Part 1 –

Flames licked the sky and smothered the air with smoke. The once vibrant, emerald world was engulfed by a hellish inferno. A sea of flames replaced the leaves of the canopy, rendering the lives of thousands of creatures into cinders.

Thousands of charred remains littered the forest floor with hundreds more running through the desolate world seeking refuge from the heat, most already half-dead. A section of the forest was left untouched and saw a massive swarm of monsters enter.

Their final stand was at the other side of the floor, furthest away from the entrance of the Door. They found temporary respite there. But those that still remained lost in the forest of flames encountered something worse than the flames.

If the flames didn’t consume them, then this monster most certainly would.

Those that crossed its path would rather jump into the inferno, for its flames were incomparable to the monster’s wicked vitriol and rage. It was unquenchable, devouring all those that wandered into its gaze.

The flames that consumed all could not consume it, for it was hungrier.

* * *

A shadow lunged from the flames. Its speed was uncanny, though slow in comparison to the rest of the monsters of the floor.

A giant armoured beetle saw this in the corner of its vision, rearing its head as it turned with both wings raised like swords. Its beady eyes landed on the expected path of the shadow and fired a corrosive substance from a gland hidden within its serrated mouth.

Though it was an insect it carried a formidable amount of intelligence. However, its corrosive attack missed the shadow. In fact – the shadow did not tread in that direction.

It saw it again in the corner of its eye before it disappeared entirely. The insect grew confused as it zipped its head all around it. But its armoured shell could only allow so much movement.

The unpredictable hunter lurked in the flames. Its movements were unpredictable and made zero sense.

But that wouldn’t matter anymore.

It stumbled unexpectedly. An unknown pain caused it to writhe and stagger. Two of its six legs had been severed near instantly.

Or rather – it looked like they had been torn apart. A deafening screech left its hideous mouth, and shortly afterwards, its serrated legs were thrown like stakes into its gaping maw.

As it staggered and reared itself in agony, a humanoid figure emerged from the height of the flames. It splendidly kicked its legs down its throat. When the steam and flames wore off the skin of the unknown hunter, the beetle shuddered, as if frozen in fear.

Though it seemed that way; Exrite knew that was far from the case.

The battle was already over by the time he landed. The beetle quivered then expanded before its underside collapsed. A vile mixture of black blood and the corrosive substance gushed from the hole in its stomach.

Exrite guessed that he must’ve punctured the corrosive gland. Though he found it odd as to why the beetle was incredibly susceptible to its own acid.

But that was a side thought.

He feasted on its fibrous insides as quickly as it perished, hacking away the thick armour with one of its legs.

Despite having eaten more than a few dozen Geared he still couldn’t get used to the taste. It was identical to his flesh after all.

Moments after his first mouthfuls his body convulsed. But it only lasted for a split second. Why was this so? It was because the gear’s Exrite possessed in his blood were stronger than the beetle’s.

In addition, his body was strong enough to effortlessly accommodate its gears.

The gear overload was a thing of the past. Only remnants of the process persisted, such as the strengthening of his muscles, flesh and bones. And as Exrite continued to devour the beetle, he noticed that his tolerance to the heat had increased.

But even so, it wasn’t nearly enough to stop his blood from boiling.

The firestorm soon consumed him and the carcass. As the beetle withered away before him and the flames rendered his skin to pink tissue, all he could think of was his next meal.

Nothing could fill him on this floor, no matter how large they were. Everything was weaker than the Ent, save for a certain bird. He scowled at the thought of the Megitavis and set his sights to the giant tree.

It burnt like the beacon of a lighthouse. He could no longer tell whether it was mist that concealed the skies or smoke. Up there, he saw the shadow of the bird behind the flames and smoke. Every flap of its grand wings fed the fires like a bellow.

“Dammit. How much longer are you going to stay up there you damn bird? … tch.” Exrite growled, half amazed at its stamina.

The energy needed to sustain flight for hours was astronomical given its sheer weight, size and how often it flapped its wings.

He knew it wouldn’t come down anytime soon. Or at all for that matter. The bird danced with the flames of the tree with no end in sight.

As he pushed through the inferno, he pondered on how he’d take the Megitavis down to his level. He considered climbing the tree, but in the end, he ruled it out. It was far too unstable. Massive chunks of burnt wood fell from its great height joined the moat of debris below.

And even then – he didn’t have a feasible way of fighting the bird. At worst, the bird could flee if it realised that Exrite couldn’t die. If he somehow grappled it, then what was next?

Punch it to death? Strangle it? Tear it limb from limb? The Megitavis was a giant mass of metal. He suspected that he could pry out its feathers at most with his bare hands with his current strength.

Despite possessing immortality, he was still a human in the end. He had no wings, no claws or fangs to fight it. However, because Exrite was a human – he possessed a trait that allowed him to bypass these limits.

It was a human’s innate ability to create and use tools as if they were an extension of themselves. If a human couldn’t catch a bird with their hands, then all they had to do was create something capable of striking it down.

And only one thing came to mind.

A big handgun… no. From this distance, I’d be lucky if a bullet even reaches it. Not to mention how ineffective my bullets are. I need something stronger… bigger. Powerful. Something that can reach the skies faster than the sound can follow. Something… devastating.

An image came to mind. No… it was a memory.

He remembered the long, bulky weapon White used against the human invaders in Cryo. It was a weapon that ignored honour, for it bestowed instant death from afar with the pull of a trigger and shattered the air with a deafening roar.

This weapon was of course the sniper rifle.

* * *

He chose a place away from the flames to create the weapon. Hidden beneath the roots of a bustling tree, Exrite drew a crude schematic into the dirt. What laid beside it were the broken remains of his handguns, his ammunition pouch and the twisted metallic feathers.

The schematic was indecipherable and looked more like the scribes of a mad man. It was as close as he could get to a functional rifle from memory and what Black taught him about firearms.

His first hurdle was the amount of explosive powder he had left. Only a pinch of the highly volatile powder was salvaged from the canister of his handguns. It was enough to fire another few dozen shots, but the power he sought after required at least half a pinch of explosive powder.

This meant he could only afford two shots. To put it into perspective: the finest amount of this substance could rip a man in two, and a wooden barrel’s worth had every potential to destroy at least a third of an airship.

The fact that Acacia had multiple barrels in her cargo was baffling to say the least. Insane even.

Explosive powder was something to both behold and fear, and it was no wonder why Truebirth considered it as contraband.

He swiped a piece of bloody meat from the side and munched on it as he began to work on the devastating weapon.

* * *

Exrite chose to use bone as the main material.

The amount of explosive powder per bullet was dangerously excessive. Iron and steel were unlikely to contain the explosion, even if it was tempered and treated well.

He completely disregarded limite, however. Heating that metal to a malleable state would take days, and he needed to make the weapon now. If anything, it would serve to reinforce his weapon later.

Carapace was a contender, but it was far too brittle to bend into shape. Bones on the other hand were hollow enough to allow a finger-sized bullet through. Furthermore, as these bones belonged to him, their strength was second to none.

Earlier, he harvested both his femurs to create the barrel and chamber. Then, he carved a hole large enough to fit a bullet into the side. A rudimentary seal would contain the explosion with the push of a small lever, similar to what Black called a ‘Bolt Action’.

He held the giant blowpipe-looking-rifle into the light and nodded in satisfaction. It didn’t look like it would work, but Exrite didn’t dare to second guess himself.

What came next was the creation of the two bullets. Why did he choose this before completing the weapon? Because the bullets dictated the shape and trigger system of the rifle.

The bullets he decided on would each be encased in a jacket of metal containing explosive powder. A reservoir similar to his handguns was not possible for two reasons.

Firstly, the explosion would be so powerful that the reservoir would certainly ignite. Furthermore, Exrite couldn’t replicate the mechanism Black created to separate the appropriate explosive powder for each shot in his handguns.

They were damaged beyond repair. Only the absurdly tough canisters remained intact.

As a result of scrapping the idea of a canister, the rifle was considerably less bulky than he initially envisioned.

The trigger system was as rudimentary as it could possibly get. Unlike the flint-striking hammer his handguns used, Exrite resorted to using a heated, replaceable hammer instead.

[Liquid Fire] would’ve worked well as an ignition source here, but that would be for a more refined version of this weapon.

That aside – he created the handle out of bone and layered the entirety of the weapon in metal. He had beaten the twisted feathers together with his bare hands in the flames until they were spread thinly like a plate.

From there, all he had to do was wrap it around.

* * *

He cradled it with pride as he sat amongst a heap of scrap beneath the tree. A flame of excitement burnt in his heart as he imagined the devastating power this weapon possessed.

The object is his arms was none other than the finished sniper rifle.

Each bullet was made of carved bone and was about as long as the length of his hands. They were sharpened to a point to increase its penetrative power, as opposed to the round pellet-shaped bullets of his handgun.

He marvelled it. Adored it, and brushed its surface. The rugged texture gave it grip, though he would’ve liked it to be a bit more… smoother. But that was him nit picking. Normally, he wouldn’t care. But he felt awfully attached to the weapon for some reason.

Perhaps it was how blacksmiths or craftsmen felt towards their creations. Or maybe… he was just lonely and saw the weapon as an extension of the others.

It was the amalgamation of the Commander’s wisdom and his experiences with their otherworldly weapons.

