Capítulo 16: Chapter 16 : The Last Winter I
Daniel found himself in a mountainous region, his hands and feet bound tightly with chains, stretched in opposite directions.
"Hmm?" He calmly surveyed his surroundings. He was positioned right in front of the entrance to a massive cave, large enough for four elephants to pass through side by side.
Due to being tied up, he couldn't turn his body to look behind him, but from the direction of the wind, he could tell there was a cliff or precipice just behind him. It wasn't exactly a drop-off, but something close enough to one.
"So, three others?" On his left, there were two people, and on his right, one more, all bound in the same way. Their heads were slumped forward, devoid of any spark of hope.
Daniel couldn't tell if they were acting or if they had genuinely given up. Not that it mattered to him.
"So I actually managed to enter the trial," he sighed in relief. Fortunately, he had passed this stage successfully.
The Mother System verifies eligibility twice: the first time is to confirm if someone is qualified to take the trial—a stage where the character he reincarnated as had failed in the original story.
The second verification checks if they are worthy of obtaining an innate talent. The stronger a person is, the harder their trial will be.
Worst of all, if someone dies during the trial, they die in the real world as well.
His mother had been particularly worried about this, fearing that even if he qualified for the trial, he wouldn't have the strength to survive and succeed.
Fortunately, his mother had been aware of his training over the past week, and Augustus had managed to convince her to let him participate. Otherwise, she might have taken drastic measures to stop him from undergoing his awakening.
"But I have no information about this trial," Daniel frowned, though his expression quickly relaxed. The character he reincarnated as in the novel had never reached this stage.
In other words, there was no record of what this trial entailed.
For now, the most important thing was to free himself and escape from this place. Unfortunately, the Mother System never explicitly states the requirements of a trial.
The key, as the hero in the novel had explained, lies in the name of the trial itself.
But he didn't have time to dwell on that now. Judging from the cave ahead of him, it likely housed some sort of beast.
Based on his knowledge of the novel and his past life, only a few types of creatures required such large entrances in snowy mountains.
And in his current condition, he didn't want to encounter any of them.
He turned his attention to the wooden structure he was tied to—a set of two wooden pillars standing five meters apart, with a blade rigged between them by a rope.
The blade was the type used for executions, its purpose simple: if he tried to escape or break the chains, the blade would drop and slice him in half.
Unfortunately, because the trial was calibrated to match his power, he couldn't simply crush the wooden structure or snap the chains.
He frowned briefly, but his expression shifted to calm determination after a moment of thought. Escaping with such a blade hanging overhead would be challenging, but its presence wasn't entirely a bad thing.
With that, he slowly shifted his body to the right—just a little, inch by inch. His goal was to grip the right-hand pillar. He glanced at the blade; seeing no reaction yet, he shifted his body a bit more.
The blade trembled slightly, and he saw its shadow flicker. His next move would have to be the final one. Any further motion would surely release the blade.
He glanced to his right. If he moved quickly, he could fully shift his body toward the right. However, there was one issue—something he was bracing himself for.
Taking a deep breath, he made his final move, pulling his body sharply to the right and gripping the right-hand pillar with his hand.
"Aaaghhh! Damn, that hurts like hell!" Daniel's agonized screams echoed through the mountainous terrain, amplified by the acoustics of the rocky cliffs.
The other three individuals raised their heads at the sound, their faces filled with alarm as they glanced at the scene to their side.
"Are you insane?!" one of them yelled, their voice trembling with fear. "Damn it, I think the village sent a lunatic instead of a good guy!"
The right side of Daniel's body was drenched in blood. The crimson liquid splattered everywhere, even staining parts of his clothing.
The blade had fallen and severed his arm clean off at the shoulder.
The others could see the pale, exposed bone and the pulsating veins in his severed arm, with blood still gushing out.
"You idiot! Idiot! Idiot! That thing wouldn't have returned until nightfall, but thanks to your stupid stunt, we're all going to die sooner!" another captive cursed furiously.
Ignoring their outbursts, Daniel pushed past the searing pain radiating through every cell in his body and began to stand.
His left side was now free. He shifted slightly to his left, using the blade to cut through the chains binding his right leg and arm.
He then tore a strip of fabric from his clothing and wrapped it around his shoulder to staunch the bleeding. His face was pale, and his eyes reddened, but he resisted the urge to scream.
Just as he was about to move, he suddenly felt a warm breath near his ear.
His eyes widened in shock, and his entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Immediately, he clamped his mouth shut and even stopped breathing through his nose.
Sniff.
The sound of something sniffing and exhaling was right beside his ear. He could feel the fur of the creature brushing against his skin.
Even the other three captives froze, their faces pale and horrified, not daring to make a sound.
Daniel didn't even attempt to move his pupils. Any movement now would mean certain death.
It wasn't that he was afraid—he had faced far worse situations in his previous life. But that was him, not this body.
The only parts of this body that truly belonged to him were its mind and soul. The rest was constructed by the Mother System and operated according to its rules.
The beast took a slow step forward, coming into view for all of them. None of them had even noticed its arrival.
The creature's body resembled that of a tiger, its snowy-white fur shining brilliantly in the light. Its size dwarfed that of an adult elephant, perhaps twice or even three times as large.
But its face…
It lacked any of the features a tiger's face should have, save for a single, enormous blue eye and a gaping mouth.
The mouth was grotesque, stretching unnaturally wide like the grin of a joker.
It looked as though its mouth had been torn open and pulled upward, exposing a horrifying smile.
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