"ugh what is this..."
Zach felt the world around him fade like a mirage of sparks.
His body descended, his skin brushing the freezing wind as the cold assaulted him.
'What.'
The wind screamed louder than his thoughts, as he body hit a surface.
*Splash*
His thoughts were discontinued as he plummeted into the freezing deep, his body drifted as the cold freezing water, assaulted his nostrils, Zach's eyes finally shot open.
It was a blur, a mirage of blue, Zach lungs burned for air as his gaze shot towards the light.
'Above'
Zach's muscles clenched, the air from his long were long gone, his limbs spasmed, it felt like a thousand knife stabbed his lungs continually.
He clenched his jaw, he had to move, Zach waved his limbs, the biting cold striking at every movement.
'Swim' his mind screamed, his body was almost reaching frozen temperatures as he swam to the surface, his lung felt like they were going to burst, his body felt like it was going to shut down any minute, his eyes felt like they were frozen but he had to push forward.
He stretched forth his hand, hitting an icy solid surface, Zach almost frozen eyes widened.
He was in a frozen lake.
"The trails are unforgiving" Zach remembered his master's words, as glint in his eyes changed from determined to horrified.
He stuck his fist against the icy surface but the unforgiving ice did not budge, he stuck it again and again and again.
Heartbeats passed then another Zach's consciousness was slowly drifted away as his vision blurred.
'Im sorry master', those words hug on his throat, the cold water began feeling warm, the water felt peaceful as the water begged to be invited into Zach's nostrils.
"Zach.."
Zach heard a voice, 'am I hallucinating?', he smiled at the thought.
But am I really going to die here?, Zach mind drifted
***
"Zach was is your dream"... his master paused as Zach was doing push-ups by the corner, "what do you mean by that?" Zach raised a brow, "I mean what do you want to do when you become stronger,what is your reason for wanting power", the old man asked, "I guess to protect others" he shrugged, his master chuckled in response, "you guess", he repeated.
"Zach boy, the astryx will push you to your very limits, if you don't have a reason to go forward you will never become stronger, the only path to strength will be determine if your weak and reach your limits, or if your strong enough to break them".
*****
~Why is this suddenly going through my head~, why did he want to get stronger?, Zach was originally a street rat fighting everyday for daily bread, and suddenly he was selected to attend the imperial oasis, the most prestigious training facility to hone his skills before entering the astryx, honestly Zach was just grateful he didn't have to see death and poverty again he never really thought about why he needed strength to be honest.
Zach pushed his body upward as his pal touched the icy surface.
Bang*
He stuck at it, his lung searing his eyes freezing, his vision blurred, his muscles screaming in pain for him to stop, but he kept hitting the surface.
Bang bang* eyes locked onto the frozen above as his fist collided with the lake icy top layer one more time.
A crack formed, and Zach eyes flashed with hope, he banged again and again until the ice shattered.
*Gasp*
Zach, face came out of the lake as he breathed in the icy air. He gagged and coughed as he threw up loads of water, resting his upper body against the ice he used the last ounce of strength he had left, pulling himself out of the, sinkhole in the ice crafted by him laying down flat atop the icy calm lake.
His lungs felt like they were on fire as he breathed, he doesn't know how much water he took in.
His vision blurred and then he closed his eyes.
***
Zach remembered a point in his life, back to the days he way a street rat, there was this man...
He can't remember his name though..
The man also shared a similar profession they were both thieves, the man had taken care of Zach, for the frist two weeks of him being kicked out of the orphanage because his parents died and the his resident fees expired.
The man took care of him until... well he was killed, because he tried to steal from a shop merchants gold collection.
Zach didn't really feel much about his death, but it mad him wonder 'why do good people die often and heartless people reached the top?', that was a question he couldn't quite place his finger on.
His parents-good people dead, the man who was just struggling to survive, good person but still died.
In this world only the heartless can truly get a chance at life.
"What the?.."
Zach wiggled as he felt clustered together.
The surrounding area felt surreal and warm, what going on, Zach managed to open his eyes.
The last thing he remembers was passing out on the frozen lake, he would have probably frozen to death, but where was he now.
The cold embrace of the shackles around him snapped him back to reality, motion was detected, he was in some sort of carriage, the surrounding area was dark, he was blindfolded but he could feel other people around him.
The carriage was wriggling, unsteady, Zach could tell that the terrain wasn't smooth.
[Welcome to your frist trial seeker]
[Due to your performance on the tutorial, the astryx rune of water logged has been granted to you]
"Tutorial?.. no one told me about a tutorial".
Zach's thoughts were interrupted as the carriage came to a halt.
"What going on?.." the blind fold restricted his vision as he lay still on the wooden carriage.
He had to have an Idea were he was. Then the blindfold came off.