Medoria closed her eyes and raised her voice. The song she sang echoed inside the corridor and guided the natural Fons to dance with its melody. A faint purple light weaved into streams of glowy particles, merging with the page Specria held.

The formation worked its wonder. A group of thin threads emerged and unfolded, connecting with the bookshelves surrounding them. They delicately slipped into the books and embedded themselves on the pages, engraving formations on them.

The darkness above creaked with countless invisible gears turning in response. The fog surrounding Medoria and Specria thickened with innumerable shadowy hands manifesting in it. They moved through space and tore it apart, revealing the emptiness of the void.

"Your voice is beautiful," Specria said.

"Mistress always praise me for it. I'd worked hard. You too could do it if you try."

"No one is perfect. What you could do, I might not."

Specria tightened her grasp as the page she held quivered under the intense surge of Fons. The formation attracted the Fons in the surrounding to itself, creating a tempest that absorbed everything.

As the intensity of the gravitational force increased, Specria struggled to hold her grip. Space in front of her twisted and stacked together, forming a distorted view that pushed her perspective away. She saw her hands gradually stretching into the dark purple whirlpool.

She closed her eyes, tears falling from her face. The pain slowly ripped her skin apart, yet she refused to let go. She mustn't disappoint Medoria, who was her only real friend.

"I'm really Specria, aren't I?" she said, her voice quivering.

A hand pulled her from the whirlpool. Medoria caught Specria and seized the book. She cast a spell to propel it to the darkness above. The formation illuminated the corridor like the moon in the night sky.

The dark hands shot to the book. They touched the layers of thin threads and tore them into pieces. The dark purple Fons in them flooded the formation, brightening the radiance.

Like a battle from an epic, the tide of darkness condensed a physical body and clashed against the formation. They exploded into multiple ever-expanding rings. The colours they emitted shifted with the distant and the twisting of space.

Medoria grabbed Specria and leapt. A dark hand shot past her. It turned its trajectory, but a colourful ring went past it, instantly annihilating it. The impact rocked the bookshelves back and forth.

Around Medoria, the bookshelves glowed. Like the main formations, they exuded countless thin threads which moved parallel to the tide of darkness. They weaved around the dark hands and restrained their movement. The radiance they burnt gradually melted the fog.

Medoria raised her hand, but Specria grasped her wrist and shook her head. Though her arms were bloody, Specria couldn't let Medoria do anything reckless.

"Why did you cast the spell? You almost die," Specria said.

"I can't let you suffer alone."

"I'm disposable."

"Don't say that." Medoria gently held Specria's hands. "You're you. There is no real or fake."

A flash of light exploded and filled the surrounding. A storm of dark purple Fons descended. It rained liquified Fons, creating a strong wind that swirled around the corridor. The rings kept emerging from the centre and demolished everything they touched.

The bookshelves collapsed, scattering countless books. The thin threads connecting with them glowed. They weaved into a net that covered the corridor. The dark hands assaulted it, but they couldn't crush it.

Medoria saw cracks and rifts in space emerged. The sound of the gears turning intensified. The trial gradually revealed itself as the fog dispersed. The infinitely extending corridor lost its lustre.

Medoria looked up. The impact from the battle between the formation and the darkness blew the fog away, revealing the gears embedded in the ceiling. They shifted their structures and commanded the illusion of infinity, moving the perspectives and looping the distance.

A series of colourful rings exploded from the centre of the storm and obliterated the corridor. They disintegrated the formations and the books, razing the wooden floor in multi-coloured flames. Medoria and Specria had to hide beside a lucky bookshelf that didn't topple.

A cracking noise manifested as the fabric of reality turned blurry. Medoria saw two silhouettes moving in the field of destruction. The blurry Specria held Medoria's hand and traversed the storm to the other side, their eyes glancing at the former.

Two same yet different worlds overlapped and merged. The formation in the sky superimposed into a powerful orb of destruction, assimilating everything with the dark purple Fons.

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"Hold my hand and never let go," Medoria said. She grabbed Specria and started running.

"It works. We're going out."

Medoria and Specria evaded the strayed rings and sprinted to the exit. The illusion of an infinite corridor distorted as if it was a thin membrane covering the passageway. The floor rocked as the gears decayed and collapsed on it.

The multi-coloured flames spread across the bookshelves, creating a strong gush of wind. The tempest threw Medoria off balance and sprained her ankle. She fell, but Specria pulled her up before supporting her.

As Medoria hung her head low and panted, she saw a circular shadow slowly enlarging below her. A gigantic broken gear fell toward them. She exerted her feet and jumped to the side, dragging Specria with her.

They rolled on the rocking floor and narrowly slipped away. The impact crushed the wooden planks and shattered them into sharp burr which scraped them.

Specria groaned before standing up and pulling Medoria. She gazed at the illusionary veil a few meters away from her. It stretched across her sight like a waterfall, slightly revealing the other side but also concealing its exact feature.

A chill gripped her heart as she turned around. A dark hand tore through the multi-coloured flame and shot to her. She didn't have time to think before she spun around and thrust Medoria toward the veil. A complex spell formation emerged around her and formed an extravagant design.

