CHAPTER 313: FROZEN TEAR

Crystal stared down her potion as Eisvir’s words rang through her head.

If you consume this potion, your Dragonization will be accelerated. Only Drink this potion if you believe yourself to be ready.

She didn’t move. Not at first. The bottle was still cold in her hands, but somehow it felt heavier now. Like the choice she was about to make carried more weight than she could see.

She thought of her past. Of the moments she had fought and bled and pushed forward without anyone to guide her. She thought of her future. Of the power that waited, coiled like a sleeping serpent just beneath her skin.

Then, without another thought, she drank.

It tasted like the cheap sports drink that she used to drink with Leo when they were in the Track and Field club together. It was a nostalgic but happy time for her. However she was not allowed to relish that feeling.

The moment the last drop hit her tongue, the air around her shifted. It grew still, like the world itself was holding its breath.

Her legs refused to move. Her arms went slack at her sides, the empty bottle falling without a sound. She wasn’t paralyzed. She was restrained. Held gently but firmly in place by something far greater than herself.

Eisvir’s voice filled her mind again, calm and solemn.

The choice has been made. You did not choose the path. The path chose you.

Bones.

There was a quiet cracking sound. Not loud or violent, but slow and deep, like ancient wood shifting under pressure. Crystal’s breath caught as she could feel it.

not pain, but pressure. A firm, spreading pressure that started in her spine and rippled outward.

Your bones will be the first to change. There will be no pain. Only discomfort. Endure it, and your strength will grow.

She could not speak. She could only feel.

Her knees buckled slightly, but she did not fall. A cold sweat rolled down her temple as her skeleton began to shift. Her ribs lengthened. Her arms felt heavier. Her back tingled, not at the surface, but far below, inside the marrow.

There was no tearing, no screaming, no agony. But it was still one of the strangest sensations she had ever experienced. Like her body was being rewritten while she remained fully aware of every change.

Her fingernails cracked and reformed. Her spine lengthened with a dull pulse that left her gasping. The curve of her legs subtly adjusted, becoming more balanced, more efficient.

Then it stopped.

Her breath came shallow and fast. She could move again, slowly, as if waking from a deep sleep.

And though she still looked like herself, she could feel the difference in every limb, in every breath.

The foundation of the dragon had been laid.

The only one who could sense her change was Leo. He had a frown as he recognized that something inside of her had changed. It wasn’t a difference in height or build but the air around her. It felt like it was charged with a frosty aura as literal frost began to spread on the ground around her. Eisvir’s voice rang out once more

You must control your presence. Your emotions are bleeding through. The chamber cannot withstand your aura if it grows further. Calm yourself, or you will bury this place in ice.

Crystal’s breath hitched. Her eyes darted to the frost now snaking toward the others. She hadn’t meant to do that. She hadn’t felt herself doing anything at all.

Her hands trembled slightly as she tried to force the pressure down. She breathed in, slow and deep. Then again. The cold inside her did not want to obey. It wanted out. It wanted to fill the room. She could feel it now. Not as an invader but as a part of her. She wasn’t just becoming a dragon. She already was one. Just incomplete.

Still your mind. A dragon’s breath follows the rhythm of their heart. If your heart is unsteady, your power will not listen to you.

She nodded slowly, sweat running down the side of her face even as the cold clung to her. She pushed her fingers into her palms and focused on the pounding of her chest, trying to steady it. Her legs ached. Her skin prickled. But the frost slowed.

Then she saw it.

Resting beside the empty pedestal where the potion had been, a necklace sat that she had failed to notice up until now. It looked ancient, yet untouched by time. A soft blue crystal shaped like a teardrop hung from a delicate silver chain, faintly glowing with a pulse that matched her own breathing. Cold light danced within its core, like a frozen storm waiting to be awakened.

Eisvir’s voice returned, slower now. Measured. And for the first time, with a trace of something that might have been surprise.

That cannot be... That artifact was lost to time. It has not been seen in countless eons. Not since the fall of the last Dragon Empress.

Crystal reached for it, compelled by something deeper than curiosity. The moment her fingers brushed the surface, the chill in the room shifted. It no longer clawed at her skin or seeped into her bones. It coiled gently around her like mist clinging to a mountaintop.

The Frozen Tear , Eisvir continued. It was once worn by the Heir of the Frost Throne. A symbol of draconic royalty. A vessel of restraint for those whose blood awakened too early. Its return is impossible. And yet... it is here. For you.

Frozen Tear

Race Restriction: Dragonoid

Grade: Legacy (Unique)

Class: N/A

Accessory: Necklace

+10% Ice Affinity

+10% Water Affinity

+ Dragon Affinity

Description: The Frozen Tear is the symbol of Authority for the Ice Dragon Empress in the Court of Dragons. It has since been lost to time after the Dragon Princess disappeared countless years ago. Since then, The Ice Dragon Authority has dwindled and now resides as the lowest seat in the Dragon Court.

Crystal’s fingers closed around the necklace, and the moment she did, the ambient cold in the chamber responded like a loyal hound. The creeping frost along the ground withdrew, pulling back until the floor beneath her feet was visible once more. Her breath steadied. The weight in her chest lessened.

The Frozen Tear pulsed once with soft light, then dimmed to a low, constant glow.

Control has been granted,

Eisvir whispered.

Not mastery. But containment. The artifact recognizes your blood. It will help you suppress what lies within until you are strong enough to wield it.

What the others failed to notice was that this item was not the one that the Heartwood Tree had provided.

While Crystal had been focused on the change in her bones, Crystal’s original reward of skillbook and ring were quietly shattered and replaced by the necklace that had appeared in its place with a faint blue light.