The teleportation was a disorienting experience with all the blinding lights and loud noises that assaulted Sieg's senses.

  WHY IS IT SO BRIGHT!

  I CAN'T SEE!

  When he opened his eyes again, the bright light had slowly faded, though he felt nauseous and instinctively covered his mouth to keep himself from vomiting.

  "Please hold it in. We don't want to embarrass ourselves in front of strangers," the female sorcerer whispered, sitting beside him in what appeared to be the inside of a caravan being pulled by two horses.

  "Where are we?" Sieg asked, glancing around. To his left was the female sorcerer, and to his right, the male sorcerer.

  "Candidate, we don't know. We're just as confused as you are. We should wait for the time being," the female sorcerer replied, leaning slightly closer. Her curves were rather distracting if Sieg dared to glance downward.

  "Uh, ah… yeah, you're right. We should do that," he stuttered.

  In front of them were three men in thick clothing similar to Sieg's. The one in the middle had broad shoulders, the one on the left appeared more intellectual with his glasses, and the last on the right was scrawny, looking like a fellow slum dweller, his face crooked with a noticeable receding hairline.

  "Did we get kidnapped?" Sieg mused.

  The male sorcerer looked at him, his expression hard to read behind the mask. "These weaklings wouldn't even make me sweat." His tone carried an unmistakable offense at the mere suggestion of being kidnapped by these people.

  "Right…" Sieg moved on.

  The smart-looking man with glasses tried to interject, "Sorry for interrupting, but I hope all of you will uphold your words."

  "What words?" all three, Sieg, the male sorcerer, and the female sorcerer replied at the same time.

  The three men wore confused expressions, even glancing at one another. "You promised to split the payment with us fifty–fifty after we dealt with the beast that roams these tundras!"

  "Fifty–fifty?" the male sorcerer scoffed. "It should be seventy–thirty. Looking at the three of you, you're all so fragile. I can tell we'll be doing most of the heavy lifting."

  "Seventy–thirty was promised to us! Do you know how much we have to sacrifice?! We aren't cheap!" Sieg added, backing up the male sorcerer without hesitation, even if he doesn't know what's going on.

  The sudden support made the male sorcerer look at Sieg and slowly nod. He appreciated that gesture.

  But one thing was made clear — Sieg, the male sorcerer, and the female sorcerer weren't merely teleported to a place; they were placed in the middle of a scenario, and they have to adjust properly to navigate it.

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  The three men grew even more annoyed, though they knew the male sorcerer alone could handle all of them. "We provided the information and its location! We even paid for this caravan! Now you're just being unfair to us!" the scrawny man yelled in frustration.

  "What are you gonna do about it?" Sieg shot back.

  To Sieg, it was entertainment. But then he realized he was acting like a bully, venting his frustrations on complete strangers.

  So this is what it feels like.

  Still, the male sorcerer backed him up, "Enough talk," the male sorcerer said. "Let's fight."

  The air grew tense, thick with hostility, and the three men prepared themselves despite the obvious disadvantage.

  Before everything could spiral out of control, the female sorcerer cut them off. "Gentlemen, please let me handle this," she said softly.

  Sieg and the male sorcerer hadn't truly meant it — they were just picking someone to collectively antagonize.

  They both didn't argue and backed down.

  The three men sighed in relief at the female sorcerer's intervention, even offering her weary smiles.

  "Good. Now, please, gentlemen, remind us of our mission. Don't worry, we'll keep the fifty–fifty," the female sorcerer declared.

  "Hell no!" Sieg and the male sorcerer both rejected.

  "I said we're fine with fifty–fifty, and we'll move on." The icy, stern gaze behind the female sorcerer's mask silence them both.

  The chill of her ice arts seeped into the air, the temperature subtly dropping.

  "We mean… hell yes," Sieg and the male sorcerer corrected themselves, utterly defeated.

  The smart-looking man adjusted his glasses, clearing his throat as the tension slowly dissipated. "Now that that's settled… I suppose I should explain our mission."

  All eyes turned to him.

  "For the past few weeks, travelers and merchant caravans have been going missing around this region," he continued. "At first, it was thought to be bandits or exposure to the cold, but survivors began telling a different kind of story."

  "Maybe a beast?" Sieg asked.

  What else could it be?

  The man nodded. "Yes. A creature roaming these tundras, rampaging and leaving nothing behind but corpses and broken wagons. And It doesn't discriminate as merchants, pilgrims, lone travelers… all are equally prey."

  The caravan grew quieter. "It was last sighted near the temple at the center of the tundra," the man went on. "That is where we're headed."

  Sieg felt a strange chill that had nothing to do with the cold outside. "A temple," he muttered.

  The caravan rumbled onward with the the silence stretching uncomfortably. Then, all at once, Sieg froze. So did male sorcerer. And female sorcerer.

  It was sudden — as if time itself had paused around them.

  The three men noticed immediately.

  "Hey…?" the broad-shouldered one asked, his hand drifting toward his weapon.

  "Something wrong?" the scrawny man's eyes were darting between the three unmoving figures.

  The smart-looking man's expression grew worried. "They're breathing irregularly… but they're not reacting either."

  A tense moment passed before the two sorcerers stirred. And Sieg sucked in a sharp breath with his heart rapidly pounding.

  Everyone's gaze turned toward the slum boy at once.

  "What did you see?" female sorcerer asked quietly.

  ? [Greetings. Your ascension trial has started.]

  ? [Kill the tundra beast threatening this land and conquer the Temple of Visage. Offer your heart and soul, suffer for the Lord, and at the end, you shall receive your Origin Arts. Your ascendant trial will then reach its conclusion, and you will be returned to the real world.]

  Sieg gulped. "I see… it's our mission—"

  Male and female sorcerers immediately understood. The three men, however, only exchanged confused looks, receiving no explanation for their odd reactions.

  Sieg suddenly wondered how much time had passed in the real world — or how long he had already been trapped within this ascendant trial.

  A knot tightened in his chest as his thoughts remembered his mother, he felt fear that he might die here before ever seeing her again.

  Yet, amid the dread, another face surfaced in his mind…

  ? [Note: Only 546 Candidates remained, congratulations on reaching this far…]

  "Eisen. I pray you failed the trial and died an agonizing death…" he muttered to himself.

  Chapter End.