Chapter 33: Ice Damage

Garos landed on the wasteland outside the Hemlock Hills, his claws pinching the Silver Frost Ring; the ice crystal core set in its face glowed with a faint blue light, and even through his scales, he could feel a faint chill.

He focused his gaze.

On the ring's surface, he saw some dragon-scale-like patterns.

Moreover, it wasn't just the ring; the necklace and the wing rings also bore these dragon patterns.

This meant they were very likely works of a Dragon Alchemist, and judging by the similar dragon pattern structures, they were probably crafted by the same dragon.

"That Copper Red Dragon had a father or mother proficient in alchemy?"

"It feels good to have backing; unlike me, all alone, I can only rely on myself."

Garos shook his head, then immediately pressed the ring to his tongue, mimicking the Copper Red Dragon's method of use.

Silver-white frost gas roared from his mouth, and thirty meters away, the rock wall rapidly froze into a half-meter-thick layer of ice.

He extended his foreclaw, carefully reaching toward the dense, lingering ice mist.

As soon as the claw went in, frost patterns immediately crawled across its surface, and the chill continued to extend up the dragon arm along the claw, forming ice crystals on each scale.

The chill seeped through the gaps in the scales, freezing Garos's skin and flesh as if countless ice needles were piercing back and forth, transmitting a sharp, intense pain.

It felt like falling into an ice hole, both painful and numb.

"Just a light touch, and this ice damage is too effective against me."

Garos frowned.

Basic elemental energy has four major categories.

Earth, Water, Wind, Fire.

Ice element, Lightning element, Radiation element, and so on, are all mutations based on these basic elements.

That is to say, ice damage is a variant of water damage.

Because he had never had the conditions for targeted training before, Garos's resistance in this regard was merely the normal low resistance of a Fire Dragon; ice attacks landing on him could cause double the suppressed damage.

"How much water a bucket can hold depends on its shortest plank."

"The existence of a short plank will severely limit my development, leaving me with weaknesses that are easy to target."

"The category of ice damage is very broad; I need to adapt to it in advance."

Garos thought to himself.

High-temperature, scalding dragon blood began to flow and circulate rapidly within his body; the dark red patterns on the Red Iron Young Dragon's scales lit up with a magma-like luster, hissing as they evaporated the frost attached to them into white steam.

Immediately after.

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

The Flowing Fire Wing Rings could amplify speed and attach a layer of flame to the wings, increasing fire damage, while the Watcher Necklace was purely a defensive item capable of withstanding Garos's full-strength strike.

"The wing rings are good; their effect is similar to the tail ring, perhaps they can help stimulate my wings to adapt and evolve."

After using the tail ring many times, even without activating the lightning amplification, Garos still felt his tail tingling, occasionally experiencing a sensation like an electric shock.

He guessed.

The amplification and enhancement effects brought by alchemical items would gradually be 'recorded' by his body, which would silently adapt and evolve in that direction.

It was just that because there were no concrete results of evolution yet.

Garos could not determine it now, but what he could confirm was that such alchemical items could definitely stimulate his body to adapt and evolve.

"The tail ring is of the lightning attribute, and apart from the lightning attribute in my Electric Fire Dragon Breath, I have none, so the compatibility is not high enough."

"I am inherently of the fire element; if my assumption is correct, these wing rings might cause me to complete the adaptation and evolution of my dragon wings first."

After clarifying the specific effects and strength of the three alchemical items, the night deepened further.

Two moons hung high in the night sky, pouring down their bright moonlight.

Garos put away the alchemical items, stepped toward the rock wall frozen with a thick layer of ice that had not yet dissipated, then extended his claw and slammed it down hard; ice shards fluttered under his sharp claws, leaving several claw marks, but it did not shatter immediately.

"Hard enough, I like it."

Garos's eyes lit up.

The hardness of ordinary rock mountains was gradually failing to keep up with the intensity of his training.

The attack power generated by this ring was very strong; the condensed ice layer was as hard as steel and emitted a chilling cold, making it very suitable for Garos at present.

As for attacking himself directly with the Silver Frost Ring.

This method was indeed more efficient, but given its attack strength, it would cause serious injury to Garos, placing him in a dangerous situation.

Now, without the protection of elders, he had to consider the consequences before doing anything.

Next, Garos continuously smashed or slapped the ice layer attached to the rock wall.

He was training the hardness of his own scales and the strength of his muscles, while also slowly adapting to ice damage.

This was a gradual process that could not be achieved overnight, but as a long-lived dragon, Garos's most abundant resource was time; he was always very patient.

Every time his body was eroded by the chill.

It felt like countless ice needles piercing within his body, extremely painful.

However, Garos was already accustomed to the pain in his body; he did not feel distressed by it, but instead thought silently that this pain was proof of his gradual growth and evolution.

Thinking of it this way.

While feeling the pain, a slight sense of pleasure also sprouted in his heart; the intertwining of pain and excitement became the key that allowed Garos to persist tirelessly.

Under the bright moonlight.

The Red Iron Young Dragon trained his body alone, unobserved by anyone.

At the same time.

Under the moonlight covering the same sky.

Deborah the Copper Red Dragon, weeping and sobbing, flew north toward the Caeler Wilds.

The Caeler Wilds border the Permafrost Tundra to the north; therefore, the deeper one goes north, the lower the temperature in the air gradually becomes.

Slowly.

When the sky began to lighten and the first glimmer of dawn rose, Deborah arrived at the northern wilderness where the air temperature was normal and there was no sense of oppressive heat. She circled once in the sky, folded her wings, and dove down to land in a place ringed by several mountain peaks.

The air here was neither cold nor hot.

The dense canopies of the red maple trees merged into one continuous stretch. When the wind blew through, the luxuriant branches and leaves swayed, looking just like a sea of fire burning on the ground—a gorgeous, beautiful sight.

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

It was built entirely of metal, adorned with a few fresh flowers and vines, and its overall construction was exquisite and beautiful.

On the surface, it looked like a human man and woman—the man handsome, the woman lovely—holding hands and leaning into each other as they strolled along the stream, admiring the flowers and playing by the water, faces full of smiles. When their eyes met, the tenderness and affection in their gazes was so thick it nearly dripped out like water.

Whoosh!

A gust of wild wind swept through.

A juvenile copper dragon, nearly ten meters in body length, circled in the sky, its shadow covering the two of them.

But instead of fear on their faces, the two of them waved at the copper dragon.

"Dad! Mom! I got robbed! All the alchemical items you gave me were stolen by a wretched half-blood dragon!"

The copper dragon Deborah landed in front of the two of them, let out a wail of a howl, and burst into loud sobs.

(End of this chapter)