They were still with him in spirt.

The rifle was cold, but Exrite could only feel a reassuring warmth brim with each touch. He saw the darkened skies through the twisted underbelly of the tree with widened eyes. Sincerity filled his cruel eyes as he remembered the faces of his friends.

“I’ll be there soon… so please keep on waiting for me. All of you…” He whispered to the air before his eyes regained their viciousness and unrelenting fury.

Emotions flooded him and all his anger returned by tenfold.

His path wasn’t an easy one. Not when he had everything in this trial pit against him.

He primed the weapon and inserted the giant bullet into the rifle’s chamber as an ominous shadow lurked through the sea of smoke above. His blackened lips glistened as he lapped them in hunger.

He had to consume everything in order to reach his friends.

He had to become stronger no matter the cost.

Exrite tied the rifle to his bare back with vines and left the safety of the tree. It hung similarly to a scabbard, save this was far larger and heavier than any blade he had ever come across, that was if he could exclude Khaos’ behemoth carapace sword of course.

He looked up at the tree and studied its ever-reaching height. There was a branch amongst a thousand others which he took a liking to. It stuck out of the canopy like a splinter, which provided a clear line of sight with the world above.

It was the perfect place to snipe the Megitavis.

With an unbreakable look, he drew a bone-crafted dagger from his ammunition pouch, took a dozen steps back and ran straight towards the tree.

Then, he flew 10 metres into the air with a mighty leap.

The dagger penetrated cleanly through the thick bark, securing his position. Likewise, his fingers were able to secure a grip by clawing into it like a cat.

By no means was the bark weak. In fact, it was amongst the toughest and most resilient trees he knew of. No human could ever dream of even scratching its surface.

It was a testament of his newfound strength. He could even bend metal with his bare hands, though it seemed to be limited to iron and steel. The cobalt canister failed to budge and instead shattered when he tried to dismantle it earlier.

The iron canister was easier, but not effortless.

That aside – Exrite ravenously climbed the tree. Insects and an assortment of monsters scurried around the bark as the heat of the floor rose with each passing hour.

They flooded holes and openings to cool themselves, but because of how many swarmed into those confines, it only made it worse. Cries and mangled wails erupted from all around him as the monsters entered a state of utter frenzy.

They murdered both friends and foe as the floor suddenly took a turn for the worse. It was every creature for themselves.

As he passed one of the tree’s openings, he saw a scene that could only be described as a massacre. Corpses littered the massive chasm, most rendered down into slimy mush.

A horde of creatures fought amongst themselves as they ravenously bit and swallowed chunks of each other’s flesh, carapace and bones.

A sight that would normally cause one of be filled with utter despair and terror filled him with delight. He nearly smiled at the scene, seeing them as nothing more than his nutrition.

let’s not take them all on at once… not yet at least

Defeating the Megitavis was of utmost priority.

If it weren’t for the bird, he would’ve sprung straight into the battle. It didn’t matter that there was over a hundred of them there, for he couldn’t die.

He set his sights to the skies past the branches once again and locked onto the bird’s lurking shadow. In mere minutes, he reached the highest branch and secured himself in place.

But in that exact moment –

SCREEEECH!

The Megitavis suddenly swooped down for him, disbursing the thick smoke as it cut through the air like a fine blade.

He could tell that the bird was surprised to see him still alive, and at the same time he could feel its unrelenting fury.

Exrite never dared to pull his eyes away from the bird as it entered freefall. The bird’s form was like looking up at a giant bullet. He seemed to freeze in its gaze as the bird screeched once more; its talons reaching out to swipe him out of the tree.

Only a few seconds separated them.

But he was calm.

Abnormally calm.

Exrite simply pulled the rifle from his back and took aim.

In that instant – the bird’s eyes widened in terror. It sensed its destructive power, despite never seeing anything like the weapon he possessed. It remembered the small handguns and the power they exhibited.

It could not imagine what something of that size was capable of.

It swerved in the air in an attempt to dodge the bullet, spiralling left and right as it drew nearer.

But that was too little for a marksman of Exrite’s calibre.

There was no cliché grin, cheesy remark or war cry. Exrite only pulled the trigger and watched a mass of flames eject from the barrel. The explosion was like a crack of thunder, and the shockwave ripped through hundreds of surrounding branches and leaves like a giant scythe.

Then – a metallic crunch tore through the air. His vision was still blurred by the rifle’s roar. Despite this, he could still make out the faint image of the bird.

He saw it crash into an invisible wall. Every ounce of its momentum disappeared the moment his bullet met its mark, which pummelled the bird’s head straight into its chest.

All of its feathers were frayed as if it was struck by lightning. The bird began to fall once again and this time, straight down into the depths of the forest floor. As a gaping hole emerged in the canopy before him, he touched his ears and brought his fingers to his face.

He saw blood. The sound was so powerful that his eardrums ruptured, and even his eyes were close to giving out. Surely, if he were any weaker – or his old self, or any other human for that matter – then he would’ve died on the spot.

Just by being within its vicinity was dangerous.

Fascination struck him as he stared down at the damaged sniper, which wheezed a vitriolic cloud of toxic fumes. His body was the perfect compromise for such a powerful weapon.

It was like a double-edged sword, carrying an equal amount of danger to his foes and himself. However, Exrite was immortal. Even without his immortality, he possessed a body that could withstand the rifle’s recoil and explosive breath to a certain degree.

He was certain that if he continued to consume the Geared, then he would become immune to the rifle’s backfire. The prospect caused him to whet his lips as he flung the weapon behind him.

Afterwards, he leapt into the forest floor with every intention to devour the Megitavis.

But first – he needed to recover his Gears.

* * *

The bird was too heavy to drag back to chamber. He had to chop off its wings using an insect’s saw-like legs and make three separate trips to recover it in its entirety. Flocks of monsters were naturally attracted to the easy source of food. Dragging the bird made him quite the target for the many frenzied monsters.

However – this was also a part of his plan. He easily devoured more than a hundred monsters with each trip. The [Gears] that followed him doused every inch of the world in flames. Many fell to the flames, and many more to his bare hands and weapons.

After he had secured the bird, he pried out every ounce of meat and swallowed it like it was his last meal. The taste – as with all other Geared – was identical to his own flesh, but by now he had already grown accustomed to it.

Or rather – being bothered by it was a waste of time. So long as it fuelled his strength then he didn’t care. Nor could he find himself to care at this moment in time.

There was little space in his heart and mind to ponder on such things, especially when he had yet to devour the entirety of the <46th Floor>.

As he continued to shove bloodied heaps of flesh down his throat; he suddenly felt a strange sensation run through him. He froze and toppled to the side limply as a strange strength flowed through him.

Before long, he was up again and back to consuming the bird. The event was unsurprising. Expected, even. Exrite remembered that this was the process most monsters underwent when consuming gears with strength similar to theirs.

“… ha…ahahahaha… ah.”

Exrite slowly broke into muffled laughter. He was pleased because he saw this as proof that his gears had finally equalized with the floor…

No. That would be an understatement. It was vastly superior to the monsters of this floor. No longer would he have to suffer a geared overload.

But that wasn’t all.

Exrite also harnessed unfounded fire and heat resistance from consuming the Geared of this floor. It was unknown why he developed this resistance rather than attaining more strength, but he managed to claw out a theory from the back of his mind.

He remembered that White called the changes of the Geared adaptations, meaning that they would change depending on external pressures. By this logic, it made sense as to why his resistance to fire had increased.

It also explained why there was such a vast diversity between the monsters. Similarly, it also explained why many more monsters down here had similar appearances – such as the Minotaurs from the previous floor.

For this change to occur now of all times meant that it had something to do with the strength of his gears. The reason for his rapid strength was solely because of how weak his gears initially were, which forced his body to adapt with devastating cruelty.

Strictly speaking – his body now saw little increments of strength because his body didn’t need to adapt to abnormally high gear strengths. His body deemed other changes more important.

When he realized this was the case, his gaze wandered into the heights of the chamber. With eyes that could pierce through darkness itself, he muttered:

“What the fuck was Gaia thinking when she created the Geared…? What was the point of creating life if you’re just going to abandon them all in the end?”

His last words became rugged, and he crushed the stone ground with his bare hands in frustration. Anger filled him to the brim, and he remained like that for some time.

When it had all dispersed, Exrite returned to shoving mouthfuls of flesh into his gaping maw. In the corner of his eye, he saw the sheen of a green metal and planned his next course of action.

Exrite undoubtedly possessed the strength to take on any Geared head on but doing so would take an unreasonably long time. Bolstering his efficiency in killing was his next step. The sniper rifle was not a solution to this.

It was only a tool – albeit a devastating one – to take down unreachable prey or monsters that he knew he couldn’t fight head on.

He turned to a heap of limeite in the centre of the room and muttered:

“… now might be a good time to make use of that. But that thing… if I’m going to go through the trouble of smelting limeite – then I might as well destroy this floor while I wait.”

A reason stood behind this. Limeite was notorious amongst blacksmiths and Dwarves for its difficulty to both smelt and work with. Such a brilliant material was highly sought after, but very few actually knew how to turn it into something decent.

