Frozen: The Child of Magic

Sosi followed the two men with brisk steps, eyes sharp with focus. He noticed the crowd thickening in the direction they were heading—children even ran ahead with excitement, only to be pulled back swiftly by cautious parents.

He thought to himself as he watched the rushing crowd:

'Seems what they said about the savage wolf is true… If it were just a rumor, there wouldn't be this many people here.'

As the howls grew louder, so did his heartbeat. His hesitation began to fade, drowned out by a surge of excitement. Maybe this wasn't a trick after all.

Sure enough, as he pushed forward, he found people crowding around a specific area—where the howl of a fierce beast echoed through the air.

He glanced around and picked up fragments of conversations confirming that this was the place.

'So this is it… No doubt about it.'

The royal guards had just arrived and were trying to clear the area, urging people to back away from the danger.

But Sosi, thanks to his small size, slipped unnoticed between legs and feet—until he broke past the line of guards and entered the restricted zone.

And once inside, he saw it…

A massive wolf, wildness glowing in its eyes, bared its fangs as it growled low and deep, ready to strike. Its tail stood high, fur bristling like a field of spears—defensive, territorial, unyielding.

Some guards were busy evacuating civilians, while others held their spears pointed directly at the beast, waiting for even the slightest movement.

None of them had yet noticed Sosi's presence.

But the wolf did.

It suddenly lifted its head, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air, then turned—locking eyes directly on Sosi.

Moments later, the guards followed its gaze and spotted the tiny figure.

"Watch out! That child's in danger!"

"Quickly! Move! Get him out of there!"

"Attack! Stop it before it hurts him!"

The air exploded with shouting. The guards lunged forward, panic plastered across their faces. No one could allow a child to be torn apart before their eyes.

Among the crowd, gasps of horror rang out.

"How did a child get in there?!"

"Save him, quickly!"

Even the guards who had been clearing the perimeter rushed back to help.

And at that very moment—Harl arrived, breathless from running, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw Sosi standing in the heart of the chaos.

"Sosi! Nooooo!"

Harl almost turned to stone and launched himself at the wolf in a roll—but Caron held him back with all his strength.

"Wait!"

Harl shouted, "Caron! Why are you stopping me?!"

"Because… because Sosi smiled."

"…Smiled?!"

"See for yourself!"

The guards moved, but they were too slow. The wolf lunged at Sosi like a bolt of lightning, the worst-case scenario moments from becoming real.

Everyone shut their eyes, unwilling to witness what would come next.

And then…

Silence.

Seconds passed…

No screaming. No blood. Only a faint whimper.

Eyes slowly blinked open, hesitant and afraid—and what they saw defied belief.

The savage wolf was sprawled on the ground, whimpering, covering its muzzle with its paws.

Sosi stood tall and proud in front of it, chin lifted high, surrounded by stunned, speechless faces.

The guards, still reeling from the whiplash of fear, began cursing under their breath:

'Who is this kid? He gave us a heart attack!'

'If the king finds out…!'

All around, people stared in disbelief and admiration as the murmurs began to spread:

"What happened?! We blinked, and suddenly everything was different!"

Caron and Harl hadn't blinked.

They'd seen everything clearly.

Just before the wolf leapt, Sosi's body suddenly condensed into a hard, spherical shape—and while a wolf's fangs could usually crush stone, what they sank into now was far harder… like solid steel.

Of course, Caron and Harl knew the reason.

What Sosi had used was Stoneform, a classic troll ability that triggers automatically in moments of danger.

The wolf had pounced, expecting to shred its prey—only to yelp in pain as its fangs shattered against Sossi's unyielding body.

Caron chuckled and said:

"Told you—when Sosi smiles, no one's safe. You freaked out because you care too much."

Harl scowled as he chewed on his dry seaweed again.

"Ugh, he made me worry. I'll make him pay… in mountains of food."

Sosi felt a strange gaze on his back. He turned—and saw Caron laughing and Harl glaring like someone plotting revenge.

Sosi smiled shyly, as if to say, 'Sorry, guys… didn't mean to scare you.'

The crowd slowly started putting the pieces together, and laughter broke out among them.

"Oh right… he's a stone troll! Of course the wolf couldn't bite him!"

But the truth wasn't that simple. Not that any of the three were planning to say so.

One of the guards whispered to his comrade:

"Hey, take that child away… the area's still dangerous. And have them double security. We don't want a repeat of this."

"Understood."

Two guards stepped forward—one to disperse the onlookers, the other heading toward Sossi to escort him away.

But before the guard could reach him, Sosi did something unexpected.

"Stop! Don't come any closer!"

The guard flinched in surprise as Sosi stepped toward the wolf again.

A helpless cry escaped the man's lips. Who was this reckless child?

From a distance, Harl stared, chewing idly on his seaweed.

"Wait a minute… Is Sosi trying to tame the wolf?!"

He took another bite.

"I'm starving…"

Caron laughed:

"Let him do what he wants. If he's decided to tame this savage beast… then he better be ready to take responsibility for his new pet."

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Sorry, guys—I forgot to mention in the previous chapter that I'll be taking Friday and Saturday off. I'll use the time to revise and fix the other novels. Flame of Revolution' is all good, though—all its chapters are solid. That's the One Piece × Naruto story.