Sooo…. Here we are!

Before we go any further I want to know what you thought of One's Perseverance. Tell me what you liked and disliked so I can make better for you when I get too the next chapter.

But that aside, welcome back To Trials of Ice and here we start on one of the first main arcs of the story. This obviously revolves around Gray's training and his time with Ur, Lyon and anyone I deem fit for this arc.

I am pretty sure you guys knew that this was the arc for Ur and such so I feel fine with giving that away…

So here we go…

LETS READ!

:::-((x))-:::

It was cold… Bitter cold…

Not the sort of cold from his old village where it felt very numbing, but the sort of cold where you could risk your life if you stayed in it for too long.

That was Gray's first thoughts whilst travelling up towards the top of the mountain. He was told by Ur to meet her at the top of the mountain along with Lyon. She said it was where he would begin to develop his new magic.

He had no problem with that. Lyon and him however had been a bit… argumentative…

They had a slight competitive conversation everyday during the time the devil slayer was recovering, always talking about who's magic was better than others and such. But now that Gray was now standing on his two legs again his and Lyon's relationship became more… Physical.

Not in THAT way… But in terms of punches and kicks becoming their most commonly used language. Even over actual English!

One would make a comment, then the other would overreact before they were in each others faces, spitting out many insults within a few seconds.

And that was the case now. The two mages left the comfortable embrace of their home and began too trek up towards Ur's location.

Now since Gray was an ice devil slayer he did have a slight resistance to the cold. But in temperatures like this his little resistance was minuscule in comparison to his silver haired counterpart.

He shivered slightly. "It's so goddamn C-Cold! How can it e s-so bloody cold!?" He felt the urge to sneeze as he said this. His nose had always been annoying too him in the weather when it was this bad.

"Get over it demon breath." Lyon snidely commented. Effectively making Gray bite back, Any sign that he was cold vanished into thin air.

"Don't tell me what to do Ice bastard!" Was his oh-so-clever retort. God this kid annoyed him.

"Then stop complaining scars!"

"Stop calling me Scars! I hate that!"

"Then stop bloody complaining!"

"Not until you shut it, freezer burn!"

The two mages heads connected to each other. Willing the other to back away but neither faltering. They were growling like hungry wolves that had spotted a fresh, meaty corpse.

Suddenly, two fists were brought down on their heads, knocking them face first into the snowy ground beneath them. They both landed with a sudden 'THUD'

"Ow..." Was all Gray replied with, his young yet masculine voice muffled by the cold snow.

"Can't I leave you two for just a few minutes?" Asked an exasperated Ur. Her head was shaking in disapproval at her students antics.

Lyon shared his rather 'nice' opinion…

"Perhaps you could have before, but with this idiot here not only do I have to go through everything I already learned, but I also have to put up with him!" He whined, all whilst pointing at the still prone form of Gray.

Not wanting to let the silver haired twat to get one over him, he quickly interjected.

"Now look who's complaining..."

He received a painful whack to the head for that…

"Will you stop hitting me women!" He yelled in annoyance.

Ur just looked towards him and gave him a stern look. "Only when you stop antagonizing him! That goes for you two Lyon!" She replied, remembering to give her first apprentice a good whack as well.

That made him smirk a tiny bit. Even if he didn't really smile that much anymore…

After regaining her composure, Ur motioned the two to follow her to the top of the mountain. It did take the trio five minutes too get to the top but they did indeed make it up without much more trouble.

Turning around, Ur nodded towards Lyon and looked at Gray.

"Okay Gray, this is where you begin you're journey to becoming an ice-make mage." She stated. "This first lesson will just be getting you used to the unrelenting cold around you. I have found that the best way to advance as far as you can with this magic is too become one with your element. So that is what this lesson is about so get ready."

Gray gave a curt nod and was about to reply when Ur started taking her clothes off in front of him, he must have not realised it before but she was in the process of taking the brown trousers off when he realised so she was left in her underwear.

To say that Gray was shocked was a MASSIVE understatement…

"W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" He shouted in shock.

"I am becoming one with the cold, this is what you will be doing today… So get to stripping."

'Okay that only sounded vaguely creepy…' Gray thought. He turned around to Lyon for some backup only to realise that he was also undressed.

"OH COME ON! YOU TOO!?"

Lyon just smirked at his clear distress. "Yup, it is part of training to become the best from the best. So what master Ur said, get to stripping..."

"B-But I can't do that!"

That made Ur frown in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Another snide comment from Lyon. "He means he is a scared ass loser!"

"I DON'T MEAN THAT!"

Ur asked the million jewel question. "Well then what do you mean?"

Looking down to the ground Gray hesitantly answered.

"My scars…"

Ur suddenly knew what he meant, how could she forget? He was a terror victim, of course he was going to be both scared and ashamed of his physical afflictions. It would be natural for a boy his age.

