The Thermal Caverns

Silver lead the young woman towards Crashing Wave's guild. They were close to approaching the cliffside island where her Guild Hall was located. "Alright. I don't know if you're some sort of fangirl of Ster and I but, you're not going to see him. We're just going straight down to the caves. Don't say anything to anybody." Silver didn't wany anyone to know that she was taking pity and teaching anymore.

Dakota nodded enthusiastically, practically vibrating she was so excited. She looked at the guild in awe, though made sure not to fall behind Silver in case anything happened. As she was lead to the caves, billions of possibilities ran through Dakota's mind. Now that they were on the ground, Dakota figured she would have the speed advantage though she wasn't going to bet on it in case that turned out to be incorrect. There was also how Silver planned on going about their spar, which could possibly mean that speed meant nothing and she wanted to focus solely on the power behind her strikes.

"Hey, Silv." Said a young man with soft brown hair and glasses. Silver tried to hide her discomfort as his shoulder brushed against hers. "Whose the girl?" Souten asked kindly. "None of your business Souten." He frowned and walked away. "I am using the caverns today. No one come in there until I leave." She shouted to her guild members. Silver began limping down the long flight of stairs down into the geothermal caverns. When they reached the bottom she turned down to the left, after reaching the end of the short hallway she opened the large oaken door. A blast of cold air greeted them as Silver walked in. "Did anyone ever teach you the Milkovich method?" She asked entering one of the caverns underneath her guild.

Dakota sighed contentedly at the cold burst of air, closing her eyes for a moment to enjoy it. At Silver's question, Dakota shook her head. "Most of my training comes from watching others and putting it to the test. Whether it works or not on the first try is always questionable, but I eventually get the hang of it." She says as she looked at the cavern.

"Ever heard of Ur Milkovich? Her apprentices Gray Fullbuster and Lyon Vastia?" Silver smiled. "If so, I'm going to put you through my version of the Milkovich method. I am self-taught. I heard rumors of what she did so, I made my own version. They don't call me the The Woman Who Froze Hell for nothing."

Dakota recognized the names, though didn't know a lot besides the fact that they were all very powerful ice-make mages. Of course, she heard the legend about Ur freezing a demon from the books of Zeref for all of eternity. which had been an amazing and selfless feat, though that had soon been forgotten when Lyon learned how to get rid of said immortal ice. "As far as the three of them go, I understand Ur trained Gray and Lyon in the icy mountains practically naked, but I've already done that, and we certainly aren't on a mountain." She says.

"Hm. You've claimed that you don't get cold easily." Silver said. They were still close to the entrance, they hadn't reached the cold caverns of the cave system yet, even Silver felt a chill in the coldest one. "We'll both strip." Silver told her. The woman took off her boot, but stayed in her shorts and crop-top, and the always present gauntlets stayed on her forearms.

Dakota slipped off her boots, her simple sleeveless tube top and shorts remaining. The ground was pleasantly cool on her feet, which had been practically burning from being confined in her shoes for so long.

Silver began limping deeper into the cavern. "Tell me when you're cold. We'll keep going until you're cold." She gradually walked farther from the door and it slowly reached 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dakota followed Silver, getting colder, but not feeling cold. "You do realize I've literally lived up in the mountains before, right? This hardly holds a candle to constant blizzards, limited oxygen, and sleeping on ice, all while being dressed in what I am in now and occasionally a thin blue sweater." She states, her breath collecting in small puffs in front of her.

"You'll feel cold soon." Silver continued walking, letting the cold engulf her it was calming. "This is where you will learn ice." She walked, the temperature started to drop even quicker and it eventually reached -50. Her own body was shivering uncontrollably. and Silver tired to smile. "See? Even. I. Am. Cold."

As the temperature continued to drop, Dakota began to curl in on herself, hugging her body and rubbing her hands up and down her arms in order to get some sort of friction and heat. Her teeth were chattering loudly and quickly, and her fingertips and lips were beginning to turn blue. "Th-th-that'ssss aw-aweso-me," She says.

