After the Flame Seekers were rushed away for treatment, the elevator doors closed for a few minutes before reopening, and now, all the blood that had accumulated on the floor and walls was cleaned. Axel led his group through the doors and, with a deep breath, waited for them to close. After a brief pause, the elevator began to descend into the Trial.

  As the elevator moved, Axel, remembering the first companion who had fallen, looked to his team and said, “Remember to set your clocks if you have them,” trying to keep his voice calm.

  Aria surprised him by pulling out a worn pocket watch and setting it to the time displayed on the elevator panel. Axel had thought that item was with Lyra, but she must have left it behind when she was taken. Aria was likely thinking of their fallen companion, Salmar, as well.

  The ride lasted ten long minutes before the doors opened into a safe room. The group stepped out, and the doors closed behind them. Axel scanned the signs and saw that the room number was 245. He brought up the maps he had purchased and began cross-referencing their location. Aria, whose map-reading skills were far more advanced, helped him chart a path to several known Crimson locations.

  “The closest one is the Wisps, for Roran,” Aria said, drawing her own map from the pieces that they had. Axel looked it over and committed it to memory.

  “The next closest would be whatever you’re hunting, based on the symbols on your map,” Axel said, reviewing the route. “Can you please tell us what we’re going after?”

  “A Water Nymph,” Aria replied with confidence, causing Axel to blink in confusion.

  “Don’t you already know Elemental Fire? Why are you trying for Elemental Water?” Roran asked before Axel could.

  “Aria has a plan, and even if Aria fails, it would still be good for Sky to work into a weapon,” she replied with the confidence of someone who believed her plan would succeed. “Aria’s mother followed this path, and mutations tend to run in families.”

  “I’ll take your word for it,” Axel said with a nod, but then a voice echoed in his mind.

  ‘Interesting,’ his Crimson passenger said, much to Axel’s concern. It had never spoken like that before.

  The reminder of his corruption resurfaced. Axel knew he would need to manage it during the Trial, using only physical or mental powers to cleanse himself as much as possible.

  With the first two targets identified, the group reviewed the rest. Most of the other Crimsons were located much farther away, which would normally require multiple trips, especially since elevators always seemed to land in different locations.

  However, with their current plan, Axel’s group would be staying down here for a while. They would need to navigate and map out many of the in-between routes while training. Axel handed everyone a cooked core from his storage belt, and they prepared to move out.

  The tunnels were dark as always, and not wanting to be ambushed by Shadow Wraiths, everyone lit a light stone. They had purchased several extras during their supply run.

  Axel and Aria took the lead, Sky stayed in the middle, and Roran brought up the rear. The tunnel was only wide enough for two people side by side, and since Sky was much wider than the others, Roran had to take the rear-guard position.

  The tunnels twisted and turned, the only sound being the group’s footsteps for a good twenty minutes, until the first room came into view.

  According to the maps, this room should contain Flame Hounds, and they would need to fight through it to reach the tunnel leading to the Wisps. Thankfully, the room had its own illumination. As the group approached the entrance, they spotted three Flame Hounds lounging inside.

  Each hound was a quadruped Crimson with bright red fur and small jets of flame coming from their noses and claws. With only three, the fight seemed manageable, until Axel noticed one of them was much larger than the others, and its flames flickered purple. That meant it was close to evolving into a Lesser Crimson. Based on the power Axel sensed, it should have already been forced to a lower floor.

  ‘This may be harder than we expected,’ Axel sent through Sky’s mind link.

  ‘I noticed the changed Crimson too,’ Roran replied, concern in his thoughts. ‘From my family records, that should be a Purple Hunter, a Lesser Crimson with flame and the ability to teleport to any location in sight. It explodes in fire when it lands. They drop a core with either stronger Elemental Fire or the Flame Jump ability for Adepts.’

  ‘I haven’t studied Lesser Crimsons much. They’re not supposed to be in this Trial,’ Axel replied, worry creeping in. They would need to kill it quickly before it could teleport into the middle of the group.

  ‘I will deal with the Purple Hunter,’ Sky sent, her mental voice filled with steely determination.

  Axel took a breath and gave their quiet crafting companion a nod. He quickly coordinated with Aria to handle the other two hounds, while Roran and Star stood ready in case Sky needed backup. Star should be tough enough to buy them time, and Roran could channel lightning through her to strike from a distance.

  With the plan set, they waited for Sky to begin. Walls of earth rose around the Purple Hunter, signaling the start of the fight. Aria and Axel launched ranged attacks immediately. Axel threw his new halberd, though it felt off, and he had to use a gravity anchor to land a hit. Aria struck her target with four arrows in quick succession.

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  The attacks injured the Crimsons, but did not finish them. Both began to rise as Sky’s earthen walls started to glow with heat. Axel tried a new tactic, launching his Flame Hound into the ceiling and anchoring Aria’s target to it. Controlling two anchors caused him some mental strain, but Aria used the opening to summon more arrows from her necklace and pinned the Crimson until it dissipated, leaving behind its core.

  When Axel turned his attention back to the Purple Hunter, the earthen box had transformed into an iron one. More layers were being added, and whenever a wall began to glow, Sky shifted it away from the attack. Shrinking noises came from inside the box, and Roran was firing lightning at a protruding spike near the top after each sound.

  This continued for about two minutes until the box finally dissipated, revealing a core sitting in a puddle of molten floor. Sky collapsed from exhaustion, her legs splayed out as she dropped the mental link.

