Travel II

-Haaa...

An icy breath emanated from my mouth.

- Traka - Traka.

The rattle generated by the movement of the horses hit the walls of the mountain, making the echo reverberate to the deepest recesses.

I averted my gaze back and observed the laborious path we had been walking all this time.

After the small fight with the wolves in the small forest, 4 days had already passed.

In which we did nothing but ride and move on top of the horses, at first we crossed the forest, which had a village on the outskirts and arrived there we returned to rest in a small inn, the next day and before sunrise, we had left again.

About 6 hours riding on horseback we arrived at the foothills of the northern mountain range, which as I said, were located north of the capital of Aren.

With a normal pace, we began to walk along a small path where no plants were growing, and in a few hours, we had already reached the chasm of the first mountain.

But it was only the beginning of the torture, we kept going up and down the mountains for hours and even days, and of course with every moment that we approached the path became steeper and more dangerous, not only because of the geography of the place but also because of the monsters that had ceased to be of the low-rank G and F and which began to climb the position of ranks until they reached rank C.

Thanks to some technique of Bull we had managed to dodge it and those who came too close died thanks to a flash that was generated with the unsheathing of Bull's sword.

Thus arrived the night of the third day we had reached a wooden bridge, which unlike the movies did not hang from two ropes and had rotten pieces of wood, making each step taken was deadly dangerous, but it was a very well built and reinforced bridge, along with walls a meter high that served to support you.

We camped on the edge of the ravine and the next morning we crossed it thanks to the bridge, which seemed to have no end thanks to the clouds that blurred our vision of what was in front of us.

During that time Bull and I talked about some things, among which was the origin of the bridge.

According to what he told us, this bridge was built by the first king of the sword, Neus Dawnwinter, and was named Neus, in his honor.

It was made with an earthen base by one of King Neus' subordinates, he was a talented earth mage and over time it was made by the disciples who passed over it.

After passing the bridge we got back on our horses and advanced along the path to the chasm of the great mountain, as Bull called it.

And so we came to the present, whereas before I was still climbing up the mountain, as I had nothing else to do I devoted myself to observing the cliff - the little that could be seen of it, since it was so deep that it looked like a pit - and to observe the figures in the clouds, of which I could touch some.

"Hey, kid," called Bull's voice at my side, causing me to stop my scrutiny of our surroundings, "aren't you planning to put on a coat?"

Bull's words made me reflect, so far I hadn't felt the need to wear one, unlike Bull, who had made use of it since we started climbing the mountain, in fact since I arrived in this world I hadn't worn one.

Probably because of Ice Heart, since it made my body temperature drop when I used it and I must have gotten used to the high temperatures I felt comfortable until before crossing the bridge, but now that we had climbed higher I was starting to get cold.

"I suppose I should," I said looking at Bull. But I don't have any."

"Haa. How could you possibly not have any," said Bull, as he began to explore in his backpack and let out curses at me, which I had grown accustomed to." Here!"

I stretched out my hands and took a huge coat, which I put on while pondering what kind of animal it would be made of, it seemed to be just a normal coat since even though I tried to get a status window to open nothing happened.

"We'll be there soon," said Bull without taking his eyes off the top of the mountain. Remember kid, don't even think about dying, I don't want to embarrass myself in front of the great master."

I answered with a nod and fixed my gaze in the distance.

Just as Bull said, those white dots that could be seen in the distance gradually became clearer, revealing five huge, majestic, and powerful figures.

To be more specific, the figures were trees, they seemed to be normal trees with the only exceptions being their height and their leaves, which were completely white.

Bull accelerated the race of the horses and I followed his example shortly after, in a few minutes we arrived in front of a part of the mountain that seemed to serve as a wall, since in the middle of the mountain there was a wooden door and from which we could see the door of the mountain.

I closed my eyes because of a strong blizzard blowing down the mountain ravine and by the time I opened them again, two people dressed in a long black sweater appeared out of nowhere.

"Huh? But look who we have here," said one of the men as he looked at Bull with a smile. What did they call you... Oh, I remembered, Crazy Winter, didn't I?"

"Sigh. Stop that, you don't have to fight," said the other, giving a small pat on the shoulder to the man who spoke, "Forgive him, Bull, you know he's always like that."

