Way of the Knights

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"Ooh! There he is!" Logan said to the rest as he saw Raven walking towards them.

Raven eventually arrived at the place where they were scheduled to meet, he walked up to them and said: "Sorry, I\'m a bit late. I saw a familiar face on the way and just said hello."

"It\'s fine, we just arrived ourselves." Theo waved his hand in dismissal, "So? Are you ready for this?"

"Mn!" Raven nodded, "I made sufficient preparations already."

"Great!" Henry exclaimed. "Then let\'s get going." 

As he said this, he nodded towards at Charles who summoned a spear which he threw in the air. The spear grew enormous in a blink of an eye. Charles jumped and stood at the spear tip while the others sat on the body. As soon as everyone was seated, Charles began controlling the spear towards their destination. 

The trip was relatively smooth. Typically, no one is allowed to ride any flying tool within the base of Tartarus, they could only do so in the Devil\'s Cradle. However, the War Gods are an exemption to this as well as those who share the same status as they are. 

Besides, it\'s not like they\'re going to deep within the Devil\'s Cradle anyway. These people have a different target. 

The five of them eventually reached the exit of Tartarus. They were met with several people guarding the gates, they deliberately slowed down their flight, allowing the guards to see them properly. Still, even with their status as a War God, they aren\'t exempted on the sign-off. 

After making sure that they left a record of their exit, the guards didn\'t make things difficult for them and made way, allowing the group to eventually exit the premises. Going back here, Raven once again saw the multiple rows of Warships currently on stand-by. One word from any authorized personnel and this Warship will be deployed. 

Raven didn\'t get much time to admire the Warships as Charles sped-up once more. The flying tool eventually arrived at their destination, which is at the foot of the mountain. 

As the group arrived, they saw several people lining-up. From Raven\'s inspections, each of these people were fierce due to the aura they possess. It was quite obvious that these people were also here to challenge the treacherous mountain. 

Their group became the center of attention due to their unique entrance. When the others saw their uniforms and the auras they possess, they immediately took a step back and made way for them. 

"Dismount." Charles said as he himself jumped down from the spear. The rest of the group followed him and they resumed walking after Charles kept the flying tool back to his ring. 

Flying tools won\'t work during their hike. There is a mysterious restriction on the mountain that prevents them from doing so. Mounts could work but many people don\'t bring theirs here due to the absurd climate of the mountain. Only select powerful breeds of Mounts could ever possibly hope to stand-up against the ever-changing climate of the mountain. Which is why many resorted to use their own feet.

There were also some guards stationed at the base of the mountain. They are the one\'s who will record those who participants who wanted to challenge Mount Olympus. 

And just like before, their group didn\'t have any difficult time with the registration. They were even given priority due to their status - and even if that wasn\'t the case, they won\'t need to wait long since the registration didn\'t take much time to complete anyway. 

Right before they went along their way, the group decided to pause and discuss something first. 

"Okay, past this point is the actual journey. It\'s very possible that when step inside, the climate will instantly change. Be on-guard, try to adjust as quickly as you can or else you\'ll be injured. We can\'t leave the mountain unless we arrive at the 1st Checkpoint." Henry reminded Raven carefully. 

Raven nodded and kept this in mind, of course even if they didn\'t remind him of this, Raven was already on the lookout for the sudden changes. 

"Okay, let\'s get going..." The group nodded and together, they stepped at the foot of the mountain at the same time. 

Raven felt a slight resistance, preventing him from entering. However, it isn\'t so strong that it completely repelled him. 

Once their foot landed, Raven felt the surrounding temperature sudden drop at an alarming degree. He also felt a spike of fluctuation but it was too quick that he completely missed the chance to grasp it. 

Raven blinked and all of a sudden, his surroundings were covered in thick and frigid blanket of snow. He raised his brow as he looked around him. He then found the rest of group by his side, causing him to sigh in relief. At least they weren\'t separated from each other or else, that\'ll be a huge problem. 

"Snow, great." Logan snorted, the sarcasm on his voice was thick. 

Raven was somewhat confused since he also saw the rest frowning or feeling rather annoyed. Seeing his confusion, Theo decided to explain...

"That we encountered a snow as soon as we enter isn\'t really the greatest thing. Remember what we said before, the climate around here escalates or changes very quickly. Since it\'s snowing now, then it\'s highly possible for a Blizzard to occur - "

"Speak of the god damn devil..." Charles\' exasperated voice echoed on their ears. Just in time for them to feel the cold winds kicking up. 

It truly escalated quickly. It hasn\'t even been a minute since they arrived at the foot of the mountain and they were already being assaulted by harsh cold blizzard winds which also lowered the visibility of the area. 

Everyone felt the temperature dropping even further, now it\'s not only difficult to see where they need to go, it is also freezing cold. It\'s not like this blizzard was like the regular once since if it is, then no matter how strong it gets, it wouldn\'t hinder people like them.

"Brr~ Argh! I just can\'t get used to this!" Logan said while his three pairs of arms rubbed their palms to generate some heat. 

"Staying in one place wouldn\'t be wise. Let\'s go, if we move then we should be able to combat the cold even just for a bit." Theo said while surrounding himself with a curtain of Cleansing Fire, hoping that it would warm him up. 

The rest agreed to his suggestions, however just as they were preparing to move. They discovered that Raven remained rooted in place, a pondering expression was written all over his face. 

"Raven? Hey! Raven!" 

"Ah! Oh." Raven was jolted out of his stupor by Henry. He looked over at them with a dull gaze. 

"You good?" Charles asked.

"Yeah! Yeah, I\'m good." Raven replied, shaking his head briefly to remove the distracting thoughts he had earlier. 

"Okay. Let\'s start moving then." Henry said, to which Raven nodded. 

As they started moving, it was only then that Raven noticed the well-being of his companions. Compared to them, this blizzard weren\'t really doing anything to him. He himself wondered about it but he didn\'t pay it any heed since he\'s alright anyway. 

Still, he promised to help them along the way so that they could clear their trials more effectively, and he planned to uphold his promise. He took out the Brush of Wisdom and drew a rune on thin air. 

With a flick of his wrist, the rune was condensed and became larger. A large character which reads \'Warmth\' hung on top of his head, and immediately his companions felt the freezing chill disappearing. 

"Whew! That\'s what I\'m talking about." Logan whistled as he felt the gentle warmth seeping through his body, allowing his blood to flow more easily. 

"Woah, that\'s nice. Very nice." Theo added. 

"Warm cozy..." Henry murmured as he felt the shivers going away. 

Charles even felt the need to close his eyes when he felt the gentle warmth seeping through his body. 

"This should make things easier for us." Raven stated. 

"It surely does." Henry added, "Having you climb with us surely was the best decision we could\'ve ever made." 

"Agreed." The rest nodded in agreement. 

"How long can you keep this up? You should tell us so that we can be prepared for it." Charles asked. He figured that keeping up a technique like active for a long period of time, must be very taxing for Raven. However...

"As long as it is needed." Raven replied, "That doesn\'t really siphon energy from me, but from the surrounding environment. It can be up for as long as I wanted to." 

The War Gods sneakily glanced at each other, their eyes ridden with shock and awe. They weren\'t expecting that reply. They all thought that this technique will only stay up for five minutes at most but to think that it was actually self-sustaining is something that was a complete shocker for them. 

"I have a good feeling out this run. Come on guys, let\'s go!" Logan said in an excited manner. 

The rest shook their heads at his comment but didn\'t say anything about it.. Just like that, the group carried on with their journey hoping to reach the first trial before sun down.