Chapter 1560 Fighting Beasts
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The snowstorm continued raging endlessly. I felt like I wanted to rest, to sleep, but I couldn't. Every time I fell into the snow, I would wake up again due to the shock and pain of the cold creeping towards every inch of my body.
I stumbled upon that tree over and over again and ate the fruit. Each fruit made my body colder, but my mind somehow became much clearer. At some point, all worries began fading away from my mind, I felt lighter and weightless, as I walked forwards faster and more steadily.
However, I stumbled down again. The scenery changed somehow, I could find no trees, and I was starving while facing a giant snowy cliff, that led down into a dark abyss.
I couldn't see anything below, but the chill, coldness of death.
"What is this now? It changed? Why?" I wondered, looking into the skies.
I noticed two azure eyes glaring at me, blurrily hidden within the endless snowstorm. I didn't know what they meant, or what it wanted me to do. But I can guess that the change in the scenery must have something to do with them.
And also with something I've changed myself? As I accepted colder in my body, and ate those fruits, it felt like more of my body was becoming ice itself. I looked at my hands, realizing they were now pure, azure colored crystal ice.
"Should I jump or…"
No, it shouldn't be so simple either. This is some sort of bizarre trial; I can't just risk it by jumping off the damn void. I have to solve this myself. I've tried calling out any kind of magic, but nothing works, not even my Unique Skills.
Yet…
I crouched into the snow and touched the floor with my frozen hands. The cold still felt cold, I was trembling, in fact. But my body could move even then, I was growing used to this cold, but it was never truly fading away like before.
FLASH!
The ice of my hands extended like a bridge across the cliff, reaching all the way to the other side. My eyes widened in surprise, as I quickly took off my half-broken ice hands, which slowly started regrowing anew.
And a bridge appeared…
"Well, alright…"
As I stepped into the other side of the cliff, I felt a stinging pain, followed by a cold, freezing and dull pain spreading across my legs. I fell to my knees, only to realize both of my legs were now ice too.
"Huh…"
I stood up, and the pain of coldness was there, never truly dulling all senses, it was as if I could feel and sense ice and frost much better. The coldness encompassed me, an azure-colored aura of freezing winds spiraling around my body.
I kept walking and wandering around, finding a huge pine tree forest full of creatures. Snow Beasts and Ice Golems wandered around, attacking me on sight. I couldn't use any abilities other than the ones in my arms and legs.
I ran away from most battles, or climbed up the trees until they stopped bothering me. But I knew I couldn't go around like this for much longer. This was perhaps another part of the trial.
The forest never ended… I'm guessing I need to eat these creatures to advance, or something. And I was growing quite hungry, so I better eat.
I want to go back, whatever that woman sent me, this is a trial to make me stronger. I'll surpass it no matter what and get back to my family!
"ROOAAR!"
I confronted a giant Polar Bear just a few minutes later. The hulking beast was over three meters tall, and as a normal human-sized body, I was easily overwhelmed. I was forced to roll and jump away from powerful blows. The ground shook before the Polar Bear's strikes.
"Shit, shit…!"
Without my dragon body, everything felt weirder than it should. I used to be a human for many more years, but I had grown so used to my strong dragon body. Now I realize how lucky I was. A human body is so frail, the sole ability to evade lethal blows is already a skill humans must always master, something dragons would usually not bother with, especially someone with a skill named Immortal Body.
Its claws reached me again, as I preemptively put my arms in front to receive the whole blow. I wished it, and my frost arms turned into a giant shield of ice, somehow resisting the attack, although the cracks quickly made both of my arms collapse into pieces.
CRAAASH!
"Shit…!"
Although my arms were slowly recovering the ice crystals, I had no freaking arms now! The Polar Bear's crimson eyes loomed above me, its giant jaws opening and biting my neck.
I felt an immense pain followed by the warmth of the beast's bite, blood gushing out as I gritted my teeth, the beast instantly attempted to snap my neck!
"RAAH!"
In my last moments of life, I poured all my focus into my legs, as they shoot up like a spear of ice, piercing the Polar Bear's stomach and making the beast instantly let go of the grip of my neck.
SLAASH!
"GROOOHHH…!"
It gave one, loud groan of agony, before dying on the spot. I fell to the floor, gasping for air, coughing blood. I was bleeding, and it felt like I was truly about to die.
"F-Fucking hell! I'm not… dying here!"
I quickly put my still regenerating arms around my neck, the ice covering the wound and stopping the bleeding. I desperate reshaped my leg back to normal and shaping my left arm into a sharp spear I cut up the bear's belly open.
Blood and guts came pouring out. I quickly started eating without thinking twice, the taste of blood and disgusting raw entrails filled my mouth. I wanted to vomit, but I kept eating. As a dragon these things didn't taste bad, but even my past human tastes came back with this body.
"Ugh… Cough… Agh!"
As I was eating the polar bear so desperately, I ended swallowing a large blue crystal, probably its mana core.
Because the next moment, I felt an azure aura encompassing my body.
"Wha…?"
FLASH!
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