An avalanche.
To be honest, Kai was a little surprised that they had lasted this long without seeing one. This mountain was infested by countless powerful beasts, more so the higher up they climbed if they were to count the Polar Demon, but it seemed that an Equilibrium was all it took to set one off.
And it couldn't have come at a worse time, considering that Cecilia was still passed out in Kai's arms while Remy and Petunia were still hidden behind that rock.
Unsure of what to do, Kai made a quick decision to keep all his abilities active a little longer. So far, they hadn't been on for as long as they had been back when he fought Ezekial and escaped the city, but it was getting there, and he knew the backlash was not going to be pleasant.
Picking Cecilia up off the ground, Kai gritted his teeth and infused his legs with Mana Surge and began running back the way towards Petunia.
Looking up at the incoming avalanche, he saw that it would cover a wide portion of the side of the mountain they were on. There was a large amount of snow coming down, and Kai was unsure what would happen if they were to get buried underneath it.
His entire body hurt, and Minor Restoration was constantly healing both him and Cecilia, with a little more emphasis on him considering that he was the one who was trying to get them out of the immediate danger zone.
Desparately trying to run through snow was not a pleasant endeavor. Despite not being affected by the cold too much because of his increased vitality after being put in the tutorial, the act of running through snow did not get any easier.
His feet still sank with every step, he had to put more power into every movement, not to mention the fact that the ground was shaking, everything was pointing in the direction that they wouldn't be able to make it out of the avalanches path.
And that was the sad truth, no matter how hard Kai ran, he knew that in a matter of seconds he and Cecilia would both be smothered under a mountain of snow.
But that was when Kai saw it.
On the side of a mountain, a small opening that he couldn't fully see inside. He wasn't sure if there would actually be anything inside it, or if there would actually be any room, but it was their only chance.
So, quickly changing direction, Kai ran straight for the opening, trying to ignore the growing rumbling of the avalanche getting closer.
Until just before he would have been buried and suffocated, Kai dived into the opening, using his own body as a shield so Cecilia wouldn't get injured.
Gripping onto Cecilia tightly, Kai scrambled deeper into the opening, getting away from it as some of the snow started filling it. He watched as the opening he had entered through was completely blocked off in less than a second, it so compacted that Kai wasn't sure exactly how long it would take for him to dig out.
He could faintly make out the rumbling getting quieter and quieter, so he knew that the avalanche had continued its descent.
What he didn't know was how to get the hell out of here.
And what was even worse was how dark it was where they were. Kai couldn't even make anything out but he was scared to use Soul Flame because he was didn't exactly know did the skill use any oxygen, which he was sure there wasn't a lot of considering that the cave didn't exactly go back very far.
However, there was one type of flame he was willing to test, a type of flame that was so mystical and magical Kai hadn't used it yet because he had no idea what it actually done.
So, after carefully and softly setting the unconscious Cecilia down, Kai stuck his finger out and used Soul Flame to creature a tiny flame using only Mana as its base.
A moment later, a small violet flame had appeared on his fingertip. Unlike the other types of flames he had used, this one did not really provide any sort of actual light, it wasn't very bright, nor was it very practical.
However, it did allow Kai to see a little better.
And it did allow him to see what the function of only using Mana as the base for Soul Flame was.
Much like how Strength was the best for when Kai wanted to detonate his soul, and much like how Constitution had the longest life span of all the different types of flames, Mana also had its own innate function.
And when Kai realised what it was, he couldn't help but curse.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me... Just what is my luck?"
Even though Luck was one of his highest stats, it sure didn't feel like it after looking at the dark stone walls on both sides of him.
That was because both of the walls were covered in various murals.
More goddamn murals.
But just to make sure, Kai let the flame on his fingertip go out, allowing the murals to vanish in the darkness once more. Then, he created another flame, this time using Constitution as its base, however, he only had it active a split second before putting it out.
But that split second was all Kai needed to prove his theory right.
Much like the actual violet colour of the flames, the Mana version of Soul Flame acted like a sort of Mana UV light.
When Kai looked at the walls with the Constitution flames, he couldn't see the murals.
However, when he used the Mana flames, he could see them, meaning the murals hadn't simply been etched into the walls, they had been etched in using something special.
Now, it was time to see what these special murals had to say.
Looking over the walls with his violet light, Kai couldn't help but sick in a shallow breath. The image was so intricate, so detailed, it looked like it shouldn't have even been possible to design. Maybe that was why they had to use Mana rather than just etch it into the walls.
However, Kai frowned as he noticed something about all of the murals.
Even though there must have been hundreds of them, all of them were of the same image.
And that image was of an incredible phoenix soaring over the sky above a large monastery at the peak of the mountain.
Kai could count every feather in the mural, he could make out every mark, he could even make out the faint images of people inside the windows of the monastery in the mural.
The mural at least solidified one thing for Kai.
There was a reason that the destroyed section of the monastery they had ended up in while doing the first trial had phoenix in the name, there really had been one all of those years ago.
He wasn't sure exactly what connection the phoenix had to the people who had taken residence in the monastery though. He knew that phoenix's were mystical creatures with incredible powers, but surely there was more to that.
Actually, now that Kai thought about it, it sounded incredibly plausible that the Divine flames he had encountered had come from this phoenix. What else in a Subdimension of ice and snow could have created flames? Especially such powerful ones.
It also made sense, considering that the item had been called the Remnant of Ash and it was often said that phoenix's were reborn from their ashes.
So that meant that Soul Flame had been enhanced by a phoenix's power. Maybe that was the reason he was able to make out murals to do with a phoenix, although it did seem a little more plausible that was simply the Mana flames.
But since Kai now knew that all of the murals were of the same thing, he did not have to spend as long looking around. Sure the cave extended a little more down the way but he could see the end of it from where he was standing so there was no need to go all the way down there.
Instead, he turned around and dug a little at the entrance.
And just as he had expected, it was hard to dig at. The snow blocking the way out was incredibly compacted, courtesy of the large amount of snow that had fallen down. It would take a while to dig out, but luckily they had a fair bit of oxygen inside here, a few days worth at least.
And it was a good thing, because Kai had no idea how long he would be out for once he deactivated all of his skills.
So, after getting comfy on the ground and taking a deep breath, Kai braced himself for the pain as he deactivated all of his boosting skills.