The villagers say that one will freeze to death if one ever dares to cross this path. Well, that is the truth. But it is not the entire truth.
The freezing wind lashes at me relentlessly. My white cape floats. My hood falls down. My hair flows with the rhythm of the wind.
*Brr! Brr!*
The horse neighs, stomping its feet on the carpeted floor of snow. Horen is refusing to cross this path. He knows what lies in this snowstorm. What flies above us.
I pat the side of the horse's neck, comforting it.
Slowly, I slide off the back of the horse, digging my feet 2 feet into the snow. I lift my hand, covering my eyes so that the dust would not grace my eyes.
Right ahead of us, the storm is brewing stronger.
The wind that carries the frozen dust takes monstrous shapes, drawing silhouettes ahead of us. Nightmarish silhouettes.
I know what lies ahead. I know what the villagers do not know. I look into those monstrous shapes and call for the creature.
"Glazier! I've brought you Dinner! It's getting cold. My friend is waiting for you." I raise my hand towards the horse.
The monstrous shape of the icy mist blows towards me. It graces my shoulder, and Horen neighs loudly behind me. The cries of a weeping horse fade into the distance as the lashing winds gradually begin to recede.
This snowstorm is not Mother Nature's will.
It is the work of the ancient spirit of the ice dragon, Glazier. And it is only a blanket to hide what I seek out in these uncharted lands of Muri.
The stone of King Muri. A powerful relic that can give me the power to achieve my greatest dream. Becoming an archmage.
[Welcome, Silver, the Frost Elf. You have entered the secret fort of King Muri. You have one hour before the Glazier begins its next feast.]
The notification from the system materializes in front of my eyes.
Before me, the snowstorm fades away completely, replacing the freezing mist with the sight of a large fort built on the edge of a snowy mountain.
I step on the long stone stairs right before my feet, walking up to the fort. The storm had receded. There is no wind to bother me now.
The spirit Glazier was only the guard of this fortress, it seems. Anyone who walks beyond that cloak of a snowstorm would freeze to death. That is if that someone did not know the right spell to chant.
How do I know of this?
Once a villager had come with his son to explore these parts to find treasures of the old kings. Involuntarily, he had said "Your mother's making dinner tonight" to the son. The son was frozen right that instant, shattering to pieces as the wind lashed forth. The villager was terrified.
He had run all the way back to his village, and he was still recovering from the trauma. Rein told me to go and ask this villager for the hint, and I knew exactly what this storm meant after listening to his story.
It can only be an ancient spirit.
"Well played, Rein. Well played." A smile drew on the corner of my mouth as I stood before the humongous doors of the ancient fort.
Beside it was a mirror of ice that reflected my image on it. My silver eyes, matching spikey hair, and my pointy elven ears with skin pale as snow. Fitting for my name, fitting for my being.
I reach out my hand to knock on the door and –
Creak.
Gradually, it opens on its own will.
'They are already here,' I figure. I step into the fortress through the open door into a dusty old hallway that has been lightened up with freshly lit torches.
I walk straight across the hallway to the room at the other end. The doors are open as if to invite me right in.
In the middle of the room is a stone pillar, the Monolith of Muri. And standing in an incomplete circle around it are my opponents today.
"You're late, Silver. As always. I thought you'd never come. We were going to begin the challenge with just us three." Rein jests, shifting her gaze to me as I come to stand next to her.
Rein. The Queen of the Dark Nymphs of the Eastern Lagoons. Her entire body is covered with dark green algae and her eyes are like dark pearls with only two sparks of light shining within it. She's the one who challenged me for this.
And as always, I'm up for any gamble.
"I missed you too, Rein."
Truthfully, I didn't miss her at all. Just standing beside this woman who smells like the shit water in lagoons makes me want to puke. But, I am not here for her. I am here for the Monolith.
One of the other two members present is the traveling Samurai from the Eastern lands, Karu. He always wears that red demonic armor of his, and he even has a deep and eerie voice. Our guess is that he is really a demon from the East, but we've done a number of missions together.
