Chapter 42 Frost

The passing night was just as silent, stars were twinkling outside and the wind was mild. The dawn of a new day was near and Ethan was sleeping on his bed peacefully just like always.

In his dreams though, he was in a bitter battle with the natural laws of his blessing vessel, 'The Kingdom of Extreme Frost'.

His clothes were ragged, he was covered in snow from head to toe and his hands were covered with his blood as he walked forward in the snow blizzard, all alone.

Taking each step forward was like a tremendous challenge. The mountain that was surrounded by a chain of glaciers beyond the valley of ice was in sight, yet so far away.

Ethan stumbled, fell, and got up again, groaning. His brows were knitted in pain and fatigue but he did not give up.

It was strange that Ethan had such tenacity, if anyone who knew him were to see him in such a condition; they wouldn't believe it for the world.

But in reality, Ethan's goals were quite simple. He knew that soon his life would change. The world of Akarxia itself might face turbulence and everything around him might turn chaotic.

In such a future, there would be no way to sit back as he would most probably be dragged into the conflict.

At that time, forget about winning but even survival would be difficult without strength.

And this was Ethan's redeeming quality. Although he was lazy and not so ambitious, he knew when to get serious and when to slack off.

Even though he knew that there was no time limit and he would soon wake up to reality with the option of treading the path to the mountain later once again, he did not slack off and decided to get as closer to the mountain as possible.

Ethan finally collapsed on a snowy hill for real. He didn't even have the strength to twitch his fingers anymore let alone walk further. His head was killing him and he could no longer feel his own body.

His eyelashes on which a thick layer of snow had accumulated; trembled and began closing slowly along with his shallow breathing gradually fading away.

Darkness covered his eyes as he felt like life slipping away from his grasp. But he was confident, he knew that he wasn't going to leave the Kingdom of Extreme Frost just yet.

Just as he was on the verge of losing complete consciousness, a part of his soul shook slightly and then began trembling heavily.

***

In the Temple of The Apostle, Afriel suddenly materialized in the Garden of Eden out of nowhere.

He looked around as if he had felt the presence of his master earlier, but he found nothing and seemed to be disappointed.

Suddenly the temple began quaking heavily, Afriel closed his eyes and tried to sense Ethan's soul to see what was wrong. But again, he found nothing.

It was a strange phenomenon but Afriel wasn't the wise angel for nothing. It could be said that in intelligence wise he was almost on par with Ethan. Almost.

Before he could investigate tho, the quaking abruptly stopped and he felt the presence of his master again, ever so stronger this time.

Ariel's eyes shone and he disappeared and reappeared in an isolated place inside the Garden. It was near the small Forest but a bit at the side.

A new tree was taking root, it was a white-colored tree made out of crystalline ice. The seedling grew fast and in a matter of few moments, a small delicate white leaf sprung out.

"I see..." Afriel muttered with a smile on his face and nodded his head with admiration as well as approval. He then disappeared from the Garden once again.

***

Back in the Kingdom of Extreme Frost, Ethan's guess proved to be right as he did not pass out. The restrictions in the domain were particular on his soul itself as it was like a dream. It felt very real and in a way it even was, but there was no physical body involved.

Just as Ethan predicted, The Temple which had the power of Gods easily protected Ethan's soul when it was on the verge of breaking. But this didn't mean that he completely revived. It only meant that Ethan could now torture himself some more trying to reach his goal.

And so he did, despite the excruciating pain—Ethan once again gathered his new-found strength and willpower to prop himself up.

With the same determination, he walked and walked. He did not know how much time had passed outside and did not care. All that he wanted was to get as close to the mountain as possible before passing out.

A few more hours passed and Ethan finally reached the end of his journey, a snowy hill from which the mountain was visible.

Ethan looked up but the mountain seem to reach the heavens. He collapsed on the ground once again, this time his condition even worse. He finally felt that he had reached his limit.

Ethan gasped for breath unmoving, he only had enough strength left to raise his head and look at the mountain one final time before time was out.

Despite the hellish soul-grinding agony, he made it quite far in just his first attempt. This showed how much affinity he had with his blessing. A normal person would have taken years to get to where he was at—and yet Ethan wasn't celebrating.

He raised his head proudly and looked at the beautiful scenery in front of him. The Valley of ice far into the distance, the blue glaciers, the sky that was a white blanket, the snow that was a carpet, and then the mountain. All of it was truly beautiful.

Mysterious phenomena occurred as Ethan looked towards the mountain while lying collapsed on the glossy surface of the hill. The frigid Flames around him danced wildly, the haze in the atmosphere subsided, and Ethan's pupils dilated on their own as his vision zoomed in on the mountain as if someone had flipped a switch.

It was as if the mountain abruptly and rapidly moved in front of his eyes. Although the truth was that the mountain was still in its place neither Ethan had moved.

Ethan saw the entire journey he would have to tread before reaching his goal. And then finally, his gaze fell upon the mountain itself.

On the base of it, Ethan saw a vivid silhouette of a man with white hair in white long robes sitting on a majestic large bluish-white throne made out of icicles and frost.

The man was sitting in a dignified, domeernering posture as if he was a God or a mighty Emperor.

The man turned his head toward the direction where Ethan was and both their gazes met. The man had deathly pale skin, a face that was devoid of any expressions, and golden eyes that also seemed as cold as the snow and rather empty with no emotions.

Suddenly Ethan experienced the same thing that Alier went through when he tried to sabotage Ethan's Awakening. As if someone peeked straight into his soul and glanced at his darkest secrets as they stared into the abyss.

Ethan felt drawn into the cold, uncaring but powerful eyes as he felt the frigid essence of extreme frost invade his mind, body, and soul just like what happened with Alier.

But instead of harming him, he felt the frostiness embrace and envelope his soul gently and then gradually get absorbed into it. As if that was where it belonged in the first place.

Suddenly everything went normal, the mountain looked to be just as far away, the internal frigid flame still burning and the strange man nowhere to be found.

***

It was the dawn of the new day, and the sun hadn't risen yet but it was just starting to peek out from the horizon. it was still quiet and somewhat dark outside, the curtains were still constantly fluttering in the wind and the moon had moved to the other side—no longer illuminating Ethan's sleeping face.

As the first ray of sunshine fell on Akarxia from the rising sun, Ethan suddenly jolted awake with widened eyes.

He looked around feeling very cold and his gaze fell on the scarlet ball of sun that was gradually rising from the horizon.

Still feeling very cold, Ethan finally realized a strange feeling on his skin along with a tingling sensation deep in his soul as if he wanted to breathe for the first time.

He moved his arms out from the blanket and a flare suddenly shot into his eyes making them squint.

When Ethan slowly opened his eyes, he saw a scene that he would never forget in his entire life.

His hands were covered with a thick layer of bluish frost which glinted brightly from the coming sunlight from outside, brilliantly radiating the entire room with a golden hue along with a tint of bluish-white flare.

Ethan smiled with satisfaction realizing that he had succeeded to comprehend the basics of his Ancestral Blessing.

He felt a strange tingle as if he wished to do something as natural as breathing. Ethan closed his eyes and focused on the particular feeling.

"Frost" The words subconsciously slipped through his lips and small bluish particles came out from his right hand making the bedsheets turn rock hard in no time covered with the same bluish-white frost layer that was on his hands.

The room radiated even more brilliantly as the sun finally rose in the sky just outside the window and the golden rays spread out everywhere all over the place reflecting from all the crystalline frost.