Flash!
“Yap?” asked Fluffball as he looked around trying to figure out what had happened. He was now no longer inside the odd dungeon nor was he near the entrance of the underground temple.
Both Dolph and Vilkas were crouching behind a stone tree peeking out at Fluffball who had just appeared in front of them.
“You failed as well?” asked Dolph.
“I thought I was going to die in there but before the fatal blow landed I was thrown out,” said Vilkas.
They had been on edge after being dumped out of the underground hell house dungeon where they had all separated and tortured with different unbeatable tasks.
Luckily no demigods had been spat out of the dungeon anywhere near them… yet.
“Yap,” said Fluffball as he rushed over to the two hiding werewolves.
“We have to wait here. He hasn’t come out yet,” said Dolph.
“I just hope he hurries up and finishes whatever task he has to do inside. I don’t think we can take on a group of demigods if they show up before him…”
***
Lharpr Crouched down and dashed forward jumping over a large hole in the ground…
Thump!
“OOF”
He had misjudged the angle of his jump and so his upper body slammed into the edge of the stone ledge.
“*&%$#!” shouted Lharpr as his arms scrambled to grab onto something to pull himself up but… he failed to find purchase on the smooth stone floor.
“Damn it~!” he shouted as his body slipped away from the ledge and fell into the endless dark hole below him. The dim light above him soon disappeared as his body fell at a faster speed with each passing second.
Shink!
Lharpr came to a complete stop as his body was pierced by several stone spears inside the dark hole.
With a burst of thousands of light fragments, his gruesome mangled body disappeared from the underground palace trial grounds…
***
FWOOOOOSH!
A Large pillar of scalding steam shot up on the left of Sukor, scalding his left arm as he tried to dodge the unpredictable pillars of steam and get to the end of the hallway.
As he ran he pulled out a red potion and took several large gulps from it.
The hissing sound of a steam geyser building up power could be heard in front of him as well as behind.
“There’s only one thing to do!” Grunted Sukor as he used all his might and jumped forward.
FWOOOSH!
The pillars of steam burst out of the hidden holes scorching everything behind him as he tumbled through the air.
He was unable to completely escape the steam pillar as his feet were caught in the scalding steam geyser for only a few seconds. Although it was only a few seconds his armored boots were disintegrated by the steam’s heat leaving his feet a raw red from being cooked.
With a thud, Sukor landed on the ground next to the portal that would lead to the trial.
He gasped for air as a jolt of pain wracked his body when he tried to sit up. For some reason, he was unable to sit up as his feet and legs were not responding to his brain’s commands.
He lay on his stomach as he pulled out another potion and chugged it down. His legs and feet which had been cooked to the point that the skin had puffed out and cracked open now began to deflate and lose its cooked red hue as it was slowly recovered to a point that he could use his legs once again.
“This is only the second trial… if this keeps up I’ll run out of potions. Then the mission will really have been a failure…”
He had already pushed through several dozen harrowing and painful near-death experiences in these two trials. If one was weak of mind they would have already given up from all the pain and horrific wounds he had received.
Sukor quickly equipped a backup pair of armored boots and stood up once more testing his feet that were now healed.
“All my luck must have been spent on getting put in the correct trial path… from what it says here there is a core set of trials given out based on your desires. If I just follow this…” muttered Sukor as he looked at an old weathered map and read a few instructions before shoving it back into his bag.
“Alright only a few more trials and then I should be able to complete my mission!” said Sukor as he walked into the portal disappearing from the steamy corridor.
***
“Scree!” The Griffon called out to Akira drawing his attention to the large smudge on the horizon ahead of them which was quickly growing into the shape of a large ice mountain.
They had traveled far far away from the Library, a distance that Akira guessed would take him several days of nonstop running to get to this point. He was completely satisfied with the griffon’s flying prowess that he patted its side.
The Griffon viewed this as a command for it to go faster and it put even more force into its wings as it shot forward towards the large ice mountain.
“WAAAA! SLOW DOWN!” Shouted Akira as he hugged the Griffon’s neck trying to stay on its back with the cold wind slamming into his face making it hard to breathe. Sadly the Griffon did not slow down and continued to rocket toward the icy mountain.
The Ice Mountain was entirely out of place with the warm grassy plains that surrounded it in every direction. In just a few harrowing minutes of trying to not be blown off by the wind, they reached the Ice Mountain.
The Griffon folded its wings and dived down from the sky high above the mountain. They stayed close to the side of the mountain allowing Akira to catch a glimpse of a large cave opening at the top of the mountain before it disappeared from view as they hurtled to the ground.
Fwoop! The griffon snapped its wings out and pulled itself out of its steep dive to slowly and gently land on the grassy plains at the base of the base of the icy mountain.
“Scree…” said the Griffon as it lay down on the ground and turned its head to look at Akira.
“Well, I guess this is the end of the free ride. Thanks for the help,” said Akira reaching out and rubbing the griffon’s feathered neck to which it nodded its head to him.
