"It hurts. It hurts so much. Why does my body feel like this?"
Sol groaned weakly, slowly waking to the freezing pain wracking his limbs. He was buried beneath a thin layer of snow, the cold biting into his skin like knives. His breath came out in shallow, broken clouds.
Somehow, he was still alive.
"I survived.? Did that monster think throwing me down the ravine would finish the job? Well normally it should have".
His mind tried to piece it together, but every thought felt like it echoed through shattered bones.
'I can't move. Everything's broken.' He couldn't even lift his hand. Every muscle screamed, and his nerves felt like they were on fire. The only reason he wasn't dead from the cold was the snow half-burying him, acting like a poor man's insulation.
With his one good eye, Sol looked around—just barely. He was lying right beside the cliff's edge. A single inch closer and he might've fallen to his death.
"Maybe it's a blessing I can't move. I would've rolled over the edge without realizing it.".
In front of him, barely visible in the dark, loomed the entrance of a small cave. Cold, silent but shelter nonetheless. I need to get inside before something sees me.
Gritting his teeth, Sol began to crawl. Every inch was agony. His limbs trembled under the strain, his body dragging across the snow like a broken doll. The snow clung to him like wet weights, soaking into his skin, freezing him further.
"So slow… I'm slower than a dying slug…"
But inch by inch, he moved.
Finally, finally he crossed the threshold into the cave.
'Please no monsters. Not now. Just let me rest.'.
It was pitch black inside, and Sol could barely tell if he was alone. But exhaustion took him before fear could. His body collapsed at the entrance. The cold was still there, but the wind no longer screamed in his ears. The cave had welcomed him—quiet and still.
His vision darkened. Just a little rest only a little.
And then darkness.
But deep within Sol's chest, something began to stir.
A small ember flickered to life, a single white flame, no larger than a candlelight, glowing faintly beneath his skin. It pulsed with ancient power, responding not to his will but to his needs.
The divine flame began to heal him, ever so slowly. Wounds knit shut. Torn muscles regenerated. His mana, once drained to the brink, now circulated gently through his veins stronger than before, steadier and warmer.
Unseen in the darkness, the tiny flame illuminated the cave for just a moment.
And for the first time the truth of the cave was revealed.
Against the back wall, half-buried in dust and time, sat the skeleton of a humanoid figure. Slumped against the stone, arms folded in peace, as if waiting for something or someone. The bones were wrapped in tattered remnants of robes, and near its side lay a rusted circlet, cracked and ancient faintly etched with a flame-shaped insignia.
Forgotten by the world. But not by fate.
Sol stirred hours later, pain still gnawing at his body but dulled now. Manageable. He blinked in the darkness. He still couldn't see, but something felt different. His body feels lighter.
'I can breathe again. My chest doesn't feel like it's caving in anymore'.
He tried sitting up but his body still didn't cooperate.
"Still too weak".
He closed his eyes and focused. His mana had returned, more than he expected.
'But I can't risk casting a light spell, not out here. Not with potential monsters nearby.'
And then reality set in again.
'No food. No help. I'll starve before I recover fully. Well If something doesn't eat me first.'
'Let's hope that what that abomination said remains true. That my blood is disgusting to these monsters. It may help me survive for a few more days'.
Sol lay there, helpless, as the cold crept back into his bones. Hours passed. The cave grew even darker, and slowly, despite the pain, despite the fear, Sol drifted off to sleep once more.
When he woke up again, something had changed.
A soft light shone through the cave entrance. It was morning. Snow was still falling outside, but the world had brightened. The shadows had retreated.
Sol blinked, dazed, as warmth returned to his fingers. He felt better. His wounds still throbbed, but the pain had dulled. He could breathe. He could feel something again.
With great effort, he shifted, using the cave wall to slowly pull himself into a seated position. He groaned his ribs screaming in protest but he did it. He was seated upright.
The first thing he saw in the cave's morning light nearly made him cry out.
Just a few feet in front of him was a skeleton tattered robe draped over its ancient frame, hollow sockets facing downward as if forever bowed.
The body had been here for years, forgotten and alone.
"Is this what I'll become too? Just another frozen corpse in a place no one remembers?".
Where could he even go? This cave was a dead end. Going back outside meant death. Staying meant slow starvation.
Then he remembered the life orbs.
"Grandfather."
Maybe.. Grandfather can save me, Sol thought, clinging to a single thread of hope. There was another function to the life orbs back home it wasn't just to monitor life, they could track location too.
I just hope I'm not too deep inside the mountain. Even for Grandfather, reaching this far might be impossible. Not with all the abominations hiding here.
(Meanwhile in Haestin, capital of the North and the seat of power of house Wintalfeld)
The Wintalfeld Mansion was in chaos.
Dozens of glowing life orbs had shattered in their crystal shelves, leaving only the scent of burning mana in the air. Grand Patriarch Artemious Wintalfeld was pacing furiously, his boots echoing in the silence of the Hall of Orbs.
"Destroyed. All of them. What the hell happened?!" he bellowed. His voice, usually calm and composed, now trembled with rage and grief.
His green eyes pulsed violently with mana, betraying the storm within.
"Alexander my son. The strongest of us. An 8th Circle mage has fallen!?."
Artemious clenched his fists.
He was supposed to be untouchable. If even he was killed… what kind of monster lives in that cursed mountain?
The weight of it all crushed him. As a 7th-circle mage, Artemious was one of the strongest alive. And yet even he doubted whether he could face what had taken his son.
Artemious turned to the towering windows, gazing down at Haestin the city built under the protection of House Wintalfeld. His mansion stood atop the mountain, watching over the people like a guardian.
'If something truly monstrous is awakening in Devil Mountain this entire region could fall'.
He clenched his fist. "I must inform the Emperor. We can't ignore this."
"Send word to the capital," he ordered. "Tell them: Duke Alexander Wintalfeld is dead. And there's a potential disaster-class abomination in Devil Mountain."
One of his most trusted aides immediately sprinted to the communication tower.
Then came a shout from down the hall.
"My lord! There's news! The young master—he's alive!"
Artemious's eyes shot wide open.
Another confidant Maximus, ran into the hall, holding something like it was his very life.
A life orb small and faintly glowing.
Not one of the old orbs. This one had only just been made. Sol's orb had still been in the magic craftsman's chamber when the expedition was sent. It had never been placed in the Hall.
By pure chance, it had survived.
Maximus, learning of the mass deaths, had rushed to check the crafting chamber only to find Sol's orb flickering weakly, the light so pale it looked as if it would vanish any second.
Artemious snatched the orb from him, immediately channeling tracking magic into it.
His heart dropped.
Sol was deep far deeper than any Wintalfeld had gone into the Devil Mountain.
And he was dying.
"Grand Patriarch, what do we do? Shall I assemble the elite forces?" Maximus asked, already preparing to mobilize the remaining knights and mages.
Artemious didn't hesitate. His heart screamed to rush in with every soldier they had but he knew better.
The house could not afford another massacre. If they lost more, the northern border would fall. Millions would die.
"No," he said coldly. "I'll go alone."
Maximus froze. "Alone, sir?"
"There's no time. Tell my wife she's in command until I return. Keep the house grounded. I will come back with our grandson."
Before Maximus could respond, Artemious took to the sky.
A vortex of mana formed around him. His aura crackled like a storm.
He soared from the mansion like a comet an enormous streak of blue magic trailing behind him as he shot across the northern sky.
Toward Devil Mountain.