The fifth peak was just wild.
It is called thousands of spears, sword mountain, the purgatory … Various names. Razor sharp icicles rose from the ground, like pine trees. You either traverse through them on the extremely slippery ice, or you fly over them, hoping none of these supremely sharp icicles poke into you. At any time, a rock or icicle can fall down, breaking into thousand splinters, then piercing you sideways.
Ise was ahead of everyone. The ice has broken into super thin, hard and small icicle spears, blowing towards them at full speed. However, as soon as they neared Ise, they broke down into nothing and disappeared.
Because she has completely concentrated her all on absorbing ice mana.
This is where her Yang channels and heavenly body work in her favor. Others absorb ice mana by the glass, by the vat or by the stream. Ise absorbed a river of ice mana, clearing the strongest push of the mana. The Elantra behind her reduced even that by half.
Even the fliers who were walking on the ground were able to go through to the fifth peak, despite their almost numb bodies and leaden legs.
The last distribution of food was at the fourth peak. As the children hung in the air, The soldiers flew to one after another, taking away the excess luggage, distributing the cylinders of 'eggnog' and the bundles of fruit bread, soaked heavily in brandy. Along with the food came parachutes.
To even know this taste is considered an honor, for children are given alcohol only atop Reitonarch, for the purpose of getting through the cold.
They are to keep eating the fruit bread on skewers, or drink the nog from the cylinder every one hour to keep their energy up. There is no stopping after the fourth peak. The children must keep going till the sixth where they encounter their second plateau, even if it's only one meter wide cliff trail.
If they are unable to keep up, they are to open the parachute. The warm air will jet them straight into the air current flowing above Reotonarch, which will go towards the direction of the palace.
From there, official fliers will come up and take them to safety.
For a day, they kept walking.
As Ise took a break, she observed her spirit seed status.
The spirit seed is already at the sixth stage. That means, she just needs to triple its size, then, she would be able to use the cultivation art just as well as any warrior in the fregia.
' If only I did it in my past life. Perhaps we needn't have gone for that agreement with the fire country at all. ' she mused.
Now, she needs to keep moving. Otherwise, heavenly body or not, her limbs will freeze.
From here on out, Ise dedicatedly kept a steady pace.
As they entered the final stretch of the fifth peak, parachutes rose one after another into the air.
The first to go was Ivan Sekov. He is a water seed in the first place. The water spirit energy had become smaller and smaller as they rose. When he sensed it had become near zero, rather Ivan bid his goodbyes and pulled the plug.
The next second, a small balloon unfurled atop his head, taking him straight up. As soon as he cleared the fifth peak by ten meters in the air, a gigantic yellow wings unfurled, looking very much like a yellow bird with a red beak. It stood in stark contrast against the forever light gray sky of Frigia.
The next to leave was Leian, who made two steps into the mountain path of the sixth peak.
The sixth peak is a slanted mountain bridge, connecting the highest point of the fifth peak with the lowest point of the last plateau before the seventh peak, called the pedestal. The pedestal is a rough oval shape of eight foot flat land, attached to a near vertical icy cliff called seventh peak.
Till now, the mana is free to absorb, and it just existed in the air. The worst brunt had been taken away by Ise and Elantra. However, on the sixth peak, spirit energy and the path they take are perpendicular to each other, making each person responsible for protecting themselves.
On top of this, this is the highest density on Reotonarch historically.
Instead of people absorbing ice spirit energy, ice spirit energy is poured into your body, god forbid if you fail to absorb that.
For many, such a flood of spirit energy is deadly.
Even so, Hail, Eliza followed Ise and Elantra almost half way till the bridge, at which point they could not take it any more.
Three by four way through the sixth peak, both Elantra and Ise fell to their knees.
Elantra had always been hardcore training nut, but even she had enough at this point.
Just as she was about to pull the plug on her vest, she looked up just to see what Ise was doing.
Ise fell down on all fours, then started crawling forward, inch by inch.
She couldn't look uglier if she tried.
This must be the ugliest posture Elantra had ever seen Ise in. Even in such a situation, she was crawling forward.
For Ise knew something Elantra did not.
The champion of Reotonarch had to pull the lever from up the seventh peak. When they pull that lever, a pressure cap on the blaze mountain is lifted, releasing the fire elements trapped in the earth. If those fire elements trapped in earth are not released, almost all the crops in Fregia will burn away this year, for this is the seventh year since Reotonarch lacked a champion.
When that happens, the resulting famine will freeze and kill more than three quarters of the nation.
She can not let such a thing happen on her watch.
So, she braved the pain like pins and needles in her fingers.
She ignored the icy chill creeping through her clothes. She crawled forward, one inch at a time. All she needs to do is reach the pedestal first.
As Elantra watched, she for the first time, felt a feeling she never felt before.
She was not alone.
There was actually someone on the peak along with her.
In her all too long life of eleven years, Elantra never met a single person whose willpower was stronger than herself.
Yet, here she is, the princess of the country, who had not gotten a single day's training, who had never braved cold before today, striving to make progress. How can she, who was the pride of Zephyr, the strongest warrior since the time of the founder, walk away ?
Elantra crawled behind Ise, absorbing the mana, at the same time, trying to create a shield for Ise, by creating guard rails on the sixth path.
The curved downward endings of the sixth peak started smoothing into a perfect square shape, with brick-like structures forming on the either side. Thanks to that, Ise's forward journey has become smoother.
Ise moved upward slowly, controlling the mana to raise the guard railing even higher, so that the Elantra would not slip.
With support from each other, they reached the pedestal.
The roar of the icy mana ebbed away into nothing atop the pedestal.
For it stood above the clouds, a small sparkling white oval, all around which glittering ice crystals formed a sharp wall.
Ise and Elantra stood on the pedestal, breathed a sigh of relief. Here, they will have their last break.
They spread their sleeping bags. They can sleep in the bags here with no worries, as the pedestal always stands above clouds.
Ise retrieved the use and threw a fire crystal stove her uncle gave her, warmed the fruit bread and the mulled wine. They drank wine, ate fruit bread, and slept back to back under the stars.
When their eyes opened, the sky was still full of stars. Ise had never seen so many stars in the sky.
It was beautiful.
In the morning, they finished their breakfast, and set off once more.
This time around, the mana is like a hardened crystal. As they climb, these ice crystals form on their very bodies, freezing them to core.
They have to break apart and absorb this icy mana to make their way to the top. However, if they can not keep absorbing mana, their body will freeze to death.
That is why everyone is encouraged to give up before the pedestal. After reaching the pedestal, you are either a champion, or you are falling to death hoping the current will not bash you against a cliff side as the parachute takes you through the most dangerous bend in the air current.
Elantra and Ise climbed up slowly, freeing themselves from the freezing all the time, walking all the way to the top.
Only, as they reached the top, they realized, the ring they are supposed to pull was frozen in the ice crystals.
For Elantra, unfreezing her body was the limit.
" Go down, Elantra. Go to the pedestal, and take the safe route to the base. I can do this. This is my duty. " Ise convinced Elantra.
She watched the Ring frozen in the crystals all around, and started absorbing the spirit energy of the ice crystals.