—— ❖ —— —— ❖ —— —— ❖ ——
Morning came.
Mist pooled near the waterline, lifting in thin strands. Dew needled the grass while insects drifted through the air, leaving faint trails of essence behind.
When the sun's first beams announced themselves through the cracks in the cabin wall, Arion groaned awake from his well-earned rest.
He stretched, joints clicking in protest, then got to work. A quick swig from his leather skin, a bit of light exercise to start the morning: push-ups, pull-ups, squats. By the time sweat beaded on his skin, he'd cooled off with a dip in the nearby spring.
Another round of fish sizzled over the firepit — his new life: simple but stable.
He was beginning to form a routine in this strange world. Oddly enough, he was accepting his new reality faster than he'd expected; a new life, a second chance.
…
Morning meant catching more fish from the river and refilling his leather skin. Late morning to afternoon meant practice — experimenting with the strange force now flowing through him.
Seems like I've gotten the hang of basic water energy transfer: water to gas and even this weird jelly-water phase. Now let's try bringing the temperature down. Ice is necessary for my fish, of course.
He rolled his shoulders and stepped to the riverbank. Extending a hand over a small patch of water, he felt energy stir through his veins — that faint electric hum of circulation flowing toward his palm.
This time, he inverted the process. Instead of feeding heat into the medium, he pulled it.
Alright… same focus, same motion. Just colder this time.
Energy surged from his core to his fingertips, the faint hum of circulation building. The water rippled tight— then hissed.
A puff of steam hissed upwards, splashing his face.
"Cold, you idiot! Not boiled," he muttered to himself, wiping his forehead.
He rested and tried again, narrowing his focus. The current responded, rippling outward in uneven waves. For a moment the surface shimmered, tiny crystals flashing like stars — then the reaction collapsed.
The water simply went still again, leaving him with a single droplet of ice clinging to his knuckle. It melted instantly.
Steam hissed over his knuckles, sharp as nettles, the smell of mineral water and scorched skin tangling in the air.
"One crystal. Fantastic. Truly groundbreaking." His tone was desert-dry, sarcasm distilled.
He exhaled, shaking the stiffness from his hand.
There's a delay — too much build-up before anything happens. Maybe the medium's fighting me?
He leaned closer, studying the ripples reforming around his reflection.
It's there… the energy wants to settle, not spike. I'm missing something in the conversion.
With a tired grunt, he stood. "Alright. We'll call that… attempt number five."
The river gurgled back in agreement, unimpressed.
…
—— ❖ —— —— ❖ —— —— ❖ ——
By mid-afternoon, the count hit double digits. Arion dragged a hand down his face.
"Attempt number… ten."
Still, he extended his hand.
This time, he didn't force it. He let the current's rhythm sync with his breathing, eyes following the slow pulse of sunlight through the water.
Steady now. Focus on transfer — not strength. Temperature's a slope, not a wall.
Internal energy trickled down his arm, smooth this time, no erratic spikes. The water rippled in answer, tension forming at the boundary layer.
There. That's it. Don't rush it.
The reaction was immediate.
Surface tension rippled, molecules slowing as he siphoned thermal energy away faster than equilibrium could respond. Droplets froze mid-motion, crystallizing in concentric rings. A thin frost halo spread outward from his palm.
The sound — the minute crack of forming ice lattices — was strangely satisfying.
He adjusted the flow, tracing the phase curve in his head.
"Pressure drop stable… conduction gradient holding…"
The water hardened from liquid to translucent solid, the air misting as condensation flashed into fog.
A crisp crackle stitched through the quiet as ice crawled across the surface.
When it finished, a sheet of clean ice sat where the water had been, edges still steaming faintly from the rapid temperature shift.
Arion grinned, raising his hand in triumph.
"Yes! Experiment successful — finally! Surely that deserves an A+, haha!"
The frozen patch gleamed under the sunlight like a mirror.
He crouched beside it, admiring the precision of the transformation.
"But I can't be casting spells without names. Blasphemous!"
He rubbed his chin, squinting in mock concentration.
"You… shall be called…"
A dramatic pause.
"Frost Snap!"
He chuckled to himself, utterly satisfied with both the result and the name.
—— ❖ —— —— ❖ —— —— ❖ ——
Satisfied with his spell naming, Arion went on to use Frost Snap. Not having mastery over it, he needed to completely ingrain it in his head, so there was no room for lag.
