Beneath the vast horizon, a party of several dozen trekked across Snow Mountain with enormous packs on their backs.
Heavy snow swirled around them like a white veil stretched between heaven and earth, dressing the world in silver.
The winds mingled with bone-piercing cold in the air, tearing out shrill howls like the roars of furious dragons.
The swirling snow all but blocked their vision. Every so often, those at the front took out a direction dial to check their heading before trudging onward with their heads down.
They had been walking for three days straight, yet the first-phase trainees of Snow Valley Training Camp had still not left the Snow Mountain region.
Ghost Eye, who led the way, spotted a cave nearby and turned to call back to the others.
"There's a cave up ahead. Let's go in and rest."
"We can get something to eat, too." Beside him, Li Zheng nodded in agreement.
The party then followed Ghost Eye toward the cave.
The cave lay beneath a steep cliff, half-hidden by white snow that never melted, with icicles hanging above its entrance like decorations.
Since the cave stood in the path of the wind, the icy walls gave off low, lingering echoes whenever a gust swept past.
After entering, the Phase One Training Camp trainees did not rush to rest. Instead, they carefully ventured deeper into the cave, only setting down their packs after confirming that no monsters lived inside.
"Get some fires going."
As he spoke, Ghost Eye took three fuel rods from his pack, laid them on the ground, and raised a hand to conjure elemental flames and light them.
Seeing this, the other trainees took out their own fuel rods and lit several fires inside the cave.
The party sat down around the fires.
Ghost