The forest was a white hell.
The trees loomed massive, branches sagging under the weight of snow, and the ground was a constant trap of hidden roots, slippery rocks, and frozen puddles.
The five members of his group moved through the trees like they'd been born there. They cleared roots without looking down, ducked under low branches at exactly the right moment, and kept a steady pace without breaking a sweat.
Rian, on the other hand, was a disaster.
"Ugh—!"
His foot caught a root and he nearly went face-first into the ground. He grabbed onto a tree trunk just in time, gasping.
'How are they running like that?' Rian thought, watching the others push ahead without any effort. 'This isn't normal.'
His breathing was all over the place. His lungs burned, his legs felt like lead, and the frozen air scraped down his throat with every inhale.
The black-haired girl slowed her pace and glanced back at him over her shoulder.
"What is wrong with you today, Rian?" she asked, frowning. "You're even clumsier than usual."
"Sorry…" Rian panted, hands on his knees. "Can we… take a break?"
"No," she answered without hesitation. "We're still far from any decent hunting ground. If we stop now, we won't catch anything."
'Great,' Rian thought, feeling his legs beg him to stop.
If there was one thing he hated with every fiber of his being, it was physical activity.
In his normal life, the furthest he walked was from bed to desk and desk to kitchen.
Running through a snowy forest with a spear?
That wasn't in any plan he'd ever made.
"Hey!" A broad-jawed boy with brown hair turned toward him with a hard look. "Stop dragging your feet. Because of you the whole group is falling behind. If we don't catch anything today, that's on you."
Rian gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep going.
'Shut up and run,' he told himself. 'Just run.'
His legs obeyed, even if reluctantly. He pushed his pace, trying not to fall too far behind, and for a while he managed it.
But then the forest changed.
The trees thinned out and the group reached a stretch where the ground was no longer snow-covered earth — it was a smooth, gleaming surface, like glass.
'Ice?' he thought, looking down.
The ground was completely frozen over.
It was like walking on a giant mirror reflecting the grey sky above.
The others moved carefully, planting the tips of their feet and shifting their weight deliberately.
Rian tried to do the same. But his foot slipped.
"Whoa—!"
His body pitched forward and he went down on his knees.
CRACK!
The sound was sharp and deep, like thunder being born beneath his feet.
A fracture shot out from where he'd landed, branching in every direction like a spiderweb.
"Rian!" the girl shouted, spinning around immediately.
She reached a hand out toward him, but before she could get there, the broad-jawed boy grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back.
"Don't touch him!" he snapped. "Look down!"
The girl looked at the frozen surface beneath them — and her expression changed.
There was no water under the ice.
There was nothing.
Just a dark void that dropped away without a visible bottom.
"Rian, don't move!" she called out, her voice tight.
But the ice was already giving way.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The fractures multiplied beneath his body and the ground collapsed.
"RIAN!"
And he fell.
Frozen air rushed up from below as his body plunged into the darkness. The shouts from above faded out, replaced by the whistle of wind and the hammering of his own heartbeat.
'What—?!' Rian thought, his stomach lurching from the freefall.
He couldn't see the bottom.
He couldn't see the walls.
Just darkness and cold.
'This can't be happening!'
The wind ripped tears from his eyes and the spear had been torn from his hands long ago.
'Oh no oh no oh no oh no—!'
Rian clenched his jaw, feeling panic clawing its way up his chest.
'Okay, at least when I hit the bottom I'll wake up!' Rian thought, squeezing his eyes shut. 'This is a dream! Just one lousy dream!'
But the bottom came sooner than he expected.
SPLASH!
His body hit the water with brutal force. The impact drove every last bit of air from his lungs and the cold swallowed him whole.
"GAHH—!"
He broke the surface coughing, spitting water, every muscle in his body screaming at him. He dragged himself out of the pool as best he could, shaking, and collapsed on the wet stone floor.
'It hurts… it really hurts…' Rian thought, his vision blurring.
And then the images came.
They weren't his memories.
He saw the village where he'd woken up that morning, but it was on fire. Flames consumed the cabins, black smoke blotted out the sky, and screaming filled the air from every direction.
Then he saw something else.
A sword being driven through his back.
The phantom pain was so real his whole body convulsed.
"AGH—!" Rian gasped, grabbing at his chest.
The visions vanished as fast as they'd come, leaving him on the ground, shaking and completely lost.
'What was that…?' Rian thought, his heart hammering. 'What did I just see?'
"RIAN!!"
The voice came from above — distant but clear. It was the black-haired girl, screaming his name in desperation.
"RIAN, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"
Rian tried to answer, opened his mouth, but all that came out was a violent fit of coughing that bent him double.
"Cough, cough, cough—!"
He dropped to his knees, hands pressed against the wet rock, spitting out water.
And then he heard it.
It wasn't coming from above.
It was coming from inside.
"Can you hear me?"
A woman's voice — soft and calm, completely different from the girl shouting on the surface. It sounded as if someone were speaking directly into the center of his mind.
Rian went perfectly still, eyes wide.
"…Who are you?" he whispered, barely breathing.
The voice answered, and this time there was something in it. Something that sounded like relief. Like emotion, barely held in check.
"Finally… someone worthy has arrived."