Exrite was no blacksmith. However – he saw potential in the metal. Its strength and versatility were only second to carbodix as far as he was concerned. And after looking down at his half-broken sniper and chipped bone-dagger; he growled, bit down on more avian meat and accepted this endeavour.

If things went smoothly, then he could only imagine the devastation that would follow.

After all – he vowed to destroy everything in Gaia’s trial.

* * *

The limeite would likely take an entire day before it was ready to be beaten into shape. With this reason alone, he took it upon himself to cleanse this floor while he waited.

Though ‘cleanse’ was a gentle way to describe the destruction that followed his stead. From butterflies to beetles and apes, Exrite killed and devoured every ounce of whatever he managed to get his hands on until the flames consumed every corner of the floor.

It spread faster than anticipated. Half of this was because of his [Gears] which endlessly doused the world in flames. But it still should not have spread so quickly.

After hours of scavenging through the blazing forest, he saw a spectacular sight and found his answer. A flock of flaming jellyfish rushed through the canopies and forest floor, tearing holes in the vegetation as they set everything they touched alight.

They went from corner to corner, edge to edge until their gelatinous innards were exhausted. Those that died fell into the flames and exploded with little to no warning.

They were like kegs of explosive powder being dropped from an airship. He took no caution as they showered the floor. In fact – he ran towards them. He was stricken with surprise and intrigue, for he had found a potential material to replace his exhausted explosive powder.

Also – Exrite had nothing to lose save for his body parts. All of his weapons and belongings were left in the chamber. He not a fool to carry around a highly volatile bullet, though his reasoning was simply because he didn’t want to waste it.

He seized this opportunity and rushed to as many falling jellyfish he could. Many exploded in mid-air and others ignited before him, rending his flesh down to his bones with massive explosions. With all the flames and heat, it was nearly impossible to for the black, explosive material to fall without exploding.

However – his efforts were far from fruitless.

He scoured through areas that had already been incinerated by the flames. The explosive material – which looked like coal – hid well within the charred landscape. One wrong step and the black soil would glow orange and ignite the explosive like some sort of trap, or as Black called it – a landmine.

These were taken one by one back into the chamber for the first few hours until the flames along the path subsided. A forest of black towers was all that remained, each bleeding with smoke through fractures in their bark.

The image was like the space surrounding the entrance of the trial where they fought the Decanid.

He brushed the thought aside and stared up into the open sky when he returned from the chamber. A blinding glare cut through the smoke and mist like a knife. It seared his eyes, but as he nonchalantly stopped to stare, he muttered:

“That tree is still burning.”

* * *

It never stopped burning. Neither did the flames ever seem to waver.

He saw the same thing in the sky no matter how many times he left the chamber. It must’ve been days. But he didn’t know. He could only tell because the rest of the floor ran silent after the final tree died, and with it, every other monster aside from himself.

Furthermore, the limeite was finally ready to be beaten into shape. A new femur was harvested to replace his weapon’s broken barrel, then, after he pummelled a thick layer of limeite flat with his bare fists, he moulded it around his weapon.

It took a vast amount of strength to pry it, and even more to cut off any excess metal. His strength was tested to its very limits. How blacksmiths and Dwarves were able to make fine, suitable armour from this was mindboggling to say the least.

Magic was certainly the solution, but it awed him, nevertheless.

He held up the sniper once it was completed and adored its metallic-green coating. It was now as broad as his arms, and contained a mechanism that utilised small amounts of [Liquid Fire] rather than a heated hammer

Seeing that the weapon nearly broke upon firing it for the first time, he needed to ensure that it wouldn’t break no matter how many bullets he fired.

And speaking of bullets –

Exrite created a few dozen more using a grounded form of the explosive ‘coal’. A single peer into his limeite ammunition box revealed rows of the devastating bullets. Limeite was used for the box to ensure that the bullets wouldn’t be triggered by the immense power of the sniper rifle as well as the heat generated by [Liquid Fire].

Afterwards, he made a few more weapons out of limeite, one of them being a simple dagger. Another was something in between a pickaxe and a hatchet. If his fists weren’t going to break through a monster’s armour, then the ‘pick-hatchet’ most certainly will.

Calling these weapons ‘crude’ was a compliment. Sharpening them was a nightmare, and mostly consisted of him scraping it against a rock. But he didn’t mind such a mundane task. So long as it was necessary – then he didn’t care.

His weapons hung on his sides from a metal belt, which he created from the Megitavis’ feathers. Once his pouches were similarly secured, he brushed a hand over a familiar bulge in his leather ammunition pouch.

“… you won’t have to wait long.” He whispered, pushing himself up from the ground as he set his sights on the exit. “Because now – I’m ready. There’s nothing that can stop me anymore. So please… just wait a little longer.”

He reached the door and stood beneath its frame. The gear-like magic circle activated and after its spectacular show of lights, his eyes lit up with satisfaction.

The gauges were nearly filled.

* * *

Part 2 –

A pair of doors opened elsewhere. A certain Demon patiently watched them roll open with an unreadable expression. Although, it was impossible to see her face anyway in the darkness of the <56th Floor>.

This place was another ‘reservoir’ and was the fourth she had come across in her descent; counting the one prior to their isolated descent. Its purpose of existing was unknown to the likes of her, and it filled her heart with mystery and intrigue.

She imagined that these reservoirs – which only appeared every fifth floor – were a breeding ground of the Geared. It made sense as it would maintain a constant population of Geared in the lower floors. A pure funnel had its flaws considering how many Geared actually chased the Attributed Whole from the <41st Floor>. The distribution would become far too dispersed, which defeated the purpose of strengthening the Geared as they descended.

However, Uru was no simpleton to believe that this was merely the case. A Demon like herself never believe in anything unless a God or any equivalent entity admitted it. With this dungeon belonging to the previous Maiden of Time, she could only trust an answer from written knowledge belonging to her, or, from Exrite directly.

That said; she pushed that thought aside and hummed. The light from the other room eliminated the darkness that embraced her.

“The reservoirs are a nuisance, nevertheless.” Her cold words seemingly froze the doors in place as she ventured through and descended into the next floor.

A vexed complexion sprawled on her face.

The reason for this was because the [Curse of Desire] unexpectedly failed to affect the Geared in the <56th Floor>. Furthermore, this was also true for the previous three reservoirs, which was what caused her to become so intrigued with these floors in the first place.

For whatever reason the Geared could not desire. The stark contrast between the floors prior and after were too great for her to properly comprehend, because in those floors the mana she gained from exploiting the desires of the Geared was staggering.

To see it drop so sharply was impossible. No creature could ever lose sight of their desires unless they were content.

The thought lingered.

Uru disappeared into the darkness of the <57th Floor>. Her [Dark Vision] allowed her to perfectly see the twisted caverns that sprawled in every direction.

The silence was so thick and constricting that one could easily mistake the darkness as a physical manifestation of said silence. But that illusion was soon dispersed when the markings on her body suddenly flashed with light for a split second.

In that moment she had instantly cleaved a finger off with a claw. The dull thud was silent, but she was certain that it reached the deepest parts of this floor.

Not that it mattered the slightest. The monsters of this floor would all fall soon enough.

A liquid dripped from her finger. However, this was not blood.

Uru could not bleed.

What dripped and melded with the cracked ground was a liquified form of the black tentacles that dwelled within her. It then shivered and split into hundreds of tiny worms which slithered away into the darkness with frightening speed.

They each tracked an irresistible scent of desire which saturated the <57th Floor> in search for victims to be inflicted with Uru’s most powerful magic – the [Curse of Desire].

The effects of this magic were far-reaching and obviously devastating to certain individuals. Those that were driven by lust for power or selfish desires could never dream of escaping the chokehold of the Curse. Additionally, those types of individuals were also the ones that granted the most mana.

And every Geared – aside from the ones in the reservoirs – were similar.

A minute passed and the silence broke. Uncanny cries – or what sounded like it – began to echo through every passage. Soon a symphony of mangled noises surrounded her, and she bathed in it with delight.

The [Curse of Desire] only needed one of two specific criteria to be met for it to affect its target.

The first was that Uru’s black tentacles needed to physical touch the victim. The second was reserved for those who had injured and exposed the putrid mass beneath her flesh in the past.

Furthermore, the [Curse of Desire] could only affect a person once so long as their deepest desire remained the same. This was its ultimate flaw, for if one overcame the Curse then it rendered her trump card useless.

As such, it was reserved strictly for foes that were vastly more powerful than herself and for beings she considered cannon fodder as a means of extracting mana. These two were the easiest to take advantage of and were certain to perish after being inflicted with the [Curse of Desire].

The only exceptions were Exrite, his companions and Phase.

To use it at all times was both stupid and an insult to the Overlord who granted her this power. This was solely because of its one-time-use flaw. If someone powerful – as unlikely as it was – survived the [Curse of Desire] without her knowledge, then she ran a risk of crossing paths with an immune enemy one day.

Uru was the type of person to eliminate such risks at all costs. If it weren’t for Exrite, then Bailey and Allen would have been dead the very moment she laid eyes on them. But they didn’t hold any real risk to her. They were too weak to even scratch the surface of her skin.

However, the real reason wasn’t because of that. It was trust.

Phase was a different story, and Uru couldn’t find an exact answer as to why she let her live. Only excuses such as “Because she’s Her daughter.” Or, “Phase is chained with guilt. Turning against me now will break her.”, constantly revolved in the back of her mind.

