Finally

The icy wasteland stretched endlessly, its silence broken only by the whisper of the wind brushing across the tundra.

Amid this desolation lay a battered young man, motionless, as if abandoned by the world.

Frost clung to his exposed skin, giving him an almost statuesque appearance against the stark white of the snow.

This was Seth.

For three days, he had remained there, unmoving, locked in a state of forced hibernation.

His body, torn and exhausted from the battle within the dungeon, had shut down to preserve what little vitality remained.

Yet now, something stirred within him, a flicker of life breaking through the frozen cocoon.

A sharp intake of breath.

Cold air filled his lungs, escaping moments later in a visible plume of mist.

His eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, before adjusting to the piercing brightness of the ice field.

He groaned softly, blinking away the frost that clung to his lashes.