Sylvara could not hold on any longer, her health dropping at a ridiculous rate. She instantly resurfaced and jumped out of the pool, gasping and wheezing. Her energy reserves were dwindling at an extrely fast pace and if no one helped her, she would be dead within a couple of seconds.
Thankfully, Aurora rushed to her aid and helped her out, stabilizing her condition. Even then Sylvara was simply too ntally drained. "Let’s log out." She announced to the party. "We need to have a clan eting. Mira, Aurora, I am sorry for this ti out. You can also log out for a while and co back refreshed."
What she discovered was simply too huge to carry on without altering their plans. This place was life-changing for them. Everyone politely bid farewell to each other, of course, excluding the problematic three vampires who were completely ignored.
Once the decision was made, the entire group disappeared in the blink of an eye, no one wanting to stay back even a second longer.
Damon leaned against the icy wall, his crimson eyes following Sylvara’s retreating form with a flicker of amusent. A thin smirk played at his lips, his fangs glinting in the dim light.
Kate sighed, stretching her arms dramatically. "Looks like we finally got so breathing room now."
"Damon, what do you think about this trial?" Mark asked. "I discovered sothing interesting."
"Hmmm?" Damon asked, his curiosity piqued.
"As soon as I entered the black pool, my body sort of rejected the ice affinity and the icy elental energy that wanted to enter my body. I had this resistance until I reached the first break point."
Damon nodded. The others hadn’t noticed yet but the black pool was actually a lot deeper than they could have ever imagined. There were many break points under the water, pockets of air and a small cave here and there where one can co up for air.
"After the first break point, I couldn’t hold on anymore. The elental energy crashed into my body and sort of started wrecking everything. I can still keep going a little bit but I have a feeling I will reach my limit soon." Mark explained.
"So how much did you gain in total?" Damon asked.
"I gained 10 stats in total. 5 in strength and 5 in vitality."
"I figured as much." Damon grinned. Right from the beginning he had a feeling that this trial was not just about ice affinity. It tested so much more. If he was right, then they should be able to gain a lot from this trial whether or not they were associated with ice affinity. "Looks like this trial has multiple layers of benefits."
Kate’s eyes sparkled with interest. "So you think it’s not just about elental affinity?"
Damon’s gaze turned thoughtful. "Exactly. The trial’s cold is just a shell. What it’s really testing is your endurance, your ntal strength, and maybe even how well you can adapt under pressure. The elental affinity is just the bonus prize if you’re aligned with ice. But the real treasure? It’s probably the stat gains—and maybe sothing even deeper if you’re brave enough to reach the bottom."
Mark nodded, his expression grim but determined. "Yeah, I figured as much too. That’s why I’m going back in. I don’t care how cold it gets. Every stat point counts, and who knows what else we might find."
The two of them then looked at Kate. "What did you get?"
Kate stuck her tongue out, mischief dancing in her eyes. "That’s a surprise, boys. I’ll tell you when I win this whole damn thing!" She stripped off her robe and most of her gear until she was left in just her underwear, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Damon, and dove headfirst into the pool.
Damon opened his mouth to remind her he’d been joking about the skinny dipping, but a ntal image of Kate punching his lights out stopped him cold. He chuckled helplessly and shot Mark a resigned look. "Hey, maybe she’s onto sothing," he muttered, ignoring Mark’s suspicious glare. He too then dove back into the pool once again.
At first he had planned to head out and grind so beasts to increase his affinity before attempting the trial again but then he decided to take the hard route. Taking the shortcut was not always the best thing to do and his guts told him that this was one such situation.
Also, there weren’t that many beasts around and to look for beasts or other monsters in the thick of this heavy snowstorm would be extrely ti consuming and painful. He might as well simply to do the cold water plunge and reap the benefits.
There was also sothing else.
Damon couldn’t exactly place his finger on it but the freezing cold actually seed to trigger sothing in his blood. He was not sure yet but he could feel his blood energy a little louder down there. It felt more vibrant, more alive, as if the cold itself was awakening sothing primal in him.
Well, whatever it was down there, Damon was not getting out of here before taking a good look at it. This was the closest he had co to stabilizing his blood or bloodline and he was not going to take a loss for an answer.
He sucked in a deep breath and dove in, the excruciating cold imdiately assaulting him. His vision blurred as frost rimd his lashes, every nerve screaming in protest. He ignored it and continue to head down. He pressed deeper, the black water folding around him like the embrace of the abyss itself.
[Ding! You have entered the Trial of the Frozen Abyss.]
[Trial of the Frozen Abyss: The secrets of the ice are only revealed to those who dare to embrace the cold. Endure the freezing darkness, survive the pain, and unlock the legacy hidden beneath the abyss. Failure will result in severe injury or death.]
[Ding! You have gained 1 Ice Affinity]
***
Golden Ticket Bonus Chapter~~
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