Alan braced for the teleport. A few seconds later, right after Luméos yawned himself inside the chamber, he felt nonexistent.

It passed quicker than it had come.

And just like that, he was inside the dungeon, standing inside an ancient circular room. The stone ceiling over their heads was slowly rotating clockwise.

In front of him was what looked like seven distinct paths. He knew that they would have to choose one to start the challenge.

“Shit Alan, what did we get ourselves into?” said Bobby, eyeing each route warily. “All of these options suck, I’d prefer to take my chances back in the jungle.”

“We wouldn’t have made it.”

“I guess you’re right,” said Bobby. “If that’s the case, which door do you think will be easier? Maybe Aranya—do you have any suggestions? Have you been here before by any chance?”

“Me never here.”

“I suggest you decide swiftly,” Luméos said with a hint of impatience.

Alan held still. What’s the deal with this place?

The question got answered almost immediately. He’d noticed the ceiling wasn’t simply rotating, it was also slowly coming down on them and would eventually crush them if they didn’t set off into one of the seven doors.

He opened his mouth to alert Bobby of the collapsing ceiling, but the man was already in the throes of panic.

“Alan, Alan! Which way do we go? Let’s take the first one—no, no, the third one,” Bobby stammered out.

Taking a deep breath, Alan calmed himself and blocked out Bobby’s panic. The twenty-foot ceiling—now at fifteen—had been descending steadily for a minute, and would eventually crush them if they didn't act fast; thus, he calculated almost exactly how long he had to make his decision.

The first path was deceptively welcoming. Moss-covered stone lined the floor, ivy draped over the archway and faint, warm light was more than calming. But his Identify aptitude had recently upgraded to ‘x2’ and it, in turn, also increased the potency of Resonance Reveal. So he saw it. The light flicked rhythmically like a lure bobbing in the depths and the air carried mana in the form of poison vapor.

To the right, the second path yawned wide to the point where the walls stretched outwards and turned into shadows that were on the brink of out of sight. The most concerning aspect was the ground which fashioned a jigsaw of bones of all shapes and sizes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the creatures responsible; they were small demon-looking imps the same size of the hundreds of webweaver spiders they killed in the last quadrant—Alan didn’t want to deal with that again. It wasn’t exciting.

Then his eyes landed on the third option. The air also carried a dose of subtle deadly mana, but it wasn’t thin like that on the first path, it was a thick and heavy substance that seemed like it would clog up your lungs if you breathed it for too long. With each sporadic flash of lightning that forked through the space from the many small cracks in the ceiling the walls’ slick sheen of unidentifiable fluid glistened, and the corridor appeared to twist and contort.

An ominous chill wafted from the fourth path which was a carpet of frost with walls lined with dagger-like icicles. It looked like the jaws of an ice monster. The further you looked, the darker it got. The frozen abyss didn’t look exciting either—it looked painful and sad.

The fifth path seemed the most straightforward with a simple stone room that turned left into what looked like another stone room. Each stone was meticulously placed, not a single one out of line, as if some great compulsion had driven its creation. But again, Alan’s Resonance Reveal didn’t fail him. There were multiple rudimentary traps on the floor, ceiling, walls, every nook and every corner. He noticed them because the traps seemed to react to a person’s mana. Maybe they make Luméos walk in first and activate all the traps, but that wouldn’t be exciting.

The sixth path was intentionally hazardous to him. Spikes jutted from floor and ceiling in a painful rhythm, many stained with old blood. The narrowing corridor seemed designed to choke courage from any passersby in Alan's perspective.

The last path was a big open space. You could see the end really far away. But there was a deep dizzying drop on both sides of a narrow path without any rails to hold onto. The wind was strong and made it seem impossible to walk across without falling.

This is exciting.

“Come on, let’s take the second to last,” Alan said, realizing they had about a minute left.

“Why that one? It has awful ancient tomb vibes. Ugh, shit Luméos is that the safest option?”

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Luméos yawned. “The safest, you query? Indeed, the path furthest right harbors fewer perils. Alas, it requires flight — which you lack, I presume?”

“I mean… you could just carry us, right?”

“Carry you?” Luméos echoed with a smirk. “Forsake the chance to test your mettle? I think not. Such trials are essential for your... 'growth'.”

Alan could now raise his arms and touch the descending ceiling.

Anxious, he tightened his grip on his satchel and falchion, and stepped through the sixth path.