The dark purple Fons in the surrounding invaded her body. She glowed in dimmed light as her blood gradually turned purple. The formation creaked and ruptured into a ball of light that rapidly expanded.

The dark hand went into the sphere of moonlight and trivially tore through it, though its speed slightly decreased. Through the darkness created by it, Specria saw an ever-expanding void filling her vision. She closed her eyes and smiled.

"See the outside world for me, Medoria."

"You'll have to see it yourself."

A flash of grey light brushed past Specria and bounced against the dark hand. The implosion pushed the hand slightly skyward. It grazed Specria's clothes but missed her. The part it touched dissolved into the darkness, revealing her smooth skin.

Medoria gritted her teeth and pulled Specria into the veil. They crashed against the thin membrane and passed through it without any issue. A blinding light assaulted Medoria, forcing her to close her eyes.

A coldness brushed across her as she opened her eyes. The bookshelves and the corridor disappeared, replaced by a peaceful scene. Around her, a woody scent permeated the air. The leaves and petals fluttered with the wind, moving up and down around her.

Medoria surveyed the surrounding. Her body was in perfect condition as if everything that happened was simply an illusion.

"Specria?"

"I'm here." Specria hugged Medoria from behind.

Medoria felt the tears staining her clothes. The warmth from Specria soothed her mind. She tightened her hug and stayed still for a minute before she forced eye contact.

"Don't ever do that again," Medoria said.

"I panic. There won't be the second time. Please don't be angry."

"I'm worried. I won't leave if you stay."

Specria rubbed her eyes, her face red. "Can we rest for a while? My legs are weak."

Medoria and Specria walked to a tree stump and sat beside it. With their eyes gazing at the sky, they leant against the tree and relaxed. The soft wind fanned their exhaustion away as the fragrance of the flowers tickled their noses.

"Medoria, what is the outside like?"

"It isn't that different from here. The sky is peaceful, the earth lively. There are other races which live with us. I can't explain it, so you'll have to experience it yourself."

"It sounds wondrous. I don't know what I need to do. Will you help me?"

"I will. You can rest assured. I'll treat you everything. If you have no real memory, I'll create it for you."

"Can you tell me about Peritia?"

Medoria paused and sighed, her memory flashing past her eyes. In silence, the fog around her fluttered, resembling a silhouette she could never forget.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Specria said after noticing the melancholy. "Let's go. I can't wait to be free."

Specria stood up and dusted herself. She helped Medoria get up and held her hand. They walked along the stone path, their footstep echoing softly.

"It's all right. We can talk while we walk. Peritia is the Second Princess of the Human Empire and my mistress," Medoria said.

"I'm sorry. My memory is blurry. Is she a good person?"

Medoria guided Specria through the thick fog. She saw a shadowy silhouette inside it, beckoning for a reunion. Though she knew it was her mind yearning, she couldn't help but fall in a trance with it.

"She is considered the strongest Arbiter who could become an Authority. She is also the greatest strategist of her time. Her contribution to The Empire is unrivalled by all.

"Above all, she is a kind-hearted person. Her mind is tender, her dream child-like. In front of the others, she is a cold Director, but I know that under the disguise is her compassion.

"She has suffered too much, but it couldn't change her. Though she has matured, her tender self never disappears. Mistress who saved me in my despair is still in there. She has never left and will always remain."

Medoria approached the wall of fog. Through it, a familiar figure waited for her. She smiled and increased her pace.

"Alas, because of her compassion, the humans whom she protected discarded her. Though she died doing what she loved, it shouldn't end like this. Now that she has got a second chance, I won't let it happen again."

Medoria stepped through the fog and landed on a wooden floor. The dimly lit candles illuminated the dark corridor which hosted countless books.

"Medoria, why are you so late?" Specria said and rushed to hug her. She pressed her body against Medoria, her eyes threatening to tear up. "You make me worried too much."

Medoria also hugged her. A sense of relief washed over her, but a hint of unease remained. She gently held Specria and turned around.

"Specria, this is . . ." The wall of fog disappeared, and along with it, the fake Specria.

"Medoria, I'm sorry. I also try, but she isn't here anymore. I want to introduce you to my Medoria too."

Medoria collapsed, but Specria caught her. She tightly held Medoria and wept with her. The two Medoria had the same faces and the same personality, but the other was no more.

"The trial is cruel," Medoria whispered.

"I shouldn't have led you here."

"It isn't your fault. One day or another, it'll happen to us all." Medoria shook her head, smiling. "Now that she isn't here anymore, can you fulfil her wish?"

"You too. I'll treat you everything you want and take you to the botany garden."

"I'll make sure to make the best cookies and tea for you."

Medoria and Specria giggled. Their sorrow slightly lessened. As long as they brokethrough, they would be able to fulfil their silly yet significant wishes.

A series of footsteps interrupted the moment. Medoria and Specria turned to the darkness in front of them. A silhouette manifested and glanced at them, her hand holding a strange crystal. She narrowed her azure eyes after she examined the two.

"Medoria, Specria, why are you here?" Princess said.