For a heartbeat, he was falling.
Then—
Cold.
Not the biting chill of Skyrim's mountain he was used to. This one felt cold enough to freeze even thoughts.
Kael slammed onto hard ground, rolling once before coming a stop on his side. Snow burst up around him. He coughed, breath coming out in a harsh cloud, and pushed himself up on one elbow.
'Falling to my death before the trial even begins. Thanks system'
He looked around sharply, ready to meet any sudden challenges.
The sky above him was wide and pitch black.
No moons. No stars he recognized. Just a pale, gray-blue expanse that felt disturbing to his senses.
Kael rose slowly to his feet.
He stood in the middle of a vast, frozen wilderness. Jagged rock formations jutted from the ground like broken teeth. Snow stretched in every direction, broken only by distant hills and black shapes that might have been trees, or something else.
Wind howled low across the land, carrying scents that made his hackles rise.
Beasts. Many of them.
And something far worse.
The System appeared without flourish.
[Class Advancement Trial Initiated]
Objective: Eliminate the Trial Boss
Time Remaining: 72:00:00
Failure Condition: Death or Time Expiry
Kael stared at the message.
"That's it?" he muttered.
The words didn't change. No map appeared. No arrow pointing the way. No helpful hint like; Boss Location: North.
Nothing.
The message faded.
A thin red timer appeared at the corner of his vision and began counting down.
71:59:42
'Great'
Kael exhaled slowly.
"Of course," he said quietly. "Why would it be simple."
He flexed his fingers. Checked his body.
He was in human form. Armor gone. Weapons gone. No pack. No supplies.
Only his clothes and what he carried in muscle and bone.
A distant howl echoed across the land.
Not close. But powerful enough that Kael felt it in his chest.
He turned slowly, scanning the horizon.
Nothing moved.
That was worse. The fear of the unknown was far worse than the fear of the known
He started walking. Standing still meant waiting for death anyway.
Reconnaissance was far worse than he expected it to be. The snow was so thick that it hid uneven grounds. Ice suddenly cracked without warning. The wind shifted constantly, stealing his scent and throwing it back at him, making tracking extremely difficult. More than once, he thought he heard movement behind him, only to find empty drifts and broken stone.
That instinct to charge forward, to hunt blindly, rose up fast. But he crushed it just as quickly.
Seventy-two hours wasn't much time.
But wasting energy would kill him faster than the timer ever could.
He moved like a predator instead. Low, quiet and observant. Looking for the faintest clues.
Tracks appeared after an hour. Massive ones.
Too large for bears and too deliberate for beasts that wandered aimlessly. They cut through the snow in long strides, never breaking pace.
Kael crouched, touching the edge of one with two fingers.
They were still faintly warm.
He stood again and followed for ten minutes.
Then he stopped.
The air... tasted... different.
Kael's head snapped up as the scent hit him. A thick heavy scent of iron soaked in rot wafted into his nostrils. His heart rate spiked instantly.
Something moved far ahead.
A silhouette crested a ridge, massive enough to block part of the horizon. Horns... or spines, curved back from its skull. It moved its body with slow confidence, every step crushing snow and stone underneath.
'Yep. No doubt about it. That's definitely. If that ain't it, I'm definitely dead'
Kael didn't think further.
Immediately halting his breath, he dropped flat behind a broken rock formation as the creature paused, head lifting slightly. It sniffed the air.
Kael forced himself still.
Seconds stretched.
Then the creature turned away and vanished over the ridge.
Kael stayed down long after it was gone.
When he finally sat up, his hands were shaking.
"Yeah," he whispered. "Not fighting that head-on."
The realization settled in thicker than the curtain of snow beneath his feet.
This wasn't a test of strength.
This was a hunt.
And if he wanted to live, he'd have to earn the kill the way real predators did. Slowly, intelligently, and without mercy.
The wind howled again, carrying distant roars and unseen movement.
Kael stood, adjusted his stance, and turned away from the boss's trail. He needed a plan and he needed it fast.
The timer ticked down quietly in the corner of his vision.
70:41:18
2 days, 20 hours, 21 minutes...