortably in. looking over my injuries, I saw my arm. It was cut badly, and there was quite a bit of my dark purple blood, well, everywhere. Luckily for me it looked like it blended in with the rocks, anyone tracking me would certainly have a hard time following a trail of my blood. My legs were both badly scraped, but while my side hurt, it seemed to not have any visible injuries. I suppose I should thank the rocky armour covering it, I would probably be far worse off without it.

I wasn't even excited anymore about the fact that I wasn't alone, I sincerely hope the next life I find won't also immediately try to kill me.

Looking around the corner, I could barely see out of the cave. Scanning for any threats before I rested, I saw a dark shape in the sky. Another wyvern. I could tell it was a different one, because it didn't have any cuts on its stomach. It also had a golden band of some kind of metal around its ankle, and despite my earlier encounter, I couldn't help but smile, with my eyes brightening significantly, the glow brighter than usual. The band had writing on it. I couldn't make it out from this distance, but this proved beyond reasonable doubt that there were intelligent beings other than me. I just had to avoid all the deadly creatures to find them, and also hope they wouldn't want to kill me either.

I watched it as it flew away, faster than I expected it would be able to, until it disappeared behind a spire of stone.

I fall asleep - voluntarily this time - once again on a rough cave floor made of rock.