Chapter 333: Puppet of the Frost Dragon

Noah stood alone in one corner of the training ground.

The reason was simple. He wanted to test his newly acquired ability.

[Puppet of the Frost Dragon]

Considering everything he had gone through, the rewards he had received had honestly felt rather underwhelming.

At least, they had seemed that way to his current self. But there was only one way to know whether the ability was truly disappointing.

Test it and judge it.

Noah cracked his fingers one after another, then stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders.

"Alright. Let’s see what you’ve got."

He raised one hand and slowly began channeling his mana. The moment he activated the ability, the atmosphere around him changed.

The temperature dropped sharply.

A thin layer of frost immediately spread across the ground beneath his feet, while countless fragments of ice began materializing out of thin air. They were beautiful, almost like translucent crystals carved from pure winter, shimmering faintly beneath the morning light.

More and more ice gathered around Noah.

The fragments began circling his body, slowly at first, before picking up speed. His mana started draining rapidly.

’So it consumes quite a lot of mana just to activate...’

The swirling ice suddenly intensified.

A miniature blizzard erupted around Noah, its freezing winds whipping against his clothes and sending countless snowflakes and ice particles spiraling through the air.

Whoosh!

The blizzard shot forward.

It continued expanding as it moved, growing larger and larger while the surrounding wind accelerated. The swirling mass of frost soon became several times larger than Noah himself.

And then, within the center of the raging blizzard.

Something began to form.

Noah’s eyes widened slightly.

’It’s forming.’

At first, four enormous claws made of ice emerged from within the storm.

The claws slowly transformed into powerful legs. From there, the structure continued growing.

A massive body took shape, followed by a long, thick tail that stretched behind it. Then came the neck, rising higher and higher, until finally a dragon’s head emerged.

Two sharp horns formed above its skull. One after another, layers of crystalline scales spread across its entire body, each one looking as though it had been carved from the purest ice.

The blizzard gradually weakened.

The violent winds slowed. Snow and frost drifted harmlessly through the air before settling onto the ground.

And finally, the creature was revealed, it was a dragon.

It was nowhere near the size of Akari’s true dragon form, of course. Compared to that monstrous scale, this creature was practically tiny.

But that did not mean it was small. From the tip of its snout to the end of its tail, the Frost Dragon was approximately ten meters long.

Its massive wings unfolded from its back.

Each wing stretched roughly ten meters from one end to the other, their surfaces composed entirely of beautiful translucent ice.

It was more than large enough for Noah to sit comfortably on its back and fly.

Noah stared at the creature in fascination. Then he noticed something strange.

’Wait...’

The dragon was moving. Not because Noah had commanded it.

It was moving on its own. Noah could somehow feel a connection between them, a strange, almost instinctive bond.

He could sense its presence as clearly as he could sense his own mana. A smile slowly appeared on his face.

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he simply looked at the Frost Dragon.

’Look at me.’

The moment the thought entered his mind.

The dragon turned its enormous head. Its glacier-like eyes focused directly on Noah. They were cold and emotionless, almost devoid of any natural emotion. Yet there was no hostility in them.

There was only obedience.

Noah’s smile widened. "So you really can understand me..."

He walked toward the dragon. As he approached, the Frost Dragon lowered its massive head toward him, almost as though it were willingly offering itself.

Noah reached out and placed his hand against its head. The surface was freezing cold.

Yet the cold did not hurt him. Instead, the ice seemed to welcome his touch.

Noah gently patted its head. "Hah..."

He glanced at his remaining mana and sighed. "That took roughly one-fourth of my mana just to create you."

He looked back at the Frost Dragon.

"And your strength..."

Noah narrowed his eyes slightly as he sensed its power.

"It should be around the same level as my current core rank."

A huge grin spread across his face.

’This is actually amazing. When I wiill reach mythical rank then I can create a mythical rank frost dragon!!’

For someone who had expected the ability to be disappointing, Noah was now thoroughly impressed.

Unfortunately his excitement didn’t last very long.

"A dragon?!"

"That’s a real dragon!"

Noah froze. He slowly turned toward the source of the voices.

A few meters away, several students had been training. Some had stopped what they were doing and were now staring at the Frost Dragon with expressions of complete shock.

Others had gathered around them, pointing at the enormous creature.

Noah blinked.

’Hmm...’

He turned his attention back toward his newly created puppet.

An idea suddenly came to him. Noah raised his right arm, and decided to perform something that he always wanted to do.

"Frosty!"

The dragon’s glacier-colored eyes shifted toward him.

Noah pointed forward. "Flame Thrower!"

He did a command like how those trainers from Pokemoon anime used to do. But what came out of his mouth was most common attack in that anime by Charlizaard, forgetting his puppet is ice user.

So there was absolute silence after her spoke that.

Noah remained frozen in place. The students stared at him as if he had suddenly lost his mind.

The Frost Dragon tilted its head slightly. It looked at Noah. Then it looked at the students. Then it opened its enormous jaws.

Noah’s expression changed.

"Well, I mean—frost—"

BOOOOM!

A brilliant blue-white stream of freezing flames erupted from the dragon’s mouth. It shot directly toward the students.

"The hell?! RUN!"

"You madman!"

"NOAH!"

The students scattered in every direction. The blue frost-fire crashed into the ground with a thunderous roar.

CRACK!

A layer of ice instantly spread across everything the flames touched. The ground froze solid.

Patches of frost rapidly expanded outward, covering the training area in a beautiful but terrifying layer of blue-white ice.

Fortunately, there had been no intention to actually harm anyone, and the students had managed to escape the attack.

Noah stared at the frozen ground. His eyes sparkled.

’This...’ His gaze slowly shifted toward the Frost Dragon. ’This thing is amazing!’

He couldn’t help but feel excited. Not only could it fight independently, but it could apparently interpret his commands as well.

Although perhaps he should work on his naming skills.

Noah’s expression became thoughtful.

’So the dragon was created using one-fourth of my mana...’

He rubbed his chin.

’That means it has roughly that much mana stored within its body.’

His eyes narrowed as he continued analyzing the ability.

’And if it runs out of mana, I’ll have to supply it with more mana to maintain its physical form and also to use magic.’

That explained the connection he could feel between them.

The Frost Dragon wasn’t simply a summoned creature. It was a puppet created from Noah’s own mana.

As long as he continued supplying it with mana, the Frost Dragon could remain active.

The dragon slowly lowered its head before standing proudly, its massive wings folding against its body.

Noah walked over and gave one of its enormous legs a satisfied pat.

"Good job."

The Frost Dragon remained perfectly still.

Noah nodded approvingly. ’I really wish I had a cool frost-fire attack like that too.’

He looked at the frozen training ground. Then at the Frost Dragon. Then back at the frozen ground.

"...Maybe I should learn one if possible... but how?"