Let's Train Heroine

The town lay silent beneath a blanket of ice and snow. What had once been a bustling settlement was now trapped in a frozen grip, with frost claiming the buildings, streets, and every living thing it touched. Lucan walked through the deserted streets, his breath forming thick clouds in the frigid air.

His boots crunched through layers of frost, each step echoing eerily in the cold, lifeless landscape. The sky above was a dull gray, heavy with snow that drifted lazily to the ground, adding to the already suffocating silence.

The temperature was dropping rapidly. He could feel the cold seeping into his bones, his magic barely keeping him from freezing solid. He pulled his cloak tighter around him, his eyes scanning the town. Large sections of it were already encased in ice. Entire houses stood frozen, their windows shattered, icicles hanging from the roofs like deadly spears.

The streets were lined with statues of people who had not escaped in time, their frozen bodies locked in expressions of terror. Lucan stepped past them without a second glance.

"This is no ordinary cold," he muttered to himself, his breath visible in the freezing air. "This is the work of Bing."

Lucan knew why he was here. This wasn't about saving the people trapped in their homes, those who were still alive. He had no illusions about his role in this fight. He was not a hero. He had come for Bing, the Ancient Ice Dragon, who had been sent by Nyx to freeze and destroy the town. Nyx's plan was clear: eliminate all humans, and this part of thing is done by Bing.

But Lucan wasn't here to stop her out of some misguided sense of duty. No, he had come to confront her because he knew that if he didn't, she would eventually come for him. She would grow stronger, and when that time came, he might not survive. It was better to face her now, while he still had a chance to strike first.

As Lucan moved deeper into the heart of the town, the temperature plummeted even further. He could feel the air itself crackling with cold magic, a sensation that sent shivers down his spine. His instincts screamed at him to turn back, but he pressed forward. The only sounds were the howling wind and the crunch of ice under his feet.

Finally, he reached the town square. The ground was frozen solid, the fountain at its center a jagged sculpture of ice. He could see the frost creeping up the walls of the surrounding buildings, consuming everything in its path. The town's clock tower, standing tall in the distance, had stopped ticking, its hands frozen at an hour long past.

The cold here was unbearable, even for someone as skilled in magic as Lucan.

"This is it," he whispered, his breath visible in the icy air. "She's here."

The sky above began to darken, the clouds thickening as if in response to Lucan's presence. The wind picked up, carrying with it a biting chill that cut through even his magical defenses. And then, he felt it—a massive surge of energy, cold and ancient, descending upon the town.

From the swirling snow, a shadow began to form. At first, it was nothing more than a silhouette, but as it grew closer, Lucan saw her—the full, terrifying form of Bing, the Ancient Ice Dragon.

She descended from the sky with a low, thunderous roar, her massive wings causing snowstorms with every beat. Her scales shimmered like glaciers, each one reflecting the dull light of the sun. Her eyes, pale blue and devoid of mercy, locked onto Lucan from across the square. With every movement, she radiated a cold so intense that even the ground beneath her seemed to crack and freeze further.

Her long, sinuous body coiled in the air, casting a shadow over the town.

Bing landed with a deafening crash, her claws sinking deep into the frozen earth. The sheer size of her was overwhelming. She towered over the buildings, her head held high as she stared down at Lucan, her icy breath turning the air around her into a swirling vortex of snow and frost. The temperature dropped even lower, so cold that the very air seemed to freeze in place.

Her voice, when she spoke, was like the crack of glaciers breaking apart. Cold, sharp, and filled with malice.

"Human," she sneered, her voice echoing in the frozen silence. "Did you really think you could confront me alone? Foolish."

Lucan didn't flinch. "I thought it best to deal with you before you grew into a larger problem."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Bing let out a low, rumbling laugh. "Is that what you think this is? A minor inconvenience? You have no idea what power you're facing."

Her wings unfurled, sending a blast of icy wind toward Lucan. He raised his hand, a barrier of light forming around him, but even that flickered under the sheer cold of her presence.

"You're wasting your time," she continued, her massive claws digging into the frozen ground. "You may have some strength, but against me, in this form? You're nothing."

Lucan narrowed his eyes. He knew she wasn't wrong. In her full dragon form, Bing was a force of nature, an unstoppable blizzard of ice and frost. He could feel the sheer power radiating from her, the ancient magic that coursed through her veins. She was stronger than him, no question. But strength alone wasn't enough to win a fight.

"I don't need to be stronger," he said quietly. "I just need to be smarter."

Lucan's mind raced. He couldn't take Bing head-on, not like this. Her full dragon form was far too powerful for him to challenge directly. He needed to find a weakness, a flaw in her seemingly impenetrable defenses. Summoning the power of his Eye of Obsidian, he activated Void Sight, his vision sharpening as the world around him shifted.

Through the haze of ice and snow, he could see it—the small, vulnerable spots in her armor-like scales. There were gaps, tiny as they were, around her joints, and her underbelly wasn't as well protected. It was a slim chance, but it was something. However with this power, he got so much unnecessary information as well that it hurt him in the brain but it's okay, he can endure.

With a flick of his wrist, Lucan summoned a surge of water magic, aiming at the frost surrounding him. The water collided with the ice, hoping to shatter it. Bing, however, merely smirked.

"Your tricks won't work here," she growled, her wings beating as another wave of cold slammed into him.

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The moment Bing opened her maw, the temperature in the air plummeted to unbearable levels. An overwhelming blizzard burst forth, not just freezing the air but entire sections of the town. Buildings that had already been coated in frost now stood as crystalline statues, encased in solid ice. Streets were engulfed by the storm, turning into frozen wastelands.

The ground beneath Lucan's feet cracked and splintered, shards of ice jutting upwards as the storm ravaged everything in its path.

Lucan barely had a moment to react. His instincts screamed at him, urging him to move before the wave of ice swallowed him whole. With a quick flick of his hand, he activated Shadow Step, his form dissolving into the shadows that still lingered in the alleyways and corners of the frozen town.

His body blurred for a split second, and in an instant, he reappeared in the shadows of a nearby building, just as the place he had been standing was buried in a thick layer of ice.

"She's faster than I thought," Lucan muttered under his breath, already feeling the bite of the cold numbing his fingers.

From his new vantage point, Lucan could see the devastation that Bing had unleashed. The town's central square was now a frozen wasteland, with towering spires of ice and snow forming unnatural barriers around him. The sheer scale of her ice storm was staggering, and Bing, towering in her dragon form, hovered above the chaos, her massive wings spreading icy gusts in all directions.

Bing let out a thunderous laugh, her voice echoing through the blizzard. "You can run, Lucan, but you can't hide forever. The ice will consume you, just like it consumed this pathetic town."

Lucan's eyes narrowed. He knew she was right. His Shadow Step allowed him to move between shadows, but it was limited. The storm had already started wiping out those precious pockets of darkness. The brighter the environment, the harder it would be for him to teleport.

Bing shifted her attention toward him, her eyes narrowing. With a mighty roar, she unleashed another wave of her icy breath, this time aiming directly at Lucan's position. The sheer power behind the attack was terrifying, the ice crackling as it raced toward him, covering everything in its path with thick, impenetrable frost.

Lucan moved quickly, teleporting again using Shadow Step, barely avoiding being caught by the icy breath.

[The Void Sight and Shadow Step are ability of Eye of Obsidian, he got from the trial he did.]