Despite being meters under the ground, the space was all lit. Icy blue light illuminated the cavern. Stalactites hanged from the ceiling while tens of blocks of ice were scattered throughout the room- with a glowing icy blue crystal embedded into them. They were the source of the light.

The frozen Emperor and the Archbishop had their eyes fixed on an object at the centre of the room, on top of a plain rock. It was a crown- completely made of ice. It looked as if it were made of icy blue diamonds as it glittered the blue lights of the hall.

Irene nodded in understanding. Her mind was frozen. No mind controlling techniques would work on her. On the other hand, her tutor Adrian was the most peculiar person she had ever seen. Not that she had seen many to begin with. Even her grand mother who was blessed with ‘Clairvoyance’ could barely see through him.

Adrian walked forth, rolling the bubble, and bypassed the two frozen pieces of supreme entities. Irene followed. In a matter of seconds, they were before the iced crown.

He knocked on the bubble walls. Irene nodded and snapped her fingers. A doorway formed in the side of the bubble.

No sooner had the opening formed on the ice bubble than a thick layer of frost began to take over Adrian’s body.

But he remained indifferent as two dark magic circles formed on his two palms. Black fluids rose out of the circles and covered his body- sizzling the ice away.

His entire body was now enshrouded in the dark liquid. It was as if he was the incarnation of shadow it self.

He took the crown in his hands and inspected it. There were no whites in his eyes anymore as his piercing gaze checked through all the nooks and crannies of the ice crown. It’s materials and ever freezing aura was the only things special about the object. As for the designs- it was quite ordinary.

After the inspection, he turned to Irene. “Do you want it?”

Irene looked at the crown for a few seconds before nodding. Though she was a princess, she always wanted to wear a Tiara, like the ones in those fairy tales. Even though the bulky crown was exactly not what she wanted, it was not that different from a Tiara, was it?

Adrian smirked as he reached forth his hands with the intentions of putting the crown on Irene’s head. But just as it was inches away from Irene’s icy blue hair, black fluids from his body went forth and enshrouded the entire crown.

A shrill scream sounded out from the crown. Irene immediately moved away and assumed a defensive stance. But seeing Adrian was relaxed, she relaxed as well.

After a whole ten seconds, the scream finally began to die down. After a few more moments, it completely died down.

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.” Adrian shook his head. “She had been waiting hundreds of years for the right candidate to take over. And she had finally found one- an ice inborn. But what a shame that I accompanied her.”

The crown cracked. Cobwebs of cracks formed on the crystalline surface and soon, the whole crown shattered.

Adrian gave Irene a glance. “Don’t worry.” He said. “There are more useful things in this space for you.”

He looked around. “Those glowing crystals might be useless to ordinary circlers, but to inborns -they are more than ordinary. Moreover, they had been gestated by the freezing aura of the crown for centuries. Take your time and absorb all of it.”

Irene nodded and began to walk towards the nearest block of ice. At its centre, lied a glowing icy blue crystal.

But before she could take a step forward-

“Wait!” Adrian shouted, prompting Irene to look back.

Adrian dashed back into the parked ice bubble. “It’s too cold outside.” The black liquid disappeared into oblivion as he shivered.

Irene snapped her fingers, enclosing the sphere of ice.

Adrian sat down and rested his back against the iced wall. Despite it being made of frost, it was warm.

Irene ambled to her prior set destination and touched the surface of the ice block. Her own ice covered the block and took control of it. Her hand drowned into the block as the solid ice melted. She grabbed the glowing crystal and fetched it back.

It was cold- even for her.

“Sit down and put all of your focus into absorbing the energy.” Adrian closed his eyes. She could take care of the rest.

Irene followed and sat down cross legged. She held the glowing ice crystal in her right hand and put her right hand on her left. She closed her eyes and began to absorb it.

The more she absorbed, the more the glowing on the object began to die down. In mere minutes, the crystal lost its glow and shattered into pieces.

Irene opened her eyes and exhaled a gust of steam. She clapped the fine crystal powders off and inspected her hands. She thought she had reached a bottle neck. Who knew that she could increase her power even more?

It had been years since she reached level 9, but she could barely kill add to her powers anymore. She had given up. But now that she could feel her 9 millimetres magic core solidifying, she got her hope back.

She turned to Adrian and seeing that he was resting, she got to the next block of ice. In a bit more than an hour, she harvested the glowing crystals from all of the ice blocks and sucked in all of their magic crystals.

The space got darker and darker with every orbs she absorbed and soon, the whole cavern was enshrouded in darkness. But it mattered little to the duo. Their eyesights exceeded even nocturnal creatures.

“Done?” Adrian finally opened his eyes.

Irene nodded.

“It’s time we give our main destination a visit.” Adrian stood up. “Let’s go.”