Dawn broke cold and clear on our first full day of travel. I woke before Adrian, the mountain chill seeping through my bedroll despite the magical heating stones Marcus had provided. The forest around our small camp was silent except for distant bird calls and the whisper of wind through pine needles.
I sat up carefully, breath misting in the frigid air. Adrian was still asleep on the other side of the dead campfire, his SSS-rank constitution apparently allowing him to ignore discomfort that would leave most people miserable. Or maybe he was just better at pretending rest than I was.
The reality of what we were doing hit me again in the quiet morning. Two days of travel to reach the facility. Then two weeks of training that had a one in three chance of killing me. The numbers didn't get less terrifying with repetition.