Silver chuckled. "Let's warm you up a little bit. We can walk up higher, maybe negative 20?" She smiled at her then walked upwards. "When you're not dying cold then tell me."

Dakota nodded, following Silver back towards the warmer temperatures. After it rose ten degrees, her excessive chattering had stopped, and another ten allowed her to comfortably stand without seeking extra heat. "Alright, let's do this!" She exclaims, pumping her fist in the air.

"Alright." Silver said sternly. "I am going to punch. Create the thinnest shield you can that will block the attack. I'll go easy, I won't light them yet." Silver didn't wait for a response and threw a right hook at Dakota.

Dakota placed her hands together, a shield about three inches thick forming between Silver's fist and Dakota. It cracked, though fully stopped Silver's momentum. She stared at the shield that separated them. "I've never thought of how much energy I waste with making thick ice shields." She says, staring down at her hands. She presses her hand on the ice, which allowed it to dissipate, then places them back into the standard ice-make formation, waiting for Silver's next attack.

"Again. This time one-inch thick." Silver prepared to punch again. This time she punched with her weaker left hand.

Dakota did as told, forming a one-inch thick shield of ice between her and Silver. Despite Dakota's best efforts, intensely thinking about the density of the ice instead of the thickness, the shield was broken, and Silver's punch carried through. However, Dakota leapt backward to avoid it, though a deeply agitated look still covered her features.

"Um. Kid, the ice you create isn't linked to the density or the thickness. Those are aspects of it, but it's your emotion." Silver got into her ice-make stance. Her fake leg forward, right leg backwards. Her hands were clasped together at her right hip. "Go ahead. Prepare any spell you'd like. Don't be afraid of hurting me."

Dakota nods, creating a small bomb that fit in the palm of her hand. She chucked it at Silver as hard as she could, stating burst a moment after, which caused it to explode, Dakota redirecting the shrapnel away from herself. The attack was on a smaller scale than what it had been before, though the explosion had been much more concentrated and fast, allowing it greater momentum and force.

"Shield." A thin sheet of ice blocked the attack. It was darker than Dakota's ice. A navy blue, almost black. "Your emotion fuels your casting. The more powerful the feeling, the stronger the ice is." Silver waved a hand, and the dark ice disappeared. "Mine is black ice. The emotion I fuel into my casting is pain." Silver said curtly. "Find your strongest emotion and channel that into your ice. It may change color; perhaps turn lighter or darker. I've even seen someone whose ice is tinted orange. It was beautiful. Light orange at the center, then it became transparent near the edges."

Dakota nodded along to what Silver was saying, looking down at her hands. "Emotions fuel casting," She repeats slowly, as though entranced by the sight of her fingers. She thought back to all the times she had been fighting. Most often, she fought in order to preserve or boost her pride in herself, including earlier when she had been wrongly accused of fighting a guy on the street for no reason. And while it incredibly selfish to want to do something like that, it wasn't like she went around and punched little kids to make herself feel stronger. "Alright, let's do it again," She says, placing her hands back into the ice-make position.

Silver smiles. "Go for it. I want to see your color." Silver charged up a punch and swung. towards Dakota.

Dakota created a shield, thinking harshly about when she had been fighting Silver earlier, emotions flooding her mind as she did so. She made sure to keep it one inch thick, however, this ice was not a foggy white as it had been before., Instead, it was colored lilac in the center, which eventually faded into a translucent lavender around the edges. Dakota stared in awe at her colored creation, which had stopped Silver's punch completely without fracturing even the smallest bit. "Yay!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms up in excitement.

"Soon, you can create a shield as thin as well. A sheet of ice that can protect you from most spells." Silver bit her lip. "By the way... What is your name?" She asked sheepishly, rubbing her head.

Dakota smiled brightly. "I'm Dakota Fath," She says, "S-Class Mage of Koma Inu," She finishes, sticking out her arm for a handshake.

"S-Class.." Silver declined the handshake, instead lightly punching the woman on the arm. "Damn, you're a little young for S-Class." She frowned. "Aren't you 16? I didn't know that times were that hard." Silver was oblivious to the fact that the woman was only a few years younger than her due to her small stature.