He is quite a friendly prescence.
The other is a dwarf that looks younger than a 16-year-old, who is older than five centuries. Even I am only 300 years old.
His intentions? We had no idea. None of us shared our intentions except me and Rein. We are close friends, no matter how much we are displeased by each other's presence.
"Shall we continue?" Conor, the dwarf asks me. I nod at him and the other two challengers follow.
Conor drew one hand from underneath his cloak and directed it towards the Monolith.
"Oh, King Muri. Please, allow us to open your ancient Monolith and achieve the stone of Muri, for we are worthy of the power of your stone. We are… worthy."
I raise my hand towards the Monolith, following Conor. Right after me, Karu and Rein follow the same steps.
The Monolith sparks with an eerie glow of white, blinding me entirely.
[Worthy? You are worthy, elf.] My system displays a message within the blinding light as the grumbling voice of an old man echoes in my ear.
[You are certainly above the level of power that can grasp my stone's full potential. Now, let me see – how can I make this one last game interesting? Let me seek into your deepest fears; seek your weakest emotions, elven wizard.]
"I have no fear, nor weak emotions," I respond to the ancient voice.
[Ahaha, that's what they all said.] The strange voice cackles.
[Hm… Impressive, elf. But – I know just the right quest for you. You, my friend, are a mind hard to crack. But nothing is impossible now, is it?]
[Ah, yes. This is a fitting challenge for you.]
[Your challenge: To sleep with 100 princesses by the end of 10 years. Here are the ground rules. Whatever you must do, you cannot sleep with the princess without her consent. So, you must be able to steal a hundred hearts by the end of these 10 years.]
[Do you accept?]
I stare at the message with conflicted thoughts. However, I do not delay my reply any longer than it needs to be. Just like the old man says, nothing is impossible.
"I accept."
The voice laughs in my ear and displays one more text before me.
[From this moment onwards, you are cursed. If you fail to achieve the goal, you die. Break the rules, you die. The first one to succeed in his or her attempts shall take the stone home with them. My wisp will guide you on the journey to keep the count and show you the ground rules if you need it. Please, enjoy, you foul souls. HAHAHAHA!]
The message fades away along with the blinding light. The Monolith stands in the middle, just like it was without any eerie sparks from it.
I turn to the other three and notice they have already accepted their challenges.
"So, what's your challenge?" I ask Rein, out loud. Rein turns to me and smirks evilly.
"Killing a hundred dragons."
I narrow my eyes. What does killing a hundred dragons imply to her fear? What does sleeping with a hundred princesses imply to me? I wonder.
I turn to the samurai.
"Yours?"
"Killing the one hundred demons of the Yakuza clan," Karu replies with a hint of deep remorse in his voice.
'He might just be a demon,' I guess.
"And you, Dwarf?" I turn to the dwarf. His face is in shock, his mouth still open.
"Being the richest dwarf in the entire world." He sighs, clicking his tongue. Surprisingly, his sorrow is the only remorse I can understand completely. Dwarfs are greedy bastards who supply the entire world with gems and gold with the ancient riches they possess.
Being the richest amongst the richest is certainly a hard task.
"And yours, dear elf?" Rein grins at me.
I sigh, shaking my head. "Sleeping with a hundred princesses."
"Pfft~ bwahaha! I knew you were a shameless perverted bastard always. But – damn." Rein cracks into a laugh, which irritates me even more.
"Tch, shut up, Rein. Well, I guess my victory is guaranteed. No need for you three to participate even." I declare, turning around with a smirk. "See you fools at the end of the game."
"With that attitude, I'd be surprised if you could even do ten girls by the end of five years, Silver. Good luck!" She calls out to me as I walk back to the exit of the fort.
I say no word to them afterward, no need.
The challenge has begun, and we are rivals now.
'Hundred princesses… huh?' I grin as I fling the doors of the fort. 'Let this Rizzler do this game justice.'
***
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