Martial Online.

Knock, knock.

"Come in!" Anna closed her book while sitting near a fireplace, enjoying the warmth as the snow had already started falling in Nocklund.

The windows were covered in frost, and the yard and the surrounding landscape were covered in a pleasant-looking snowy winterland.

The door opened, and Jesse entered the room with his hands slipped inside his pockets.

This room wasn't Anna's private room, but a lounging area with a fireplace and a way to the balcony. It was mostly used if someone wanted to chill near a fireplace in a cozy atmosphere.

The mansion had hundreds of rooms, half of them barely used.

"Jesse, fancy meeting you out here." Anna smiled and hugged her book against her chest. "Is there something wrong?"

"A question." Jesse leaned over the couch and looked at his new stepmother. "About the dinner."

"Yes?" Anna blinked curiously.

"What day was the dinner?" Jesse asked curiously.

"20th of December," Anna replied. "Amber wanted to gather people for an early Christmas dinner."

'It's 14th now…' Jesse frowned. 'I don't know how long I'll spend in Room of Damnation. Very troublesome.'

"Are you perhaps busy that day?" Anna asked curiously.

Jesse looked at her, and after seeing her innocent eyes staring back at him, he shook his head with a smile.

"No, not at all." Jesse tapped his hands against the couch's backrest and said, "I just wanted to make myself look good before the dinner. I don't want to make a bad first impression."

"Mm, okay." Anna said, and then slyly smiled. "Also, about the tattoo. Are you fine getting it removed today?"

"Okay." Jesse nodded, left the room, closed the door shut, and soon his footsteps faded into the distance.

Anna shook her head with a chuckle and returned to reading the book.

…

"Winter already, huh…" Jesse stood on top of Rothsmith Estate, staring at the endless winterland that covered the surroundings in white.

And then, his feet slowly floated away from the roof as Jesse started ascending slowly towards the grayish sky. He looked like a god who had taken flight.

He then kicked his feet in the air and launched towards the clouds with crazy speed. The falling snow slammed against his face, and then he flew through the clouds and appeared above them.

As he floated above the clouds, he suddenly shuddered and whispered. "Cold…"

He then spread his arms wide as if there were wings sticking out of them, dove through the clouds, and flew above the winterland with unlimited freedom.

As he approached one of the cloud-splitting mountains, he formed a gentle fist with his right hand and punched the air in front of him.

All the snowflakes vaporated in front of the fist, and then a powerful shockwave struck the side of the mountain.

The side of the mountain exploded, sending pieces of the mountain falling towards the far-away ground.

Jesse took a deep breath and held his trembling hand.

'It still hurts even though I didn't hit anything solid. It's still better than before, as the recoil of the punch would've broken my hand before.

'It's clear I have healed to some degree, but it feels like I am still so far away from healing completely. I wonder if it's even possible. I can only hope.'

As the debris of the mountain crashed on the ground below, a loud roar came out of nowhere.

"Raaaaaawr!"

Jesse looked surprised and looked towards the faraway ground. He had to descend further to catch a glimpse of where the roar came from.

Then he saw a group of hikers rushing down a snowy landscape. They were wearing very warm clothes with heavy-looking backpacks on their backs.

They were eyeing over their shoulders, and it looked like they were running for their lives.

'They were hiking all the way here?' Jesse stayed hidden behind the tallest tree, and he looked at them as they rushed down the snow-covered forest.

At that moment, several trees fell apart as the ground shook as creature, covered in black fur, chased after the group of hikers. It looked massive.

Among the hikers, a red-coated man almost tripped but barely kept his footing. He was anxiously looking back and felt the shaking of the ground become even more prominent.

"It's the mountain king!" He shouted and anxiously looked ahead at the endless winterland. 

It didn't look like there was an end to the forest!

"Did it wake up because of us?" A panicky-looking young woman asked. Due to the extreme cold, her face was slightly red. 

"Agh!" A brown-coated hiker accidentally missed his footing and fell down to his buttocks.

His face instantly paled as he imagined himself getting pummeled to death by the mountain king.

"Get up!" The red-coated man helped him to stand up, and at that moment, several trees got unrooted.

A massive creature covered in black fur smashed through several trees and roared loudly. Its teeth were as sharp as blades, and its claws looked like daggers.

It was an enormous bear, covered in thick fur and hide. It was nearly five meters tall, with a body size that would put bodybuilders to shame.

With each stomp, the ground shook, and with each roar, it created fear in anyone who heard it.

It looked like the bear was a creature of hell, only to be created to instill fear in others.

"Raaaaaaawr!" As it roared, the hikers almost lost their footing.

"My god…" The red-coated man paled significantly and looked at his frightened friends.

Multiple dark thoughts appeared in his mind, such as abandoning them and using them as bait while he himself was running away. However, that thought didn't last long.

One of them was his girlfriend, and others were friends from high school to this very day. He didn't think he could live knowing that he survived because he sacrificed others.

"E-everyone run!" He shouted, stood in front of them, and picked up a snow-covered stick from the ground. 

He then waved it in front of him, trying to scare the bear away, even though he was certain it wouldn't work.

"Run!"

Everyone looked at him in shock, and then they slowly started backing off before starting to run.

It hurt him slightly that they just left him here to die, but he had already sealed his fate, and he didn't want others to die with him.

"You cursed beast…" He whispered angrily and screamed. "Come on. Kill me!"

"Raaawr!" The black-furred bear rushed forward, using all of its four limbs, and swung its claws towards the frightened man.

"Aaaah!" The red-coated man screamed fearfully and closed his eyes.

Smash!

A heavy-looking tree with thick bark slammed into the bear and sent it crashing through the nearby trees.

"Ngh?" The red-coated man opened his eyes and exclaimed in shock.

There was a black-haired man wielding a tree, as if it were as light as a stick, and then he saw a portion of the forest destroyed.

In the distance, the black-furred bear stood up with a blood-stained body and a murderous expression on its face.

"Leave." Jesse said powerfully, and threw the tree towards the bear as if it were just a javelin. 

The tree smashed into the bear and smashed it into the ground.

"Raaaaaaawr!" The bear smashed through the tree and stood up with the loudest roar known to mankind. It was fully seeing red, ready to tear the purple-eyed man apart.

The red-coated man backed off and ran away as fast as he could.

"What the fuck is happening?" He screamed while running through the forest. He was too afraid to turn around anymore.

There was nothing but running in his mind. 

"Who was he?

"How was he floating?

"How was he carrying that heavy tree?

"What is going on?!"