Chapter 229 - The First Day

Rynold didn't like the sound of that — not one bit.

The final good luck that the Mech God said to the Candidates felt ominous. Maybe Rynold was overthinking it, but he felt weary nonetheless.

That said, Rynold hung back. He didn't run out of the main hall like the other Candidates and chose to only move after all of them left. Rynold wasn't here to compete, so exerting effort into this challenge wasn't something he needed to do.

"Really?" the Mech God called out to Rynold as he noticed that Rynold was the only one left in the room, "Even with this, you're choosing to hang back?"

"Got anything worthwhile to say, or are you just going to insult me?" Rynold asked as he watched the last Candidate disappear to the jungle. Rynold was the only one who didn't move, who didn't care.

"Do me a favor and at least pretend like you care," the Mech God scoffed as he shook his head. The arrogant attitude he once had now replaced with a sense of familiarity with Rynold.

"You do realize that if I went ahead with the rest of them, a fight would break out, right?" Rynold rebutted as he strolled forward. "I'm not dumb enough to get into the rat race with the rest of them. I told you that I'm not here to win."

"Right you are," the Mech God nodded as he snapped his fingers. A drone appeared from nowhere and positioned itself behind the Mech God. The drone was none other than a floating chair.

Rynold stepped outside to the open area that was just outside the main hall. From there, he threw Axiom out and had the Accord Sphere scan the immediate surroundings. Rynold would then have to act from there.

'Let's see...'

With Axiom's limited range, Rynold couldn't get a bird's-eye view of the entire landmass. Regardless, the initial scan provided good information. It told him where he needed to go to avoid everyone else. It was none other than the path of least resistance.

'Up the mountain, huh?'

It made sense, Rynold thought, seeing as how climbing a mountain would prove more troublesome than it was worth. That said, Rynold looked forward to the challenge. Well, that and the complete absence of human interaction.

As he took the first steps into the dense jungle, Rynold used the trees and branches to move forward. Doing so was a lot less taxing on his Stamina and provided good mobility.

However, he stopped after moving a mile into the forest.

"I know you're following me," Rynold jumped down from his tree branch and landed at the grass patch below. "Come out, and let's settle this."

Rynold had been aware of his pursuers for some time now. It was made clear by Axiom's scans high above the treetops, and Rynold at first didn't mind them following him. But, his impressions changed when they didn't stop after moving so far away from the main hall.

There was a clear intent for hostility here. Rynold couldn't ignore something like that so easily.

Declaring Rynold's stance, a sound of rustling leaves soon emanated all around him. Rynold wasn't scared, of course, but he couldn't help but feel slightly frustrated. It was a pain for him having to deal with these strangers.

"Great," Rynold mocked, "You've got me surrounded. I assume you people have a plan?"

"We're eliminating the competition, starting with you. It's nothing personal."

The moment Rynold heard that, he snickered. Rynold wouldn't be surprised if people thought like this. Eliminating the competition was a common tactic, and Rynold didn't blame them for targeting him first.

"What's so funny?" one of the assailants asked Rynold. He felt threatened by Rynold's calm attitude, and the others felt no different.

"Funny? No. Nothing's funny," Rynold nodded as he put his hand to his chin, "I'd say, you people are clever. Teaming up and deciding to take down the other Candidates one by one — honestly, it's a good idea. It could use some more thought, though, but it's good nonetheless."

Rynold read the atmosphere and noticed that their nervousness turned to confusion at Rynold's notion. It was all too easy for him to spread doubt amongst them.

"I'm guessing you want me to explain, huh?" Rynold mocked as he crossed his hands. He then explained without holding any information back.

"Well, have you people actually thought how long it would take to take down the other Candidates? While you know what my abilities are, that doesn't mean you know all of them. Sure, revealing my cards so early on makes me the best target. But, how long will that take? You'll waste precious time taking me down — time you could've spent on doing what we should be doing. And, assuming that you do take me down, how much time will you spend on the others?"

It didn't take much for Rynold to sow seeds of hesitation among the people surrounding him. They hesitated and showed reluctance. It was a weakness Rynold could so easily exploit.

But, Rynold kept clear of that. He wasn't here to compete, after all.

"So, if you guys want to leave, go on ahead. I'll forget all about this, and we each go our separate ways. But," Rynold expanded his Mana Gauntlets to Strength-form, "if you want to take me down, I will not make it easy."

Luckily, the threat Rynold openly spoke of was enough to change his pursuers' minds. They ran off from the way they came, leaving Rynold all by his lonesome.

'Thank the gods. Just thinking about what I'll need to do to deal with those idiots is making me tired already.'

Rynold let out a deep sigh as he focused on his destination. He then jumped to the trees once more and moved forward to the mountain. Without any other interruptions this time around, Rynold soon reached the foot of his destination.

