"Wait!" I gasped, blinking as my eyes widened. "I think I have an idea."

"What's it?" Null asked, pulling out his sunglasses and sliding them over his eyes.

I raised my hands, motioning for everyone to follow me. "We should take a closer look at that oversized square key in the center."

"What for?" Forest Willow asked, tilting her head. "We tried everything already."

"Let's just take a closer look," I urged, jogging toward the center of the layout.

The circle and triangular keys were reasonably portable - about the size of a human head. However, the square key was massive in comparison, about as large as a truck tire.

I kneeled, inspecting it carefully. It had a deep spiraling fractal pattern that seemed to move and twist as I stared at it. It was the type of pattern that strained your eyes if you looked at it too long.

Elysia quietly walked next to me, eyeing me curiously as she leaned against the key. "So, Lux. What are you thinking?"

I shrugged, shaking my head. "I'm thinking about how the instructions were worded. 'For the rightful path lies between opposing forces, and in the end, only one shall proceed.' There's something fishy about this whole setup, and I'm wondering if we're looking at this thing from the wrong perspective."

Null stepped up to my other side, frowning as he rubbed his chin. "Yeah. This looks like a puzzle alright. Something straight out of an RPG."

I walked up to it, checking the altar it was sitting on. It had a square recess, and the square key fitted perfectly into it. If there was a way to take it out, it wasn't obvious.

I traced my fingers over the edges, searching for a weak point or seam. It was embedded deep into the stone, and I couldn't find a grip to even attempt to pull it out.

"You know," I muttered, narrowing my eyes as I looked at the rest of the mechanism. "There's a triangle keyhole on the other side of the circle keyhole, and a circle keyhole on the other side of the triangle keyhole."

Aurora raised a brow, coming up behind me and leaning over to get a better look at the square. "Y-yeah?"

I tried to push against the altar, but it wouldn't budge. But it clicked in my head that something else wasn't right.

"Hey, let me try something else," I muttered, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. "Cover me just in case."

Forest Willow looked confused. "Huh?"

But Null nodded, immediately taking a defensive stance with his fists raised. "Oh boy."

Elysia smiled softly, narrowing her eyes as she shifted into a defensive position by my side. "Go for it, Lux."

I smirked, glancing at her before crawling behind the stone slab.

Something wasn't right. There were slight inconsistencies in the design, and the back of the square was loosely constructed compared to the top.

I held up both hands, breathing deeply, mana arcing around my hands as I began to gather energy.

Null looked at me with a slack jaw as my hair began to flutter, and Ace's eyes widened in alarm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ace laughed, covering her mouth with a snicker. "You can't be serious!"

I glared at her, charging my energy as I felt the mana forming in my hands reach the second rank of power for the skill. "Maybe. I think it's time to take a closer look."

"You guys might want to step back," Elysia grinned as she winked at Forest Willow and Null, raising one hand in the air to get ready.

"H-hold on a second!" Aurora stammered, waving her hands frantically. "We can't just go shooting at a big, complex, potentially culturally significant structure built by the school without care!"

"I dunno," Null shrugged, his arms crossed as he scanned the area. "This place is weird anyway. There's some crazy thing going on here, and it seems like we're not the only ones locked in some screwed up test in this battle royale. It wouldn't surprise me the school expects collateral damage."

"Huh," Ace suddenly spoke from right next to me as I took aim. "Say, you've only been contracted since the Cataclysm, Lux? You aren't actually standard admissions like Elysia here?"

I nearly misfired out of surprise, but I set my shoulders and kept aiming as I glared at her. "That's right. What about it?"

She chuckled, raising her hands up innocently. "Nothing, nothing. You're a bit of a curiosity, that's all."

"Just lay off, Ace," Elysia muttered, leveling her gaze.

Ace simply winked in response, smirking as she tipped her hat.

"Hey, hey. Unlike my teammates I never once actively picked a fight with you or her," she said, shrugging. "Why get everyone's feathers in a ruffle? Can't we call a truce and work things out, at least for a while?"

"Yeah, yeah. Like you won't totally screw us over the moment our backs are turned, right?" Null hissed, rolling his eyes.

Ace grinned, chuckling as she shook her head. "Hey, you never know!"

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"Hey!" I snarled, my teeth baring in frustration. "Can we focus, please?!"

"Um. If I may." Forest Willow squatted down beside me, running her hands over the square key. "I think I can help. I think we should think this through before going with the brute force option."

Her eyes flashed with a pale green glow as she held up her own hands.

"Survival Art: One-Way Mirror."

And suddenly, the key and the altar behind it faded into translucent, see-through forms. It wasn't totally see-through, though. And we could make out patches of mechanisms, levers, and pullies, along with several mana crystals studding the interior.

"Whoa," I blinked in surprise.

"Okay. That's pretty cool," Null nodded as he kneeled beside Forest Willow. "Now we can actually see what's going on with this thing. Thanks, Willow."

She nodded, lowering her hands as the glow faded from her eyes. "No problem. You guys see anything? Any irregularities, any marks or symbols?"

I continued scanning the structure for any clues or weak points, searching for anything that stood out or was out of place.

"Ah. Look behind the square key," Aurora noted. "Something's carved there, and there's a lot of empty space between the key and the back of the altar."

Null scratched the back of his neck, leaning closer. "Yup. Sure looks like it."

The spiraling pattern at the center of the square key was only half formed through Willow's ability, but a few details stood out.

Aurora studied the carvings for a moment, squinting her eyes. "I do believe the square key can be removed but it might take a bit of finesse and patience to extract it. It seems to be connected to the base with some intricate threads or wires."