Ultimately, she blamed Exrite. Though it didn’t matter to her. In the end, Phase was closely acquainted with the new Maiden of Time and the Children of Balance.

And above all; Phase was not who she sought revenge against.

The one thousand years she damned her to was nothing compared to the betrayal of her entire race.

Uru disappeared into the darkness of the floor. Now that all the Geared’s mana were harvested, her next objective was to obviously activate the remaining obelisks. She was like a shark in the sea of black, and a powerful current followed in the wake of her flight.

In only a few hours Uru was able to reach all five obelisks. Why was it only five? This was because the number of obelisks deceased by one after every fifth floor, or after every reservoir more specifically.

It tied in with the fact that the floors gradually shrunk as one descended.

Uru touched the door’s reflective surface, which revealed her charcoal-black body in its entirety. A small hum left her lips. She would have to wait for the door to open by itself again. Under what circumstance it opens was unknown, but she knew for certain that if the obelisks weren’t activated then it wouldn’t open at all.

As a result, Uru’s descent – and everyone else’s – was controlled by the random opening of the door.

However, it seemed to be opening faster ever since she passed the <46th Floor>. Days of waiting was dramatically reduced to only one, and past the <51st Floor>, it became mere hours.

Likewise, the door rumbled and screamed open only a handful of hours later.

Uru’s brows furrowed. But despite how she looked – she was eternally pleased by this, though she imagined not as much as a certain Colour.

The thought mused her. She vaguely remembered the last time a minor thought concerning a companion crossed her mind. In recent times these thoughts concerned Exrite and the Frostbitten, but Uru held them closer than mere companions.

“I trust that I’m not making the same mistake again.” She uttered in a soft hum. In the past it was her companions which turned their backs against her which was why Uru felt conflicted by her thoughts regarding Black and White.

Stolen story; please report.

She pondered as she gracefully descended into the <58th Floor>.

* * *

Days earlier.

Where Uru consumed the desires and mana of the Geared, another consumed every fibre of their being. His insatiable hunger drove him though a relentless quest to devour all that existed in this trial and destroy everything within.

Exrite dominated the moss-coated caverns of the <47th Floor> with nothing but his bare hands. Compared to the Geared of the saturated floor prior they were nothing in comparison.

His shadow became flames, for a wildfire followed wherever he treaded. In hours the entirety of the <47th Floor> was smothered with soot and ashes of the unfortunate Geared. Surprisingly, they were considered the ‘lucky’ ones.

Compared to being torn limb from limb, the flames were without a doubt a far more merciful way to perish. Exrite’s normal combat style, which usually consisted of him targeting the weak points of enemies – such as tendons, heads and other vulnerable places – was enhanced by a tenfold.

Given his abnormal regeneration and resurrected nature of recklessly diving straight into battle, it was not hard to see why.

He dashed through these scorched caverns in search for the exit. His presence was known to all those that lurked in every corner and down every dimly lit tunnel, for every step he took cracked the stone underneath.

This was all on purpose. Exrite couldn’t leave a single crumb of flesh wasted; though his sentiments seemed contradictory considering the many he already incinerated.

It was all out of pure instinct; a drive that he couldn’t control, and he mostly attributed it to rage.

None of you get to live.

Those words among many endlessly revolved in his mind.

The handful of strays he encountered on his path were slaughtered; they cut at their limbs and struct at their vitals with unparallel efficiency.

One such case was against a giant praying mantis.

The monster towered over him well over 3 meters and possessed four arms; each armed with an extended blade-like appendages. During his sprint he watched it slice the air with a speed that not even his eyes could track. Any normal being would think twice before getting within its melee range.

However, Exrite did not hesitate once to thrust himself straight into it. Seeing that his approach hadn’t stopped, but instead somehow increased, seemed to confuse the mantis for a split second.

And in the next, all four blades connected. However, by some impossible feat, the blades did not pass through as expected. Horror filled the monster’s honey-comb eyes when it saw that two of its blades had been stopped by two hand-sized Gears, and the others were embedded within his forearms.

Indeed, his bones were too strong for such lethal weapons to cleave through. In the next moment, and without a single word leaving his lips, Exrite lunged straight past the arms of the mantis, grappled onto its back and tore off one of its arms.

The mantis wailed in pain, twisted its head and threw its arms at Exrite once more. But as if by some form of magic or trickery; its own arm came hurling back. As Exrite was penetrated by one of its blades – with the other two being blocked by his Gears – he swung the detached arm like a scythe and cleanly cleaved half of the mantis’ face off.

A crashing thud echoed as it fell lifelessly alongside Exrite. With the arm still in his possession, he began chewing into its thick exoskeleton like it was a giant loaf of bread. Only if it was an incredibly thick, dense and festering loaf of bread.

*Crunch* *Crunch *Crunch*

The blade was still embedded into him for the time being. Exrite couldn’t care less, let alone be bothered to remove it. All he wanted now was to devour the monster and leave for the next floor.

As he ate his meal in peace, a sudden thought came to mind.

I’m probably this floor’s final visitor. There won’t be anything left to eat here for the passing Geared. For now, at least. In time I’m sure things will slowly… return to normal. Gaia built this place after all, and there’s other instances of this descent… just what the hell is this place for the Geared?

When those last words passed his mind, he imagined a small hand pointing downwards. He took a violent bite from the mantis’ arm and it snapped into hundreds of fragments.

* * *

His descent quickly led him into yet another familiar cavern. The <53rd Floor> was vastly spacious and with a single glance one would assume they were at the bottom of a gaping ravine. The ceiling mimicked the night sky as thousands upon thousands of tiny gemstones shimmered from high above.

Exrite unexpectedly froze when he first set foot into this floor. For a moment he truly felt like he was back on the surface. He scowled at the thought seconds after, for he knew well that the surface was the last thing he would find down here.

He was far too deep to even imagine it.

The ravine branched off into dozens more and were connected in a network that resembled a spider’s web. Very few creatures roamed this floor as far as he could tell, however, he didn’t trust his eyes.

The number of Geared compared to the previous floor was like night and day. He honed his senses and set forth into the uneven, unstable path before him. A forest of rocks and boulders protruded form the walls and ground unnaturally.

Some clusters were even found to contain pools of blood and bones, and some oozing from cracks like they were bleeding. He wandered close by one of these clusters unaware of their sinister nature and was immediately greeted by a series of screeches.

GWAGH!!!

These rocks and boulders were living creatures. Spider-like legs emerged from the undersides of the rocks as dozens of red eyes glowed from beneath. They varied greatly in size, some even reaching as tall as 3 meters.

At first he was surprised to see a coordinated ambush by the Geared. He thought for sure that coordination of species and monsters only existed in the Reservoirs.

However, this was no coordinated attack. The monsters seemed to attack whatever moved in its vicinity including other rock-like spiders. Exrite was merely the target for the smaller ones, which scurried towards him like miniature Bouldermites.

He crushed them with the soles of his feet, then he doused the larger ones with [Liquid Fire]. The liquid sept through the cracks of their shell and cooked them from the inside out almost instantly. They rattled in their shells as they simmered in a deadly soup with the largest one leaping towards him with surprisingly speed.

But that was a mistake. The underside was left open to him, and he didn’t waste this opportunity to strike. He launched himself and met with it in mid-air. Then, with a splendid kick, the creature went crashing into the ravine walls.

The creature was surprisingly light despite its size and rocky armour. He mostly attributed it to the fact that most of the rock was actually tissue that resembled rock, hence why they bled.

Its impact shook the floor. In that moment over fifty rock-like monsters sprung from their slumber and began to massacre one another. How they have been undisturbed until now was a mystery.

It was as if everything here was set for this one moment. He didn’t know to what extent that was true, but it wouldn’t be wrong to assume this. After all, the <40Th Floor> exhibited something similar with its one-time-use obelisk.

While he could’ve exited from any other obelisk, that one in particular had the [Gear].

Exrite grated his teeth, and as expected, a peculiar Geared arrived at the scene.

There it is. The one Geared that always sticks around in the hunting grounds. The apex predator of the floor.

Indeed. Nearly in every floor there was at least one Geared that was considerably stronger than the rest, obviously because they used the floor as their hunting ground.

The walls of the ravine cracked, and a landslide of debris crushed many slumbering Geared in its wake.

A Decanid – or what looked like one – stumbled from its chamber and set its many glowing eyes on him. The massive beast was only half the size of the Decanid and was constructed out of the same rock-like tissue as the others.

He could tell because of the streams of blood which fell from each of its ten legs.

Exrite studied it for a moment as if in awe.

But that soon turned to hunger.

Like the Decanid, there was no obvious weakness for something of its size. However, there was one thing he knew that affected it more than anything else.

*Ca-chink!*

Exrite loaded a round into his sniper rifle, and with only the pull of a trigger, he killed more than a dozen Geared. The bullet carved a hole straight through behemoth, and through its gaping wound he saw the other end of the ravine cave in with a deafening thud.

As the beast fell, the dozens more that awoke all around him had their shells peeled clean off and their innards cooked faster than the sound could reach his ears.

A crater of smouldering stone formed beneath him. Aside from some slight smoke from his forearms; that was the extent of the damage he personally took with his revamped sniper rifle.