Considering there hadn't been a direct threat to her stature, Dakota decided against rage for the time being, instead smiling sheepishly. "I'm actually 21 years old," She says, sounding a too forced for it to sound like it hadn't bothered her, but still calm enough to show she wasn't going to throw a hissy fit unless further provoked about it.

"..." Silver didn't speak for a moment. She shook her head then finally spoke. "Really? You're so-" Silver cut herself short. She remembered how people stared at her on the streets, how people laughed at her or commented about her leg. "I'm sorry. Um. Let's go again?" Silver got back into her ice-make position and prepared for Dakota's attack.

Dakota shook her head, waving her hands in front of her. "No need to apologize. I actually think that's the closest someone's ever been to actually guess my age," She assures, laughing it off. As Silver suggested they get back to work, Dakota nodded. This time, she covered her fist in ice, which was a few shades lighter than what her shield had been, though still obviously purple. She took a deep breath in, situating her feet so she was leading with her right one. In one quick and smooth movement, she shifted, throwing a punch towards Silver, using her whole body to increase her force and keep it steady.

Silver grabbed her wrist and pulled Dakota towards her, then when she was close enough, The ice wizard pushed the small of her back, sending Dakota running past her. "That is a good idea, but you're putting too much weight, it is easy to set you off balance. Next time keep your feet firm and thrust with your hip." Silver beckoned to her. "I'm going to copy your exact same move, try to do what I did to you and set me off balance."

Dakota nodded, getting into a solid stance. While she'd certainly be able to pick Silver up no problem, working Silver's momentum against her was going to be trickier, being that Silver had a great amount of force behind her attacks, so she wanted to be prepared in case things went awry.

Silver twisted her hips thrusting forward with her left fist. Most of her weight was still planted on the ground, but the force of her attack lay in her punch.

Dakota quickly grabbed onto Silver's wrist, attempting to pull Silver forward. However, Silver was firmly planted, and Dakota was only able to force her forward a bit through her own strength rather than Silver's momentum.

Silver smiled. "Plant your feet, thrust from your hips and let it carry your arm along with it." She redid her ponytail and readied herself to defend from an attack. "Again."

Dakota nodded, planting her right foot in front of her left. She torques her hips to the left as she throws a right hook towards Silver, keeping her feet firmly in place.

Silver was barely able to duck the powerful punch that sped towards her. "Gods. You're pretty powerful." Silver straightened her back again and began to speak once more. "Let's focus on your creations. What's your favorite thing to cast?"

Dakota smiled at the compliment. "The ice-make mages in my guild focus primarily on weaponry, so I figured going on the hand-to-hand route would make me easily distinguishable." She admits, rubbing the back of her neck. At Silver's question, Dakota ponders for a moment. "Probably either gloves or the bomb. Easiest to cast and useful for the most scenarios," She says.

"Alright. Let's see if your gloves can match mine." Silver took off her metal gloves and cast black-ice gloves around her own hands. "Remember, pour your emotion into the casting." The black haired woman smiled. "I prefer dynamic creations as you may have noticed. It is easier to sync my emotions with living things."

Dakota nods, and her fists become encased in a deep lilac ice, and it fades to a pale lavender towards her wrists. "Solid objects are more dependable in my opinion though I enjoy using both to mix things up. Confusing the hell out of my opponents tends to be my trademark move," She says, flexing her fingers and then putting them into fists.

Silver punched first sending her fist right towards Dakota's abdomen, though this time she did not plant her feet, and was slightly off-balance.

Dakota easily spotted Silver's mistake as well as the downward tilt of her momentum, quickly shifting so she was to the left of Silver and had her back to her. As her fist came down to her side, she grabbed it, kicking back her leg into Silver's to further upset her balance, ducking down. As Silver was carried forward, she was flipped directly over Dakota's back and flat on her back on the ground, Dakota still gripping Silver's forearm. Smiling down at her, Dakota quickly yanked Silver back up to her feet, then placed her hands on her hips in pride.