  “That was amazing, Sky!” Aria ran over and hugged their exhausted friend, while Axel walked over and gave Roran a congratulatory tap on the shoulder. Roran nodded and gave Star some well-earned attention before sitting down to rest.

  With the fight over, Axel retrieved the cores and quickly realized he did not have a beast gem capable of holding the Purple Hunter’s core. This confirmed that the Crimson was of a Lesser Entity level. That was bad news for the group, as it meant there could be Adept-level Crimsons on this floor, significantly increasing the danger.

  Sky approached as Axel examined the core and pulled out a gem that absorbed it, much to his surprise.

  ‘I always keep these gems on hand in case I need them for forging,’ Sky sent with a faint mental voice. ‘They can also hold a lower entity’s core if I run out of standard ones.’

  With that handled, the group rested, allowing their cores to recharge before deciding whether to continue or retreat, now aware of the increased risk.

  “So, everyone, that was a Lesser Crimson,” Axel said while resting. “This trip just got a lot more dangerous. We could die before we even get the chance to save Lyra.”

  No one responded immediately. Each of them was lost in thought, weighing the risks against what they needed to accomplish. Axel was doing the same, but he could not think of another way. He felt the clock ticking on Lyra’s time in Weaver’s hands.

  “Aria says we keep going,” Aria said at last, still seated.

  “I agree with Aria,” Roran added a moment later, and Sky nodded in agreement.

  With the group united, Axel stood and prepared to move out. His core was mostly full, and although Sky would need a few more hours to fully recover, they could not afford to wait. They still had to reach the Wisps and complete Aria’s plan.

  The tunnels remained unchanged as they moved forward, bypassing several rooms that held other Crimsons. Axel would have liked to fight them, but with the new risks, the group chose to conserve their strength and resources.

  The journey took longer than expected. Nearly two hours passed before they reached the room that should contain the Wisps Roran needed. Aria scouted ahead and confirmed through the reestablished mental link that a single Wisp floated in the room. She also confirmed that it showed no signs of mutation like the Purple Hunter.

  The plan this time was for Axel to handle the Crimson alone. Sky was still low on energy, and Axel’s gravity anchors were a good counter. Ranged attacks were ineffective unless unaffected by gravity, so Aria’s fireballs and arrows would have low accuracy. Roran could summon Star and use lightning, but the hallway was too narrow for her to enter.

  Axel approached the room and focused on the Wisp. With controlled strength, he began anchoring with each step as the gravity in the room reversed. The Wisp appeared as a small ball of white energy with no solid form. This was deceptive, as it did have a core that could be struck and destroyed. The challenge was reaching it.

  The Wisp reacted in surprise when Axel did not float to the ceiling like everything else. Before it could move, Axel set a second anchor and delivered a precise strike to its core. The hit landed cleanly, killing the Crimson in a single blow.

  However, a reaction followed that Axel had not anticipated. The Wisp released a wave of distorted gravity that collided with his own anchor at close range. The resulting shockwave hit him hard, triggering a wave of vertigo that forced him to stop and fight to keep his stomach contents down.

  Axel dropped to his knees to avoid falling, waiting for his sense of balance to return. The others joined him as he fought off the nausea and dizziness, all of them learning about the unexpected interaction between their powers.

  Roran moved to the core and picked it up, breaking the usual protocol of waiting before absorbing a new power. The group had already agreed that, since they planned to stay, they would begin their cycles early to adapt to their new abilities.

  He froze for a moment, then tears rolled down his face. Axel guessed he had just experienced his own meeting with the Goddess.

  “I have no words for what just happened,” Roran said quietly, then turned to Axel. “The Goddess has given us a new task, but she warned that it will be dangerous.”

  “Oh?” Axel asked, motioning for him to continue.

  “She wants us to work toward the center of this Trial floor and help her purge the current Crimsons with a reset. That was all she could tell me before she had to leave. She did give me the Purge ability, though I am not looking forward to using it.”

  Axel nodded and had Roran strip out of his clothing before activating the purge. He handed him a strap of leather wrapped around a strong, beast bone to bite down on. Roran complied, biting deeply into the strap as his body shook. A black substance oozed from his skin over the next few minutes.

  When it was over, Axel used a water gem to help clean him off, then assisted Roran in getting dressed and armored again.

  “That was more painful than I thought it would be,” Roran said in a shaky voice. “Though my energy storage increased by about twenty percent. I don’t know if I can do it again.”

  Axel nodded, knowing that even doing a purge once took immense courage. He respected Roran for it.

  Afterward, the group checked nearby rooms and killed three more Wisps using the same method Axel had used before. Two cores were stored in a pouch, and Roran absorbed one. The interaction between powers still caused severe vertigo, but Axel managed it better each time. He only lost his stomach contents once, during the second fight.

  Roran was stopped from attempting a second purge. He began shaking hard as soon as he tried to remove his clothing, and Aria stepped in, gently stopping him. She told him he did not need to force himself.

  Later, Roran spoke with the Goddess again, but not much more was revealed. She wanted all of them to complete their cycles before attempting the next step. It also seemed that Roran could not maintain a connection with her for long, as it caused him pain more quickly than it did for the others.

  With that task completed for the moment, Roran became quieter than usual, even for his typically stoic nature. Aria dropped back to walk beside him, speaking softly to reassure him that no one looked down on him for struggling with another purge. She reminded him that, from what she had seen with both him and Axel, the process was painful—physically and mentally, as powers became part of one’s self.

  Aria even shared what she had learned from Lyra about the process and offered suggestions on how he could help himself through the trauma. Her voice was calm and steady, a quiet anchor in the storm of uncertainty.