They moved across a narrow corridor, carefully going over the lines of bloodied spikes. When they neared some of the spikes retracted to later shot out at—thankfully—regular intervals. Letting the last set of spike rescind, Alan took a second to get his bearings then crossed quickly reaching the end of the corridor and spotted a sign on the wall written in some timeworn Verdenterra language.

His ability picked up a hint of mana on the sign. So, as the responsible Cosmic Vanguard candidate he was, he used Identify.

[PATH OF THE BARBED ASCENT - Navigate the path of the serpent’s spine, where each step is a testament to fortitude against the piercing barbs of life's cruel whims. The air tastes of iron, a tribute to the serpent’s bite. The passage narrows with each step, as if the great serpent coils around its prey, ensuring only the resolute press on.]

Damn, did I choose a boring one?

“Alan okay?” Aranya hissed, placed her elongated fingers on his shoulder.

“Sorry,” Alan said. “Let’s keep going.”

“I sure hope Angie, Danny, Mr. Zhao and his group are alright,” Bobby said through gritted teeth.

Not that the cramped corridor helped, but Bobby was glued to Alan’s left arm, almost pressed against his back, and Alan could feel his shivers.

A couple of seconds later, they reached a wide open chamber full of hollow pockets on every surface. Something flashed in the right corner of his vision. When Alan focused his attention on it for a few seconds, a lance shot out at breakneck speed, grazing his cheek—the whoosh of air came next. Bobby winced even more than Alan did.

Okay, this might actually be thrilling.

Aranya kept a watchful gaze but didn’t intervene, most likely because she didn’t sense any danger. Luméos, on the other hand, couldn’t care less.

He supposed each hollow could potentially house a lance. He needed to figure out which were armed.

He scanned the room, noticing if some pockets were slightly darker than others. They weren’t. Resonance Reveal detected traces of mana, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact location.

Ah, so that’s how it is. I see it now.

“Bobby, I need you to help me with something. It's kinda like chess.”

“Shoot, what’s the plan?” Bobby asked.

“I need you to throw a rock or anything small into the chamber when I say now. I'll observe which pockets launch lances. We'll mark the safe paths based on the trajectory and timing of the lances. It's all about angles and timing.”

Bobby’s eyes roamed the barren floor. “You seeing any rocks around here? The only thing I can chuck are our flasks, and we can't afford to waste 'em.”

“One’s all we need. But it's not just about throwing it. We gotta set off a chain reaction, controlled and deliberate. I need to pay attention to each lance that gets triggered and tag the trigger with my spell before they launch.”

“You mean... like a domino effect?”

“That’s it,” Alan said with a nod. “We'll use the pattern to figure out a safe path. I’m sure I can crack it. But I need you to really focus on the order and the rhythm when they go off. You up for that?”

Bobby nodded.

Alan pointed to a specific spot in the chamber. “Try to aim for right there when I say now.”

Bobby hefted a flask in his hand, weighing it. “But what if the pattern switches up on us? What if it starts playing different once we catch on?”

“That's the real test. If I've got this figured out right, the sequence will only switch if we trip the same lance more than once. It’s as much about memory as it is about the math,” Alan said with a half-smile.

Bobby took a deep breath and nodded, eyes fixed on the target spot.

“Ready?” Alan asked. At Bobby's determined look, he said, “Now!”

Bobby hurled the flask. It shattered against the stone floor, shards skidding across the surface. For a breathless moment, nothing happened.

Then, like dominos, lances fired from pockets across the chamber. Alan's Resonance Reveal tracked each trajectory, his fingers tracing quick paths to aid his memory. The sequence was rapid but consistent. Seven lances from the left wall, five from the right, three from the ceiling.

“Caught all that?” Alan checked with Bobby.

“Got it... I'm tracking,” Bobby responded quickly.

“Can you throw…one more,” Alan said. Bobby protested, but eventually another flask shattered. Another round of lances fired in sequence.

Bobby murmured under his breath, committing the pattern to memory.

After one more iteration, Alan was confident they had it mapped. “Now we move—stay close.”

They moved through the room in careful strides. The rest was easy.

They reached the far end of the chamber unscathed. While celebrating, Alan looked back to see Aranya still on the other side. He blinked and the spider-woman dashed to his side. Only a handful of spears

“That’s some quick thinking,” Bobby said with a grin, still panting.

Alan returned the smile. “Yeah, this is a fun dungeon.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”