"But it's still weird to see you around here," said the man as he alternated his gaze between me and Bull. But even stranger to see that you brought a companion with you, is it?"

"That's none of your business, shut up and open the door for me," interrupted Bull, not taking his gaze off the door, "I'm sorry. Haha, sorry, we'll open it now."

-Chiiiiir~.

The gate opened with an annoying sound and slowly, but neither I nor Bull waited for it to open fully when we went through it, pulling our horses.

I positioned myself behind Bull and took in my surroundings as we walked.

There were more people than I thought and most of them shared the same coat as the men at the entrance, there were also some houses, which were attached to the mountainside on the right side, their architecture was like the typical houses of Europe, on the ground, made of stone.

But some seemed to share an Asian style, which was seen in the wooden roofs and entrances, it seemed that these were the training places, as they were located on the left side of the mountainside.

I followed Bull, who walked to a stable where he urged me to leave my horse, just as he did, and then left again, but this time walking towards the center.

This time I fixed my gaze upwards, where the peaks of the mountains were visible, which seemed to surround in a circle the place where we were, it seemed as if we were inside the crater of a volcano.

Suddenly Bull stopped, forcing me to take my eyes off the sky and move them to in front of me, where there was a huge tree with white leaves that blended in with the snow falling from the sky.

In total there were five trees like this one, the other four were on the slopes of the mountain and were positioned following the four horizontal points.

"You stay here," said Bull as he pushed me forward, "I have to go, but you will stay with the other aspiring disciples," he paused as he looked toward a huge house at the end of the mountainside. I hope you survive."

For a while I watched him go, but as I felt eyes on me, I had to peel mine off Bull and move it to the front, where about 200 people were standing, all young people who didn't look a day over 20.

"Wasn't that Bull the crazy winter? - muttered a voice as I watched Bull walk away. Then that means that's his disciple," said another. He can create a disciple," replied another. But if that's true, he must be just as crazy."

The mobs continued, but I ignored them and walked over to a small rock, where I sat down cross-legged.

There were more people than I expected, not for nothing it was said that it was an impossible exam, it was quite strange to know that of all those only 5 would survive.

And one of them was Alan, the son of the current king of the sword.

I focused my attention on the crowd and searched my memory for Alan's features, which according to what I remembered were black hair and gray eyes, but what made him most memorable was a huge scar around his right eye.

Maybe because he was behind everyone no matter how hard I tried to look I couldn't find anyone, so I decided to give up, after all, I could see him after we both survived the exam.

-Tap - Tap.

I heard a person coming towards me until he was so close that he blocked the sunlight, I turned slowly and to my surprise, I managed to find the person I was looking for.

Hey," said the tall black-haired man I recognized as Alan, "Are you Uncle Bull's disciple? Why on earth would he take an effeminate boy as a disciple, did he just go crazy?"

Alan went on for a while asking more questions but stopped when he didn't hear an answer come out of me.

"Hey, why don't you answer me!? - Alan said as he sat down on a rock next to me, "You asked too many questions and I didn't know which one to answer you." - I replied, ignoring Alan's surprised expression.

"But no, I'm not Bull's disciple," I said, pausing in my speech, "I'm not crazy enough to consider that madman a good instructor."

I said, remembering the times he made me fight the F-ranked beasts on the road and the madness with which he killed the monsters that approached him.

"That's right, you don't look like one of those. Then why-."

Alan's words suddenly stopped, not understanding why I followed his gaze until I found the reason myself.

"Welcome," echoed a man's voice, which had been the reason for Alan's pause, "I am Cotli and I am one of the five swords appointed by the Grand Master."

Cotli's words silenced the audience completely.

"There's not much I have to say," Cotli swept his gaze around and paused for a moment on the person next to me, "You are all clear about the reason you came to this secluded place."

"To take the test to become a disciple of the great and powerful Dawnwinter style."

"With that in mind, I will explain the one rule we have laid out for this exam," a big smile formed on Cotli's face. Survive. Only 5 people out of the 200 here will have the right to be called Dawnwinter style disciples."

"The entire mountain surrounded by the Aute cliff will be the site of the examination."

"Well, with that said.

I hereby declare the Dawnwinter style examination initiated.

May the luck be with you."

-Boooom!

The instant Cotli's words ended an explosion resounded and the snow rose, blocking my vision completely.