I think I'm getting close. It's a fairly simple reaction and transfer, so it shouldn't take too long until I've mastered it.
"Frost Snap, a flick of the wrist and—"
In that moment, a shadow glided past the sun, bursting through the air and shooting into the river, causing a wave of water to surge outward.
"-Snap!"
Arion's magic reaction collided with the river's mini-tsunami. While not applying too much energy into the spell, the reaction didn't result in ice but snow — enveloping him completely, like someone disguising themselves as a snowman.
"ARG—Fuck! That's it! You—"
As soon as Arion cleared enough snow from his face, his anger vanished, body frozen from what he saw.
There, in the river, something big was half submerged. Only when it lifted its head from the water did he see its full horror.
A long, narrow head — bronze beak glinting wet in the light.
Scales ran up its neck like plated armor, each ridge flashing gold as water poured off. The body beneath was lean and corded with muscle, half-feathered, half-scaled, steam rolling from its skin where river met heat.
It stood nearly three meters at the shoulder, wings spanning close to ten. Bronze and wet feathers clung to a frame built for speed, not mass — two hundred kilos of precision and power. The neck added another meter of reach, giving it that predatory sway, like every breath measured distance.
Then the wings spread — broad, double-jointed things, every feather cut sharp like metal. Sunlight turned the edges white-hot. Muscles and skin breathed vapor as the sun evaporated the water, the air around it shimmering with heat and motion.
In a blink, it rose, landing hard on the bank, talons biting mud, eyes burning amber. For a heartbeat, it just watched him, cocking its head — slow and silent — like it was deciding whether he was worth the effort.
What the hell—
Ah, yes, the local wildlife. I had completely forgotten. Well, it was only about time, I guess.
Following his natural instinct, his right foot raised half an inch off the floor to slowly retreat backward, but the creature only saw this as an invitation.
"Ha… haha, nice chicken?" Hands up — universal language for me friend, please don't eat me.
SCREEEEAA!
The creature let out a predatory screech, signalling its intent to hunt — and Arion, unfortunately, was its prey.
It tore forward, wings slicing through air, moving at unnatural speed. Naturally, Arion went for his spear, clutching it in his hand and raising it, but at the last second before collision, he swiftly dodged. Skill? Adrenaline? Or just a fight-or-flight response — who knows.
Its long, razor-sharp beak outstretched, aiming for Arion's neck, but he was already beside it. Scraping across its body, he thought to himself that he wouldn't waste this opportunity.
Taking the initiative, he planted the spear right into it, trying to deal damage wherever he could. Unfortunately, his DIY spear was not strong enough against the creature's scales and thick feathers.
The spear shuddered, fibre splitting, wood splintered and snapped from the stronger opposite force.
"Crap!"
Wincing, he dropped to the floor, rolling. Not having time to grieve his broken fishing companion, he rose, turned — and just before he ran—
"Wait, what the hell am I doing?"
He spun on his heel back around to see the creature adjusting its trajectory, coming straight for him a second time.
"Hey, asshole — today's not your lucky day!" He said grinning.
Arion raised his right hand. His internal energy hummed through his arm, reacting with the surrounding external energies. The temperature dropped; ice crystals formed. The spell he'd practiced time and time again — only this time, aimed at something alive.
"Frost Snap!"
The words were almost like a trigger. Pure whiteness bloomed in front of him in a heartbeat — dirt, grass, water droplets froze instantly. Like a curse of ice and frost, it stripped the heat from anything in its way.
The timing and range were perfect. The creature didn't even have time to react. Still coated in water, it became a flawless conduit for his spell.
The freeze came fast — unnaturally so. Veins of ice raced upward at terrifying speed, spreading over scales and feathers alike.
Crk-crk-crk!
Anything wet, from bottom up, was at the mercy of Arion's temperature transfer spell. Heat ripped away faster than feasibly possible, and the air cracked. The creature was frozen completely solid within a few milliseconds.
Soundless. Merciless. Absolute.
Before Arion could explode with his smug ego, he threw himself to the side as an oversized chicken ice sculpture came barrelling through. The ice had frozen it but hadn't fully stopped its momentum.
A wet slip followed by a heavy thump.
Arion stood, turned and stared at fallen ice sculpture, observing the results of his spell.
"The Frost Snap spell seems highly effective paired up with wet surfaces, that's for sure. But without, it would most likely produce slower and less effective results."