He was awed by its destructive might once again, and after witnessing the annihilation around him he was able to put his body’s strength into perspective.

It was stubbornly persistent. Barely human at this point. Even in the wake of something as powerful as his weapon there was not a shadow of a doubt that he would live.

He exhaled heavily as the ground violently shook once more. Many boulders began to rouse from their slumber in the distance, taking various forms that both disgusted and surprised him at the same time.

Scorpions, spiders, golems, crabs – a plethora of rocky monsters emerged and fought almost as quickly as they awoke. They lashed out at whatever moved, including each other and Exrite once again couldn’t believe that this had never happened until now.

He was certain that this path was handmade for this very moment.

He exhaled heavily and gripped the thought. Other floors like this were bound to exist. And as hundreds more boulders began to rouse from their slumber in the distance, Exrite loaded another bullet.

* * *

Darkness welcomed him at the entrance of the <55th Floor>. Here the gemstones which commonly lit the floors above were ominously absent. It was possible that they still lined the walls, as Exrite suspected when dragged a hand against the wall for guidance and felt smooth lumps and angular grooves along the way.

If his memory served him correctly, then these gemstones were inactive gemstones. These were essentially gemstones that contained no mana, and appeared dull, dark and produced no light as a result.

Exrite tread through the darkness with only the walls as his guide. Strange sounds whispered around him. Though they were high-pitched, he found it nearly impossible to make them out.

Even with the bright light of his Eye of Despair he could barely see an arm’s length in front of him. His humanly senses were no match for the all-consuming darkness of this floor, which seemingly devoured the noises around him.

However, he had tools at his disposal.

[Liquid Fire] was used to both banish the darkness and create a recognisable trail. This way he would be able to tell which tunnels he had already explored.

Additionally, the [Liquid Fire] had a third use. In this floor where Exrite accepted that there was no feasible way to hunt down the Geared with his inferior senses, he planned to lure them in with sound and light.

His footsteps demanded the attention of their ears and the flames consumed their sight, both of which would inevitably lead the lurking Geared back to him.

And as expected – something approached.

Or rather, something lunged at him.

“– What!?”

An invisible whip cleanly cleaved through his right arm and launched it into the air beside him. In the split second it took to comprehend what had just happened his arm had been snatched away into the foreboding darkness by the same whip.

Exrite couldn’t believe how easily his arm had been severed.

Since emerging from his Gear and mana overdose in the <46th Floor> his body had endured a thousand cuts and gashes. Many had even reached the marrow of his bones. But none had ever managed to cut through his bone entirely.

For it to come off so easily was alarming, but that instinctual worry was instantly drowned by his relentless rage and intent to devour it.

His taken arm swam towards what looked like a smile in the dark. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve believed that it was the darkness itself smiling at him tauntingly.

The smile split into a cavernous maw and devoured it as quickly as it opened. Crackling of bone soon filled the cave, and the sound of crawling and sifting stone hailed around him.

Exrite – understanding his severe disadvantage against the Geared – instantly drew his limeite pick-hatchet and lunged towards those sounds. With nothing to detect the monster save for his ears Exrite could only estimate its location as he followed in suit.

His swings were wild and rampant, connecting with only the stone walls of the cave as he simultaneously crashed into those walls and ceiling with every leap.

As sporadic as his movement were it also served a secondary purpose. The whip which severed his arm was lashed at him as they danced in the dark. It rippled and screamed around him, sometimes close enough to leave lacerations across his bare body.

Mobility was his greatest ally in this pursuit. No matter how strong his body was there was no feasible way to defend himself against a single strike.

But defence was never a priority anyway.

[Liquid Fire] soon pooled into the fissures he left with each step. He planned to both illuminate the cave and create areas where he was certain the monster wouldn’t dare to tread.

However, within a mere minute of springing from wall to wall he quickly realised that there was something awry in his plan.

The light could only go so far. In fact, the light that emanated from the many scattered pools of [Liquid Fire] could barely cut through a metre of darkness.

“What the fuck is that…? Is that magic?”

Exrite growled, suspecting the irregularity as such.

Confusion ran through his body like an electric through as he clawed at the recesses of his mind for something – anything – that resembled the magic before him.

He had seen mages snuff out fires to eliminate their light and seen sorcerers summon clouds to cloak the light of the moon, but never had he ever seen nor heard of anyone fizzle light from the light itself.

Light had always been eliminated by either destroying the source, or, by obstructing its path. The heat and flames still erupted from the pools which only furthered his belief that the magic did indeed only affect light.

“Magic that erases light… [Light-Eliminating] magic.”

He naturally came to call it. It amused him. The discovery of the magic almost caused him to snicker, as would anyone who had just discovered a new form of magic.

But this was not the case with Exrite. There was a reason as to why mages purposefully avoided manipulating light.

It was simple. [Light] magic – contrary to its name – was an incredibly taxing kind of magic. Reversing light or nullifying it was likely a tenfold more mana expensive. It followed the same principle as [Time] magic, where reversing it or even stopping it was far more costly than distorting it.

For this reason [Light] magic was often omitted or glossed over in texts. The few that did contain any worthwhile information only focused on simple light manipulation. One such magic he could think of was [Illuminal Haze] which mimicked the effect of how light distorted under the influence of heat.

There was little benefit to use [Light] magic. One could easily replicate the effects with a simple [Fire Ball] with only a sliver of mana. For this reason [Light] magic’s only notable use was creating light, such as [Flare]. But even that could be performed with [Fire]-based magic.

So, what did this have to do with his battle? Simply put; the Geared was doomed undergo a mana depletion so long as Exrite continued to pursue it. In this lightless floor – where the gemstones were depleted of mana – there was no external mana to draw from.

Exrite realised this when he tried uttering a [Flare] earlier.

[Liquid Fire] wasn’t used just for the sake of it. It was because he was deprived of every other option. And now – it was also his greatest advantage in this fight.

During these minutes Exrite created massive molten rings which spanned from the ground to the ceiling on both ends of the cavern. If the Geared wanted to flee then it would have to willingly incinerate itself.

It was trapped here with him.

Additionally, its movements gradually became slower as time went on. This was expected. After all, the monster was likely an ambush predator. It was not made for a drawn-out pursuit.

By this time Exrite’s arm had already regrown, and the black haze that consumed the light shrunk down to half its size. The black ball moved like a blind spot and appeared unnatural in this burning cavern. As the darkness dwindled, so did its accuracy with its deadly whip.

Then, the shadow finally disappeared. What emerged was an eyeless body in the shape of a ball. Four spider-like legs ran down each corner, each coated with a thin veil of pale, transparent skin. Above its cracked maw was long, retractable appendage which was tipped with a razor-sharp blade.

This was undoubtedly the ‘whip’ which had cleaved his arm off so effortlessly.

Exrite shifted his attention to it immediately as the Geared clumsily made efforts to sever him with its whip. The sifts of stone and crawling that once filled the cave degraded into noisy clambers, for the Geared suddenly began to struggle to keep up with Exrite.

He had a vague idea on what was going on. Aside from stamina and mana, the Geared likely possessed some form of [Dark Vision]. [Night Vision] was out of the question, because it was still able to follow him even in the total absence of light.

However, this ability harboured one fatal flaw. Light appeared far brighter than normal under the lens of [Dark Vision], which usually rendered a person or thing blind as a result. If they had no way to deactivate [Dark Vision] then light was their permanent bane.

At first, he was uncertain if this was the case, seeing that the creature possessed no eyes. But when he watched its mouth gape when it screamed in rage; he saw the pale sclera of an eye deep within its throat.

Dodging became easy, and his swings began to cut close with the Geared the longer this battle dragged on.

It could still accurately sense his position. However, it could not see what Exrite had prepared himself for. Even now it was still difficult to land an effective strike on the Geared.

There would be little left of it to eat if he annihilated it with his [Liquid Fire] or his sniper rifle. The realisation struck him in the previous floor where hundreds of the rock-like Geared were rendered inedible due to the destructive nature of his sniper rifle and his [Gears]. Of course, that was assuming that even a hair of their body remained.

Exrite wanted nothing less than to devour everything.

The barbed appendage was thrown at him once more in a last-ditch effort to intercept him as he crashed with its last known location. It clearly aimed to cleave him in half. However, it must’ve miscalculated. Or more specifically – it severely underestimated Exrite’s dexterity.

Because when that appendage swiped just a hair above him, Exrite swiftly clutched it with his free hand and sliced the barbed tip with his dagger. Nothing but pure instinct drove him as he tugged himself straight towards the Geared, which had grounded itself in agony.

He reeled his limeite pick-hatchet and swung it straight into the creature. Victory was assured, but to his surprise – its maws suddenly opened and devoured his arm alongside with the weapon.

Teeth began to grind down his flesh and bones the moment it snapped shut like a rattrap. The Geared pushed forward in an attempt to knock him down and devour him whole in its next bite.

But Exrite didn’t budge. Instead, he grit his teeth and positioned his knee below its chin. Then, he leveraged what was left of his right arm downwards into his kick which crushed it like a metal cup. The spiky part of his hatchet burst through its head as it screamed.

He did it once more. And again. And again, and again until his arm was finally torn off from the shoulder. The Geared – which was once a pale ball – beared no resemblance to any shape anymore. It was a shapeless blob; a sack of meat filled with crushed bones.

