After 24 hours, the portal leading to the sovereign and grand god section of the tower closed, and the first trial began, the trial of ice. The will of the realm, mother High Heaven descended with a message stating the rules and guidelines for the competition.
She spoke directly to the ears of everyone present. " Welcome children, welcome to the trial of heaven. To the ones that have been here before, it is nice to see you again. To the ones that are here for the first time, I expect great things from you."
After a slight pause, she continued, "This is the sovereign and grand god trial. The rules haven't changed. You will go through a series of trials of which you must pass at least one to gain entry to the solo challenges. There will be no fighting or the use of external aids. These trials will test your strength, resilience, skills, willpower, and body durability. I wish you good luck."
Then the barrier went down and Gehald started to race toward the center by using the lines marked on the ground which indicated the direction. Only the first 30% will get a mark. The ice trial will end after the first 30% reach the center, then the next trial will begin.
The icy wind hit Gehald square in the face as he rushed forward, it is manageable for now. The garment of laws, the only thing allowed, that he has on can still protect him. But the temperature keeps falling, again and again.
Gehald had to circle Origin energy through his body to resist the cold. The cold is not something mortals can withstand. No mortal can survive exposure to temperatures lower than -100 degree Celsius.
The good thing about using the law of life to reach the sovereign level is that your body has immense vitality and you will be able to heal from injuries more quickly. It doesn't have great attacking capabilities but it works to keep you alive better than other laws.
So even at this stage, he can keep himself from creating a barrier to keep out the cold. A barrier will stop contact between the cold winds and his body, but it will consume more energy to directly resist the cold but it will prevent his body heat from being siphoned until he freezes.
After 11 days he was still running forward. He had stopped flying yesterday when the temperature dropped again. Even though flying is faster, he would have to wade against heavy winds harder. He had started using his barrier after the first 9 days, his body couldn't take the cold anymore, even with his high amount of vitality.
The thing about a race like this is hope. The trial of ice is public knowledge but the distance of the trial is unknown. It changes every origin cycle. But the distance doesn't matter, the fact that the race hasn't ended means you still have hope of making it.
This hope keeps you going, even when you stumble and fall. You pick yourself up and continue. Even though everything you can see is ice and snow, the hope keeps you going, like a tiny ember within your chest. As much as it pushes you forward you have to also stoke the tiny flame because if it goes out you will give up.
Gehald kept moving forward even after 8 years. The solitude, the monotony of the environment, and his actions had strained him but not too much. This much stress is not enough to break him. He had to be strong because he knew that this trial and the following ones to come will test the integrity of the body and his soul, and how well it has been developed over the years.
This trial also tests the origin regeneration of the Origin core. If over the years, you had made an inferior body or Origin core passage, your body won't be able to withstand the stress and you won't be able to restore your Origin energy fast energy to keep the barrier up.
If anything, elves have powerful physiques and life force due to their affinity with nature, which is further reinforced by the mastery of the law of life, he was able to hold on due to this, coupled with his mastery of the law of water. It is this understanding of his advantages that he used to keep himself going forward.
After a while, he saw a portal in the distance and his eyes lit up. He was almost there. As he was rushing forward his senses picked up movement beside him, he noticed someone walking by leisurely.
The person seemed to be strolling across the icy ground and creating sizzling sounds with his foot. He was surprised at first because this person did not seem to have a barrier around but then he slapped his head.
"It seems my brain is freezing" Gehald joked.
The fire elemental saw him laugh and was wondering why.
"Hey, there elf. What's funny?"
Gehald was in a good mood so he decided to entertain the walking ball of fire.
"I noticed you were doing fine"
The fire elemental cocked his head, "You're fine too"
"But you're a fire elemental," Gehald insisted.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The fire elemental was getting offended because it seems he was either stupid or this guy was insulting him. Either is reason enough to flip his lid.
"Never mind" Gehald sighed and stopped paying attention to the ready-to-explode fireball.
He thought back to his past when he used to be funny, that was also when he was ignorant. But now he seemed to have lost his sense of humor. He shook his head and looked back at the fire elemental one last time before he entered the portal.
He thought to himself "Too bad killing is not allowed." then his vision blurred.
He found himself in a world of fire and he groaned audibly.
"So not fair" he muttered.
He checked his status and it was updated with a snow icon, the mark of the ice trial. Then he did his customary mental sweep of the area with his divine sense. The sight of all that fire brought back the image of the fire elemental to his mind.
He isn't especially weak to fire anymore. He had long since mastered the law of fire since the war with the demons, so it wouldn't be too difficult for him to get another mark, but it will be too easy for that fire elemental.