As soon as Akira hopped off its back the large Griffon shot into the air and began flying back to the library.
“So it was only a one-way ride…” said Akira watching the griffon fly off before turning his attention to the large icy mountain in front of him.
From what he could see there was only one trail up the mountain to his destination, the cave at the top of the mountain. He did not hesitate and began walking up the mountain at a quick pace.
The pleasant warmth of the grassy plains was quickly replaced with a fierce snowy blizzard that made him feel at home as if he were back in Kodria. He kept his guard up the entire trek to the top of the mountain but found nothing worth noting. Although it was hard to see anything farther than an arm’s length in front of him…
He stopped at the mouth of the large cave and peered inside at the darkness letting out a loud sniff to scout out the area inside with his nose.
Fwump!
Without time to react a large white blur shot out of the cave and tackled Akira.
The large bipedal creature tumbled down the mountain path with Akira as he fought to free himself from the bear hug of its white furry arms that were wrapped around his armored body.
The furred creature did not seem to care about the large wounds it had received from the spikes on Akira’s armored knee and elbows. The spikes continued to stab into the furry creature as they flipped and rolled down the snowy mountain for several hundred feet.
WHAM!
The two crashed into a large boulder instantly stopping their tumbling fall down the mountain if not for this boulder who knew how far down the mountain they could have gone.
“Uuuuuh…” groaned Akira. His entire body felt like it was ready to shatter into thousands of pieces from the crash… fortunately for him, the impact with the boulder was dulled by the furry creature taking the brunt of the impact with its body while it bear-hugged Akira.
With how violent the crash was the large creature’s furry arms had loosened allowing Akira to squirm free and roll away from the unknown ambusher.
With unsteady feet, he stood up and ate a piece of red candy to help recover the damage to his body from tumbling down the mountain and crashing into the large boulder.
Peering through the thick flurry of snow he was able to see what had attacked him.
[Immature Abominable snowman LVL 236.]
The dazed monster’s white furry body was stained with red blood all over its body from the sharp icy spikes that sprouted out of the ground around the boulder. Akira felt a chill down his back that had nothing to do with the blizzard around him as he looked at the sharp ice spikes. That could have been him.
The [Immature Abominable snowman’s] other wounds it had received from the sharp spikes on Akira’s armor had already stopped bleeding due to the blood freezing over and clotting the wounds.
“Crap, where’s my sword and shield?” asked Akira as he frantically looked around but could not see anything resembling his sword or shield which he had lost his grip on during the tumble down the mountain.
A dark misty light covered Akira as he transformed into his werewolf form.
It was a good thing he did since the wounded [Immature Abominable snowman] shook its head to clear its head. The ice spikes were still sticking out its back but the blood had frozen around it holding them in place as it rushed towards Akira to once again try to crush him with its arms.
Akira’s armored hands reached out and grabbed onto the monster’s outstretched claws and held his ground against the creature who was plowing forward through the snow leaving behind a large trail in the deep snow.
With Akira unable to use his sword or shield, the fight with the [Immature Abominable snowman] became a test of strength between the two.
In the back-and-forth struggle for dominance over the other, Akira repeatedly used his spiked elbows and knees to stab the [Immature Abominable snowman].
Their fierce battle churned up large portions of the snowy mountain as each of them fought to gain an advantage over the other.
In the struggle, the [Immature Abominable snowman] headbutted Akira stunning him for a few seconds. This was enough for the furry creature to free its left arm which shot up and grasped onto Akira’s armored neck trying to choke him.
With a jerk, the [Immature Abominable snowman] pulled Akira’s neck towards its large furry face where its sharp teeth waited to tear out his throat.
Akira, in a panic, raised his free arm and used the spiked elbow to slam into the approaching furred face. The spike pierced right through the creature’s right eye and deep into its brain.
The [Immature Abominable snowman’s] movements abruptly stopped for a moment before crumbling to the ground like a marionette puppet with its strings cut.
Ding!
-
You have leveled up! You are now Level 237.
Congratulations, you have completed another trial.
Pass through the portal to start the next trial!
Akira just stood there for a minute or two breathing in the cold blizzards air as he tried to catch his breath.
Since he was not sure what else lay in store for him in the next trial he reverted out of his werewolf form to save his stamina. As he did so he was immediately hit with waves of pain. Even though the level-up had fully cured the worst of the wounds and bruises on his body, his muscles and bones were aching from overexerting himself in the brutal test of strength.
When his fast beating heart and his breath had calmed down he once again continued walking back up the icy mountain and along the way found his sword and shield that were half buried in the snow.
When he entered the large cave at the top of the mountain he found that it was not all that deep nor did it have too many paths which allowed Akira to find the white portal to the next trial in less than 5 minutes of walking.
He readied himself doing one last check of his body and equipment before touching the white swirling portal and disappearing in a bright white flash.