Or in his eyes; it was nothing more than a meal.

Like a rabid dog Exrite fell to his knees and fed on it, tearing through its thick skin with only his teeth. Through many mouthfuls of putrid flesh, he wondered why the creature failed to undergo a gear overload.

His gears were undoubtedly far superior to anything on this floor. Even a drop of blood would immobilise them at worse. Then, when he reached its stomach cavity, he found his answer.

“… I think this what they call a paradox, right…? That’s my arm in there – well… what’s left of it.”

Exrite was mused by this. The sight was nothing new. Having said that, there was a certain sizzling that caught his attention.

“Its stomach acid… its burning through the stone but not my bones? Not even my skin? Impressive. No wonder it didn’t show any symptoms of a gear overload.”

Although he was resistant to the corrosive juices, his hands began to tingle painfully after some time. He was not totally immune. Nevertheless, this resistance was a welcomed surprise.

And to his good fortune – this was not the only surprise in store for him.

A spiral of heat roused in his crimson eye as electricity briefly ran through him. The sensation was welcomingly familiar. This was an ‘adaptation’. A change. A development. While it wasn’t strength it, Exrite clearly saw its grand value, to which the prospects of attaining strength could not compare to.

His crimson eye flared like a beacon, and the cavern exploded with a blinding light. As he clamped his eye shut Exrite immediately knew that he had attained an ability most appropriate for this floor.

This ability was of course – [Dark Vision].

* * *

Part 3 –

Exrite pushed on. His prowess took him past the <58th Floor> where his mental fortitude was tested once again. Upon reaching the feet of the <58th Floor> his heart sank like an anchor into a cold sea.

Before him were speleothems of all kinds which hung from the ceiling and walls like rows of teeth. There was barely a metre reserved for anything but these towering structures. Nothing could describe the path better than a ‘maze’ built for Dwarves.

It was wet here. The cavern salivated. Water dripped from places he could never find. He imagined the cavern swallowing him whole. It was an illusion no doubt – but he couldn’t help but to feel as though the cavern were alive.

Exrite’s body tensed. As his fears of tight spaces began to gnaw at his mind, he reminded himself of his goal; of his purpose; and of his friends who were certainly waiting for him below.

An audible gulp left his lips.

“… how pathetic… to show a God my resolve only be stumped by this. This…”

Edge filled with his voice. He couldn’t feel more insulted. He agonised over this fact as his hands slowly slid to his knees. They buckled but remained strong. He became tired, faint and lightheaded.

“There’s no way I can stop here. I chose to stay… I chose to stay here and overcome this myself. No one’s going to save me. No one’s going to help me…”

He spoke from his heart. Turning back was not an option. No – that option was gone the very moment he chose to break the cycle; the chain of events that once separated him from his sisters.

“… Only I can save myself. Only I… can save myself down here.”

Along with those words arrived an unrivalled form of determination. He broke into a faint smile, because he knew how ironic those words were.

He knew that he couldn’t save himself if it weren’t for his friends. There was no doubt in his mind that he could persevere with his strength, but what would it all be for if there was no one to return to in the end?

The thought scared him. But more than that – it bellowed a wildfire of rage within his chest. In an instant, he turned to the maze of rock and smashed them with every ounce of power he could muster.

To him the speleothems were just as a greater danger than the Geared and saw them equally as those who had wronged him in the past. They were the bounds that once strapped him in that dark room, and he sought to destroy them all along with the Geared.

The cavern screamed in agony; crashes, thuds and explosions of rock reverberated like a cry for help. Geared were soon drawn to the commotion, though they didn’t last any longer than the towering speleothems.

* * *

The same claustrophobic mess repeated itself over the next few floors. Amid his path of destruct, Exrite gained yet another ‘adaptation’. Like [Dark Vision], it seemed more like an ability than a biological change.

This was [Threat Detection] – an ability which allowed one to detect threats within its area of effect. This came as a surprise to him. Most detection magic required a continuous source of mana. Exrite – who barely had an existing mana capacity – would be depleted with a second of using it.

This is what was supposed to happen. However, this was not the case with Exrite. It was always active regardless of his lacklustre mana and its coverage was frighteningly effective; reaching to as far as 10 metres around him.

As far as he was concerned; there was nothing that could explain this. Not written or spoken literature of magic had ever mentioned an irregularity of this kind.

He could only hope that Uru, or better yet, Melody carried the answer.

Or, perhaps the answer was simply waiting for him down in the depths.

That aside – his experience with [Threat Detection] was interesting. It seemed that there were multiple factors that played into determining what was considered a threat; most notably the user’s current state of mind.

Traditionally [Threat Detection] targeted living beings that bared obvious intention to harm. Objects were rare, most presumably because by the time they could process it they would have already been killed by said object.

But Exrite – as always – was an anomaly. Bearing this knowledge in mind, he was stupefied when he began detecting hundreds of threats around him amid the <59th Floor>.

There were no Geared in sight. Only hundreds of speleothems surrounded him. It was then that he realised that [Threat Detection] processed two types of threats.

The first were objective threats; which were essentially threats which would undeniably cause harm to the user. This worked solely on one’s senses, intuition, instinct and other infallible information.

The second were subjective threats. This entirely depended on the user’s state of mind. Fears, prejudice and emotions also played a vital part in deciding what was a threat or not. In short, anything had the potentially to be a threat.

And in Exrite’s case; it was hundreds of speleothems.

They tormented him. Every sight of the narrow passages roused fear in his heart, despite being drowned in rage. His actions were out of desperation; like how a wild animal would try to escape from its cage. It wasn’t long before the fear reached his throat and he began to roar in hopes of release.

His throat ripped itself apart over and over, never becoming hoarse due to it constantly repairing itself. Never had he experienced such an overwhelming desire to destroy everything in his path. He was submerged in a sea of fear and rage, lasting him until the very end when he reached light of the [64th Floor].

He stumbled and nearly fell to his knees. Release surged through him like a wave as his body suddenly became light. The longer he blankly stared at the vast surroundings, the more his lungs filled with air until he finally vented it all out in utter relief.

The anger and fear that once welled in him disappeared without a trace. Like it was all just a nightmare, and he had finally woken up. Shakily, Exrite brought a hand to his face and whispered:

“I did it… I’m finally out of there… Ah… ahaha… ha… I hate this.”

His voice was rugged and full of emotion.

He was eternally thankful. Though this was short lived. He couldn’t celebrate now. The end has still yet to come. This wouldn’t be over until he was reunited with his friends. As such, strength slowly began to reinvigorate his being.

Then, as he looked forth into the vast crystallised cavern before him, he softly muttered:

“… please be down there.”

* * *

From the <64th Floor> to the <66th Floor>, massive deposits of crystals reached across the massive cavern like a spider’s web. They were huge, spanning dozens of metres in width alone, and hundreds in length.

Randomly scattered pools of boiling water filled the bottom layer of these floors. From where the pools were being heated from was unknown, though Exrite suspected that it must’ve had something to do with the glowing crystals submerged within them.

There was no floor quite as bright as this one; as every crystal here emitted some sort of light. He excelled here, finding little challenge in the terrain and the Geared alike. However, there was no possible way an ordinary human – or humanoid for that matter – could survive down here for more than ten minutes.

Why was this so? The humidity here was so great that one would breathe more water than air. How did he know? This was simple – Exrite periodically needed to drain his lungs of fluid in order to combat the additional weight and ‘bloatedness’ which adversely affected his movement, as one would imagine.

It wasn’t until towards the end of the <65th Floor> where this ceased entirely, most likely as a result of an ‘adaptation’.

Another thing to consider here was the heat, although this was already nothing to worry about. Unless one was prepared beforehand, or knew appropriate magic to combat this, humanoids were certain to perish here.

Luckily, he was the only human in the group. The others could barely pass as humanoids, save for their appearances.

Uru was certainly the strangest of them all. After all, she had the ability to shape-shift. To what extent was unknown, and Uru’s secretive nature didn’t make this any easier.

Not to mention that there was little humans knew about the Demons in the first place. Most – if not all – of their knowledge came from prior conflicts dating back as far as tens of thousands of years ago. Likely more.

That aside –

After he had activated all 4 obelisks on this floor, he began to make his way towards where their beams pointed. A massive cloud of steam vented from the centre of the <66th Floor>. It could be seen from anywhere, even in the furthest reaches where Exrite currently was.

That was obviously where he had to go. His sniper rifle was primed and ready for whatever monster awaited him there, as he had come to realise that each Reservoir housed some sort of guardian to defend the doors.

It was also uncertain whether the others also had to go through something similar, or if any of the floors and obstacles were even remotely the same. His gut told him that it was likely. This was a trial, after all. For all of them… not just for him. Even the Geared were a part of this trial.

Their overarching goal was the same: to reach the bottom and attain the Attributed Whole. But some had already ‘found’ the bottom in these Reservoirs.

Some find something to latch onto along their fall, and they call that the bottom. This trial is just one big well. The further you fall, the more intense the despair becomes. That’s for the Geared though. I’ve already been through the worst, so it’s all just a matter of weaving through the obstacles in the well.

The term ‘blissful ignorance’ flashed before him and he sighed.

