Renowned

Chapter 10 - Taming

Once inside the training room, Silver set the magic book aside and started meditating. He wanted to do what he had been too emotional and distracted to do this morning: comprehend the spell his mother had gifted him. He slowly went through the information in his head, drawing out the distractions in his heart and adjusting his breathing.

What he found was that Ice Barrier was a defensive spell with a continuous duration, only running out when one's mana had depleted. What followed the information regarding the spell's effects was a brief description of how it worked and how to cast it. It was the final step that many failed to comprehend in their first few attempts.

However, whether it was due to luck or another reason, Silver fully understood all the steps, from mana control to spell mechanisms. He wanted to quickly try it out but found that as it was a defensive spell, only with the help of someone attacking him would he be able to do so.

Feeling slightly anxious, Silver calmed his emotions and began to read the spellbook for Ice Blast. Once he read the book, he was shocked at how easy the mechanism involved in the spell was compared with Ice Barrier.

The difference was like comparing a small rock to a large imposing mountain. The two were in separate worlds. Without being too careless and overestimating, Silver closed his eyes and began meditating, going over the information he read over in his head.

After a few hours, when he was finally confident in his abilities, he stood up and decided to try the spell. "Ice Blast," holding out his hand, with his palm open, Silver uttered the name of the spell.

As the words left his mouth, the mana in his body rushed to his palm, and a ball of ice shot out, hitting the wall in front, shattering it on impact. The whole affair had taken less than a second, and Silver couldn't help but smile at his Success.

Isabella Moxum had been feeling bored lately as she had finished all her preparations for the trials, which were still close to a week away. The interesting, scarlet-haired youth who had caused quite the scene a few days ago was nowhere to be seen either.

Although she was initially reluctant to stay at the Bear and Geese, watching the two youngsters act as though they were a pair of jesters meant that she no longer had any regrets.

"My lady, your dinner is ready," came a soft voice as an adolescent girl appeared in the inn room, carrying plates full of food.

"Thank you, Lucy," Isabella walked towards the dining table, removed her veil, and began to eat as she wondered who the youth could have been. For him to be such close friends with a duke's son and yet not be a noble was puzzling. Perhaps he was nobility from a faraway kingdom, or maybe he was a servant from house Reid.

As Isabella mused over all the possibilities, she suddenly felt shocked at herself for caring this much about a stranger's identity. Feeling slightly embarrassed, she banished the thoughts from her mind and began scoffing down the rest of her food.

Silver had been in an ecstatic mood ever since he cast his first magic spell. He had spoken the spell's name several times in an attempt to gauge his limits, which to his surprise, had been only two more spells before he had been overwhelmed by exhaustion. He decided to quit while he was ahead and got a good night's sleep in Zac's training room.

Silver woke just before dawn feeling refreshed, and made his way to the dragon's enclosure. Even though it was still early in the morning, many workers walked around with fresh feed between the numerous enclosures. When Silver arrived outside the dragon's pen, he was happy to find two large barrels of fresh meat with a note attached.

[ Consider this a small favor. From now on, you should pay for your dragon's food. He eats too damn much. Regards, your dear friend Zac. ]

Silver couldn't help but laugh at the note he placed inside his pockets as he carried the buckets of feed into the dragon's enclosure. Once inside, he found the baby dragon staring at him cautiously, lying on the floor. Silver walked over to it and noticed that, unlike yesterday, the dragon did not run at him but patiently waited, eyeing the two buckets excitedly.

"You hungry little guy?" Silver asked as he took one of the baskets over to the dragon

"Grrr," the dragon let out a small growl as if replying and began strolling towards him. Silver deliberately got closer to the dragon so the chain's length would still allow it to reach him. As if on cue, the dragon roared ferociously and ran straight at Silver, jumping at his head with his little jaws wide open. Silver did not move. He just stood still, muttering a few words under his breath.

CRACK before Silver could even comprehend what happened, he heard Ice breaking as the dragon bounced off something and went back to his original position, looking just as confused as he was. As he tried to make sense of everything, the baby dragon pounced on him again.

Silver was surprised at the dragon's tenacity and perseverance, but he was also glad as this meant he now had an opportunity to observe what happened more clearly. He did not need to utter the spells name again as he knew from his draining mana that Ice Barrier was still active.

CRACK, just like the last time, the baby dragon was bounced back. However, this time Silver witnessed a small thin shield of ice the shape of a hexagon manifest itself in front of his face just before the dragon connected.

[ This is simply amazing. ] Silver thought to himself just as his remaining mana had run out and a wave of exhaustion overcame him. Although the dragon was only a baby and could be compared to a weak E-class beast at best, for there to be a passive spell that could block a direct blow from it was simply amazing to Silver.

He wondered if it was thanks to his mother that he had such a fantastic spell, or was it that Magic was just too powerful. The only downside of the spell he noticed was its duration. He could only continue the spell for a duration of just over 10 seconds. In a long, drawn-out battle, this amount of protection would mean nothing, so Silver secretly vowed to increase his mana pool as soon as possible.

"Grrr," the quiet growls of the dragon brought Silver back to reality as he noticed a pair of cute yet dangerous eyes looking at him.

"Here, why don't you eat this instead" Silver offered the bucket of meat as he crouched next to the dragon making sure it knew he was not afraid.

"Why don't you follow me from now on, little guy. I promise you can eat nice food like this every day" Silver decided on the carrot approach now that he had shown the dragon who was boss. The dragon didn't seem to hear him, however, as it quietly ate its food without giving him a single glance.

"Err, well, what should I call you?" Silver mused as he looked at the cute baby dragon devouring the feed. 'Frost' would be too obvious, given that it was a frost dragon, and he did not want to go with any long names that would be hard to say.

Looking at the dragon's snow-white skin, Silver smiled slightly as a name popped into his head. It was by no means original, but it was simple and most definitely fit the dragon's personality in Silver's eyes as he recalled Sebastian's face when they first met.

"Ghost, that will be your name," said Silver as though he were a judge passing sentence. To his surprise, the little dragon looked up briefly as if acknowledging the name before continuing with his feast. Silver smiled inside and continued to wait patiently as Ghost finished both buckets of feed before finally setting off for the bear and Geese.