I completed the first phase of the trial, and there's not much to do but continue down the road.
With that being said — I've been walking for about 30 minutes, and I still haven't encountered a single enemy.
The road stretches to the unknown, and the further Sieg goes, the fewer of the myriad of eyes seem to gaze at him, however, the farther he walks, the thicker the fog and mist.
It's so cold—
When did I—?
Within a blink of an eye, Sieg finds himself in a completely new area. It was the side of a mountain with jagged peaks, but a clear snowy pathway spiraling upward to the summit.
In front of him stood a lantern post — an impressive one at that, and it was still somehow flickering in the middle of a deadly blizzard.
The first to feel it were his feet as they met the snow below — his rugged garments weren't enough to survive this extreme environment.
Instantly, he shivered as his body tried to warm itself against the life-threatening weather.
This is a trial — that means there's a way to win.
Then… there must be a reason for this cold and this place. There must be one…
The boy started assigning meaning to every little thing, perhaps finding solace in his thought process. And despite the biting cold and his numbing fingers and skin, there was nothing to do except ascend the dangerous great road to the summit.
Every step with his bare feet became more impossible with each passing second. The longsword froze in his grasp, and soon his body would meet the same fate.
Yet he had to keep moving, and if worse came to worst.
Maybe… death is part of it—
Sieg's heart rate and breathing slowed, and his muscles began to stiffen — his thoughts grew confused and sluggish.
I need… to do something…
The dreadful sensation of frostbite was sinking its fangs into every part of his fragile body, and before long the venom of the cold would leave behind a corpse painted with cyanosis.
He fell to the snow — just beside the slope of a stubborn old road. To his left yawned a cliff leading into the abyss below, but he no longer had the strength to fear the winds or the thought of sliding mercilessly down the mountain.
After all — His life had already been claimed by hypothermia.
I... I can't die—
I… I… c-can't, I just can't—
The boy curled into a fetal position — his eyes glassy and half-open, ice crystals forming on his eyelashes, hair, and even in his nostrils.
"You walked quite the impressive distance—" a man murmured.
Tall and built like a fortress, he wore a pale knight's helmet that revealed only one eye. His white, scarred torso was mostly bare, a lone shoulder plate offering questionable protection. However, great, visible burn marks from old battles danced across his white body.
Leather pants and heavy boots grounded his sudden, apparitional presence. Despite his human-like appearance, the deathly cold did not seem to bother him in the slightest. He walked closer, holding an unusually bright lantern toward Sieg's frozen body.
He kneeled, inspecting the body more closely, shining the lantern's light toward Sieg's face.
"I do not believe you have failed — not yet. Will you end it here, or return to the day it grows unbearable, and grant me the pleasure of witnessing your agony?"
The pale knight waited for a response from the corpse, was he expecting the impossible? Or some sort of a miracle that a frozen slum boy would somehow survive?
!!!—
"Ah there it is, impressive—" The knight saw Sieg's grip on the longsword twitching every so slightly, and even if the boy's heart lay in stillness — his yearning to ascend does not.
The knight then slowly carried the corpse through the storm and proceeded to make his way into a rather large hole on the mountainside.
It offered protection from the blizzard, and in the middle, was a warm bonfire.
He carefully laid down the corpse alongside the Trial Longsword — both resting on a bed curated from animal fur, placed near the radiating heat.
The lantern was mounted on the cave's walls just above the bed.
A short amount of time passed; however, it was indeed a miracle, Sieg's body began to spring with life, the cold that claimed him was slowly replaced by the fire's warmth.
"Now open your eyes, your journey hasn't ended." The knight murmured and Sieg jolted upwards — while screaming at the top of his lungs as if waking up from an awful nightmare.
"AUGHH!"
Sieg looked around yet the sensation that welcomed him back wasn't so pleasant — having just revived from the impossible, his body felt drained, muscles were still trembling and somewhat 'rubbery' perhaps from extreme energy loss.
His extremities still felt tingly, and numb but no longer freezing, while his mind was slowly returning, but disorientation still remained a burden.
Interestingly, as his blood returned to its circulation, it resulted in him being hyper sensitive to his surroundings — causing him to lend his sudden attention to the mysterious man sitting right next to the bonfire.
Sieg shook his head painstakingly so, though he must say, the man was quite built similar to his dream body, he did feel inferior but that doesn't stop him from appreciating.
This guy's physique is insane, but why is he wearing a helmet inside a cave? Is he dumb?
He doesn't seem hostile, he placed my sword where I can easily reach it — it's safe to assume that this is still part of the trial.
I'm certain I died… yet somehow, I'm breathing again.
As Sieg shivered, he had quite a number of questions on his mind, involving how he was saved and the man's burn marks.
Then I can expect a fire-breathing creature to exist in the mountain?
However, all his thinking was soon distracted by an enticing aroma coming from the bonfire. As his sense of smell returned, he slowly realized that the man before him was cooking something that a slum boy like him would come to like.
Chapter End.