Cold, she felt so cold. Waking up in the snow, Astrid felt colder than she had in her entire life. She felt disoriented, her surroundings quiet except for the wind.

She had been knocked out and left on the snow. The man probably thought she had died or felt it a waste of time to finish her.

Her ability and the gear she had taken must have protected her from the cold for a while; she felt the void closing up on her but was warm enough to survive.

Trying to have a look around she felt a shock of pain. Her left arm was broken; the skin was a deep purple colour but the arm was straight so it could be healed with some treatment. She also felt pain in her ribs and back, to a lesser extent, nothing else should be broken.

There was also some good news, the explosive bracelet on her left hand was broken, she didn’t know why, maybe the cold, humidity or the impact, it didn’t really matter but it had not exploded. She looked at the interior, the ceramic white interior covered a light brown centre.

Looking around she noticed she had been sent flying and broke through the wooden wall. The rest of the base was silent and there was no movement inside.

Before scouting the area, she took the pike, some of the scattered wood and using a cord from the uniform she made a basic splint. She had gone through basic medical and first aid education in the university, she did not remember much.

It was a good first try but she needed better materials and a longer cord to stabilize the arm. Ignoring the pain on her lower chest she stood up; she grabbed a piece of the broken bracelet and smelled. She expected it to smell strong but it was odourless; probably one on the explosives the university invented for mining and construction.

Turning around she walked to the entrance of the base. There seemed to be no movement, the bodies of the fallen guards were still all over.

This mad man had probably killed every last one of the guards, he was a beast.

Waking through the aftermath of the combat she began to understand what had happened. This bear-man had somehow taken down the front gate.

That was the big explosion she had heard.

The gate was now bent and blocking the way to the central courtyard, so he had gone right and killed all the guards in his way until he had found her.

It was brutal, most people wouldn’t have the stomach to walk through the massacre. She felt disgusted but her mind was numb, she was not sure how much she had been unconscious but she hoped it was no more than an hour.

Astrid went directly to the closest building, the storage unit. She found medical supplies including several pain killers and anaesthetics.

Not wanting to take any chances with the bear-man or any others, she grabbed another sword from the dead guards and started her decent.

The pain killers help her maintain a constant pace but it was not easy. She wanted to go through the most direct route to get to her designated position but with her arm in that condition she had no possible way to climb.

Exhaustion enveloped her; her body screaming to stop and rest with each step.

She was not fully aware or how much time she had walked but when the sun began to hide, she knew she needed to sleep.

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This time she had no energy to make a camp, she hoped her new clothes were enough to keep her warm as her ability was also at its limit.

Astrid entered the forest; just a few Lua in she sat down using a tree as support and fell into a deep dreamless sleep. Sun light woke her up next morning. She was still unfamiliar with the sun’s position to be able to determine the time of day so she had no idea how much she had slept.

It was morning or even noon of the sixth day so she had no reason to run towards the structure to end the trial. However, the comfortable bed inside was calling to her.

The pain felt worse than the day before and her movements were stiff. She had brought some of the painkillers with her and wanted to finish them all but in her haste to exit the base she forgot to get some real food. Taking so much medicine with an empty stomach had unsettled her stomach, adding a new pain to the list.

Hopping she could get treatment and rest after this was over Astrid stood up and using some of the fresh fallen snow for water, she took some of the pain killers.

Looking around she noticed she was more than half way to her destination. Her memory of the journey was blurry at best. It could have been the pain, the over use of medicine, even booth but she had no recollection whatsoever of crossing the rivers between the mountain and here.

Shrugging it off as lucky she started her walk for today. She was going slowly, the pain in her arm was manageable, especially now that it was splinted correctly and with the pain killers. The issue came with her torso. The pain she felt throughout her lower chest and down to her stomach was not as intense but was much more bothersome as it reacted with every movement she made.

It took her almost eleven hours to cross the remaining distance. She walked as fast as she could but between resting to ease the pain and crossing rivers she was delayed.

Her mind was focused on the bed and pain to the point she did not notice a figure beside the structure until she was less than a hundred Lua away.

Without hesitation she took out her sword but a shock of pain froze her in place.

While frozen, trying to look intimidating, she focused on this figure. He was leaning against the wall but when their eyes met, he started to walk in her direction.

Cadem was wearing winter clothes, nothing as fancy as he usually did but he had told her his weakness to cold. His whole life he has lived in the hottest climates; Ria, Kotop and the southern empire were his favourites so he could not stand the cold weathers of the northern areas.

“Aint you a little early, friend? It is only the sixth day” Was the first thing Astrid though to tell him. Her voice felt forced and tired.

Cadem responded with a laugh but did not respond until he was closer.

“Actually, you are just in time querida, in about an hour you would have run out of time. It is the seventh day in the afternoon and I have been waiting for you all day.” He answered in a jolly tone.

Her smile had vanished. The seventh day? She was sure it was the sixth; had she slept an entire day somehow? Was it before the begging, when she was knocked out or during her ‘nap’ in the forest?

Sensing her trouble and giving her a long look Cadem continued.

“Dam chica. What happened to you? You look wile a wagon run you over. Estas bien?” He kept looking at her arm.

“Not a wagon, it was more like a giant bear.” She gave him a tired smile that did not reach her eyes. “When I was in the base there was a huge commotion and a giant bear-like man entered, I think he was a competitor, anyway I was disguised as a guard so we fought, he knocked me out and killed everyone with his bare hands…”

She made a pause feeling a little embraced on the unintentional pun. Cadem either did not get it or did not care.

“So that is why I did not see you; you may have been one of the smart ones in this trial chica.” He responded in a friendly tone.

She smiled at his was he guided her towards a wagon.

“Wait, you did not see me? What do you mean?”

She had paused before entering the wagon.

“I was a juez during this trial, I even used some marionetas, puppets to fool you guys” He had to translate a word this time when he noticed Astrid’s face. When she did not answer he continued with a sigh.

“The guards in the watchtowers were not human. You can find good fighters everywhere but good marksman are like diamantes, you don’t find them easily. That is why they chose me to judge this trial and use my power to move two puppets.”

Cadem began to walk again while venting on how they treated him as a tool and entered the wagon. Astrid felt angry she had not noticed they were not human, she never expected powers used in a way like this.

Finally, she entered the wagon, she placed her head against the wall and fell asleep as it carried her to the next trial.