Alice rubbed her hands together, her breath coming out in a soft mist as she prepared herself. She could already feel the temperature in the room dropping from just the thought of what she was about to do. Her ice powers had never been used this way before—not with this level of small deliberate control.
Nate, standing beside her, gave her a firm nod. "Condense the ice as much as you can. The smaller the structure, the more pressure it'll exert."
"I know" Alice nodded, her usual cool confidence replaced with quiet determination.
She took a deep breath and stretched her hands forward.
Immediately, a wave of frost erupted from her fingertips, spiraling toward the crystal. The moment it touched the surface, the entire lab was filled with the crackling sound of freezing energy—the sharp, biting noise of something being consumed by ice at an unnatural rate.
The crystal, previously pulsing with unseen energy, began to change.