After Arion made some mental notes, he felt his internal energy waver, having already used a fair amount before the initial confrontation. He admitted he'd best head back now and rest — better safe than sorry.
…
Whilst making his way towards the heavier tree line, he heard cracks — bursts of liquid and gurgling noises. A shiver went down his spine. Every instinct screamed at him to run, but instead, he turned.
The very ice sculpture he had seen frozen had almost come back to life. More enraged than hunting, it barrelled unrelentingly toward Arion.
Tired, he hit the dirt, barely missing the creature's talons.
In that brief moment, he caught a glimpse of it — still frozen in places, heavily bleeding, parts of it completely torn open. Its body looked like something on the brink of death.
It came at him without care, wanting to at least take him with it. Arion stumbled to his feet. Seeing that this situation was spiraling out of control, he bolted toward the thicker forest where the creature would have a harder time maneuvering.
But it was quick. Even in its horrible condition, it swung its half-destroyed limbs at one of the trees — just missing Arion but blasting a huge chunk out of it.
Arion took off, literally flying into the air — actually getting decent air time — before smashing into another tree nearby, just before hitting the ground.
"Guuuhuu-gahh!" The sound tore out of him as his chest hit the trunk, air leaving in one violent gust.
He managed to get back up, wind was knocked out of him but he was too frantic to worry about his condition at this point. He just wanted to get away from this twisted ice creature.
Sprinting again, he realized something strange — silence. In the middle of this horrible dilemma, the quiet was almost worse.
It didn't last long.
Sound exploded, cutting off the silence — something huge slammed into the ground ahead, shaking the trees. Arion stumbled back, hands covering his eyes from the sudden burst of dust and ice. Through the chaos, he saw it: two murderous glowing eyes staring back at him.
The dust settled. The forest stilled, silent.
Drained and tired, both of them stood face to face.
But Arion noticed something — a sliver of glitter, a faint gleam inside one of its open wounds. He'd seen it before. It looked like the same orb from the fish, only larger.
With few options left, he had to gamble.
Arion caught the creature's movement first.
The wings. Duck — then go for the orb.
And that was exactly what he did.
Dropping low, the creature's damaged but still razor-sharp wings sliced the air above him, missing by inches but tearing clean through the trees behind.
This was his opening — his one chance. Not having any real offensive magic, he had to improvise or die.
He circulated the last drops of his internal energy into his right arm, letting it react with the surrounding air just like when he cast Frost Snap.
But this time was different.
Work. Please work. C'mon!
Ice crystals began to form. The air instantly cooled; temperature dropped sharply — but this time, he froze his own arm. Wincing in pain, he shaped his hand and fingers into a point — a spearhand.
Now reinforced with solid ice, he had crafted the perfect weapon for the job. With everything happening in one motion, there was no delay, no time for the creature to react.
With all his strength, he sent his arm flying toward the target, twisting his hips and turning his body into a spring. From foot to fingertip, he was a human piston in motion.
Ice met flesh. He plunged his spearhand of ice straight into where the orb was.
A sudden wail tore through the forest. The creature stumbled backward a few steps.
Yanking his arm free, Arion retreated, unsure if it was enough.
After a few tense seconds, the creature went silent. Blood stopped flowing. Cracking sounds followed — then an explosion of glass and dust.
With a twitch, the creature crashed down. No movement. Just silence, and one adrenaline-powered heartbeat.
Pulse spiking, breath ragged, Arion stood there trembling. Then, with a long sigh of relief, he finally succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed — brushing down a tree, landing on the soft mossy floor.
His right arm twitched; frost still clung to his skin like frostbite.
"Now… stay… dead… goddamn chicken."
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Field Entry:
Frost Snap — Thermodynamics / Control
──────────────────────────────
My internal energy clamps a point; external energy drains heat from the medium.
Moisture crystallises instantly.
On Earth, this requires cryogenics (liquid nitrogen).
Here, this new energy accelerates cooling so rapidly that entropy seems bypassed.
Science:
Phase transition water → ice at unnatural rate;
External energy acts as an energy sink that Earth physics lacks.
In Layman Terms:
I rip the heat out of anything near me until it flash-freezes.
It's clean, quick, and makes things shatter like glass — great for ice cubes, terrible for pretty much everything else.
Maxim: "One wrong step is all it takes."