Mage Adam

The dread and agony he experienced this time dwarfed what he\'d felt during his bloodline purification. Even with Adam temporarily disabling his pain receptors, all of Kambi\'s inner tissues were still quaking and spasming uncontrollably. Had it not been for the stabilizing force of his plant energy, Kambi might have already perished.

"Power comes at a price; you must withstand it," Adam whispered.

It seemed that Kambi heard him; his internal trembling eased somewhat. Pleased, Adam approached and cautiously inserted an ice blade into his heart.

The task was tricky. Considering the considerable size difference between Adam and Kambi, the utmost precision was crucial to avoid any errors.

Kambi\'s plant energy wasn\'t stable enough to manifest physically. So Adam chose the heart as the epicenter, constructing a supplementary vascular system inside Kambi using tubes of ice crystal.

The procedure spanned an entire day and night. Under Adam\'s scrupulous control, an alternative circulatory pathway slowly developed inside Kambi. Due to the freezing temperature of the energy ice crystals, Kambi\'s body strongly resisted the invasion, but Adam had faith that he could adapt.

After stitching Kambi back together with werewolf-flesh thread, Adam mumbled, "Now for the experiment\'s final phase: initiate blood circulation."

Adam\'s ice blade disintegrated into a tiny insect-like form that tunnelled into Kambi\'s heart. A well-timed jolt of electric energy revitalized his nearly-stilled heart.

***Thump! Thump!***

Kambi\'s heartbeat grew steadier. Blood flowed into the new ice crystal tubes, and a surge of green energy rapidly mended his surface injuries as it circulated with the blood.

Roughly half an hour later, Kambi sat up from the surgical table, his visage still marred by the remnants of pain, and asked, "Is it done?"

Adam released a thread of icy air towards his face to help him fully awaken.

Kambi attempted to tap into his energy to affirm his newfound state, but as the thought occurred, the energy moved in inexplicable ways to areas he\'d never contemplated before. Then, he unleashed another anguished howl.

His skin started to undergo a fibrous transformation, rapidly changing into tree bark. His physique expanded in both size and mass, his limbs generating root-like extensions that twisted around each other. His hair transmuted into green leaves, which draped over his cranium like a mask.

Once the transformation ended, what stood before Adam was akin to an Ant.

"How do you feel?" asked Adam.

Kambi appeared puzzled and responded cautiously, "I feel... quite well, Sir. I believe I\'ve grown stronger."

Struggling to put his sensations into words, Kambi received orders from Adam to acclimate to his newfound abilities and to document any alterations for later discussion. Asking for directions to the werewolf tribe, Adam then ventured solo into the icy plains.

If transcendent beings did exist among the three tribes, they would only get in Adam\'s way. So, Adam decided to go alone to find the first group of slaves for the City of Freedom; strong slaves from the icy fields should be popular.

After locking in two strong powers, Adam was now as strong as the special beings in this world. He knew he could now get away from Okov if he had to.

After coming to the Dragon Plane, he finally felt like he could make a name for himself.

Three days later, flying as fast as he could, Adam found the werewolf tribe. He was now so big that hiding was not an option. Also, the werewolves had really good hearing and smell. Before he could get close, he was stopped by more than a hundred grown-up werewolves.

"A grown-up dragon! Darn it! We were tricked by that forest elf!" said a big werewolf with a rough voice.

Adam looked over the crowd but didn\'t see any special werewolves. Even though there were many, they were no match for him, which made him a bit disappointed. *Is this all they\'ve got?*

The werewolves were angry and loud. They growled and howled, scratching the icy ground with their claws. Their eyes turned red, waiting for their leader to tell them to attack.

The werewolf who had spoken before stood up and said, "Dragon, you killed Kense, right?"

Adam answered, "If you mean the idiot who wanted to eat me and then hang me on a wall."

The werewolf leader yelled and stepped forward, "Dragon, you\'ve gone too far. Obey the Oath! This is our land, and you shouldn\'t be here! Leave something valuable and get out, or our elders will come and kill you!"

"The Oath? The Elder?" Adam\'s curiosity shot up. He felt the first might be a clue to understanding the Dragon Plane, while the latter were clearly extraordinary beings. And if they were in good shape, they would\'ve already shown up instead of hiding.

"What\'s this Oath?" Adam asked, genuinely curious.

The werewolf leader looked shocked. "You don\'t know? Aren\'t you a grown dragon?"

*So it\'s inherited knowledge, something you only learn when you grow up,* Adam realized.

Taking this in, he nodded earnestly. "Of course not. I\'m just eight years old."

"Eight? That explains why you didn\'t alert the Elder. A young dragon breaking our oath and killing one of us. I\'ll kill you!" The werewolf leader\'s roar filled the air as his elemental energy surged. He breathed out an ice storm at Adam. The other werewolves, taking this as the signal to attack, transformed and soared upwards, their fangs and claws ready, filling the air with their howls.

They hadn\'t considered why an eight-year-old dragon would be so big.

Adam flapped his dragon wings, breaking up the ice storm. Then he used a type of \'Dragon Spell\' that the werewolf tribe had never seen before. Blocks of frost formed in the sky, each containing rows of dark holes that gathered ice elemental energy.

Sensing danger, the werewolf leader changed the tone of his howls, and the pack scattered, though they couldn\'t halt their upward charge.

Pleased, Adam glanced at the ninety-nine multi-barrel rocket launchers that had formed beside him, shaped from elemental forces. Flicking his tail, he announced, "Try my new magic: Elemental Cannons."