In the first place Exrite did not understand why the Geared despaired, or what they despaired. A part of it could be the brutal challenge of trying to survive until they reached the bottom, or the fact that they became abominations over time as they consumed one another.

Or – most importantly – did they know that they despaired?

Exrite thought of such things as he made his way to the centre of the floor. Being that there were no other monsters – the reason being that he had already eaten them – meant that was no harm in allowing his mind to wander.

In fact – he wished he could do so more often. Silence was a rare luxury. With no one to talk to, this was to be expected.

* * *

The steaming pool was far larger than he imagined. It laid in a deep sinkhole about as long as one of the cavern’s crystals. The steam made it difficult to find how far down the water’s surface rested. Even with his now honed eyesight, he could not make out the details on the other end of the sinkhole.

Above him was a similar hole. It led to nowhere, obscured entirely by steam and a ceiling somewhere within.

He surveyed the area with the eye of a hawk, yet still could not penetrate through the thick steam.

And so – Exrite pointed the barrel of his sniper rifle down into the sinkhole and pulled the trigger without a second thought. A massive column of steam instantly gushed out like a geyser as the water’s surface exploded into a pillar of foam.

Only the light of crystals faintly shone below. Other than that, there was nothing unusual to note. After he loaded another bullet, he jumped straight into the unknown with his gun cradled closely.

Into the water he went, and after a brief moment of disorientation – and his sniper rifle suddenly releasing a violent torrent of hot bubbles – he found himself in an underwater cavern that was far larger than the sinkhole alluded to.

Similarly, the glowing crystals which protruded from the underwater ceiling and walls only lined the places closest to the surface. One look beneath him revealed an endless abyss.

That was assuming Exrite lacked the appropriate ability for such an environment. [Dark Vision] revealed everything in these unmoving waters. But unbeknownst to him was that there was something else lurking here.

Unfortunately, by the time he could recognise what was going on – huge jaw caught his legs and began to jerk him from side to side. He was instantly ripped in two from the waist down and was thrown across the underwater chamber.

He could only look back through a cloud of blood as he began to sink further down due to the weight of his weapons. And when he caught a glimpse of his pale assailant – which looked like a serpent with a shark’s head – he tilted the barrel upwards at it and pulled the trigger.

– But nothing happened.

He clearly heard the trapdoor mechanism inside activate. Still, nothing happened. It wasn’t until he opened the chamber where he realised that his sniper rifle was completely submerged, including the reservoir which contained [Liquid Fire].

And to his dismay – [Liquid Fire] was necessary to fire a bullet, as he designed the sniper to use heat rather than a hammer to strike and ignite the bullets. In an act of desperation – and what seemed to be a good idea – Exrite swiftly poured [Liquid Fire] into the open chamber.

Water turned to vapour in an instant and violently heated the water around him to a sudden boil. After a split; second the bullet was set off.

However –

– His sniper rifle exploded.

A massive bubble of excited gas consumed him as blade-like fragments tore through was what left of his body. He entered freefall for a moment before the surrounding water came crashing back in to take him down with the rest of his broken equipment.

As if that wasn’t enough – a secondary shockwave hit him from underneath; almost as powerful as the first which knocked him back up into the oncoming jaws of the pale creature.

Exrite was shocked.

Not because of the pain or the catastrophic failure of his sniper rifle, but because of what he saw in the distance behind those set of jaws.

A long body followed its angler fish-like jaws. But it just kept on going and going until it tangled with many more similar bodies. There wasn’t one or two, or even ten. There was at least a hundred, many latched onto rocks while the rest were left suspended eerily.

A putrid mass larger than even the Decanid sat in the centre of it all, resembling nothing of this world. It boasted nothing but the hundred mouth-tipped arms which only knew how to consume.

Exrite could do nothing as he was torn and eaten by the beast. In the water he was nothing. Not even his [Gears] could save him.

Humans were never meant to reign over the depths of the ocean. No matter his strength, he could only move so much here – so much faster than the beast in this environment.

He was eternally thankful of his regenerative ability, which repeatedly restored his limbs and consciousness each time they were torn by teeth longer than his arms.

His last hope was to wait for it to undergo a gear overload so he could retreat to the surface.

He waited. And waited. Yet nothing had happened.

When… will it stop…? How much longer… will it keep eating…?

Exrite was confused.

Until now there was nothing that could match the power of the gears coursing through his veins. Not even the guardians of each Reservoir he conquered carried gears strong enough to illicit any negative reactions.

So why was this one so powerful? Why was there a sudden jump in gear strength?

He didn’t know. His mind was too focused on trying to scheme a plan that these thoughts were disregarded entirely. As he died thousands of times over and over and had his [Gears] stolen by its jaws, Exrite vowed to return the favour by tenfold.

All he had to do was wait.

* * *

And wait he did. Hours? Days? He didn’t know. His consciousness faded in and out like flickering lights. The pain was extraordinary, and he had no vessel to scream. But he was used to this from so long ago. This only added fuel to the inferno that was his rage.

Touch began to return. Then, the rest of his senses. The beast must’ve had its fill, considering that his body had completely regenerated. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the vast emptiness above.

Then, when he reached a hand for the surface, his fingers brushed along what felt like stone.

But this was not stone. Around him at the bottom of the pool was a bed of fragmented bones. There were thousands. How many times did he die just to sate the hunger of that thing?

The thought endlessly rattled in his mind as he rushed to the surface, fearing that it could become hungry and attack him once again. Along the way he watched the monster with an inseparable gaze. If he had the means to kill it now, he’d do it in a heartbeat.

However – there was only so much he could do without his weapons, especially in an underwater environment.

Suddenly, his eyes sharply narrowed.

One of its arms isn’t moving like the rest. It’s completely flaccid. There was one ‘arm’ close to the explosion, wasn’t there? Right. Yes. Yes, there was. But that explosion wasn’t anything too significant. Outside the water it wouldn’t have been enough to damage it… the ‘arm’ wasn’t within range.

Exrite wondered if explosions had some sort of a stronger effect underwater. It would explain why his rifle exploded in the first place, and why the blast felt like he had crashed into an invisible wall.

Finding a logical answer was difficult, but he couldn’t see this in any other way.

Regardless – Exrite adored this discovery. Black – the master of weapons – surely had an explanation for this. Until then, he would have to use this to his advantage against the beast.

He reached the surface and quickly scaled the sinkhole with nothing but his hands, feet and a demeanour that didn’t look like someone who had lost. Rather – it was one of a man who had already claimed victory.

A plan manifested in his mind, and it would involve explosive powder.

Massive amounts of explosive powder.

And thankfully, there was one place that housed more than enough for him to indulge in his path of destruction.

This place was none other than the <46th Floor>.

* * *

The hunt began. Piles of the explosive material were carried into the chamber of the <46th Floor>.

Most of the explosive, hardened gel was buried in mounds of steaming dirt and charred bark. When disturbed they would glow a violent orange, shoot out embers and release a substantial amount of heat. He had even seen fires restart as a result of a misplaced step.

In short – this place was a massive minefield.

Exrite thanked his [Threat Detection] for doing most of the work. Without it, there was no way he would have gathered so many without a single explosion.

Other Geared were also sighted here, although none lasted long enough to be considered a threat, let alone reach an obelisk. Every so often an explosion would go off, undoubtably being set off by a wandering Geared.

What a waste.

He’d mentally say every time without fail.

It wasn’t long before a massive pile of explosive rock was gathered in the centre of the chamber. He took a long look at the pile and estimated a yield of 6 kegs worth of explosive powder was possible. 7 if he was careful and he didn’t ground them too roughly or too quickly to cause an explosion.

He simulated the destructive might of the sheer number of explosives before him and nodded to himself. The thought of ‘overkill’ never crossed his mind. As unnecessarily destructive as it was, he could not see it as anything but necessary.

For reference of the explosive yield: Black’s missiles each contained 2 barrels of explosive powder each which was more than enough to destroy a war-ready airship.

In addition to the amplifying effect that water seemed to have with explosives – this was absolutely overkill.

An air-tight vessel would also be required for the explosive powder.

His eyes lit up as he looked to the carcass of the Megitavis.

What he saw was metal. More metal than his heart could ever ask for was sitting right before him. Realising this – and after mentally crafting a list of equipment to recreate – he quickly went to work.

Firstly – he laid out two massive areas where metals were to be heated in a pool of [Liquid Fire]. One was for the feathers of the Megitavis whereas the other was for limeite. In the meantime, he grounded the explosive rocks to powder in a corner furthest away from the heat.

A monotonous spiral of repetitive crushing consumed him for hours on end. The only time he managed to pull himself away from this constant grounding was when he had to dismantle his legs to take the femurs as material for a new sniper rifle.

And – for one more thing.

He needed a weapon that could be used underwater. Small projectiles were useless no matter how much power they possessed. They’d be stopped within a mere metre in the water as he found out.

With this in mind; a design sprung in his mind and he felt for his waist where an empty leather pouch once hung. There, he remembered the iron bolts of a certain crossbow.

But it would have to be large. Very, very large if it were to be effective underwater.

He kept his head down until every piece of explosive rock was grounded into a fine powder. By then the metal feathers had become white-hot and near liquid. Hollow balls larger than the size of his torso were created from this metal – although calling them ‘circles’ was generous at best.

