***
One week later.
Byrone River.
Byrone City.
[Magic Element: Fireball]
Aiden opened his eyes and released his magic forward, in the form of a medium-sized fireball that crashed into the cliff wall near the river.
The fireball's explosion wasn't big enough to cause rocks to fall.
Aiden had brought up the fireball three times and all of them had been successful, although the fireballs he had brought up at the beginning had been small —different from the one he just brought up.
He looked ahead, watching the cliff wall blacken from the successive fireball attacks.
Aiden wasn't satisfied with what he had practiced, he needed to learn some of the 1st level fire element magic spells in the tome.
"Kukuku!"
The young man turned his head, seeing Aurora —the Ice Dragon— playing on the river, enjoying watching the fish swimming and hiding behind the rocks.
There was another reason why Aiden called her Aurora. From Gaia's planetary map, the location of Mythrandis was on the northern continent, close to the poles.
It was a reminder of the moment of natural beauty in the form of the famous Aurora Borealis on Earth.
That's why Aiden chose the name Aurora for her due to these similar characteristics. Aurora looked so happy when Aiden took her to the Byrone River, it was because her favorite food was in this place —Fish.
Once again, he saw Aurora catch a fish and bring it ashore. There, she ate the fish as if she was happy with her catch.
Aiden smiled, freshwater fish would definitely taste delicious if cooked with spices. However, his curse prevented him from experiencing the pleasure of eating delicious food.
The young man glanced back at the front, his fireball spell training could be said to be completed. Now, Aiden tried to learn other fire element magic spells from the tome.
There were a total of 7 first-level fire element magic spells to learn. Each spell had its own level of difficulty, with fireball being the easiest.
What differentiates each level of difficulty is the manipulation of magic energy and using it. The most difficult of the 1st level fire element magic spells was the fire spear.
'What if I try to learn the fire spear magic spell?' asked Aiden, curious.
Aiden, who was sitting on a rock, began to open the tome and read the basic requirements for learning the fire spear magic spell.
There, it was clearly written that mages needed to understand and master the art of magic manipulation before casting a fire spear magic spell, because the process of forming magic energy into a fire spear required great creativity and concentration.
"Alright. Let's try it," Aiden replied.
He stretched his hand forward, gathering the magic energy transmitted from his hand to gather before him.
The magic energy gathered in the form of a magic ball before being shaped using the power of Aiden's mind.
Slowly, he tried to take it slow so that the magic ball wouldn't fail. However, the magic ball suddenly exploded which caused Aiden's body to be sent far back, hitting a large rock which caused Aiden to groan in pain.
"Akh!"
Aurora saw Aiden was injured. She hurriedly flew over to Aiden while looking at the young man with concern.
Aiden looked at the worried Aurora, then rubbed Aurora's head while speaking softly, saying he was fine.
"I didn't expect the impact of failing to manipulate the magic ball in the fire spear spell to have such a bad effect on me," Aiden complained, feeling aches and pains in several parts of his body.
The young man got up and tried to catch his breath, allowing his body to recover again. Aurora saw the injured Aiden, and the ice dragon helped by using her ice attribute magic to restore Aiden's body faster.
Slowly, the wounds on several parts of Aiden's body regenerated and closed. A fresh, comfortable, and peaceful sensation was felt in his body as Aurora helped in his recovery process.
"Thank you, Aurora," Aiden said, rising from his seat near the boulder.
Aurora nodded, flying around Aiden and resting fully on Aiden's right shoulder. Aiden smiled. He walked back to the riverbank to pick up the fish that the little ice dragon had eaten earlier.
Aiden gave it to Aurora, who immediately ate the fish with gusto.
Daylight turned to night, signaling that his training time had come to an end. Even so, Aiden was happy because at least he had learned one first-level fire element magic spell, the fireball magic spell.
Aiden asked Aurora to get into his bag, preventing the people of the house from knowing about her whereabouts. Aurora did so without arguing.
Arriving at home, Aiden was welcomed by Leonora. Jack had also just returned with a basket of fruits and vegetables, picked from the field behind the house.
"How was your training?" Leonora asked.
"Better than I expected," Aiden replied.
"That's good." Leonora walked over to the dining table and picked up the wooden basket filled with fruits and vegetables. She also asked Aiden to clean up before dinner, as she noticed Aiden's clothes were very dirty.
Aiden realized that. He went back to his room to shower and change. Aurora got out of Aiden's bag and rested on the wooden box that had been set up, perfect for her.
Although Aurora looked comfortable, Aiden couldn't continue to let the ice dragon live in such conditions. Like it or not, Aiden had to think of a way to make Aurora's stay more comfortable.
"Tonight, it looks like I'll have to go back up to Fog Hill."
***
Night.
Fog Hill.
Again, Aiden entered the Fog Hill and went to the top. His current purpose was not to search for the four herbs, but to go to the ice dragon's lair in the cave.
He was looking for the Glacirion gem to complete the materials needed to make a magic contract with the beast. Aiden felt the gem should be found in the cave where he found the ice dragon egg.
There was something else that surprised him. Previously when Aiden had climbed up to the fog hill, this place had been filled with thick, cold fog.
However, when Aiden climbed up for the third time, he saw the fog disappear.
"What's going on? I heard that the fog on this hill has been there for hundreds of years, why is it mysteriously disappearing now?" asked Aiden, shocked.
Even so, the disappearance of the fog was a good sign for Aiden. He could be on the lookout for possibilities, and he could know the exact location of the monsters living on this hill.
Aiden continued to walk up, keeping an eye on the area around him. After fifteen minutes of walking, Aiden was grateful to find no sign of the monsters.
Aurora was still perched on Aiden's shoulder, seemingly watching the area around her.
Suddenly, Aurora took flight from Aiden's shoulder and headed forward. Aiden called out the ice dragon's name, but his voice was completely ignored by her.
As a result, Aiden had to go where the ice dragon went. Luckily for Aiden, Aurora wasn't flying fast and the fog had cleared, so the young man didn't lose track of her.
Ten minutes of walking, he finally arrived at the cave where he found the ice dragon egg. Aurora flew into the cave with a trail of sparkling blue light.
Aiden responded by stepping behind her, walking down the cave passage until he arrived at the ice dragon's lair, with ice stones adorning the place.
The young man glanced ahead, watching the gesture of Aurora. Surprisingly, Aurora seemed to shoot out cold air from her mouth and shattered the ice stones, revealing something unexpected.
Glacirion Gem. All this time, Aurora had maintained her energy supply from the glacirion gem. Aiden had expected it, but he didn't expect to find the rare gem this soon.
Blue light emanated from the ice dragon's forehead, hitting seven Glacirion gems lying on the floor. One gem was near Aiden, and Aiden responded by picking it up.
Aurora was furious! She roared and looked at Aiden in anger.
"Calm down, Aurora. I need this gem for you, too," Aiden replied gently.
Slowly, Aurora's anger suddenly faded and the ice dragon refocused on the six Glacirion Gems before her.
The blue laser beam from its forehead caused the gems to shatter, the energy from the gems being instantly absorbed into the ice dragon's body.
"What's she doing?" asked Aiden.
Bright blue light emanated from the ice dragon's body, dazzling Aiden so much that he had to cover his eyes. The blinding light lasted for five minutes, until it slowly faded and revealed another figure.
Aurora's body slowly enlarged with powerfully thickened blue and white scales. Aiden saw it clearly, the magic power of the Glacirion gem absorbed by her must have caused that to happen.
"That's bad! Her size is growing rapidly. What should I do with her?"