Epic of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System

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"One week left before the inheritance trials begin…" Emerald sighed, sitting over a stone-made chair inside of his room within the green mountain tower he had built inside of Drake's Divine Realm. This was a tower that he had made trying to imitate Surtr, a movable fortress of his own.

It was now being mostly inhabited by the Lizardmen Tribes that had entered Drake's Divine Realm for the meantime. Mostly out of security because even though there was a big spirit tree creating a barrier there, they didn't know if it could hold back yet another demon attack.

They were all holding back and waiting for them to confront Pandemonium, once he was out of the picture, the threat of demons showing up within Muspelheim should be completely nullified, although it wasn't the same for the rest of the world, as his body fragments were spread everywhere.

Emerald couldn't help but remember his entire life so far as he admired the beautiful sight, his sharp green eyes looking rather troubled with himself. Despite all the strength he has attained after training and cultivating both his soul and divinities to his limits, he still felt lacking.

"Am I good enough to accompany them?" He wondered. "Won't I just be dead weight?"

Even in his humanoid form, his hands were covered on his golden scales, his sharp claws gripping one another as he seemed stressed. He had grown to be able to handle stress better now, but deep down, he was still rather childish and unexperienced.

"I'm so grateful for everyone's help… But can I truly return the favor for everything they've done for me?" He continued sighing. "Mom… Siblings… What should I do?"

He didn't really want to go to their Draconic Realm and ask them, he felt embarrassed by going there more than needed. After they pampered him on his growth this entire time, he felt like if he tried to even ask them for advice, he would only make them more disappointed on him.

Emerald suffered with terrible depression deep down, something he hid from everyone in the façade of a slightly cheerful young man.

"My wings are healed, my magic is strong, and I got soul gear too! Yet…" He muttered. "I just… I am not good enough…"

Before he could continue his self-loathing tendencies, someone entered his large room out of nowhere, slamming the door open. A bright and feminine voice reverberated behind him.

"Emerald! These shields are amazing! I already gave one to dad! He liked it a lot! Oh, right, his Wind Dragon Bloodline Cultivation is almost reaching perfection too!"

It was Amehia, who was carrying with herself the giant rainbow-colored scale shield with a single arm. Despite being a Spirit Shaman, she had grown really strong in these last four months, not only has she continued cultivating her Mana Core into a Divine Core, but she evolved her Soul into a Divine Spiritual Soul that could harbor Spiritual Energy and produce it on its own, evolved her Spirit, Shaman, and Druid-related Divinities to their limits, and inherited, cultivated, and assimilated the Wind Dragon Bloodline Emerald lend to her and her father.

Therefore, her cute appearance as a lizardman woman had changed drastically, she now had long, green-, red-, and yellow-colored feathers growing from her head all the way down her hips, making her look really beautiful, her face became more refined and smaller, with larger, adorable golden eyes. Her claws became gold, and she gained a pair of wings above her shoulders, with feathers similar to those of Emerald. And she had also grown a pair of small, gold-colored horns on top of her head. She was the first one between she and her father to evolve her Wind Dragon Bloodline after a lot of cultivation and drinking Emerald's blood elixirs (made by Drake), so much that sneakily, Emerald's mother accepted her as a Wind Dragon already.

"A-Amehia?! I told you to knock before entering…" Emerald sighed. "Oh, the shields! Y-Yeah, they're very good. I am glad you liked it…"

"Yeah! Everyone saw from here when you and your friends made them… It was amazing- Huh?" Amehia walked towards Emerald. "What's wrong? A-Are you okay?"

"E-Eh? I'm fine…" Emerald sighed, looking elsewhere. Amehia, however, knew that there was something wrong. After all, as a Druid, she could sense spiritual signals and mana fluctuations more acutely than anybody, and dragons happened to let them out very strongly based on their emotions, as innately magical beings of great power. It was something they couldn't control.

"No, you're not okay…"

She walked towards him and patted his shoulders, caressing his feathered wings.

"A-Ah, but…" Emerald was trying to find excuses to justify his own self-hatred, born from the mistakes he had committed, which he couldn't get over with.

"A-And I love you!" Amehia blushed.

"EH?!" Emerald gasped.

"I love you, I really like you! Like, romantic way! I-I love you a lot…" Amehia mustered the strength. "I don't want to see you crying, because that breaks my heart!" She kept crying. "Don't cry, please… I don't want to see your beautiful eyes crying…"

She hugged him tightly, resting her face over his chest.

The warmth he felt.

The love he felt.

Something surged within him.

His love slowly washed away his emotions, as he felt the love of someone else embracing him.

He didn't feel as hollow anymore.

And at the same time, he felt bad with himself for making the girl he loved, and that loved him, cry over his own stupid thoughts.

But this time, it was a self-hatred that he wanted to remedy.

And he remembered something his mother once said.

"Emerald, you will experience many new things in the world outside. One of them might be love itself… Once you find that person, make sure to never let them go. Be it a giant, a human, an elf, a lizardman, whoever it is, that person that manages to love you, is special!" She said. "Treasure their love for you, as much as you treasure your love for them."

Emerald quickly cleansed the tears of his face, and then placed his hands over the scaled girl's shoulders.

"Amehia!"

"H-Huh?"

"I-I love you too!"

"A-Ah…? R-Really?!"

"Yeah!"

Emerald finally decided to muster the strength to say it.

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