F.H. 53, Winter. Winona.

“Don’t die,” Arkaziel said cheerfully to Cassius Thorn. The overwhelmingly exaggerated cheerful tone almost gave me a sugar rush. The headmaster let his sharp front teeth take center stage, only summoning the doorway to the Trial of Worthiness after a visible shudder passed through Cassius.

Morgan and I stood behind Cassius. Morgan wore gear like my own, lightly armored with an emphasis on mobility. Thigh high black boots accented with multicolored metallic thread had been made by mom for Morgan, along with evil-looking black metal sickle and chain they used as a weapon. Telos had named the weapon Moral Dilemma. The other pieces of armor Morgan had been simple dark leather, non-magical gear. We both needed major upgrades to our gear if we ever wanted to make it up north to stop Argarg, but our weapons at least were quality.

“I’ll try not to, Headmaster.” Cassius answered Arkaziel’s less than sincere encouragement with words so dry even my lips puckered a little, before he leaped through the glowing portal.

“You could just let him fail. You don’t owe him anything. He never even showed up to one practice session with us,” Morgan said flatly to me. Arkaziel nodded in agreement.

“Nope, let’s go.” I didn’t bother to point out there would be experience or loot. Both of them knew that wasn’t what motivated me to make this decision, so there was no point in pretending otherwise.

“Even though it’s a trial, there’s still lethal challenges inside.” Arkaziel reminded us again, meeting each of our gazes.

Morgan rolled their eyes, and we stepped into the portal.

Welcome to the Trial of Worthiness, the System chimed into my mind.

Arkaziel’s immaculately furnished office had been replaced by a world of stone walls. Immense walls rose into the sky higher than I could estimate. Each had lichen, moss, erosion, and in some places even vines growing on them. Why they looked so ancient and weathered, I didn’t know, but it was very impressive. A dead end sat at our back, and three pathways lay ahead of us. Cassius stood in front of them, uncertain what he should do, his face contorted into a sour expression. No doubt he was annoyed that he had to wait for us, or deal with us at all.

“Which one do we go down?” Cassius spoke his first words to us in weeks, and still refused to look either of us in the eyes.

“It isn’t a maze,” Morgan said. Based on the way the shadows writhed around them, I could only assume Morgan had reached out to other shadows to take stock of the lay of the land.

“This giant labyrinth isn’t a maze?” Cassius asked sarcastically.

“Look at the walls. Those are the wild tribe’s etchings. The left one says wisdom, the middle one says valor, and the right one says spirit.” Morgan’s shadows still writhed, and I realized it might be anxiety. I didn’t even stop to consider that someone who claimed to want to kill Argarg might get anxious about a dungeon, but this was the first time Morgan had entered one with me.

“Let’s do valor!” Cassius said immediately, and I had to grab his shoulder to stop him from rushing down the middle path.

“Hold on, man. You’re a mage. Valor screams warrior. Think about it, if you fail this test you’re either dead or expelled.” Even as I spoke, I saw the flames in Cassius’ eyes burn brighter, but he held his anger in check. Barely. I could see the veins on his temple throb, and his hands clenched hard into fists.

“…yeah.” That was all I got from him, and then he deflated, as if he’d been defeated. “I don’t know. I’ve always been the worst at making the right decision. Wisdom is out, and I don’t even know what spirit would be?”

“In the north, Spirit Trials are used to find and bind companion spirits. Shamanism.” Morgan eyed Cassius. “You are one of the least mage-like people I’ve ever met. I say we go down spirit.”

Cassius didn’t argue. He took the comments like an upper cut, but he didn’t lash out. Instead, he moved for the right path.

“I’ll take the lead, Morgan you take the rear.”

We got all excited for nothing. Once we went down the path marked spirit we followed a winding path for a few hundred meters and found another portal waiting. When we stepped through it, we appeared in a swamp. I had never seen a swamp with brambles the color of blood, or thorns the size of daggers, but Dungeons had the freedom to slip the bonds of rational evolution in favor of challenging you.

“I can barely see,” Cassius grumbled and created a ball of fire to float over his hand. The moment his flame lit, the air filled with shrieks from the trees, and bubbles from the ankle-deep water.

“Put it out, now!” Morgan demanded.

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“I can’t see then!” Cassius objected.

“You’ll have to rely on us, we can both see in the dark.” I tried to keep any smugness from my voice, but it was hard not to be a little condescending about something someone had made fun of you for before.

“Uhm..” The flame went out, but it brought attention to the other source of light in our group. Me. Not only did my hair shine like a rainbow, and my eyes glow, but Rainbow Dash surrounded my in an aura of red that I changed to cyan.

“That way!” Morgan pointed at what looked like a solid wall of brambles, but once I looked closer the illusion faded away to reveal an open path further into swamp. I heard something burst from the water in the distance. “Let’s get out of here before whatever that was catches us,” Morgan demanded.

No one asked me if I could turn the light show off. I couldn’t, and the Dungeon didn’t seem to care about that. The water started to churn ominously, while shrieks filled the trees.

