Lucian looked at the dragon, his breath misting in the air. "Let me ask you something. Why is it called the Heart of Ice and not Cold and Stillness?"
The Dragon of White didn't answer immediately. "Let's walk across that long bridge first," she said, her voice echoing. "I will explain it to you as we go."
They began to walk. The bridge beneath them was made of water, but it was frozen in time—suspended in a state of absolute Stillness. Lucian found he could walk across the liquid surface as if it were solid rock.
"As I said earlier," the Dragon spoke, her long form rippling gracefully, "Ice magic cannot function without its respective Authority. It is the same for every advanced element."
"And what is that Authority?" Lucian asked.
"Coldness and Stillness," he answered himself, remembering his lessons.
"That's right," the Dragon replied. "This indicates that the Authorities are fundamentally different from the element they represent. The Ice is the result; the Authorities are the law. This tree symbolizes the Ice, but the Authorities are represented by something far greater."
"Something greater?" Lucian asked. "Is it linked to your name as the Incarnation of Cold and Stillness?"
"Yes! And she is my mother. My creator. The Goddess of Ice." The Dragon gestured toward the towering shelves filled with ancient volumes. "She holds complete Authority. She knows better than anyone why Ice exists, how it exists, and what its purpose is. She wrote those books herself. Later, you will learn from them."
Lucian looked around in confusion. "Hey, hey, wait. I know I'm an Ice user—I learned it all from my mother—but what does a Goddess have to do with me?"
The Dragon gave him a blunt, sideways look. "Why ask me? Ask her." She stopped abruptly. "But do that later. We're already here. You can stop now; I'll go and get what you want."
Lucian nodded and waited. The dragon walked toward a stone slab that served as a pedestal. She placed both palms on the table and waited. A moment later, a small, formless ball of white light appeared, floating just above her hands. She turned and walked back to Lucian.
"Here."
Lucian held out his hands, palms up. The formless white ball drifted slowly toward him, hovering just above his skin. "What is this?"
"That is what you're looking for," the Dragon said. "The thing you were meant to find here."
"Isn't it supposed to be a staff?"
"About that..." The Dragon sighed. "Since the staff contains my will, it gained a mind of its own. It chose to become formless. I eventually realized that when someone seeks it, the staff reads their heart to find their deepest desire and takes that form."
She looked at the sphere curiously. "When you entered the cave, it searched your heart and found... nothing. No greed, no specific image. So, it stayed like this. Did you really come here without any desire?"
"Well," Lucian replied, "my desire was just to find the heirloom my mother wanted me to find. I didn't know what it was, so I only had the purpose of searching."
As he spoke, the ball began to shift. It was a show of its own will—flickering into a circle, then a triangle, then a square, then a pyramid, as if proving it could become anything.
"It takes the form of what the user desires most..." Lucian murmured. He thought long and hard, but his mind remained a blank page.
"Try thinking of something you want to see," the Dragon prompted, her tone blunt but helpful. "Anything. Since it is formless, it will become whatever you imagine. The form, the weight, the effect—just think it."
Lucian closed his eyes. He didn't think of power. He thought of a toy his mother had given him when he was six years old. He went back to that day in the market.
"Mom! I want this! Please!"
His mother, Phersephonny, had looked at the small wooden trinket. It had a clean, light scent of fresh-cut wood. It was smooth to the touch, painted in vibrant reds and blues that caught the light. It felt balanced and solid in his tiny hand.
"Just three bronze, madam," the stall owner had said.
Phersephonny handed over the coins and whispered into Lucian's ear, "Don't tell your father about this. Hehe."
In the present, the formless light in Lucian's palms grew mischievous, swirling rapidly before finally calming down. It solidified. Lucian had tried to recreate this toy many times with his own magic, but it always felt hollow. Now, he held a perfect replica. Tears welled in his right eye—not from sadness, but from pure joy.
The Dragon of White rolled her eyes. "Oh look, another tear. How many times are you going to cry today?"
Lucian wiped his face quickly. "I'm not crying. These are tears of joy!"
"Yeah, yeah. Let's move to the next thing." The Dragon turned. "Wait here, I'll get the letter."
"Wait," Lucian called out. "Why are you walking? Aren't you supposed to fly?"
The Dragon stopped and stared at him as if he had said something incredibly stupid. "Is it forbidden for a dragon to walk on her own feet?"
"Well, no, but dragons usually fly and stay in nests. You're a weird dragon—your body is long and thin. Not like the ones in the stories."
"That's because I'm a Serpent Dragon," she snapped. "We rely on our tails and our speed, unlike the heavy, winged types. We are just as powerful, boy. It depends on age, not wings."
She turned and walked out through a massive door. A few minutes later, she returned with a glowing white object hovering above her.
"What's that?"
"The letter. I had to freeze it in time so it wouldn't rot away before I could give it to you."
The frozen letter drifted toward Lucian. As it reached his palm, the wooden toy lost its shape, melting back into the formless sphere.
"Why did it turn back?" Lucian asked.
"Because you no longer have a lingering desire for that form," the Dragon explained. "But you know how it works now. Just imagine it again when you need it."
Lucian looked at the letter. It was cold, stiff, and completely immobile. "It's still frozen. How do I open it?"
The Dragon smirked. "That is your test. Unfreeze it."
"How?"
"You're an Ice mage," she said, her voice challenging. "You know that Ice is the ultimate Stillness—the lack of all movement. If you want to read that letter, you have to learn how to command that Stillness to end. Unfreeze it yourself."