Wielding the Ice

"I… I can't concentrate! You're using your poison at me, aren't you?!" Crystal shouted back.

"Why would I do that!? If you gave in to your lust, the ice of your soul will weaken my concentration and we would be flattened by this mountain!"

"Aren't you strong enough?! Weren't you fighting and boasting- Ah! Your sweat! You're poisoning me!"

Adam's sweat was now dripping towards Crystal, and she could barely control holding on to Adam.

"Your ice! Focus on your ice! I have already used up a huge amount of my power to save you! If I lose any more, I will also die!" Adam roared.

"I don't know how!"

"Damn it…!" Adam swallowed his panic and fears and tried to calm down.

"Close your eyes. Try to sense your soul. You have two powers now. The ice… and the heat. The polar opposites of your power will help you sense it." Adam spoke in a calm voice.

Crystal was starting to grow calmer and did as instructed.

She closed her eyes and could indeed feel two opposite forces.

"I feel it…" Crystal was amazed. A sensation of power that she never had was there.

"You are not the same you as before. You've used your ice two times, and now the flames of my soul will only make it more apparent. Try to draw out the ice. You've done it twice… Let the frost assail your body."

Crystal did as Adam led.

Her body felt the frost embrace her. Her body became calm, and a strange, lonesome emotion began to counter her urges.

"I think… I did it." Crystal answered with a blank expression and opened his eyes.

"Can you control your emotions?"

"...Yes. But your sweat… your breath… everything is…"

"Tempting. I know. But nevertheless, you have to control your emotions. I need to gather more energy to get out here. But for me to do that… you have to freeze this place. Your ice can bind and create a stable place to stop the mountains from crushing us. You must try to draw out the ice of your body and cast a freezing spell."

"But… such magic is too advanced…!"

"I will teach you. Keep your eyes closed. I will guide the portion of my soul in you to make the fire magic spur. Follow this path with your frost."

A strange, uncomfortable sensation began to move within her body. She felt a powerful heat moving around her.

"Stop… It's… hard for me… to…" She opened her eyes and glanced at Adam with great longing.

"We have to do this… We will die if you cannot freeze the stones around us."

Crystal was biting her lips to resist the discomfort.

"These… are the pathways of magic in your body. Your body is composed of two forms. The Material and the Immaterial. Both live in the same space. Mages start by sensing the Material and have the means to do so. But now, you have an advantage. Sense the flow of my flames. It passes through your body in the Immaterial Plane and returns to your soul. This is where your soul and your power lie… I will use pain as a teacher. Freeze the path where my flames passed."

The flames moved in a strange direction and would circle back to the place in her Immaterial Body where the soul resides.

Crystal endured the pain but was trying to find a way to attack the places where the flames would harm her.

Finally, a surge of ice began to flow out.

Adam was surprised. It was too fast, and the amount of ice she released was equal to a young mage novice to practice in months.

Adam knew that her constitution and his soul would make her a monster, but the speed far surpassed his expectations!

At once, Adam made his flames move through and out of the palms of Crystal's right hand.

The flame moved out, and the ice chased, and suddenly…

CRACKLE!

The ground where Crystal held on suddenly froze!

"I…! I…!" Crystal was amazed. With a slight tug, her hand broke out, and she could see the ice remaining on the ground.

"Good. You did well, Crystal."

Crystal felt a rush of warmth in her heart in hearing those words. A comfortable warmth that brought joy.

"Thank you for calling me by my name. It must be difficult for a dragon like you to call me like… an equal."

Adam was stunned. Crystal's look and expression were embedded in his heart. And it reminded him of her… But he hid his admiration and turned his face to a frown.

"We do not have time for such pleasantries. The hard part is yet to be done. You must freeze a great part of this collapsed mountain with your frost. Only then can there be stability, and I won't have to carry this weight and focus on leaving."

"I understand…" Crystal nodded. She reached out to the side and held on to the rubble.

Her expression turned serious. But as she felt the ice flow out, her face slowly turned blank and no longer revealed any emotions.

Adam saw it all, and his heart only felt pain and anger.

The ice flowed out of her soul and traveled from her body and from the Immaterial; it flowed out and breached the region of the Material.

Her palms summoned a great cold frost that began to spread out.

Crystal's eyes turned blue as the ice spread out, freezing the stones and pillars of the former temple.

It continued to move and began to freeze the parts of the collapsed mountain.

Adam began to concentrate as he harnessed the Soul of his bond with Crystal.

The star was the source that kept the life off Crystal from ever dimming out as the ice soul was exhausting the last bits.

The flames raged to stop the very last bit from moving out.

"Ahhh!" She cried and suddenly fainted.

The blue in her eyes vanished, and she was too exhausted. Only by the fire of Adam's soul was she able to live again.

"What power… To be able to freeze all that even when her soul was so few. But even this is not enough. Fate and Destiny will surely have her killed within five years…" Adam watched the sleeping Crystal.

Soon, Adam released a faint heat that caused him to be disconnected from the ice.

He carefully tried to lower his body, and the stones behind him didn't push down.

The frost had provided stability and a small dome, barely enough to fit Adam and Crystal.

Adam could not even move or lie beside her since there was no space, and it would be foolish to break the freeze down and cause the collapse.

Adam kept his body up, but somehow, the allure of the frost was calling him.

"...Oh Fate, Oh Destiny. How you torture me. I have slain my former body and allowed myself to be reborn. But even that was not enough to make me escape my Fate! You torture me with a woman just like her. You pit me beside her to make me fall once more…" Adam wanted to be angry at the forces that made him repeat his mistake.

But he could not help but feel a twinge of joy.

Adam drew closer and hardened his arms with an arm-piercing spell to ensure he would not be pressing his entire weight on Crystal. His arms became like stone and rested on top of the sleeping Maiden.

The exhaustion and the wounds of Adam was finally taking a toll on Adam, and he fell asleep.