Some were much smaller than the rest.

Until the metal cooled then the limeite softened, there was little else to be done.

Or so he thought.

It would be a waste to leave the upper floors untouched.

* * *

The sound of screeching metal echoed throughout the floors. It was a new sound; one that had never touched the walls of these caverns. Only the caverns witnessed this unfamiliar screech for everything else had died.

If a Geared were to follow this noise they’d find what would appear to be a giant, metal snail. But this was far from a snail. In fact, the metal shell was actually a huge bundle of metal spheres which were all held together in a fibrous net.

Furthermore, it was a mere human who carried it. Half of the bundle followed on the ground, scraping as the metal crushed whatever pebble or rock stood in its way.

He couldn’t tell how heavy the cargo was; only that they were difficult to hold altogether as a result of the spherical design which saw them roll and shift with every step he took.

A yield of roughly 2 barrels worth of explosive powder was collectively stored in these spheres. As a result, Exrite made additional trips from the <46th Floor> to the <66th Floor> until all 3 explosive bundles were brought to the very edge of the steaming sinkhole.

He gazed into its depths with a foot behind one of the explosive bundles. There was no doubt in his mind that this would kill that colossal Geared. Even one would suffice.

Now for the fuse.

An object was pulled from his crowded metal belt. In his hand was a long device comprised of metal, plant fibre and explosive powder. Simply put – this was a grenade.

Only a little amount of explosive powder resided at the bottom; a trade-off in order to extend the fuse length, hence the lengthy design of the grenade.

However, due to the nature of explosive powder, this amount was still considerably powerful and more than enough to detonate the other bombs.

… this place won’t collapse, will it?

The joke unsettled him slightly as a wry smile formed across his face. With a long sigh, he anchored his sight to the bottom once again.

Then, as his [Gears] hovered beside the fuse in preparation; Exrite methodically began to shove the bundles of explosives down into the sinkhole.

As this happened the grenade was lit, capped with a lid and then finally strapped onto the final batch before they disappeared into the white mist.

Silence thrived in the moments before the inevitable explosion. Constricting was no way to describe it. It was tantalising. Oddly deafening.

Seconds passed like minutes. He never dared to pull his eyes away from the sinkhole. In fact, they moved as if they were tracking the explosives through the impenetrable mist.

And then – the entire floor quaked.

In an instant the vapour was replaced with a massive column of water which nearly spanned the entirety of the sinkhole. It towered many metres above the edge where it fell with the force of a thousand boulders, splitting rock and crystals alike as if they were merely constructed of sand.

Massive fissures crept from the edge deep into land as the floor continued to shake as if everything was about to collapse. His instincts screamed at him, but before he could even blink –

The ground beneath him sunk.

No. It was not just the piece of land he stood on. It was the entire floor that encompassed the underwater ceiling beneath. The sheer power and movement of everything moving at once was utterly hypnotising.

But he could not afford to let it consume him. Not when he was amid the chaos. He swiftly escaped the falling world, jumping from one sliding debris to another as he battled with violent winds that tried to drag him down with the rest.

Eventually, he reached the safety of the wall where he anchored himself and watched in awe.

“Unbelievable…” He muttered. “The last thing on my mind was exactly this. Did… did I miscount somewhere? That does not look like 6- or 7-barrels worth of explosive powder. That’s like 50.”

He realised that the answer must have laid in the fact that this version of explosive powder was not quite the same as the one he and the rest of Eastern Six Point were familiar with. In large quantities it seemed that the explosive yield was significantly more than regular explosive powder, yet in smaller quantities they were relatively the same.

Thus, there was no reason for him to believe – let alone expect – that it would be any different on the other end of the scale. How wrong he was.

“… assumption is an insidious killer.”

Suffice to say – he was immensely surprised.

At the bottom of the wreckage there was a blue glow which caught his eye. It was there for only a fraction of a second. Or perhaps it was there from the start and he had only noticed it until now.

Then – a familiar scent assaulted his nose. It was the same as the smell that arrived before a looming storm. This was absurd, he thought. He was so far underground that this was simply impossible and more than likely a figment of his imagination.

What was that light?

He threw himself off when the chaos had finally subsided. The once vast space beneath was now a perilous maze of submerged stone, crystals and the limbs of the beast which were trapped in these spaces like giant eels.

It was dead, no doubt. Not a trace of life remained in any of the heads, and the way they softly swayed cemented this. Silence befell the world once again as he scanned the waters around him in search for the blue light.

Nothing. The light didn’t reappear. What he found instead was the malformed body of the monster, which rested on the bed of bones far beneath. It looked like a giant corpse flower from above, and the gaping centre seemed to watch him.

Did it come from there?

His gut told him this was correct. Otherwise where else did the light appear from? As he swam down into it, he was quickly taken aback by its true size.

No. That wasn’t it.

Its scale did not enrapture him so much as its appearance did.

This far down – or even further I wouldn’t be surprised to see Geared looking like this one. But not here. Not in the Reservoirs. This is supposed to be a sanctuary for the Geared. A place to escape despair.

The inhabitants of every Reservoir – including the ones that guarded their doors – possessed bodies that could only be described as ‘untainted’, unlike the rest of the Geared in this forsaken trial.

For the Geared: despair was reflected by how monstrous they appeared as a result of their adaptations. Compared to the ones of the Reservoir; their transformations were nothing short of abominable.

This knowledge was nothing new anyway. He already knew that the appearances of the Geared were linked to their state of despair; like a sick, living metaphor.

Exrite also had himself to prove this.

After all – he was still human in flesh, bone and… blood – to a certain extent. Despite being clad in despair he never allowed it to consume him.

Despair is wrong. I’m nothing like them.

He mentally affirmed.

Silence returned as he ventured further into the gaping wound. Soon, crimson water enshrouded him. This was likely the blood of the beast. With no vision or guide he could only move in the direction he believed was down.

… but… it’s not like we don’t share similarities. The Geared and I. Despair does turn people into monsters, no doubt. I probably looked like this to the people of the Katho Region. A monster.

Similar lines of thoughts clouded his mind as he blindly swam. The cavity was huge. Or it must’ve been, because he had yet to reach anything after minutes.

Then, he heard something.

It was the sound of ticking.

It was the sound of a [Gear].

He looked ahead and swam with urgency. Giant red structures began to pass by him in his peripheral vision. They were columns which seemed to stretch endlessly into the clouded water.

But as he drew close, they began to resemble sinews. In the distance an array of silhouettes seemed to tower and arch over him from behind the waters like a giant cage.

They looked like ribs.

An overwhelming sense of familiarity struck him from seemingly nowhere. The longer he embarked in this voyage, and as the pillars of sinew grew frequent, the more he began to somehow recognise this place.

A question rung at the back of his mind.

Why does this place feel so familiar? I’m… certain that I’ve never seen anything like this before. This isn’t a womb or some passage. It’s just the stomach of a monster… so why?

His heart ached wildly. He had killed so many Geared and seen the familiar sight of gore so many times yet not once had he felt this way. His heart told him he should’ve known at first glance.

Eventually, he reached the centre of this forsaken cavity. A red [Gear] the size of his torso hung suspended by a thick web of dozens of thick sinews. At the sight of the idle [Gear] – and in addition to his surroundings – he immediately knew what it truly was.

That [Gear] was this monster’s heart. Nothing could tell him otherwise.

The realisation mystified him, and he froze within an arm reach before it. His eyes instantly went from each looming pillar in the distance as he finally understood why this place felt so oddly familiar.

No. I thought I was inside of a monster this whole time, but… it feels more like the insides of another human. Everything falls into place so… recognisably.

He wondered if he was wrong, or if it was a trick of the mind. But soon he realised that he would be one of the last people to mistake the body – and the innards – of another human, no matter how grotesque it appeared.

Did this thing really mimic the insides of a human while it left its outer body looking like- whatever it was? I don’t believe it. Nothing so far shared any resemblance to a human. Nothing at all... not to mention this thing had a [Gear] for a heart. So – what the fuck is this then?

There was no answer. He could only hear the [Gear]’s subtle ticks and his non-existent breaths. The only other beings that had [Gears] for hearts were the Biomech and only the Biomech as far as he was concerned.

And that the was the problem. He was limited by his own knowledge so there was no avenue to search for an answer.

Except for one.

‘Down’. I have to go down. I only know that Gaia created the Biomech… and only they have hearts like this. But this isn’t a Biomech. I’m sure of it. She must’ve created this. There’s no other way. But I don’t know… How can I know when I’ve been told nothing and only given a single fucking direction to follow!?

He internally screamed as he ripped the [Gear] from its fleshy bounds in rage.

Minutes passed afterwards as he floated in place. When he seemed to calm down an invisible sigh left his mouth.

… I hate not knowing anything.

His eyes wandered to the [Gear] in hand and they softened, yet they seemed firm and held a fierce flame that not even the depths he swam in could ever dream to quell.

The [Gear] suddenly changed to a violent blue before he gained total control over it like another limb. A myriad of useful magic to infuse the [Gear] with came to mind. However, he held himself back from indulging as he set his sights to the floating sinew.

With the intention to consume them right here and now, he tore a lengthy piece and swallowed it alongside a stomach-full of bloodied water.

However –

– It this creature contained no gears.