First Trial [1]

As I heard the angel of light signal the start of the trial, I calmly walked into the woods right next to me.

Walking deeper into the forest, I felt the temperature suddenly dropping. It was mostly due to the lack of sunlight, but my instinct told me there was something else around here causing the temperature change.

The atmosphere around me was completely different from my previous world; it was as though there was something in the air that gave off a soothing feeling. I quickly shook off that feeling and I cautiously walked around the forest looking for coins, but in the end, I found nothing.

I was growing impatient as time went on. After around 2 hours into the trial, I still had zero coins in my possession. I soon became curious at the other participants' progress and so I pulled up the leaderboard onto my watch.

=== Leaderboards: ===

1. Trenton Rix - 23 coins

2. Monica Rosa - 17 coins

3. Wang Yikang - 16 coins

================

My eyes widened in surprise after looking at the leaderboards. How was it possible for someone to have 23 coins?! I was struggling to even obtain one coin.

But before I could complain or drown in self-pity, a sudden chill went down my spine. I then heard a low growling sound coming from behind me as I shivered in fear for the first time since my childhood.

I slowly tilted my head backwards to see what was emanating such pressure. However, all I saw was a pair of golden eyes that had the look of a predator. The moment I made eye contact with the eyes, I instantly felt myself drained of any energy that I once had; my instincts told me that the thing before me was stronger than anything that I've ever fought.

I attempted to move my legs, but they were no longer under my command. Slowly, my heart froze as I saw a wolf-like figure with snow-white fur approach me. Its size was comparable to that of an elephant and just its legs itself were taller than a full-grown man. Its sharp gaze coming from its golden eyes stared at me in a nonchalant expression as it looked like it was making fun of me. With each step it took, my heart began to thump louder and louder. With the wolf inching closer and closer to my body, I felt the temperature in the air drop exponentially.

When the wolf was inches away from me, it suddenly stopped and widened its eyes. It quickly used its ice-blue nose to take a couple of sniffs. What it did next made me speechless.

"Human, why do you have the scent of a mythical being?" The wolf-like beast asked in a baffled tone.

I don't know who was more astonished at the moment, but I was too stunned for words to even come out of my mouth. I, never in my life, have seen an animal nor a creature speak human tongue.

"Answer me, why do you have the scent of a mythical being?" The wolf demanded.

After a few moments, I finally mustered enough courage to be able to answer the beast.

"W-what do you mean?" I stuttered.

"My eyes can see through everything. Your soul… It has an unnatural frequency to it. In addition, you have the scent of a mythical being. But there is no doubt about it, you are a mortal human."

At this point, I had many questions that I wanted to ask but couldn't. I was currently too frightened to even look at the beast, let alone speak with it.

"Haa… Never mind that. Normally I would've just killed you on the spot for invading my privacy, but you are by no means ordinary. So, considering the respect I have for your ancestors, accept this gift."

I could tell at a glance that the wolf was annoyed with me, but it shockingly had a hint of fear in its eyes. It then raised its head and let out a long howl before a glow emerged from the sky. As the glow descended, I could slowly make out the shape of the item enveloped inside the glow.

"This is…" I murmured in astonishment. From my experience as a sword master in my previous life, I could tell that the sword within the glow was by no means an ordinary sword.

As it descended into my hands, the sword suddenly lost its bright glow and its ethereal feeling. I examined the sword and took a few swings with it. With this gift, I determined that the wolf no longer had ill intent toward me.

The sword, with ice-like jewels embedded on the hilt of the blade, was completely snow-white with occasional blue decorations on it. It was a thin blade, but it definitely had quite a bit of weight behind it. The body of the sword was larger than my entire lower body, which gave it an extra domineering feel to it.

"Hailstorm, it's a weapon bound to the soul. It feeds off of one's soul power in order to become stronger, so you'll feel weak when you wield it. It also has special attributes and skills that you could use when it becomes stronger."

It was then that a bright light appeared on the back of my right hand. Slowly, a weird symbol-like crest started to form onto my hand. There was a stinging sensation for a split second, but it soon disappeared just as fast as it appeared. A few seconds later, the bright glow lost its brilliance and an icy, wolf-like symbol appeared on my hand.

"You've officially signed a soul contract with Hailstorm. Try visualizing Hailstorm being sucked into that emblem on your hand. And when you want to wield it, try visualizing taking it out. And by the way, other people can't see the crest on your hand."

I nodded after hearing the wolf's advice and immediately imagined Hailstorm being sucked into the crest on my hand. Instantly, the space around Hailstorm started to distort and in the next moment, it completely disappeared.

"Now if you have nothing else to say, get out of my sight." The wolf sighed in an annoyed tone.

Bidding farewell to the wolf, I quickly scurried away from its sight. I knew that the wolf didn't deem myself worthy and that it was something else that made it act like that. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that it wasn't anything simple. I decided to throw those thoughts in the back of my head and continued to search for coins and items.