The power of ice was being drawn out by Adam.
The ice loved the man, just as Crystal did. It followed obediently and revealed its power to Crystal once more.
At Adam's command, the ice swirled and began to freeze Crystal.
But the ice somehow vanished and seeped into Crystal's body.
Her emotions raged with lust, but the cold Frost caused her emotions to stabilize.
She was calm. Her lust was still there, but she could control it now.
"Ice Soul Maiden. Do you know how blessed you are, young one?" Adam asked.
Crystal felt a strange calmness as the rushing emotions that drove her head and heart wild began to be a distant sensation.
"I… I feel… calm."
"Hmp! What an insult to me. You stand before me, and you lusted every inch of my being, and now, you are calm. Such is the power of the Ice Soul Maiden. You remind me of that... wench." Adam gripped his fist as his unpleasant memories surfaced.
"I kept you alive for information. Now to more pressing matters… First, what is your name? What family do you hail? And what is the year now?" Adam asked.
"I am Crystal… Diante. And this is the year 561 of the Unified Era."
"Unified Era? If those who came after us named it according to the events… then they must have reset the years when a New Age dawned. And your family name is not among the names I recall. How annoying. Now I won't know how long I was asleep!" Adam frowned.
Crystal could not help but marvel at the ancient form of the man. Just how old was this dragon?
Adam walked towards the exit where the captors of Crystal left.
"Who opened the seals? Who were the ones who summoned me and offered you as a sacrifice?"
"I… I don't know. They…"
Adam's eyes flashed brightly and forcibly peered deep into the girl's memories.
In her memories, Crystal witnessed what her own mind would refuse to remember.
The carriage had carried two girls who were supposed to be sent to the Academy of Mages.
But a team of five men made quick work of the guards.
Only the leader of the mercenary group survived the first attacks and called out to the girls to flee.
Crystal escaped with her sister and ran out into the woods as the battle of Wizardry and Will continued.
But it didn't last long. The men slowly caught up to the two girls.
The memories were vague, and the Man-Dragon only saw a bright light flash, and the ice power erupted.
"Soul Sacrifice…" Adam identified the power.
Crystal was finally herself as the five men retreated from the ice that changed the terrain.
"Spare my sister and take me!" Crystal pleaded.
To her surprise, a man approached and, with the binding of magic, made a vow.
"I will take you, and only you, as long as you stop using your ice powers and offer yourself as a sacrifice to a dragon!"
At once, the memories faded.
Crystal saw herself in the room with Adam again.
"Truly, you are an Ice Soul Maiden. But your captors are no greenhorns. For them to know that and your power, it means they have some backing… Who would have thought I would have to fight a good battle now that I had just awakened?" He grinned as he glanced outside.
"They… they said you would fall into a deep slumber." Crystal spoke. Her heart wanted to save Adam.
"They guessed correctly. A dragon is a being of fire. While we aren't generally affected when we devour beings of ice, those blessed with the Frost that makes up their bodies are different. It is delicious for us, and the Frost will churn the flames to spark… But it will put us to slumber. So cowards aimed to kill me by feeding me with one soul such as yours."
Adam closed his eyes, and a strange gold glow covered him.
"Five men… And I sense they are as strong as those Challengers of Old! Impressive! This era still holds power that compares to my age… But this means… that I wasn't unsealed by the faithful ones I led… Those who opened the seal think me of some common dragon and sought to take my power..." Adam's eyes glowed with a strange light. His hatred and anger were being manifested as the dragon's astral form appeared once more.
Adam raised his hand, and Crystal suddenly levitated towards the corner. A strange purple force field covered her as she was dragged towards the corner.
Crystal was shocked as her body was slowly turning transparent, and soon, she was perfectly invisible.
"A Cloak spell…!" Crystal was amazed.
Several powerful spells also covered the shield and made a soundproof spell that locked all the sounds Crystal could make. The power lifted her and her small cloaked shield and placed her in the corner of the chamber.
Adam closed his eyes.
"There they are…" The man spoke as a flashing light appeared, and he stood again like the magnificent dragon.
"Stay there and remain quiet while I clear out these pests..."
Crystal could see many glyphs and signs flying over the dragon as his appearance turned dull and strange. The majestic and precious stones lost their light, and all that remained was a dark, greenish-brown scale.
Crystal was more familiar with this form as this was the appearance that her books would depict of what a dragon looked like.
Outside a great mountain, five men stood and waited outside.
Their garments were strange as their cloak masked and changed color to their surroundings. An untrained eye would not spot these men under the darkness of the night.
"Are we really going to waste such a fine specimen? That girl was lovely when that Ice power emerged." One of the men asked again as he sighed.
"I feel the same. That Crystal Diante looked quite breath-taking. I heard those with Ice Soul Maidens become perfect beauties like ice sculptures once their power is awakened. That Ice she released was truly beautiful! You should have let me play with her before we offered her to the dragon!" Another of the five men sighed.
"Are you stupid? Dragons only accept virgin offerings. Everyone knows that! We cannot let even a bit of her be tainted. Dragons can smell if a woman has been defiled!"
"Well, I don't need to defile her. Let her defile me." The man smiled with a lewd expression.
"Dragons have keen sense. A sacrifice like this has to be perfect! And you all have to be more serious. If the information is correct, the dragon sealed there is quite strong! Our organization has exerted a great deal of research to uncover this place. And finding the right sacrifice was already difficult enough! We're lucky that this girl has that rare soul constitution. An Ice Soul Maiden is several times superior to the usual Ice Heart Maidens!"
"Are you sure this is that legendary constitution? How can a country bumpkin have that constitution? Shouldn't it be the higher kingdoms that would have someone born of that body?"
ROAR!
BOOM!
A loud roar was heard, and a trembling occurred.
"...The heat within has disappeared."
"That means that dragon ate the sacrifice."
"Let's go!" The leader of the five ordered.