“Follow me, you won’t sink into the water.” I only jogged, there was no way Morgan or Cassius could keep up with me if I actually ran. I jogged on top of the churning, swampy water, though and behind me a trail of cyan energy danced in wisps that would allow the other two to also walk on my wake.

“Left!” Morgan called, and navigated me. Occasionally, Morgan demanded a fireball from Cassius to distract enemies, light bog gasses on fire, or for all I know, just to make Cassius sweat. After what seemed like hours of running, but was maybe ten minutes at most, the swamp gave way to a pyramid. We took a breather a few meters up the stone structure, but nothing from the swamp followed us.

“How’d you know where to go?” I asked.

“It was the same layout as from the front doors of the academy to the headmaster’s office,” Cassius answered me, earning a surprised look from Morgan. “I noticed it after you did, but I couldn’t see the turns anyway.”

“Good job. I didn’t notice anything,” I laughed a little embarrassed.

“Have you always been able to walk on water?” Cassius asked. “I cost my team five points in last years obstacle course because I lost so much time on the water-wall. Your class is so overpowered, with all those different elements.”

“It is a very versatile class,” I said with a nod. It felt awkward talking about my class with people, even Morgan. The only person with a more broken class than me was Lilith. My moms, Arkaziel, and Bobbi didn’t count. Based on their jokes, they existed outside the System I was pretty sure.

“Enough resting, let’s see what’s up top.” Morgan spoke moments before me. Had they sensed my discomfort and broken it, or were they just impatient? Lilith would’ve said impatient, but Lilith also thought Morgan only liked me for the access to our family, power, wealth, and resources. I preferred to think Morgan liked me, and those things were extras, but my stash of gold and items had become nearly depleted. I desperately needed some more dungeons or an allowance.

“One hundred and fifty nine…” Cassius counted each step, while Morgan and I walked hand in hand. Morgan’s pale skin had the flush of warmth from our run, although the air around them remained slightly cool, a side-effect of their darkness powers.

“Two hundred. It’s taller than I thought it’d be.” Cassius looked back over the swamp, and I reached back to nudge him.

“Eyes forward, dude.”

The top of the pyramid consisted of an altar under which magic flames burned. Above the altar floated a man made of flames.

“Ifrit!” Cassius exclaimed in excitement. The man, who seemed elderly, laughed at being identified so.

“You know my kind, that is good. Which of you will undergo my test?”

Cassius answered before I opened my mouth to volunteer.

“It’s my fault we’re here. I’ll take your test.”

The flame man waved a hand, and visions formed around Cassius. A mixture of heat haze, illusions, and some other power I couldn’t identify ensnared Cassius.

“Your friend will not be able to hear you. He sees the village of Darkbriar, threatened by the red dragonling Astarral. There are only two paths available to him, he may save the village, or he may fight the dragon after it has grown full and slow from feasting upon the corpses of Darkbriar.”

I cringed. Part of me thought Cassius would opt for the second path. Shockingly, though, he saved the village. In the images it played out, with the fire mage and fire dragon exchanging blows, until at last the young dragon fell. Cassius had acquired a large number of injuries, all of which transferred to his real body.

“Arrrg,” Cassius groaned in pain as the injuries became real. “Next trial.”

Cassius tried to sound tough, maybe he assumed I’d be able to heal him, but the wounds looked like they belonged there. I might be able to break the magic and then heal him outside of the dungeon, but inside I suspected he wouldn’t be able to cheat the trials. To test it out I switched to Life Kinesis, and the healing energies just fizzled out without improving his condition.

Then a new blossom of heat haze surrounded Cassius.

“He sees your town of Winona struck with disease, a plague that defies all magical healing. Yet a cure is found in a distant mountain village, but to harness the cure would destroy the spiritual center of the mountain grove, and the village itself. Does he save your home, or the mountain?”

I winced, watching the illusory story that matched the ifrit’s words. Again, Cassius surprised me, when he doomed the mountain grove to cure the plague in Winona. No injuries transferred to his body, this time, but a darkness showed underneath his eyes, an exhaustion and tiredness that had not been there before. For Morgan and I, it had been a few images and a theoretical solution, but in the spell of the Ifrit, Cassius had experienced it as a true life event.

“You have passed my trials, youngling. Now go, the final trial awaits you.” A portal of glimmering golden light appeared behind the old ifrit.

“Thank you,” Cassius said to the old man, before he led the way into the golden portal.

We appeared in the vast ruins of a castle. In the midst of the piled rubble stood a ten meter tall statue of a majestic man with glowing eyes.

“Defeat me if you can, or flee if you lack the strength.” A new golden portal appeared at the far edge of the fight, but none of us went towards it.

“About time I get to try Moral Dilemma out on a boss. Telos refused to tell me what ‘sickleium’ is, or why she made the sickle and chain out of it, why it looks evil as hell, or even why she named it Moral Dilemma.” Morgan smiled savagely and lifted the aforementioned Moral Dilemma, a black bladed and black hafted sickle, with its strange pike-like blade and attached weighted chain. Telos had called it a Kusarigama, but everyone else called it a sickle.

I activated Tides of Woe and Dragonfly Strike.