"What is this pain in my left eye? Why is it so hot?"
Uriel felt a searing pain in his left eye, a sharp, throbbing sensation that made him furrow his brow even while unconscious. It was as if something was ripping his flesh away, burning it with an unnatural heat.
He tried to remember… The battle against the ice giant. Had he been wounded in the eye during the fight? He searched through his memories but found nothing that explained this excruciating suffering.
Another unsettling detail crossed his mind. There was warmth beneath him. But how? He should be lying on the snow, and even though, as an ice dragon, he didn't feel cold, he could still distinguish the temperature around him. However, the familiar chill that always surrounded him was gone.
What was happening?
A growing anxiety spread through his chest. He needed to understand his situation. With effort, he opened the system screen to check his status.
---
Name: Uriel Redstone (Miguel Ramos)
Race: Ice Dragon
Age: 0 (28)
Maturity: Infant
Level: 11/20
HP: 1/2200
MP: 1650
Titles: None
Statistics:
- Strength: 55
- Speed: 27
- Intelligence: 33
- Vitality: 44
- Defense: 88
---
"Why is my HP still at just 1? Why am I not regenerating?"
Confusion tightened into a knot in his throat. His body should be recovering, but something was preventing it.
Then, a sound.
Low, wet, repetitive.
The sound of something being torn and chewed.
A chill ran down his spine. He opened his eyes.
And what he saw with his only functional eye froze his soul.
A goblin was crouched in front of him, holding something between its filthy fingers. A piece of flesh, fresh, dripping with warm blood. The creature's sharp teeth sank into the soft mass, tearing it apart with animalistic pleasure.
For a moment, Uriel didn't understand.
Until he did.
That was his eye.
His own left eye was being chewed right in front of him.
Uriel's stomach twisted. He tried to speak, but something stopped him. His mouth was locked, trapped by a viscous substance that prevented him from screaming. The scent of blood and raw flesh filled the air.
His thoughts tangled. How was this possible? How had he been captured?
Then, he noticed something even more horrifying.
The goblin's skin began to change. Small bluish scales were appearing, spreading like an infection across its face and arms. The creature was assimilating his essence, absorbing his power.
Something broke inside him.
A deep, overwhelming hatred surged from the depths of his soul. A rage that burned with the intensity of an inferno.
"I decided to spare you..."
His body began to emit a freezing aura, his mana boiling like a stormy ocean.
"...And now you dare try to devour me?"
A blue light engulfed his body. Ice expanded like a silent roar, sweeping across the environment in all directions. A blast of absolute cold froze everything instantly. The air thickened, the moisture transformed into razor-sharp needles that pierced flesh.
The nearby goblins froze, their bodies covered in a thin layer of ice that, within seconds, became a crystalline prison.
The ropes binding him cracked, fragile under the extreme cold. With a sharp movement, Uriel broke them, freeing himself.
He rose slowly, feeling the fury pulse in every cell of his body.
"I'm going to enjoy this… Oh, how I'm going to enjoy this."
His eyes gleamed with a murderous light, a gaze that promised carnage.
"None of you will leave here alive. It doesn't matter your age. It doesn't matter anything. Only one thing will happen: death!"
He turned his gaze slowly to the goblin still holding what remained of his eye. The creature was completely frozen, its face twisted in absolute terror.
Uriel raised one of his claws, its sharp tip reflecting the icy glow around him.
"You were the first to dare devour me."
Without hesitation, he slashed down.
The impact was brutal. The goblin's body shattered, fragments of ice and flesh scattering across the ground.
Then, for the first time, Uriel let out a true roar.
"ROOOOOAR!"
It was an ancestral sound, a cry that reverberated through the air, laden with fury and thirst for vengeance.
He lunged at the remaining goblins, his claws tearing, his teeth crushing, his ice devouring everything.
The goblin village became a cemetery of ice and blood.
That night, no one survived.
---
[New Skill Acquired]
- [Ice Explosion]: Using his mana, he can create a bomb that freezes everything within a 50-meter radius. Beings with more than 100 defense points are unaffected.
---
"So I can create skills..." Uriel murmured, feeling the flow of cold mana pulse within him. A new but comforting sensation, as if he had just discovered a hidden part of himself. "This is great. I don't have to rely only on the system to gain new abilities—I can create them on my own. But that's for later."
He took a deep breath, feeling the icy air fill his lungs as he looked around. The village was in ruins—destroyed houses, piles of snow mixed with debris, and the metallic scent of blood still lingering in the air.
"I need to get out of here and recover my HP..." Uriel thought, gritting his teeth. Every movement hurt, his muscles protested, and the piercing pain in his broken wings made any attempt to fly impossible. "After that, I'll look for the ice giants… I just hope Loki's father is already dead. That way, the challenge won't be as difficult."
He took a hesitant step, then another, forcing his wounded limbs to move. The biting cold—though it didn't affect him—was nothing compared to the throbbing pain consuming his body.
"Damn ice giant... My arrogance nearly killed me. And to make things worse, I was almost killed by a bunch of goblins!" Uriel gritted his teeth, a frustrated growl escaping his throat. "I'd be the first dragon to die to goblins without being a newborn. What a disgrace..."
He looked at his shattered wings and felt a tight knot in his chest. Without them, he was vulnerable. He needed to return to his cave before another enemy appeared to take advantage of his weakness.
With a low grunt, Uriel gathered his last reserves of strength and began to run, his claws sinking into the soft snow as he dragged himself back to his refuge. Every step was a reminder of his current fragility, but he had no other choice.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally saw the entrance to the cave. It was small for his current size, but it would do. More than ever, he needed rest.
"It's cramped… but it'll do," he murmured, exhausted. His body protested, but he managed to drag some snow into the cave, covering himself with it in an instinctive attempt to hide and conserve heat.
With one last weary sigh, his eyes closed, and the world around him faded into the darkness of sleep.