031: Shadow Ice Beasts

Divyat started running, ignoring the group of people looking at his back with shocked looks on their faces. The coat, ripped up shirt and horn in his hand was pretty cumbersome, but he kept up with it, running as hard and as fast as he could. But even if he was as silent as he hoped he was, there were still sounds being made, and that was enough to draw the attention of two shadow ice beast that literally popped out of one of the ice pillars.

They rushed towards him, gaining speed by the second. It was somewhat surprising, but to Divyat it seemed that the creatures could and would get faster depending on the speed of whoever they were chasing. Divyat wondered if there was a limit to it, but ultimately this was not the time to analyze them as he sharply banked right, going past a pillar that blocked him from their sight, and stopped abruptly, watching as they went past him, running for almost three dozen meters before stopping, knowing that they had lost track of Divyat. They looked around a bit, releasing eerie mewl like growls before dissolving into inky icy black mist that dove back into the nearest pillar.

Looks like the pillars here served to do more than just hold up the ceiling of the cavern. But just as he had earlier agreed, he absolutely did not have time to analyze the pillars as the counter on the central tower had dropped to 150. He took off on a brisk walk, heading closer to the tower and making sure to keep as silent as possible while utilizing the highest speed he could without drawing any attention to himself. By the time he got to the demarcating line of the stalagmite field before the tower, the counter had dropped to 97. And that was when he heard the sound of footfalls behind him.

He turned around and saw the large group of people that had earlier seen him heal, rushing towards him with extreme speeds while scores of the shadow ice beasts chased after them. Looking at the eyes of the people in front, it was obvious they would happily use him for bait, but Divyat was not having any of those. Maybe none of them had that intention and they just wanted to survive, but this much people would make it difficult to move around the stalagmite field, as it would be swarming with shadow ice beast. So Divyat decided to make the best and most optimal choice for his survival.

He pivoted around and flung the cloak and tattered shirt in the direction of the people running. They were close enough and still a distance away that the moment the coat smashed into the lead runners face, he went down like a sack of potatoes, taking a significant amount of his group with him as they all tripped and fell over each other, unwittingly letting out cries that drew the attention of the Shadow ice beasts, even those hanging at the bottom of the tower heard their cries and turned around. It would be that much easier to advance now that they had reduced, and the people on the tower were smart enough to be silent in the approach to ascending it.

Divyat stood impassively as they ran past him, their shadowy forms brushing past him and leaving him feeling a bit sick and weak. He turned away from the screams and kept moving forwards, completely ignoring the carnage happening behind him. For a moment his heart let out a painful twinge, a burst of warmth to show he still had a bit of morality, that he was remorseful for what he had just done. But just as quickly the cold that he was rapidly becoming used to, doused the warmth and left him feeling nothing…he was wasting time. The counter had dropped to 77.

Divyat snuffed his heart of emotion and his body of sound as he made his way to the tower, not stopping until he was right behind a shadow beast. There was still quite a significant amount of them that were desperate to get on top of the tower, but the people on it were fighting back, using Qi and their techniques to disrupt their forms and buy themselves some time to go ahead. Either way, Divyat would need a distraction if he was to get on that tower on time, and it definitely couldn't be anything small. He looked around, noticing that most of the stalagmites had bodies hanging on them, innards, flesh and bones littered the place. Some of the corpses on the stalagmites were actually just bones, telling quite the story as this was probably not the first time a trial has been held in this place. And it wasn't little as there were scores of bones that have experienced the wear and tear of age.

Divyat took the horn that had gored him and followed his nose, past all of the stench and musk to the back of a single horned Tauren struggling and trying his best to make his way up the tower. Surprisingly enough he was already halfway up, but all that momentum came crashing down as in his attempt to bulldoze someone out of the way, the snapped off piece of his missing horn took him in the back, an icy chill spreading from it that made his body freeze in place as he tipped over and fell 20 feet to the ground, dragging along three others due to how clustered they all were.

Two landed on stalagmites, with Tauren and the person he had previously been holding landing on the ground, very much still alive and in pain. They drew the attention of the Shadow ice Beasts, which descended on them promptly, as Divyat withdrew his hand, tiny wisps of icy qi floating off of it. As he whispered in his mind. [Heart Seeker: One Breath Spike] then he turned to the others on the tower, his hands reaching for the bleach skulls and bones of those who had come long before them, and through it all, his motions were completely Silent!