His breathing was heavy and ragged as he climbed the rough rockface, the sharp stones digging into his hands, the film of frost he had applied to them didn't help as much as he wanted. A few times his feet slipped from, or broke the stone, he tried to stand on which led to multiple situations where he nearly dropped from the mountain. The only thing saving him was the line of elves that he was connected with via the rope wrapped around him that he held onto tight. While the climb itself was already taxing and served as a perfect line of defense it sadly was only the first obstacle they had to overcome. Because at one point it seems they crossed some invisible threshold, large birds that all looked kind of the guardian appeared, while they didn't possess the impressive abilities or aura of the snow owl these flying beasts were still formidable fighters. Before climbing the mountain they saw no birds at all even in the surrounding jungle, this high up it was like an endless storm of birds.

The moment he heard their traitorous wings flap, Ethan cried out a warning. "Brace for the next attack!" he yelled and with his dwindling mana he froze the next attack wave of birds into solid blocks, their now frozen bodies colliding with the mountain and in some cases even the climbing elves, they already lost two team members this way, their bodies hammered by bird shaped projectiles, only after some trial and error did he managed to use his magic again despite the guardian's aura pressing against him at all times.

For now he was their only defense against them as the melee fighters obviously couldn't do anything. The archers that tried to shoot them with arrows got targeted first and most of the mages that accompanied them were for support and healing spells not attacking enemies.

Like this the hours vanished, climbing the mountain took increasingly more effort with each meter they conquered. All of them hoping the birds wouldn't attack or if they did, not throw them off the mountain. Ethan had it the hardest as he wasn't blessed by the guardian, just someone unknown to the majestic creature. In the guardian's eyes he needed to be destroyed or at least kept away from the top of the mountain. The simple fact that he managed to withstand the guardian showed how much their affinities actually aligned, still his powers seeped from him at an increasing rate. From the difference in strength it was clear who would dominate the other in terms of control of ice.

Ethan just continued to climb, his mind was blank and he fended off birds without even thinking about it. At one point he looked at the timer he ignored for such a long time.

Time remaining in the tutorial: 06:00:45:58

Six days until the tutorial ends, in the grand scheme of things it was basically nothing but for him this tutorial was worth more than most of his old life. He learned so many things and obtained power straight from a fantasy story. While he missed some things he was sure that the future would bring new things. Maybe even the most unrealistic wishes could become true…like resurrection.

While he was deep in thought he missed jovial cries of the elves on the front. Lorena who climbed next to him pushed him upwards, a smile on her tired face. "WE MADE IT ETHAN! THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN!" She had to scream because of the wind and even then he could barely understand her, but he managed to connect the dots and climbed with renewed vigor, a smile creeping onto his face. The final stretch was here and he savored every moment.

He broke through, they had traveled through for a while now, his clothes soaked from the water, he nodded at the elves that smiled at him and pulled him upwards, both of them were already sitting on solid ground and reaching for him. He crawled over the edge and made space for Lorena. Ethan rolled onto his back and stared into the blue sky, his breathing calmed slowly and the splitting headache he had from using too much magic seemed to fade a bit. Nora even moved, as a magical being without an aura of her own for now she fell into a sort of hibernation as an effect of the oppressive mana.

Lorena got pulled up from the edge and laid down next to him, both of them staring at the sky like most of the elves that tried to catch their breath. They laid there for some time and just enjoyed the fact that they managed to climb this mountain. Ethan had new respect for the elves, especially the young elf that managed to climb this mountain by herself.

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After resting for a while Ethan pushed himself from the ground, his staff groaning while he used it as support, he could feel the connection to it and that soon the staff would break. He used it for a long time but it's time was coming to an end. He had outgrown it during the tutorial.

While the others rested he walked towards the middle of the mountaintop, he had to climb over some rocks and squeeze through narrow gaps between boulders but soon he saw the guardian, resting in a depression in the stone, it looked like a basin with smooth walls and a gentle slope towards the middle. Down there was the guardian, its massive body wrapped around an equally massive egg.

Ethan felt the aura press down on him, but while every other time it was outside his body, now the aura threatened to crush his bones and organs. Right here at the heart of the guardian's power it's aura strength had physical power that could kill him if he wasn't careful. For now he retreated in the same way and returned to the elves.

When he returned most of them were already sitting around in small groups, sharing rations or drinking from water skins. He saw Lorena discussing something with the other team leaders. Ethan sat down next to her and picked up some dry bread and a water skin. He took his time while eating and only when he finished did he interrupt their talk. They were mostly discussing rations they had with them and the losses received during the climb. He waited until they were finished before talking.

"I visited the guardian while you rested, the way there is a bit tricky but nothing the elves can't handle, for me it's almost bone crushing but for you all it should be easy to reach. The important thing is that we establish some kind of connection with the guardian, while I'm sure it's strong enough to fend off everything, the main concern remains the egg as its destruction would surely spell doom for the jungle."

They listened to him intently and nodded along, this wasn't really news for them but he wanted to remind them of it either way. This was their home after all and they wanted to protect it. Ethan continued talking.

"For now we need to position ourselves around the guardian with some smaller teams keeping watch around the top of the mountain for anything out of the ordinary, this means the necromancer and any of his undead monsters. So we need teams prepared and ready to move out as fast as possible, I'm not sure when and how we will be attacked. The sooner we're in position and connect with the guardian the better."

All of them nodded and stood up, organizing groups and sending them around the mountaintop or towards the way they saw Ethan come back from. When Lorena wanted to stand up he grabbed her wrist and shook his head. "The most important thing falls to you Lorena. I'm not sure their guardian would suddenly accept me as its own, you elves lived with it for a long time so we need you to establish a connection with it."

She looked a bit shocked but quickly got her expression under control again, still she wanted to disagree. "I can't do it Ethan, I'm not as strong as the matriarch or old enough to have gathered the wisdom required for such an interaction. I'm still young and can't just speak with a local deity like we do right now."

He laughed and shook his head. "No you aren't prepared. I know that but there is no other way. I was nearly crushed just standing near it, what do you think happens when the guardian focuses its aura on me? I'm not protected by it and you're the strongest one after me. I trust you, everything will work out just fine." A gentle smile appeared on his face and together with Lorena he stood up and they approached the path towards the guardian.

"Don't worry I will accompany you for as long as possible so you don't have to carry that burden alone."

Both of them took the first step, one at a time they approached the guardian, trying to reproduce a miracle that molded their entire society.

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