The road to the trial did not lead through sea or city, but stone. Kael Stormheart left his ship anchored far below and began the ascent alone, boots crunching against frost-bitten gravel as the mountain loomed above him like a judging god. The air grew thinner with every step, wind cutting sharp against his coat, lightning humming faintly beneath his skin as if reacting to the altitude. Loki floated beside him, unusually quiet, eyes scanning the cliffs and ridgelines. "This mountain is old," Loki muttered. "Older than most trials. Awakened blood has soaked into it." Kael exhaled slowly, steady and controlled. "Good. Means the dungeon's worth it." He adjusted the straps on his gear and continued upward, posture relaxed but senses stretched taut, the instincts of a sailor navigating storms now applied to stone and sky.
Halfway up the ascent, the mountain answered him.
A pressure settled over the path, subtle but unmistakable, like a hand closing around his spine. Kael stopped. Snow slid from above, pebbles tumbling down the slope. A figure stepped out from behind a jagged rock formation as if she had always been there, tall and lean, wrapped in dark furs that blended into the mountain itself. Her eyes glowed faint silver, and veins of crystalline light ran across her arms like frost trapped beneath skin. Loki hissed softly. "Awakened confirmed. Female. Power manifestation… Glacial Dominion." The woman tilted her head, studying Kael with calm, predatory interest. "So you're the dragon deckhand," she said. "I felt you consume another." Kael smiled, slow and foxlike. "You stalking me or just sightseeing?" Her lips curved into something cold. "Ritual law is clear. Only one continues."
She moved first.
The mountain erupted as ice spears tore up from the ground, snapping toward Kael's legs. He reacted instantly, lightning flaring as he shifted into human form, agility peaking as he vaulted backward, boots barely touching stone. He closed distance fast, knowing better than to let a ranged Awakened control the field. She raised her arm and the air froze, a wall of glacial force slamming into him mid-stride. Kael grunted as he partially shifted, scales bursting along his forearm as he blocked, skidding back several meters, boots carving grooves into ice. Loki shouted, "Defense reinforced. She's trying to pin you!" Kael laughed breathlessly. "Then she's already losing."
He vanished in a crack of thunder.
Reappearing above her in a short levitation burst, Kael partially transformed his legs, talons forming as he drove himself downward. She twisted aside, ice surging to shield her, but Kael tore through it with lightning-infused claws, shards exploding across the slope. The impact sent both of them sliding, snow cascading down the mountain like an avalanche. She recovered first, eyes blazing, slamming her palms together as frost wrapped her body in armor. "You rely too much on speed," she said. Kael wiped blood from his lip and straightened, lightning crawling across his shoulders. "And you rely too much on control."
He shifted again, this time further.
His Demidrake form emerged partially, chest armored in dark scales, presence expanding, the storm answering him. He advanced steadily, absorbing the cold into his scales, forcing her backward step by step. She tried to retreat, summoning spikes and barriers, but Kael broke through with relentless pressure, mixing human agility with draconic strength, switching forms mid-stride, never allowing her to reset the battlefield. Panic flickered in her eyes when he closed the final distance. His claw pierced through her armor, lightning detonating inside it. She collapsed to her knees, breath fogging the air.
She laughed weakly. "So this is how it ends." Kael stood over her, expression unreadable. "You chose the mountain," he said. "It chose me back." He consumed her power.
Cold surged into him, not altering his form but refining it, hardening his control, giving his lightning a sharper edge, his presence heavier, more commanding. When it ended, the wind died down, and the mountain fell silent once more. Loki exhaled. "Glacial resistance absorbed. Control efficiency improved. Your Demidrake form just became… colder." Kael flexed his hand, watching frost evaporate under lightning. "Good. Storms need contrast."
He did not notice the eyes watching him from higher up the slope.
As Kael resumed his climb toward the trial dungeon carved into the mountain's peak, a shadow shifted among the rocks above, presence concealed, patience absolute. The watcher did not move, did not interfere, only observed as Kael Stormheart ascended, unaware that the trial ahead was not the only thing waiting for him. The mountain had taken note. And so had something else.