The sun rose pale and weak over the jagged peaks of the Frosthorn Domain, casting faint blue shadows that stretched across the frozen plains. Ashura Bellet's breath billowed into the air in controlled streams, his body a coiled coil of energy and patience.
He stood barefoot on the ice, arms crossed, eyes closed, feeling the faint currents of elemental energy that hummed beneath the frost. This was not just training, he reminded himself—it was adaptation, evolution, and survival all wrapped into one.
"Transcendent Wrath," he murmured. "Level one… barely scratching the surface."
Lightning sparked faintly along his arms, black as obsidian streaked with his signature amethyst hue. Each pulse was synchronized with the wind and the chill around him, a delicate balance of storm and frost, his aura radiating with deadly precision.
He began with meditation, letting his consciousness drift through the domain. Every ridge, every crack in the ice, every breath of wind carried subtle magic. Even the frost itself seemed alive, responding to his presence. By the end of an hour, he could feel minute changes in temperature, shifts in mana currents, and the faint life signatures of monsters lurking far beneath the ice.
Ashura's first real engagement that morning was against a frost tiger, sleek and muscular, its breath forming clouds of freezing mist. He tracked it as it circled, calculating distance, timing, and potential openings.
He didn't strike immediately. Instead, he let it charge, absorbing the weight of its momentum into his legs. When it lunged, he pivoted, sending a ribbon of amethyst lightning into the ice beneath its claws. The frozen ground cracked, sending shards up to slice through the air like daggers.
The tiger skidded, growling, and Ashura capitalized on the opening, delivering a strike with black lightning infused into his blade, the energy screaming along the metal. The frost hissed, vaporizing into mist as the tiger staggered back.
"Not enough," he muttered, stepping back and watching the tiger recover. "Push harder. Break your limits, Ashura."
He repeated this over and over, alternating speed strikes, environmental manipulation, and elemental synergy. Frost tigers, frost bears, and even ice serpents became his instructors, each encounter teaching him patience, timing, and the subtle art of combining Transcendent Wrath with battlefield awareness.
Midday, Ashura shifted focus to elemental control, standing atop a cliff as gusts of wind tore across the ice. He called upon the black lightning of the Nameless One, letting it weave into the frost around him. Cracks in the ice shimmered with dark energy as amethyst sparks leapt from his fingers, melting sections and then instantly freezing them into sharper, more dangerous formations.
"You can't just rely on raw strength," he whispered, eyes narrowed. "Everything interacts. Storm, frost, ice, terrain… even the smallest detail counts."
He practiced fusing elemental energy with his strikes, seeing how lightning could channel through frost, how ice could amplify impact, and how wind could carry his aura farther than his reach. By evening, the surrounding ice hummed faintly, responding as if alive, carrying the shockwaves of his energy through the domain.
When night fell, Ashura turned inward. His body was exhausted but his mind sharp. He seated himself on a frozen plateau, legs crossed, arms extended. His Transcendent Wrath flared faintly, the black halo above his head glowing against the aurora-lit sky.
"Focus," he murmured. "Sense everything. Every monster, every element, every divine presence in this land."
For hours, he practiced sensing life, tracing mana currents, and reading faint divine signatures. Even the faint remnants of ancient magic buried beneath the ice were visible to him now, small pulses that could influence combat strategy. He let the wind whip past him, letting his body grow accustomed to extreme conditions, building stamina and resistance to frostbite and elemental attacks.
By the time he opened his eyes, the northern sky shimmered with auroras, reflecting against his black-and-purple aura. He felt sharper, stronger, and more aware of his own limits.
As he stood, surveying the domain, his system pulsed softly, a holographic interface materializing in front of him.
[SYSTEM REPORT]
Level: 105 → 107
Health: Stable, +8% maximum
Mana: Stabilized, +10% regeneration
Stamina: +15% output efficiency
Abilities Improved: Transcendent Wrath (Control +1),
Frost-Black Conduction (Efficiency +1)
Reward: 500 system points
New Quest Available: Year of Frost – Monthly Checkpoint
Ashura smirked faintly.
"Every day, inch by inch. I'll be ready… and these monsters? They won't even see it coming when I return."
Three months into Ashura's training, the Amethyst Guild had spread out to pursue their own growth.
Kai led combat drills, testing small units against monsters in the southern plains. Other members experimented with magic, crafting, and battlefield strategy. Everos, in his High Marshal form, stood watch over Arlena Bellet and Gina Bellet, occasionally engaging them in mock training drills—though mostly he spent his time watching human dramas, speaking with exaggerated knighthood tones.
"Sir Everos," Gina teased, "you're supposed to be protecting us, not arguing with soap operas."
"Milady, strategy requires understanding human emotion… even if it is portrayed fictionally," Everos replied, perfectly serious.
By the end of the third month, Ashura had begun naming his wraiths, establishing ranks:
Erevos – High Marshal (assigned by Ashura; supreme command over all wraiths in his absence) Shadowfang – Head Commander (specializes in reconnaissance and offensive support) Obsidian – Commander (defensive strategist, terrain manipulation) Amethys – High Knight (primary combat support, elemental synergy)
Each wraith's strength now scaled with its rank, and they could materialize physically if called—but only under Ashura's command. They shared a mental link with him, allowing instant communication over great distances.
Ashura's eyes glimmered faintly as he surveyed the frozen horizon, the domain alive with monsters and potential.
"A year of frost… let's see who survives it. And more importantly," he muttered, black and purple lightning crackling faintly along his arms, "let's see how strong I can become before the world even knows I'm coming."
The first month was only the beginning. The Year of Frost had just begun.