Especially when the kid was as intelligent as he was. He had not been in the house for 5 months yet and she could already see just how smart he was in comparison to Lyon, from a magic and logical standpoint.

"What do you mean 'My scars'? Quit whining devil breath." Snarked Lyon. He didn't understand what the big fuss was about, they were just stupid scars.

Gray's face darkened from hearing this, gritting his teeth he mustered up a powerful glare before aiming it at the silver haired ice mage.

"Shut up you silver haired bastard." He growled out, his voice taking on a slight demonic tinge in his anger. Freaking the two mages out.

Ur knew she had to intervene before the two started fighting with eachother. From the looks of it, they were more than ready to throw down at any moment. But what Lyon said was uncalled for, he needed to be punished for that comment.

With her game plan in mind, she whirled around and stalked over to Lyon before bringing her fist down on his head with a heavy 'thump!'. She watched as her first apprentice smashed into the ground before she pulled him back up and levelled him with a glare that stopped him before he could complain.

"Lyon, go back to the house and stay there, you are not to go out until the day is done. Gray has no reason to explain himself to us and he has a right to grieve!" Her tone left no room for argument. The ice mage looked at her and then to Gray's hurt and angry expression before frowning in annoyance and turning back towards the house. His form disappearing in the mist the further he got.

Moments passed when Ur finally sighed and turned around to Gray. His face was scary for a child, his eyebrows may as well have been knitted together and his teeth were bared for the world to see. His eye were focused on the ground, as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

It was both scary and sad…

Seconds later he realised that Ur was still around and he shook his head slightly and wiped his eyes of any tears.

"Sorry." He spoke, his voice losing the demonic tinge it had seconds before.

"It's okay, you had nothing to be sorry about there." She replied. "What Lyon said was wrong, he isn't as intelligent in these sort of things as you seem to be, so just remember that next time. But he shouldn't have said what he said however..."

Taking everything his new master had said, he nodded and turned back to the mist where Lyon had trudged away in.

"These scars represent what I have lost." He brooded sombrely. He looked back at Ur after two seconds. "If I am to learn under you're tutelage, I will need to need something to hide these disgusting afflictions so I can concentrate and look towards the future."

Ur smiled softly, the boy really was smart… Damaged and probably scarred (physically, mentally and emotionally) for life. But smart.

"A future where Deliora dies painfully by my hand."

Ur's smiled quickly dampened at hearing that. The boy would not survive long with that frame of mind, this 'darkness' would surely destroy him.

She would have to do something about that…

She WOULD do something about that in fact.

Over the months, she had grown a kind of soft spot for the poor kid in front of her. She could see a lot of her younger self in him and the things this boy had to endure in duration of his life would make him a very strong young man in later life.

But with the possibility of a good path, also comes with the darker, more malicious path. A path that would surely destroy him. Ur didn't want to watch it happen again and this time she had the opportunity to put a stop to it before her personal history repeated itself…

With all of that in mind, the master ice mage made her bed.

"I'll see what I can do to get you some sort of concealment charm. But focus on the future Gray, not revenge as tempting as it is."

And now she will gladly lye in it…

She watched as the young boy nodded his head stiffly at her words, clearly not entirely convinced yet.

"But you know that I have seen your scars. I will never judge you because of them." She said tenderly, being careful not to say the wrong thing. "So don't worry about me seeing them, if Lyon wants to say something about them just ignore him. He is still young."

Gray looked confused. "He's older than me."

"Not mentally, that much I can say is truthful..." Ur responded, as if it was obvious.

That made him smirk,

"So let's get to your first Ice-make lesson then right?" She asked.

She watched with bated breath as Gray looked on ahead into the snowy sky, clearly in deep thought. The snow seemed to pick up as he continued to stare seemingly into the atmosphere. He was clearly taking every last detail and possibility into account.

After what felt like an eternity, he blinked and looked at her, his mouth slightly knit upward to show a slight smile.

"Sure… But only around you two, I don't want others seeing these damn things." he answered.

He began to remove his black gear, his waist coat, his shirt, vest, gloves, trousers, socks and shoes and shivered ever so slightly at the biting cold gnawing at his skin, causing goosebumps to appear.

"Ready to learn… Master."

Ur grinned, she had a new apprentice and she couldn't be more happy. He would not regret this decision, she knew it.

"Right, now first things first." She started. "I want you to think of a shield. Picture a body sized shield clearly in you're mind."

:::-((x))-:::

That was cool wasn't it?

Haa puns…

So… The first chapter to the 'Re-adjusting' arc. Was it worthy of reading, or was the quality less than satisfactory. Let me know…

PHRASES OF AWESOME!

1: 'Ooooh Kinky!'

2: 'I don't know why Lady C sounds like a dying T-Rex. It must be something about how she looks…'

3: 'When your parents tell you to clean your room when you are having guests over, don't you just want to say "Oh, I didn't know that we were holding the gathering in my room, my bad! Yeah, me too.'

Thanks for reading and stay cool,

-viperhat