The cold grew sharper the higher Azriah climbed.
Each step into Tyber's frozen ascent felt heavier than the last.
Snow crunched beneath his boots.
Winds howled through jagged stone pathways like ancient spirits warning trespassers to turn back.
And yet—
Azriah continued forward.
Calm.
Measured.
Unyielding.
The lower slopes of Tyber were deceptively beautiful.
Towering frost-covered pines.
Frozen cliffs reflecting silver under pale northern light.
Snowfall drifting almost peacefully.
But beneath that beauty—
danger lived.
Ancient.
Predatory.
And always watching.
'You know…'
Sham's voice echoed lazily.
'For a supposedly intelligent person, willingly climbing a mountain filled with primordial monsters still feels questionable.'
Azriah adjusted his cloak against the biting wind.
'Your concern is noted.'
'That wasn't concern. That was judgment.'
Azriah ignored him.
His gaze remained sharp.
Every movement mattered here.
Every sound.
Every shift in mana.
Tyber was not forgiving.
And the creatures native to it—
were worse.
A sudden crunch.
To his left.
Azriah stopped instantly.
Silence.
Then—
a hiss.
Low.
Long.
Predatory.
Sham's tone shifted immediately.
'…Well that sounds unpleasant.'
Azriah's hand moved instinctively.
Mana stirred.
Cold gathering around his fingers.
Then—
the snow exploded.
A massive serpentine creature burst from beneath the frost.
White scales glimmered like sharpened ice.
Its elongated body moved with terrifying speed.
Blue crystalline horns jutted from its skull.
Its maw opened—
revealing rows of jagged frozen fangs.
Wowl.
A native predator of Tyber.
Deadly.
Fast.
And territorial.
Azriah barely dodged as the beast lunged.
Its jaws snapped shut inches from his throat.
He rolled sharply across snow-covered stone, immediately creating distance.
'Fast.'
'That thing wants us dead.'
'Obviously.'
The Wowl hissed again.
Its massive body coiled with lethal precision.
Then lunged once more.
Azriah raised his hand instinctively.
Mana surged.
For the first time—
he actively reached for his newly awakened Blessing of Ice.
The response was imperfect.
Raw.
Unrefined.
But present.
Frost erupted from his palm.
Jagged shards of ice shot forward.
Several struck the Wowl's scales—
but failed to penetrate deeply.
The creature screeched in irritation rather than pain.
'Well.'
Sham sounded unimpressed.
'That was mildly disappointing.'
Azriah gritted his teeth.
'Still learning.'
'Preferably faster.'
The Wowl struck again.
This time its tail whipped through the air with devastating force.
Azriah raised an ice barrier instinctively.
The impact shattered it instantly—
sending him skidding violently across frozen ground.
Pain flared through his ribs.
His breathing staggered.
'Damn it—'
The creature was stronger than expected.
And his ice affinity—
while powerful—
was still immature.
Another lunge.
Another near-fatal strike.
Azriah barely evaded, but his stamina was rapidly draining.
His mana reserves trembled.
His body was reaching its limit.
'Azriah.'
Sham's tone sharpened.
Serious.
'Use it.'
Azriah's breath caught slightly.
'…Now?'
'Unless you'd prefer becoming serpent food.'
Silence.
Then—
decision.
Azriah planted his foot firmly into the snow.
His breathing steadied.
Mana surged.
But this time—
he did not reach for ice.
He reached deeper.
Toward something darker.
Older.
Hungrier.
Usurper's law.
At first—
nothing happened.
Then—
the shadows beneath him stirred.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Black liquid-like tendrils seeped unnaturally from beneath his feet.
Thick.
Viscous.
Alive.
The mountain itself seemed to recoil.
Sham went silent.
Even he—
was caught off guard.
The Wowl hissed violently.
Its instincts immediately recognized danger.
It attempted to retreat—
too late.
The tendrils exploded upward.
Like ravenous hands birthed from shadow itself.
They latched onto the serpent's body.
Its neck.
Its scales.
Its jaws.
The Wowl thrashed violently.
Its massive body tore through snow and stone.
Frozen earth shattered.
Trees collapsed.
Its screams echoed through Tyber's icy slopes.
But the tendrils only tightened.
More emerged.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Crawling.
Grasping.
Devouring.
Azriah stood frozen.
Watching.
Even he hadn't expected this.
'What…'
The Wowl's head was dragged downward first.
Consumed into the living abyss.
Then its body followed.
Scale by scale.
Bone by bone.
Mana.
Flesh.
Existence itself—
swallowed whole.
Until—
nothing remained.
Silence.
Absolute.
Only wind remained.
The shadows slowly receded.
Returning beneath Azriah's feet.
As if nothing had happened.
Azriah's breathing became ragged.
Exhaustion slammed into him instantly.
His knees nearly buckled.
But then—
something else happened.
A surge.
Mana.
His internal reserves rose sharply.
Not dramatically—
but undeniably.
His heart pounded violently.
'My mana… increased?'
'…Azriah.'
Sham's voice was suddenly tense.
Panicked.
'Something's wrong.'
Pain erupted.
Azriah's heart convulsed.
Agonizing.
Like something inside him was forcefully awakening.
He gasped—
collapsing to one knee.
'Gh—!'
His vision darkened.
Rapidly.
Then—
his eyes changed.
Black.
Entirely black.
No whites.
No pupils.
Only void.
And within that void—
an X-shaped sigil formed.
Orbital rings rotating around it.
Alien.
Divine.
Wrong.
Sham immediately panicked.
'NO—'
Azriah's body trembled.
His senses were slipping.
His limbs no longer responding properly.
Something was taking hold.
Something ancient.
Something that was not entirely him.
'AZRIAH!'
For the first time—
Sham sounded genuinely terrified.
Without hesitation—
he seized control.
Forcefully.
Divine energy surged through their shared existence.
Sham immediately blocked Azriah's nervous system.
Suppressing sensation.
Motor control.
Consciousness itself.
A brutal but necessary override.
Pain vanished instantly.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Azriah's body collapsed into snow.
Unconscious.
Silence returned to Tyber.
But this time—
it felt different.
Heavier.
As though the mountain itself had witnessed something unnatural.
Within the fading edges of consciousness—
Sham's final thought echoed.
Fearful.
Uncertain.
'…What exactly are you?'
And beneath blackened skies and frozen peaks—
Azriah Antioch lay unconscious.
His first true blessing unleashed.
His first warning revealed.
And something buried within him—
had begun to stir.