"Phew!" Nox exhaled as he kicked the last ice construct, sending it flying through the air before slamming into the wall.
His sharp eyes scanned the training platform. All around him, there was nothing but shattered ice constructs and jagged shards of ice jutting from the ground. Some parts of the walls and pillars were covered by thick layers of frost.
"Great job," Drake shouted from the side as he slowly approached Nox, a light smile on his face and an indistinguishable gleam of admiration in his eyes.
He had watched Nox train for the past few days, taking only an hour-long break. Drake prided himself on being very hardworking and often received praise from others.
But after watching Nox, he realized the latter's work ethic was on another level, igniting a competitive fire within him.
Normally, if it were up to him, Drake would take at least a three-hour break—or more—before resuming his training. But now, he didn't dare to slack off.
Little did he know, the reason Nox had been so relentless was that he wanted to complete his mission in FrostPire as quickly as possible. FrostPire was beautiful—no, the entire Dragon Realm was breathtaking—but Nox had a gnawing feeling that something was terribly wrong back home.
That was why he gave himself so little time to rest, hoping to perfect his unique fighting style. His approach blended the swiftness of an assassin with the savagery of a berserker.
At first, it had been difficult to merge the two styles while maintaining composure in high-tension moments.
The real challenge was keeping Divine Velocity active during combat. Moving at such insane speeds had its peaks, but it also came with its downsides.
Nox had no issue using it to flee or launch sudden burst attacks to catch his opponent off guard.
But keeping it on at all times was incredibly difficult.
"It was hard at first to balance my speed and fight like a berserker at the same time," Nox admitted to himself. "But like they say—practice makes perfect."
"Now that you're done with your training, it's time I introduce you to the rest of the team," Drake said with a smile.
"Sure," Nox replied with a nod.
Since King Dracos had important matters to attend to, he left Drake in charge of overseeing Nox's training. Meanwhile, Zara had gone to explore the city—it had been too long since she last left FrostPire.
"Before you meet them," Drake said suddenly, stopping Nox in his tracks, "the others already know your real identity since they were present when everything went down. But don't worry—they're not like the others. You'll get along just fine."
"Okay." Nox shrugged as they ascended the stairs leading outside.
After leaving the secluded training ground, Nox and Drake headed to the Dragon Colosseum. There, five figures were training fiercely, as if their lives were on the line.
Nox and Drake observed them for a while, not wanting to interrupt, but their presence was soon noticed. One by one, the five stopped their training and rushed over.
Nox detected no hostility in their gazes—only curiosity and easygoing confidence.
The first to reach Nox was a tall, broad-shouldered young man with spiky blue hair and a cocky grin. He slapped Drake on the back before pointing at Nox.
"So, this is the guy? The one who wiped the floor with you?"
Drake scratched his head, looking embarrassed.
Meanwhile, the tall young man gave Nox an exaggerated once-over before nodding in approval. "I'm Brutus. You can call me Bru, though. Everyone does."
Before Nox could respond, a slender girl with short white hair shoved Brutus aside.
"Ignore him. He talks too much." She placed a hand on her hip, her icy-blue eyes assessing Nox with mild amusement. "I'm Kasiy. And thank you for taking revenge on our behalf."
"Revenge?" Nox raised a confused brow.
A chuckle came from behind them. "By 'revenge,' she means kicking Drake's ass."
The speaker was a laid-back young man with silver hair tied back into a messy ponytail. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and he carried himself with an air of boredom.
"I'm Fenix. I don't like unnecessary drama, so let's skip the formalities—how much do you charge per hour to beat Drake up?"
"Hey, hey! Seriously?!" Drake felt speechless and helpless. It seemed all his friends wanted to see him get beaten up.
"Tsk, bunch of backstabbers!"
Nox smirked. "Maybe an elemental crystal. I'll do it for three hours."
Fenix smiled bitterly and stepped back, a clear sign that he couldn't afford the price.
Two others approached next. One was a dark-haired girl who barely reached Nox's shoulder, while the other was a burly young man with twin scars running down his left cheek.
The girl tilted her head, studying Nox with sharp green eyes before smiling. "I'm Mira. I specialize in support magic, so if you ever need healing, you know who to call."
The scarred warrior beside her chuckled. "Don't let her fool you. She's more dangerous than she looks." His deep voice carried a hint of amusement. "Name's Toren. I don't talk much, so don't expect long conversations."
Drake clapped his hands together. "Well, that's everyone. Told you they'd be easy to get along with."
Brutus threw an arm over Nox's shoulder like they were already close friends. "So, Nox, you any good at drinking? 'Cause I say we all celebrate the new guy properly."
Kasiy rolled her eyes. "Or we could do something that doesn't involve getting blackout drunk."
"Yes, Kasiy is right." Drake nodded. "I'll go fetch Zara, then we'll train. The competition is just three days away, and we need to be in top shape."
After Zara arrived, the group spent the next three days training and familiarizing themselves with each other.
Three days flew by in the blink of an eye, and the most anticipated competition in the kingdom finally arrived.
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