Forest Willow nodded, her eyes flashing green again. "Hm... That doesn't seem too surprising. But any ideas on how to accomplish that? Maybe there's a hidden switch?"

"Ahem," I coughed, raising my eyebrows as their heads turned toward me.

I held up the ball of golden energy I had formed in my hands, putting on my best deadpan face as I braced myself in a wide stance.

"Sheesh," Ace muttered, chuckling to herself. "Just as I expected. What a dangerous card she might turn out to be..."

I tried not to think about the implications of that, and instead pulled back my energy just a bit. "Elysia? Put up barrier behind me, please."

"You got it, Lux!"

As I took aim, I allowed my energy to spark and shimmer around my hands.

A gust of wind picked up, blowing my hair and clothes back as the golden light rose to the second rank.

"Are you sure about this?" Forest Willow gasped, eyeing me worriedly.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I won't blow the altar away or anything."

"Ready when you are," Elysia whispered, crossing her arms as a grid of honeycombed blue barriers appeared around the group.

The two of us shared a simultaneous nod and smile.

"Here goes nothing," I turned back to the key. "Let's do it."

I focused my concentration, narrowing the size of the ball to half of its starting radius.

It was my most taxing ability by far outside of the abilities I could 'borrow' through Hopeful Heart Alchemy, and it was something Twilight Aster had specifically helped me develop exercises for. I'd gained a considerable amount of control just messing around in my own room in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, and I still had a long ways to go with it.

But the 'Ranks' I'd gained on Luminary Beam and some of my other more practical abilities had contributed significantly to my aggregated level under the System in the two weeks after the Cataclysm. My hair flew back violently with my dress as I added a torque and rotation to the ball of raw energy in my hand, taking a deep breath and lowering my stance.

"Hopeful Heart Alchemy," I whispered quietly that only. "Love's Embrace."

A faint pink light settled over my ball, and I felt a deep drain on my mana as it was imbued with an additional effect. An effect that would prevent excessive collateral damage.

And with that, I let loose.

"Luminary Beam!"

The ray of golden light slammed into the square key, exploding with a blinding flash and an expanding shockwave that toppled several nearby trees.

An explosion of debris, mana, and thundering ripples of energy rattled through the air, sending a shockwave through the ground.

After a long quiet moment, the dust and mist began to clear, and we peered through the fading aftermath of my blast.

"W-w-what the hell was that?" an unfamiliar voice squeaked from nearby.

I turned, only to see the boy with the dress shirt, pocket protector, and katana.

He was walking up the path along with the orange-haired tall girl with the halberd Elysia had restrained. Both look visibly roughed up, with the boy's black hair soaked and a trickle of blood dribbling from his nose.

"Ah, just in time," Elysia hummed with a smirk. "Look at that."

She pointed at the alter, where the center square key had cracked down the middle, and the crack in the center glowed with a faint pulse.

"Wowza!" Ace whistled. "That might've hit as hard as one of Sunny's blasts. How'd you manage to do that without blowing everything sky high?"

I simply gave her a shrug, and awkwardly held my arms behind my head. I didn't exactly want to reveal that card just yet.

The orange-haired magical knight gawked as she walked up to us, nursing a swollen eye. "What exactly happened here?"

Aurora frowned, turning to look at her with a raised brow. "What do you mean? We've just been trying to solve the gate's puzzle."

"The gate has a puzzle?" the boy asked, wiping his nose.

"We're not even sure if there's a puzzle, but Lux split that thing open alright," Null sighed as he stared back at the key.

"One key must be forsaken to align the paths..." Elysia muttered to herself.

I studied her reaction, tilting my head in concern. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, uh..." she stammered, staring at the ground. "I was just thinking about the instructions."

Our group moved together, examining the shattered remains of the massive key. Aurora squatted next to it, poking at it with her finger before scooting behind the altar.

The tall orange-haired girl walked up to the shattered center and picked up a piece of the square rubbing her fingers over it thoughtfully.

"Hey guys?" Aurora suddenly spoke from behind the altar.

"What's up? Found something?" Null asked.

"Yeah. Uh, I found a button. It's camouflaged with the structure. Hidden really well."

I heard a click and a whirring sound, followed by the grinding of gears.

And then the cracked, shattered remains of the square key fell away, landing piece by piece onto the ground, revealing a brand new mechanism underneath.

The altar opened like a book, exposing a large circular plate attached to the base with several sliding tracks. Attached to it were two empty receptacles - one for a circle and one for a triangle.

Silence settled over us, and Elysia covered her mouth, walking next to me.

"Um, so. Yeah." Forest Willow muttered. "Good job, team."

Elysia tried in vain to stifle a small giggle as we shared an awkward look.

"Yeah," I shrugged, biting my lip. "Sorry about that. I get caught up in the moment sometimes."

Ace was the first to burst out laughing, slapping her knees as she wiped her eyes.

Null and Forest Willow began chuckling, and Aurora slowly began to smile. The two injured cadets who'd joined us shared a pained look and a shrug.

Finally, Elysia joined in, shaking her head and muttering to herself.

"Oh well. Nothing to do about it now."

Um.... yeah.

I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment, and I sheepishly cleared my throat as I turned back toward the gate.

If there was one thing I'd gotten good at in just the short time since accepting my contract, it was finding solutions to problems - even when I didn't have all the pieces.

Unfortunately, sometimes it involved a little trial and error.

I stared at the remains of the rubble on the ground as Null approached the altar with his key.

Or a lot of trial and error.