Inhuman Warlock

With each passing hour, the cold in the surrounding kept increasing, and it didn't appear to be any ordinary cold.

People could feel the cold in their blood. Even the ones who lived in areas that were much closer than this mountain started shivering. With time, everyone started realizing that this wasn't any ordinary cold.

Since the rules didn't stop anyone from using their abilities to protect themselves, the ones who could do it cast a Barrier around themselves to keep the cold out. They also helped their teammates with the barriers, but even the barriers didn't stop the cold entirely.

Everyone used whatever they could to protect themselves since they needed to last longer than others. The cold here could easily make anyone sick and make them pass out, which no one wanted.

Mander brought both his hands together. A fire lit up in his hands which started warming him up, keeping him safe.

As for Raayi, she herself was from the clan which was known for controlling the cold. She wasn't affected by the cold. It was her Bloodline Ability. No matter how cold it got, she didn't become phased. However, unlike others, she didn't help her teammates. She couldn't pass her Bloodline ability on to others to protect them since it was impossible.

She let her teammates suffer on their own. According to the rules, all three of them didn't need to stay up. As long as even one person on the team stayed sitting, the team was going to win and get the points, so she wasn't affected by her teammates. She didn't even care if those two gave up just now.

"You two can get up and go back to the base. You can't be of any help here in any case. I'll get the points for our team here," she told her teammates.

The two teammates felt somewhat insulted. They had just started the trial, and she was asking them to give up? Did she think they were really that weak? They might not be as strong as her, but they were strongest after the three seeds. Their dignity didn't allow them to give up, so they remained seated.

The young lady didn't force them either.

Raayi was so pleased that this was the first Trial. It was like free points for her since no one could defeat her when it came to cold resistance. She was sure she was going to be the last person sitting.

Each team used something to protect themselves, some of them even utilizing all three members to cast even stronger protection or take multiple types of defenses.

There were also some teams that didn't have any effective protection. They just used their body's natural resistance, but they were sure they couldn't win against the others.

They just didn't want to be last, so they didn't give up right away.

Back in Lucifer's team, Malin cast a dark barrier around all three of them. "This should protect us for some time, but I can't keep that barrier up for a long time. I don't have enough energy. At best, I can keep it up for an hour."

She gazed at the second lady on the team. "Do you have anything to help?"

"I don't have anything to help in this type of trial. I'm sorry. I am probably the weakest link of this team for this kind of Trial." The young girl refused right away.

"Lucifer, do you have anything? If you don't, we will probably freeze after an hour. At least we won't be the last to be out. It looks like there are many teams who don't have any protection either. We should be able to outlast them at least," Malin theorized.

"There are seventeen teams. From the looks of it, there are around five of them which are completely at the mercy of the cold. So we should still end up in the top twelve this time, at least. That is if you don't have any form of protection. So, do you have anything?" she asked Lucifer, who hadn't spoken anything yet.

Lucifer hadn't even reacted to her question. He seemed to be distracted by something else.

He could see that it was only the weak Participants who were having a hard time. All top three seeds were sitting comfortably.

"The old man told me he wanted to plan trials that were neutral and didn't give advantage to anyone. But this trial... It seems to be neutral in no way, shape, or form. The three seeds have a massive advantage in it from what it seems."

One has flames to resist cold. Other had her ice Bloodline. And the third seed had the thunder barrier.

"Is this really the trial? Or am I missing something?" he thought out loud.

Only the old man knew the answer to this question, and only he could answer, but Lucifer couldn't ask him since he wasn't allowed to leave this place at all. All he could do was go through the Trial and finish it. Maybe there was more to it than met the eye? For now, it didn't seem that way.

"Lucifer? Stop zoning out. Tell me if you have anything that can help us after I run out?" Malin asked, seeing Lucifer not react. "We can plan accordingly."

"Who knows," Lucifer calmly replied.

"You, who else?" Malin rolled her eyes. "Why be vague? Do you have or do you not?!"

Lucifer completely ignored the young lady, once again being distracted by something in the distance.

He felt something odd. He could feel that the area around his team appeared to be colder than it was around others. Since he had a connection with the wind, it did help him sense something like that.

Because of the barrier around them, the others couldn't sense how cold it was outside. Most also didn't know how their surroundings compared to others, but Lucifer could feel that it was different, especially around them.

'The other moderators are targeting me as well? Probably because of what I did with one of them?'

As soon as Lucifer realized what was happening, he was slightly amused. If they wanted to play like this, he didn't mind. He was going to let them be happy.

Time kept passing slowly. Teams started getting eliminated as there were many who gave up by lying on the ground before waving at the cameras, saying they couldn't go longer.

It was just as Malin had said. Within one hour, five teams were eliminated, along with some members of other teams.

The moderators returned and took the ones who were out before disappearing.

"The barrier will stop soon, so brace for the impact."