CHAPTER 1401: CHAPTER 1400: PLETHORA OF REWARDS (1)

Kat PoV

"I... suppose this could have been a worse reward, no? At least it is useful and rather permanent."

Tossing the vial of crystalized blood up and catching it before it could shatter against the ground, I admired the few frozen drops of blood before looking at Draka, who was nodding slowly as she uncorked her own and placed on of them on her tongue.

It melted immediately and seeped into her tongue, causing the Dragonkin’s lips to curl slightly in disgust before she swallowed it down, letting it flow into her and begin doing its magic; we were back at camp resting after a long search in those snowy forests, waiting for the return of the others while we made use of our reward.

Something simple yet nice to have, an upgrade to our bloodlines again was a bit of a surprise all things considered, but since it was just exclusive to those with Ice Magic I knew it had to actually be good.

Otherwise, why would it be limited to those with only a single specific element, and why would it be in a somewhat difficult Trial?

It wasn’t difficult because of the combat but instead because of the mental warfare, and that slow, insidious creeping into our minds that the Faeries had done as they tried to drag us down into the snow to die.

Dying in that Trial was a real possibility when compared to everything else we had done, but we had overcome it and emerged with a reward, one that was swiftly used by the Dragonkin as she let out a long, very cold breath.

"That... was quick. Hm... I don’t feel different, but... that doesn’t mean it didn’t work..?"

I stared at her for a few seconds and tried to spot any physical changes like with our arrays that we had used, but there was nothing for me to find; now I was doubting myself but at the same time I just had to believe that it would work.

Surely this would work..?

It was a Trial reward, after all, and anything related to the blood inside of your veins had to be a powerful and potent reward, right?

"Maybe it is because I am a Dragonkin. My blood is already so... special. That might just be diluting the effects of this..? I hope..?"

Draka didn’t sound certain, so without further adieu I placed one of the three crystals on my tongue and absorbed it, grimacing as well as the sharp metallic taste permeated my mouth and pricked at everything it could.

Feeling the magic slide down my throat and into my Core, I immediately began to run my mana through my veins and keep watch for any changes, observing what was happening as intently as I could.

After completing a full rotation and not feeling anything at all, my hopes were somewhat dashed as I stared at the remaining crystals in the vial, wondering what use they had and why they were so difficult to obtain... only to look towards Draka as she let out a groan and held her chest.

"Okay... yeah, that’s delayed..."

Her hiss of pain didn’t really reassure me that much, but now all I could do was wait for that delayed activation for myself, watching the Dragonkin in the meantime and trying to convince myself that it shouldn’t hurt that bad.

Again, the blood crystal didn’t care about my opinions as it burst inside of my Core, sending out a wave of extremely potent Ice Mana that felt like it was legitimately freezing my Core, only to then spread throughout the rest of me and plummet my internal temperature.

My entire being went cold, with my skin prickling against everything while my extremities and lips began to tremble as I sought out a way to get warm; even my head was going numb as the cold enveloped that as well, making it impossible to act.

The mana was incredibly potent as it forced its way throughout my body and back into my Core, dragging that deep, extreme chill with it and ending this torture just as suddenly as it had started; I was still shivering and still in pain, but the cold was gone.

In its place was a hum of power that hadn’t been there before, and I didn’t even really need to check to know that the pathways in my body were slicker than before, like they had a thin sheen of frost on them.

[You needn’t ask~! It’s an efficiency and power boost of a small degree, and it also improved your mana resistance a little too. Don’t take another though; its still lingering.]

Letting out a long sigh, I corked the bottle and said "We should give it some time, let this settle in. Who knows if there’s another delayed reaction..?", earning a nod from Draka as she let the second crystal fall back into the vial.

"Still not too much of a change, but... point one of three, perhaps? This seems like it did something... like it set a foundation for something bigger? Or maybe it just is one of three small yet good changes."

To give it a test I pushed some of my mana out and did a similar trick to the one that Draka’s Mother had done way back when, picking up a wooden tankard and enveloping it in my mana, watching as it spread across the surface before seeping into it.

The wood began to crack and give way to the ice, transforming part of it into solid ice while other parts of it was just encased, but this was something that I hadn’t thought to be this easy... especially when I wasn’t a literal being of everything related to Ice Mana.

"That does seem pretty good. Changing something into ice is very difficult, so even just doing that much is... well, Mother might be more intrigued if she knew that."

"I might need to take her up on her offer one day..."

Draka just gave me a wry smile and didn’t say anything, which was more than I needed to know about the sort of training that her Mother might offer me if I ever asked for it; like with Lady Fenyras it was probably some of the best training available in the world, but because of that it carried a price that would be paid as I trained.

Whether I needed that or not was up for debate, and honestly... I don’t think I wanted it, even if it was incredibly good for me; the idea of such a training regimen after all of this was beyond exhausting, so no thanks.