4 Chapter 3

 After what seemed like an eternity to Rainer but was only a day, he reached the halfway point on the mountain. Rainer collapsed on his knees from exhaustion, stabilizing his hurried breathing. After a few deep breaths he ate one of the two apples and continued the brutal climb to the top. The fire he occasionally summoned began to dim after several hours but he knew he could not stop for a second or else he would freeze. Regardless of how tired he was, his focus was on one thing and one thing only, survival.

Rainer looked up from his near frostbitten hands and was overflowed with joy to see a cave only a few feet away from him.

He ate the last apple for a small boost in energy and made his way into the cave. It wasn’t very deep nor was it as cold as the blizzard raging outside. There were some sort of white creatures hanging from the ceiling. Upon further inspection Rainer noticed they were birdlike creatures with thick fur.

Rainer was able to finally warm himself to a point where his body was no longer quivering from the cold. His mind switched back from instincts to its regular activity, allowing him to finally think clearly.

“Those birds. I wonder what they taste like.” He muttered to himself while taking a seat on the cold hard ground in the back of the cave. Staring back at the birds his stomach began to growl.

With a small amount of strength he stretched his hand out towards the small group of birds. After a slight amount of hesitation he blasted a wave of fire towards them. They quickly scrambled within the cave as if they were bats trying to find their way out of a box. Their high pitched whines pierced the silence in the cave. Rainer covered his face with his jacket and grunted as he was pelted by their small bodies.

“I should have known I wasn’t going to be able to cook them that easily!” He yelled through the loud whining.

It wasn’t long until the birds found the exit to the cave and flew into the blizzard. Rainer let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his shoulders. He peeked from the side of the coat and noticed there were two birds laying lifeless on the cave floor. Their fur was charred from the fire that burned them.

Rainer immediately grabbed the closest bird and began his attempt to de-skin and debone it with his sword. He cooked the meat with his fire, getting a nice smoky look to the meat. After admiring his cooking, he took a bite.

His face quickly turned from pleasure to disgust as the taste of the meat touched his tongue. Rainer gagged at the awful taste. “This tastes like it came out of someone’s rear end.” He solemnly stared at the dry meat, attempting to resist the urge to eat it. However, his resilience was unable to suppress his hunger. With hesitation he slowly devoured the meat while trying to ignore the flavor.

Almost immediately after finishing his meal, he leaned against the cold cave wall and stared at the blizzard passing by outside. His eyes began to droop.

“I can’t fall asleep…” he lazily thought to himself. Rainer knew full well that if he fell asleep here, then he was an easy target due to his lack of energy. The thought of other contestants nearby made him wary. Unfortunately his attempts at staying awake were overcome by sleep.

Rainer was awoken by a loud rumbling. He slowly rubbed his eyes awake. “What’s going on?” He asked sluggishly, still waking up from his sleep.

A loud bang like that of a gun except twice as loud, pierced his ears. “What the hell is happening now?” he questioned in frustration. Outside of the cave he could see black smoke being carried off by the wind from the same side of the mountain he was on.

Without hesitation, Rainer ran outside the cave. Only to witness a battle between what seemed to be a clown and a werewolf with dual daggers. The clown was using gold coins that exploded like grenades. The werewolf seemed to be having a problem trying to avoid them.

“Finally a battle, this is your chance.” Said Bahamut. “You worked to climb for two days. Pushing yourself to the limit to increase your Mana. Now you have a chance to test what you have acquired.”

“I know.” Rainer replied with no enthusiasm or confidence in his voice. He was still second guessing his own abilities compared to that of the other contestants.

“You need to fight. I know you’re scared, but you won’t make it far by cowering.”

Bahamut’s words struck a chord with Rainer. “That’s not it. I’m not scared. I just don’t want to make a fool out of myself if something I do doesn’t work!”

The Clown laughed an odd yet sinister laugh. It had eliminated the werewolf and tossed it’s scorched body off the side of the cliff. Then focused its attention on Rainer, moving close enough for Rainer to smell the metal of the coins burning in his hands.

The clown’s wine red lips smiled from ear to ear as it walked towards Rainer. It’s height was almost twice that of a Rainer. As it came closer Rainer could make out it’s horrid outfit, created from different colored patches.

“And what are you staring at? Never seen a high court judge before?” The clown laughed.

Rainer wasn’t able to tell if it was joking or serious, but he kept his composure. He reached for his sword that was strapped to the back of his waist. “No, I’ve seen enough clowns in a courtroom.” He joked.

The clown tilted his head to the right and stared at Rainer with cold eyes. “Say, you don’t look like much of a fighter. But then how did you get up here without freezing to death? Only Mana users with good control are able to project mana outward like a bubble shield, and yet here you are without a shield or any protection from the cold.” it tilted its head the other way and began flipping a few coins in its hands.

“I just kept walking, and it just kept working so I went with it.” Rainer laughed as he realized how lucky he was.

The clown literally smiled from ear to ear. It’s mouth was extremely large and contained two rows of sharp teeth. “I do enjoy jokes with my meals.”

It flipped a coin in Rainer’s direction. The speed of it was terrifyingly fast, but Rainer was able to successfully dodge it. An explosion hit the side of the mountain, causing snow to fall from the upper levels. Rainer drew his sword and charged towards the clown. Unfortunately, he slipped on the icy surface and fell on his stomach.

The clown clutched his sides as he laughed even harder at Rainer’s misfortune. “You are truly a fool’s fool!” He cried in the midst of hysterical laughter.

avataravatar
Next chapter