Aleister woke up in an aggressive manner. He was cognizant of entering the meditative trance, but unsure of how long he was in it. However, much to his surprise, he found himself not in that white room, but instead standing outside of the base of a mountain, covered in snow. Observing his surrounding revealed nothing but an empty darkness that seemed incredibly familiar.

It took him a couple of seconds for to realize his situation, and upon doing so, the absolute cold seemed to freeze his body. Realizing that he couldn’t stand still or else he would just freeze to death, he pushed through the snow and started walking towards the mountain.

He continued walking, inching closer and closer to the base, not knowing how much time had passed, although he figured that in this situation—it didn't matter. The main issue was the cold. It was hard to ignore, but he realized that he still felt the warmth from the crystal radiating inside of his body. Knowing this, he focused on counting each of his breathes with each step he took, until he reached the base.

Tilting his head upwards revealed nothing. The top of the mountain was still nowhere in sight. In fact, the top seemed to become even more blurred and obscured by pillows of clouds and fog than before. With a sigh and gritted teeth, Aleister continued to walk forward until he reached a set of stairs that lead up. Each step itself was wide and tall, requiring his entire knee to be brought up before continuing.

Looking at them, he knew he needed to climb up them, but; they gave off an aura of death. A feeling that told him—once he began climbing, there was no going back. He never intended to go back in the first place and took that first step forward.

A sudden bolt of lightning struck him and crawled throughout his spine, spiking all the hair on his body straight as he felt his head rattle. The warmth inside his body disappeared, almost making him pass out. Aleister actually smirked at such a thought, as this sort of reminded him when he entered Syn’s mind palace or whatever she called it. Passing out while being in your own mind was quite the entertaining concept, but it that was all it was for now.

He let out a deep breath and took another step forward. Climbing up yet another step. With each step, he felt the pressure exerted on his body grow stronger as another bolt of lightning struck down. As if the will of the mountain itself didn’t want him to climb and kept on pushing him down. Yet he continued. Counting each step along the way.

Several minutes, or maybe even hours, passed by. He found himself stuck and unable to move past the ninth step. His entire being felt frozen in time. He tried to lift his leg, but it refused to move. He found himself at an impasse. His mind wanted to move, but his body refused to obey. There wasn’t anybody around that he could ask for help. He had to do it himself, but how was he supposed to move his legs?

He tried to jostle them by grabbing them and pushing them with his hands, but that didn’t work. Hitting them repeatedly didn't work either. As time continued to pass, the snow that flew in the wind covered him. He initially thought that he had as much time in the world, but realized that the freezing temperatures and the snow were his hourglass. He repeated his actions, hoping that something would change, but it didn’t.

He took in a deep breath and calmed himself down. Panicking in this situation wasn’t doing him any good. Instead, he needed to clear his mind and think. He closed his eyes and began counting his breath again, giving him a distraction from the outside world. In fact, a bit of warmth return to his body.

Opening his eyes, he noted nothing had changed. His body was still being covered by the flurry of snow. He wasn’t surprised, as he hadn’t really done anything yet. However, feeling more relaxed than before somehow boosted his confidence. He took in a deep breath and moved his leg.

His previously immobile leg—could move. This allowed him to climb yet another step higher, onto the tenth step. Although jubilated, he quickly cleared his mind and didn’t let it get to his head and feed his ego. Instead, he braced himself and took another step forward. And another. And another.

However, upon taking the thirteenth step, the gravity and pressure exerted on him changed. The will of the mountain crashed down upon him and brought him down to his knees as he coughed out some blood.

If the previous limitation to why he couldn’t take another step was mental, this time it was physical. He felt his entire body was creaking and all the bones in his body cracking under the absolute pressure forced on him.

Once again, Aleister closed his eyes while keeping count of his breathes. However, nothing much seemed to change. He ignored the lack of progress and kept on counting, switching up the pattern every time.

Time continued to pass, as he continued to count and continued to keep his body from collapsing under the pressure. The small tears and snot forced out of his eyes and nose froze as his thoughts became muddled. His arms and legs violently shook, just a moment's notice from collapse, all while he tried to keep calm and adapt his body to the pressure. But that moment just wouldn’t come. Realizing that counting his breathes wouldn’t work, he tried his best to force himself up, and while he raised himself by about an inch, the pressure seemed to rise once again and push him back down.

Unable to think of any other options, Aleister let out a deep breath, closed his eyes, and relaxed his entire body, stopping any resistance and allowing the full force of the pressure to crash down upon him.