Reinhard rubbed his two hands together before glancing to the right and left. But he didn't see any pathway leading up, which meant he would have to climb.
"Did it have to be a winter trial, though? Even the desert would be better." Reinhard sighed with a frown.
Then he placed his hand on the root with his face scrunching up from the cold and quickly took it off. Shaking his hand, Reinhard saw them turning red and knew the climb would be too long to rely on bare hands.
Looking at his uniform, he got an idea as he moved a hand to the cloak and unclipped it around his neck.
Then he ripped it into three, with one covering his face so that the flakes wouldn't sting anymore. Then the other two wrapped around his hand before moving his hand, opening it, and closing it.
With a smile, Reinhard walked back towards the root and grabbed onto it. Noting only faint stinging, he began pulling and climbing up on the snowy roots.
As he climbed, Reinhard thought about the contents of the trial. So far, the only thing he had to do was reach the top, which frankly was a lot easier than expected.
Every Beast Trial tended to be unique, but they each had a pattern of the person imitating the feat of the beast. For example, one of the Inquisitors who visited the inn at Gel Town talked about his trial to the kids listening.
He mentioned how he was transported into a stormy forest and had to hunt down prey.
That requires him to find its tracks, navigate through the forest with the storm above, and deal with any other predators around.
Then once he found the prey, he had to capture it, and then the trial was passed. All of this amazed the kids, but Reinhard could read between the lines even back then.
The prey that the man hunted was most likely a human.
Something the man only realizes at the end, before pushing through and doing the killing. Either way, the man said the trial represents the Wolf Beast's past of hunting in the forest.
So Reinhard was surprised that the only thing he needed to do was climb up the tree.
"Then again… bound to be something more. That being didn't feel like a normal beast. Could it be a high class?" Reinhard muttered as he recalled the books he read.
A Beast Class is divided from D all the way up to SSS. Each class helped gauge a person's potential and how far they could go in life.
Such as D Classes tending to just be common soldiers, while A Classes would be high-ranking officers. But this isn't set in stone, as many external factors lead a D Class to reach the same heights as an A Class.
But having a high-class beast isn't all that great. Reinhard's thoughts as he recalls the words of a group of Inquisitors at the library.
The higher the beast class, the more extreme the trial. Of course, this should be easy to tell, but in the world of Xeno, it isn't.
It was almost impossible to tell how difficult the trial would be because the class of the beast is not revealed until the end.
You couldn't even guess it based on their looks or their race. Since even a little rabbit could be classified as a higher class than even a dragon.
That's because the overall class of a Beast is determined by its importance in the Throne of Myth.
Reinhard was brought out of his thoughts as he pulled himself up to find himself in a wide area of the roots. As he climbed up over the roots, he squinted his eyes to peer around before hearing stomping noises.
He glanced to the right to see a massive creature with white fur, three eyes on its face, and a large club of ice in its right hand.
It was a Frost Troll, similar to one he saw in paintings.
Reinhard blankly stared before muttering, "Of course."
He quickly glanced around, only seeing long roots and rocks covered in snow. He quickly moved down to grab a stone just as the troll came rushing towards him.
The Frost Troll swung its ice club down and rushed down to Reinhard. But he quickly dove to the side, rolling on the snow-covered ground just as the club crashed down where he was.
He pushed himself up as scattered snow landed on him, and then he saw the club rushing towards him in a sweep.
The ice club cut through the air and closed in on Reinhard. But to his surprise, it was moving more slowly than expected as he quickly jumped back to evade the attack.
That's odd… Phantasm Monster should be vastly stronger…Reinhard thought as a cold wind passed by his face.
The troll quickly readjusted itself before hacking down with the club, but Reinhard sidestepped the strike.
The club embedded itself deep into the roots and locked it in place, leading the Frost Troll to struggle to pull it up.
So why am I keeping up with it?
Reinhard rushed to the Frost Troll's side and thrust the rod into the Frost Troll's leg, the sharp tone piercing into its hide. He quickly pulled out and stepped back as the Frost Troll roared out in pain while dark-blue blood began to leak from its leg.
It can actually be hurt by the stone! Then...
Reinhard's eyes lit up as he ducked under another swing before rushing forward. He swayed left and right to avoid the wild swings coming from the Frost Troll before leaping up.
He pressed a foot down on the troll's wounded knee and launched himself upwards.
He grasped its fur shoulder with one hand before driving his other hand towards the troll's eyes.
The stone rock crashed into the troll's blue eyes, making it roar in agony. The Frost Troll stumbled backwards, its left hand quickly moving up to hold its face. Blue blood dripped down from its face as it continued to release an ear-splitting roar.
Reinhard ignored it as he rushed past the screaming Frost Troll. His boot rushed through the deep snow as he headed towards the root of the tree.
A wisp of blue trail from his mouth as he reached the massive roots and leapt onto it. Then he began climbing up, the cloak still wrapped around his hands as he headed upwards.
Just then, he felt his instincts scream and then glance back. Reinhard's eyes widened in shock at an ice club rushing towards him, forcing him to lower his head and slightly drop down.
Just as the club smashed into a tree close to him, it made the area around him shake. He bit his lips as nervousness and a bit of fear flashed through him before he glanced down to see the Frost Troll swimming its arms around.
It was fortunately blinded, making Reinhard sigh in relief. Before he began climbing upwards, the roar and scream of the Frost Troll spread out.