'I honestly thought I'd come across a bunch of monsters by now,' Rynold thought to himself as he looked around, 'But, I guess the actual danger is climbing this thing, huh?'

The mountain was steep. Rynold fully acknowledged the risks of climbing this thing. If it were under normal Mana-less circumstances, Rynold wouldn't even try to scale the mountain. But, luckily, he wasn't so powerless now.

'Let's give this a shot, then.'

Without an inch of doubt, Rynold extended his Mana Gauntlets to Strenght-form once more. He then shot his grapple upwards, using it to gain significant height. From there, Rynold crushed parts of the mountain as he used his gauntlets to climb.

'Why the hell is it so cold up here?'

For some reason, Rynold couldn't have had a more difficult time doing this. He climbed the mountain, one open hole at a time, and soon reached an artificial outcropping.

'This is one of those campsites the guy mentioned, huh?'

Rynold could tell by the pristine metallic ground and out-of-place equipment in the area that this place was artificially put here. Rynold didn't mind it, of course, seeing as how this place had anything Rynold might need. All he needed to do now was to designate this place as his own.

At the center of the platform was a Mana Crystal that was as white as snow surrounding it. Rynold, thankfully, didn't sense anything out of the ordinary as he placed his hand on the Mana Crystal. He then injected his Mana into it, wrapping the Mana Crystal in a hint of blue color.

'And, that should do it,' Rynold said as he looked around the small camp once more, 'I should probably look around the mountain before the sun goes down.'

It was the opportune time for Rynold to explore the mountain. He thought that there had to be something of interest up here. Why else would there be a campsite here?

That said, Rynold commanded Axiom for a full scan of the mountain. Not only that, but Rynold also used his keen senses to look for anything out of the ordinary. It didn't take very long for him to come to a conclusion.

'Inside the mountain? That doesn't make any sense.'

There was an odd source of Mana coming from inside the mountain. It was deep and low enough that Rynold couldn't sense it. But, the Accord Sphere picked up light traces of it.

Knowing that, Rynold still wasn't sure how to get there. There was no staircase leading down or a crevice he could use to get inside the mountain. Hell, he had to climb all the way up here precisely because there was no other way. Unless...,

Rynold didn't hesitate and slammed his Strength-Form Mana Gauntlet into the side of the mountain. Doing so cracked the side he slammed his massive fist on, leaving a gigantic create in its wake.

'It's hollow,' Rynold stood in wonder, 'This gigantic mountain is hollow.'

As he stood in a daze, Rynold considered that a mountain of this size to be hollow was unorthodox. No part of this made any sense, including how Rynold saw the bottom of the mountain from the inside. If he hadn't been mentally prepared, the sight would've induced vertigo.

"Okay, okay," Rynold talked to himself as he planned what to do next, "I need to find a way to get down there. I can't just jump into it, either. Shit. If only I had the platform."

It was at this moment that Rynold regretted not having his Miniature Floating Platform once more. Rynold didn't realize that a lot of his missions relied on having air traversal. Having something like that with him would make a lot of things easier.

That said, there was no use lamenting over it now. Rynold had to find a way down, and dilly-dallying was no way to do it.

But, how will he do it?

Then, out of nowhere, his prayers were soon answered — answered in such a way that tested his strength now more than ever.

A large bird loudly cawing descended from the peak of the mountain and swooped down on Rynold. Its large beak nosedived to the ground, with Rynold in its sights.

'Oh, fuck.'

Rynold quickly activated [Protecting Light] and got out of the way where the bird would land. He didn't hesitate whatsoever as a creature of this size wasn't anything Rynold could take easily.

"Damn it, why me?"

As rhetorical as that question was, Rynold knew the answer. The punch he struck against the mountain wall managed to scare this bird into protecting its nest. No doubt, it was the guardian of this mountain, living atop the peak.

And, just like that, a face-off ensued. Rynold stood before the massive bird whose talons stood firm on the ground. The bird's black eyes stared at the very depths of Rynold's soul.

One sudden move would change how this whole situation would pan out.

That said, Rynold's eyes dotted around the immediate surroundings, trying to find an angle to this fight. At this point, any advantage would be a good one, so long as he could survive to fight another day. But, as luck would have it, Rynold found nothing.

What surrounded them was nothing but snow. Rynold couldn't really use that in a fight like this one. In other words, Rynold was screwed.

'Really?' Rynold questioned the lack of anything useful in the peak of this mountain, 'Nothing?!'

A sense of uneasiness soon rose to his chest as Rynold looked straight at the bird before him. It was threatening — in a sense that Rynold couldn't explain. The nearest thing Rynold could think of was that it was like staring into the lion's den.

Rynold inched his foot back, wary of what else would happen at this point. He did it so subtly that it was barely noticeable. But, even so, the bird took notice of Rynold's attempt at fleeing and charged at him, beak first.

It was only then that Rynold knew he was in for a whole world of hurt.