It didn’t take long for them to meet the dragon further up the hill. Lucas separated from them further back in search of a spot to fire from. The dragon grew quieter as they approached. It held its place on the hilly mountain. The greenery had already been cleared by the dragon. Trees stood uprooted and thrown. The rest turned to ice and died.

The dragon lay low amongst the icy ground it snarled and flared its wings and snout. Arthur inspected the dragon as they got closer. All of its scales were metallic silver as its name suggested but along its back, the scales were covered in a light layer of ice. Every foot or so along its back and on its face jutted spikes of varying lengths. It bared its fangs. The silver dragon breath let out a fog and its blue eyes held firm. It was by far the largest creature he had ever seen and was nearly as long as the boat he had arrived on.

The dragon seemed done looking them over before roaring. It got back up from its crouched position and let out its icy breath. Ice shot out from its mouth and fired at Arthur and his team. Kendra immediately raised [Fire Shield] and so did Arthur. Aria and Ronny jumped behind the other two just barely missing the attack. Arthur felt the cold run through his metal, and he moved the mana in him to warm himself up.

Kendra fired the first shots off from their side while Arthur activated his sword spells and moved to attack. The dragon saw the three fireballs moving towards its head and it simply shifted its body. The ice covering its body absorbed the heat turning into the water before refreezing once again.

“We need to pierce its body. I will work on dealing with this cold,” said Kendra.

Arthur already focused on attacking the dragon’s leg swung out. Both his physical and astral blades hit the leg and bounced off. The scales chipped in places but were otherwise undamaged. The dragon seemingly annoyed with this action glared at him before kicking its leg out and Arthur was thrown back.

Ronny didn’t have much luck either. As a purely physical fighter, his blade was his strongest point of attack with nothing to augment it. He was also summarily tossed back as the dragon focused its magic on the twins.

Kendra started using her magic to adjust the environment around them to be more suitable for their fighting. While using her powers in combination with Aria’s she sent illusory flames to only affect non-organic things. This caused the landscape to change quickly. Much of the frost and ice directly beneath them and behind them melted. The area near the dragon did not change except for a brief moment. As soon as its paws touched the ground once more frost spread out from it.

To the side, Lucas started to set up his bow. The dragon sent him some glares and he shivered but was otherwise ignored. Lucas dropped his quiver on the ground momentarily while he lifted the bow up. With a ground, he forced the spike down onto the dirt ground and prepared the bow. The spot he picked didn’t give him the best high ground, but the battlefield wasn’t great for them in general. He had picked this spot for its safety though. He could fire from the right of where the others stood, and a series of boulders were next to him that could give him cover once he started attacking.

Arthur grunted and stumbled up as he got his sword back in his hand. ‘This isn’t working quite as well as I had hoped. Maybe some magic will do the trick.’

Arthur focused his magic through the gauntlet and cast his new spell [Thorn Whip]. He felt the power of the spell increase in intensity as it passed through the glove. From the ether spiked vines made of magic sprouted from the ground around the dragon. He continued to approach the dragon. He noticed that with the glove an additional twenty percent more vines sprouted and were more ferocious. They wrapped around the legs of the dragon slowing it slightly and stopping it from stomping Ronny who had also resumed fighting. The vines tried to dig into the dragon's armored body without much success.

After using the illusory flames Aria cast magic to stun the dragon as best she could. Firework spells and obscuring spells fired off towards its head. The dragon roared at the disturbance and prepared another ice spell. Arthur saw it charge up the attack and he fired off his own. [Gust of Wind] fired into the air and met the cold blast halfway in the air. It exploded and the cold shot away from Arthur and created a rain of ice crystals in the air that Kendra melted away.

The dragon returned its focus to Arthur and fired off a more focused blast. Ice solidified into spikes and shot towards Arthur. He barely got his spell up in time. [Dispel Magic] hit the attack and the ice rushed forward onto him as water instead as the spell dissolved slightly. He took steps back as quickly as he could and fired his classic [Multi Plasma Bolt]. The dragon quickly acted and adjusted its body to absorb the attacks once again. Each of the hits made slight marks on its body before disappearing. Steam rose up from the marks for a few seconds before ice covered itself once more like a layer of protection.

Ronny had his hands full with his side of the dragon. He had chosen the right side and had been thrown once before. The second time the dragon tried to kick him he rolled out of the way. This seemed to satisfy the dragon who returned to dealing with his other party members. Aria kept her spells active on him. She used [Mage Armor] and [Haste] to improve his battle efficiency among other spells. He also returned to fighting in his own way. He brought down his sword every few seconds and his blade struck the dragon's leg. He took deep breaths and held back his growing exhaustion. He took another swing and this time several scales broke off and a hint of blood touched his blade. He smiled and roared like the dragon as his energy shot back up.

The dragon unhappy about this change stepped back and changed tactics. It spread out its wings knocking back Arthur and Ronny with its power and took to the skies. It grew its claws out further than before and charged another breath attack. Arthur and Kendra tried to stop it with their spells, but its breath passed through them. The paralyzing breath hit them quickly and everyone, but Arthur and Aria were affected. The others dropped to the ground. Aria stepped forward to protect her sister. A chill ran through her from the attack.

Lucas who had been adjusting the bow to the dragon’s location was knocked back as well. Arthur called up [Earthen Wall] and blocked off Lucas from attack and then did the same to Ronny. The dragon turned to Arthur seeing him as the greatest current threat. Pure mana was launched through its claws in the same shape. Arthur prepared a set of mana shields. The first shattered immediately while the second cracked somewhat but held. He fired back with a [Chain Lightning] that the dragon dodged in the air. Only a few sparks randomly hit the dragon's wing, but it did no noticeable damage.

