Chapter 97 - The pathway to success is blocked by many stones, full of twist, turns and hardship

A few hours later the watchers of the video stream were granted a few of Kaiser's almost n.a.k.e.d body, only clothed with some underwear and his socks. After some stretching he went into the bathroom where he did what needed to be done and began wearing his clothes as it was getting a bit cool outside of bed. Picking up Gaia who at some point had felt uncomfortable next to his pillow and climbed on top of the canopy bed to relax and sleep both went to raid the kitchen to see what they could find.

Opening the fridge Kaiser managed to discover some frozen food like pizza which he decided to put into the oven immediately to complete it. Besides that he found some rice, potatoes, noodles and spices in a cupboard nearby. From cutlery which he managed to find in a drawer he merely chose three spoons of different sizes as well as four forks. Besides that he only chose to pack other things like pots and pans to his backpack as he thought they were much more important. Having packed everything he deemed useful Kaiser sat himself at the kitchen table while waiting for the pizza to be ready. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/destroy-worlds-of-fiction-with-science_15665337506693305/the-pathway-to-success-is-blocked-by-many-stones-full-of-twist-turns-and-hardship_50973397282243394 for visiting.

Soon after finishing his meal accompanied by some tasty drinks he had managed to find as well both Kaiser and Gaia left the room as Kaiser feared that if he were to remain tranquil and not show interesting footage then the Gamemakers would force him to take action. So he decided that it would be far better for him to choose what he wanted to experience instead of letting the Gamemakers make the choice for him.

They climbed and climbed and although it felt endless both hoped that it would soon end. Just as they felt like they would need to rest again in a short while the stairs ended, allowing them to set foot in a large stone hall. The hall was about double the size of the rooms he had slept in previously and the exit directly across o the stairs had been closed by a large metal door. Stepping closer they crossed the smooth stone floor to arrive next to a small control panel located right next to the door frame. It was a simple panel with only two buttons, one green and one red. Pushing the green on the door opened slowly, allowing a cold breeze to blow in some snow.

Stepping through the door he was greeted by a large trail of blinding white snow which led to a large mountain which reached the clouds. Wrapping his cloak even tighter around him and squinting his eyes to to the intense sunlight Kaiser stepped out further. Looking to the sides he managed to see the jungle to his right, a large patch of deep green only interrupted by streams of water that had carved their way through. In the center he could spot a somewhat tall rock which towered above the green trees which he presumed to be the lair of the boss. To his left he could spot blueish-green water dotted with green and golden islands here and there. Just like the jungle here he also spotted the large rock in the middle, this one even clearer since almost nothing was covering it. Just like the one in the Jungle he also expected this one to carry information on all humans inside this part of the arena.

Turning around to the door he could see that it was part of a mountain peak which peaked around 30 meters above him. The door had already closed and almost invisible to due it having the same color as the rock. Next to it on the wall he could make out another control panel, though this time it was almost covered in the snow that had piled up next to the entrance. Taking a deep breath of the cold air he continued forwards, towards the large mountain in the distance. Gaia meanwhile had seemingly seen enough and crawled in one of his pouches on the inside of the cloak this time instead of simply slipping into his hood. Perhaps it was even warmer there. As he walked she sometime took a peak from underneath his chin to see where they were going.

Although the way they chose seemed much easier and less dangerous compared to swimming through the sea all the time or running through a forest with restricted visibility and hostile beings around every corner it was still straining and exhausting. The path wasn't smooth but went up or down the peaks of the foothills, forced them to traverse small glaciers or even climb at weird angles. Not to mention that the path wasn't straight and often moved around in strange curves and was mostly covered in snow, leading them to guessing where it was located most of the time. A few patches of grass or other plant based life forms were seemingly the only things alive in this land of snow, ice and stone.

After a few hours of traveling the sky began to darken as the sun sank behind what he assumed to be the location of the misty plains. This explained why night time came a lot earlier in the jungle as the mountain blocked a lot of light. Although Kaiser could continue onward he thought it would be a better idea to look for a place where they could rest. After minutes of searching the map in his mind Kaiser finally spotted a cave in the near vicinity. Curiously caves were rather common in the entire arena and were often very easy to find and large enough for humans to live in temporarily. Walking a few hundred meters further along the path, crossing some boulder filled area that looked like a battlefield of mountain giants, towards the mountain the cave opened up right next to it. It was relatively clear of snow and opened towards the east where the sun would wake him early in the morning.

Placing down his backpack to use it as a pillow Kaiser thanked himself for obtaining his warm cloak as he quickly went to sleep. Waking up I the middle of the night due to the daily show of "Who was lucky enough to die that day" with eyelids encrusted with ice which only melted after he had rubbed it with his warm hands that he had kept within the pockets of his cloak he stood up stiff from the cold to look at today's deaths. Interestingly from his position he could see two screens, one in the jungle zone and the other in the sea one. He hadn't missed anything important yet as it had just started a few seconds ago. The last one from District 5, one from District 7 and the male tribute from District 9 who had been pursuing Aster together with the career tributes. It seemed like Aster hadn't been caught by the career tributes all this time despite their efforts and perhaps even managed to kill one of them. He had to admit that he was slightly surprised and impressed by her and her performance. Seeing that everything was over Kaiser crawled back into the cave, only this time taking out the tarp which he placed on the ground and then rolled around himself as an extra layer of protection against the cold.

--- Meanwhile in the capitol ---

Although most were pretty exited about the fights that had taken place today although many were disappointed by Kaiser's lack of participation despite his scores. The beautiful sights he showed them though made up for it, at least in part so they weren't to mad at what had happened, some even praising him for his strategy. And so another day had passed and all were exited about what would happen the next day.