Chapter 16

I woke up upon my hoard of gold and silver, clutching my magic gem as it glittered between my claws. I couldn’t help but admire its brilliance. The low-tier water gem had sparked something deep within me. The desire for more. Especially lightning-type magic gems. Lightning gems... just the thought of them sent a thrill down my spine. I could imagine their electric hum, the way they would dance and shimmer as their energy crackled against my scales, the faint buzz that would vibrate through my hoard. A lightning gem would sing with power, pure and primal. My thoughts lingered on that for a moment, fantasizing about how it would complete my collection, how it would enhance my already potent affinity for lightning magic.

But enough daydreaming. I had work to do.

Today was about ice magic, a magic I was determined to master despite its natural opposition to my lightning abilities. I picked up the book I'd acquired from the defeated mage and started reading. According to the text, ice magic was a combination of water and air. That’s how you formed it when pure ice mana wasn’t readily available. But the ice was tricky—it was a form of elemental balance, a state of matter that was solid but still fluid, cold yet capable of great change. I realized that this would require me to approach magic differently than I had before.

The first step? I needed to find a place where ice mana naturally gathered. Mana, like elements, exists everywhere, but it pools in certain areas. For fire magic, you’d want a volcano or desert, places thick with heat. For ice, however, I needed somewhere cold—and a hot beach wasn't exactly ideal for ice magic training.

I started searching, sensing the flow of mana in the world around me. My senses scanned every nook and cranny of the beach and surrounding area. There were traces of ice mana here and there, but they were faint, like whispers in a storm of heat and fire energy. I flew around for hours, frustrated that the heat of the beach and the surrounding tropical atmosphere made it difficult to tap into the icy reserves I needed.

Eventually, I returned to my cave to think. That’s when I felt it—a subtle chill near the back of my lair. I hadn’t noticed it before, but as I moved deeper into the cave, the air grew colder and denser. Ice mana. It wasn’t much, but it was there. The farthest reaches of my cave had been untouched by sunlight for so long that the ambient temperature had dropped significantly. Ice mana had begun to gather there, quiet and steady.

With a small smile of satisfaction, I decided that this would be my training ground.

For the next few days, I focused on drawing in the ice mana and blending it with the traces of water and air that already surrounded me. I could feel the difference immediately—ice was rigid, but not immovable. It was cold, but also surprisingly malleable. Ice wasn’t like water, which flowed freely and adapted to its environment, nor was it like ground magic, which was firm and unyielding our air which was constantly moving beaing free. Ice was... unique. It took patience to control, especially for someone like me, whose natural element was the chaotic, crackling force of lightning.

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The process was slow. Each attempt at an ice spell felt like trying to command an element that resisted me at every turn. It was reluctant to bend to my will, and I struggled to find the balance between the fluidity of water and the stillness of air that ice required.

Weeks passed as I practiced, focusing on honing my control. I started with the basics—learning to form ice from the moisture in the air and the small pools of water that collected in the cave. It was tedious at first, but little by little, I began to grasp the nature of the element.

Finally, after countless failed attempts, I managed to cast my first ice spell: **Frostbite Touch**. A Tier 1 spell, simple but effective. When I pressed my claw to a rock, a thin layer of frost spread out from the point of contact, forming tiny ice crystals that shimmered in the dim light of the cave. I had done it! The frost wasn't strong enough to cause any real damage, but the icy cold lingered. I imagined it being used in combat—touching an enemy and slowing them down, weakening their movements as the chill seeped into their body.

Pleased with my progress, I spent the next few days refining this spell. I would press my claws to different surfaces—stone, sand, even the occasional tree branch I brought back to the cave—just to test how the frost spread and how different materials reacted to the cold. Each time, I improved, becoming more adept at controlling the temperature and spread of the frost.

With **Frostbite Touch** under my belt, I moved on to other basic ice spells. One of the first I attempted was **Icicle Shard**, a Tier 2 spell that allowed me to form sharp, thin spikes of ice and launch them at a target. This was more difficult than **Frostbite Touch** because it required me to focus on both forming the ice and propelling it with air magic. I spent hours perfecting the shape of the icicles, making them sharp and aerodynamic. When I finally succeeded in firing them across the cave, they shattered against the stone walls with satisfying cracks.

Next, I tried **Chilling Breeze**, a spell that summoned a gust of cold wind to slow down opponents. This one felt a bit more natural to me, as it incorporated air magic, which I had a decent understanding of. The breeze I summoned was weak at first, barely more than a cool breath of air, but after some practice, I managed to create a stronger gust that could chill and disorient any enemies caught within it.

Despite the progress, I could still feel the resistance in my magic. Ice wasn’t my natural element, and it fought me every step of the way. But I refused to give up. I spent each day alternating between my lightning and ice spells, learning to adapt to the differences between them.

One day, while practicing in the back of my cave, I had a breakthrough. I realized that ice wasn’t about overpowering an element like I did with lightning. It was about subtlety, control, and patience. Once I stopped trying to force the ice mana to bend to my will and instead worked with its natural properties, everything became easier.

Soon, I had mastered **Slippery Ice Patch**, a spell that created a slick surface on the ground, perfect for tripping up enemies. I also began experimenting with more complex spells, like **Ice Bind**, where tendrils of ice would shoot up from the ground to trap an opponent’s legs, immobilizing them.

By the end of the month, I had made considerable progress. I still wasn’t as proficient in ice magic as I was with my other types of magic, but I was getting there. As I lay on my hoard, playing with the cold gem in my claws, I realized something important: mastering ice magic wasn’t just about power. It was about understanding the balance between elements and adapting to what was needed in the moment.

And with that, I knew my journey as a dragon that would master all the elements of magic was only just beginning.