‘This thing is a tank. The only time that has done damage is Ronny’s attacks and his were targeted attack at one point. I need to do the same thing while making sure that the dragon can’t dodge.’

Arthur prepared his next attack making sure to overcharge it as well for additional effect. The web’s sprouted from above and below the dragon and pulled it down towards the ground. Aria took this opportunity to fire a [Smoke] spell causing a dark fog to cover the dragon’s eyes and snout. It landed and tried to rush forward but the effects followed. Arthur fired off another set of [Multi Fire Bolt] this time aimed towards the dragon's face. The dragon made little noise after the attack and only focused on charging forward. Aria dragged Kendra away as the feeling came back to her body. The ground shook as it went over them. Sensing the people beneath it the dragon smacked the pair with its tail as it spun back around.

The dragon roared again. Aria created a shield around Kendra as they tumbled but cuts and scrapes formed immediately on their bodies. The dragon shot another ice blast at them, but Kendra stopped it with a [Wall of Fire]. Arthur was preparing for his next attack when Lucas’s first attack hit. The large arrow whistled through the arrow and punctured the dragon’s right upper arm. It growled deeper in response to the injury. The silver dragon focused its power and ice formed around the arrow destroying the tip in the process.

“We have the first of many medium injuries. Arthur protects us from the paralyzing attack happening again. Ronny goes for its weak spot,” said Kendra.

She prepared her next spell, and a wave of fire coated the ground around the dragon. Aria also responded with spells. Smoke from the magical fires rose up and was sent into the dragon’s sensitive nose. The dragon snorted trying to get the soot out of its nose. The dragon shot out another wave of ice that caught Kendra by surprise. Her body temperature dropped quickly, and Arthur was caught in the blast as well. His feet froze to the ground so he couldn’t move. The dragon stepped over the twins once more this time smacking Arthur with its spiked tail. Dirt was kicked up as Arthur’s body flew a short distance before tumbling to a stop. His exterior had sustained a few puncture marks and a dent on one side. He inspected the damage as the silver dragon continued on to Ronny.

Ronny put up a short fight as his body was encased in a block of ice leaving only his head and some of his fingers exposed. The dragon closed its mouth over the easy prey and grabbed hold of the ice block. It closed its jaws slightly before tossing the block against the pile of boulders with Lucas. Ronny screamed as his bones broke against the rock. The unsteady stack fell and rolled onto the cleared battle area. Lucas prepared an arrow after the dragon had gotten so close and released the string after pulling it back with all his strength. The arrow flew and hit the dragon’s right shoulder once more aggravating the first injury. The dragon roared again, and Lucas ran to avoid getting attacked. Aria gave him cover and turned him invisible as he escaped. The dragon took its claws to the leftover weapon and arrows and broke them into pieces. When it spun around it turned to Arthur once more.

Arthur inspected his body and found that there would be some inefficiencies in his movement and background tasks but nothing vital was damaged. He watched Ronny roll to the ground still half encased in ice. He ran to him as fast as he could. He activated [Lesser Heal] which more accurately be called a medium heal because of the glove. He dropped his weapon and used [Fireball] to start melting away the ice.

“Thank you,” said Ronny weakly. His wounds starting to visibly heal. He would still have plenty of blood loss, but he was stabilizing.

“It is what I have to do.”

“Yeah but you better look behind you.”

Arthur turned and saw the dragon charging him once more. He dropped his two spells immediately and activated [Sand Trap] then [Bubble Shield] in rapid succession. The dragon’s feet sunk slightly as it tried to swipe at Arthur once more. The bubble kept them both safe, but it cracked almost immediately.

Kendra shouts [Multi Firebolt] at the dragon from behind targeting its head and weakened arm. The dragon cried out when a fireball hit its mouth and then its injured arm once more. It adjusted its body so that it couldn’t be hit again as it wretched out smoke and gas.

Arthur reinforced the shield as he picked up his sword. He activated [Shock Sword] and [Sharpness] on his blade and kept a [Fire Shield] ready with his left hand. Arthur slashed out and followed up with [Feather Fall] this time using it to jump up to attack the dragon’s weak point. The electricity sent a jolt up the dragon's body, and it grunted again as it backed away. With its powers, it brought up a wall of ice on all sides. The sand that was trying to drown the large creature froze. It brought its feet up from the cold sand and stood tall again. The walls grew jagged spikes that fired outward.

Kendra protected herself from the side along with Aria, but Arthur was hit head-on. He was thrown back and the bubble he had set up burst. Ronny held up his sword loosely but was in no fighting shape. Some blood still leaked from his side. His new armor made for this battle was now torn up and dented. He gritted his teeth and faced the dragon. Arthur stood in front of him protecting him.

Lucas had moved down from his position and moved to join Kendra. He held only a short sword. Aria cast a spell on him and a set of [Mage Armor] formed over his current set. He thanked her as he approached the fight. Kendra summoned a fire elemental and is joined in part with her body. She continued to throw fireballs at the dragon, but it didn’t do much because the dragon kept adjusting its wings to catch them. Kendra in turn used the new elemental to fly and adjust her position. The dragon perked up when Kendra started flying but turned back to Arthur.

He had started to stand when the dragon leaped on Arthur. Arthur tried to use a [Mana Shield] to protect himself but it was shattered with such force that he was thrown to the ground. The dragon dug its uninjured claw into Arthur and pressed down. Arthur felt phantom pains as parts of his body shut down in places. He could feel parts of his mana leave him no longer contained in the runes. He wanted to scream out, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t feel anything only the emptiness of the void.