With his narrowed eyes, Kael scanned the entire surroundings with a swift gaze. "What the fuck is going on here?" he muttered under his chilled breath as, with a thought, he manifested his wings back again, preparing to fly and launch himself into the sky. WHUMP!
But to his surprise, a force seemed to clamp down on him, preventing his wings from fully extending. With a Thud!, Kael fell. It was as if some unseen mechanism was blocking his flight, restricting him from taking to the skies.
"Huh, what's going on? Why can't I fly?" His mind was flooded by a tide of confusion and fire, but his heart started to shake not only with fear but also with excitement. "Could this be it? Is this the way out of this trial? A way out?" Hahahaha, with a disgusting smile and devil's laugh, Kael murmured.
As his heart shivered with just the hope of having a chance to escape from this trial of misery.
The feathers of his black wings seemed to crackle faintly, glimmering with something like a restraining energy, which was invisible—like a force that remained firm when attempting to soar, yet felt like a flowing liquid while grounded. It wasn't mere defiance against the basic law of physics; it was like law itself. Law of restraining. It felt as if some entity was holding back his rise, as if it understood precisely when and how to stop him.
He gritted his teeth in frustration at not being able to fly.
Grrkk…
While grinding his teeth, Kael muttered, "So what if I can't fly? I will walk. It's not like I've had wings since my birth." So without burying his head against this strange force that was making his flight impossible, Kael began to walk without wasting any time and started to march toward the cloud-touching mountain that might hold his chance of leaving this Trial. Whatever was going to happen here, Kael was ready to tackle it, but for now, the only thing he knew was to keep moving forward. He also couldn't afford to waste precious time and stamina, especially when he was so close to reaching his goal.
With a deep breath, Kael Summon back his wings to his temporarily awakened soul core. The shimmered force which was flickering once on his wings vanished out in the breath of the winter, before fading completely. His shoulders sagged slightly under the weight of his fatigue, but he straightened with effort and turned to walk toward the mountain's entrance.
The landscape in front of his eyes was steep and jagged, as if it was carved by enormous glacial hands. Every single step he took became somewhat heavier in an unnatural way. It was not due to exhaustion or muscle pain, but rather as if the gravity of the land were increasing, or someone was adding spiritual weight to him—an unseen pressure that was dragging him down to his very core. The weather of this cloud touching mountains
seemed to be changed to the peak of the winter he had ever seen. The snow beneath his boot was dumping under his foot;
Crunch… crunch…
his footwear, unlike a boot or sandal, was merely a piece of hide wrapped around his foot and tied with a slender rope of hide. The snowy wind was howling against his ears, whooooooshhh…cutting through the silence of the snowy mountain. The cold was biting at the exposed parts of his skin, stinging like needles.Shhhk… shhhk…
The world around him was still eerily silent, even though the snowy wind was a howling against his ear. It was as if the forsaken world itself had gone quiet, holding its breath in anticipation of something or someone.
Thump… silence… wind howling…
Since he entered the belly of the mountain, he had not encountered any monster or insect; he had not even seen any plant or grass, let alone any tree. Not even a low growl from any lurking monster in the distance. Just the snowy wind—
Woooooo…
and the rising pulse of his heart.
Thump… thump… thump…
In this mountain, there was a total silence, and from his experience of this forsaken world, there is no natural silence. It didn't feel abandoned by sound. It felt emptied.
Despite this overwhelming cold wind, one thing was in his favor—that was the artifact Wolvenhide Mantle, which had effects.
[Shadow Insulation – Slightly reduces physical damage and cold exposure. Provides minor concealment in dark areas like forests and caves.]
[Warmth Aura (Passive) – Maintains body heat, preventing stamina loss in cold climates.]
Which was giving him protection throughout his journey and now providing Warmth Aura a relief to his broken body. The fabric of the mantle was clinging to his body, insulating him from the harsh winds, making the chilly wind bearable for the start. It was like a layer of warmth with a monster hide and reinforced soul-thread, his coat moved with him like an extension of his will—etched with runes that faintly shimmered as sunlight on the snow.
And yet, even with that warmth was only applied to the area which was covered by the mantle, not on the face, not on the palm where this chill wind seeped into like needles.
But Kael was determined to face whatever mystery lay beyond the peak of the mountain, he steeled himself. The path ahead was unclear, but there was no turning back now.
Crunch… crunch…
As Kael was ascending onto the narrowed slope. He saw Jagged rocks jutted out from beneath the snow like ancient bones, half-buried and long forgotten. Those stones were in a colour like gray but close to the white. Above him, the sky filled with bruised gray clouds from where the snow was falling, Pat… pat… pat…
there was no shine of the sun not in sightest—it was like an endless canopy of clouds which sluggishly swirling as if they were reluctant to move.
Wuuuuhhhh....
As he slowly walked along the icy path, Kael began to feel a strange uneasiness, a creeping sensation that was rushing in his spine. Tingling… rising pulse…Telling him "that something is here wrong."
With that sensation, a cold fear wrapped itself around him.
Shhh…
Thump-thump… thump-thump…