Silence draped over the area, the howling winds filling the ears of the stunned champions as they gazed at the flashing blue screen. The quietude lasted only moments before Orion erupted into frenzied laughter, tears streaming down his cheeks.

The all-female members of Claw turned toward the mage; perplexed and intrigued by his reaction. Yet, they didn't dwell on it too long. After all, their transfer to the starting area had rendered all their progress futile.

“I truly loathe this place,” Slim suddenly said, exhaling as he rolled up his sleeves. “I knew it was too good to be true. There was no way they'd craft such a mundane trial without a twist,” he grumbled, leaning against the cold wall.

Like the necromancer, most champions harbored frustrations and complaints but lacked an outlet for them.

Meanwhile, Scott disregarded the system's notification, closely observing the skulls above his companions' heads. Their obliviousness indicated they still couldn't perceive it, despite the skull becoming larger and more tangible.

Is this meant to be a speed test? Scott pondered silently, his gaze darting between his companions. He dismissed the idea swiftly. Although they hadn't exerted themselves much during the first attempt, it would have required significant effort to cover the same distance if they had gone all out. Plus, there was the possibility of the passage extending farther than they could imagine. He doubted the game overseers expected them to sprint indefinitely.

Scott lifted his head abruptly, fixating on the chaotic energy swirling above. A thought struck him. I should have considered this sooner. The elemental shards, or even the core elemental shards, might hold the key to escaping this place, he mused, though doubt soon followed.

Unlike previous trials where anomalies obstructed the path, the chaotic energy merely hovered above their heads without hindrance.

Lost in thought, Zara's voice suddenly echoed in the mind of the eldritch knight. “Scott, did you notice anything unusual along the way?”

Scott gestured upwards, his expression grave. “Anything considered strange is gathered above us,” he murmured, his gaze fixated on the illusionary skulls hovering overhead. “Do you recall seeing those skulls earlier?”

Zara nodded, a shiver running down her spine as she anticipated Scott's explanation.

With a subtle, yet unseen smirk, Scott continued, “They've been there since the beginning, and it appears they're becoming more tangible.”

A frown creased Zara's brow as she fell into a contemplative silence. Meanwhile, nearby, the women of Claw engaged in a hushed discussion, their brows furrowed with concern as they pondered their predicament.

“How are we supposed to complete a trial with no clear objectives?” Daphine queried, her question hanging unanswered in the air.

Lysa glanced upwards, her captivating gaze tracing the faint glimmers of light atop the towering walls. “Are we expected to climb our way out?” she mused softly.

“I doubt it,” Uvophine interjected, her eyes reflecting a palpable unease as she surveyed the vacant skies. “We haven't mentioned it before, but Uvoinne and I have been plagued by unsettling thoughts since we arrived. It's as if something—or someone—is urging us to take flight. We keep hearing whispers of some sort,” the harpy confessed.

Lysa's concern deepened as she approached the avian duo. “Why didn't you mention this sooner?” she inquired, her hand resting gently on Uvoinne's shoulder. “Are you both alright? Are the whispers persisting?”

“We can still hear them,” Uvoinne affirmed.

“Indeed,” Uvophine added, her voice tinged with apprehension. “But it's not causing us pain. It's more like...” She trailed off, struggling to articulate the peculiar phenomenon.

In the ensuing silence, Orion's voice drifted from a distance. “It's like someone whispering suggestions into your mind, or those insidious thoughts you typically ignore,” he remarked casually.

All eyes turned towards the smiling mage. Lysa glanced back at the harpies, who nodded in agreement. Returning her focus to Orion, Lysa inquired, “Are you hearing the whispers too?”

“Of course,” Orion replied with a grin. “Though I do wish they'd provide answers instead of attempting to lead me astray,” he added with a wistful sigh.

Furrowing her brow, Lysa pressed further, “What are they urging you to do?”

Orion met the vampire’s probing gaze with a dazzling smile. “Nothing much really. It just wants me to pop off a few of your heads, but why would I do that, though?” The mage laughed while shaking his head.

Chills coursed down the spines of the harpies, Daphine, and even Lysa, whose lips trembled softly as if the vampire forcefully stopped herself from smiling.

“Buddy, your friend is really a piece of work,” Slim chuckled, mentally communicating with Scott. Orion's casual, borderline nonchalant demeanor while speaking such chilling words left a lasting impression on the all-female party.

“Alright everyone, enough crazy talk,” Zara suddenly said, taking a step forward. “Who else is hearing voices?” Her gaze alternated between the two groups.

Llorva meekly raised her hand. “I can hear something, but it's too incoherent to call it a whisper. It’s more like gibberish, so I didn’t pay too much attention to it. I thought everyone could hear it too,” she explained.

Zara massaged her temples, confused by why no one spoke up earlier. However, she knew now wasn’t the time to berate or question them. “Anyone else?” she asked.

Apart from the harpies, Orion, and Llorva, no one indicated they could hear the ominous voices. Zara pondered for a moment. “There must be a reason why some of us can hear the whispers while others can’t. Unless whoever created this place did it intentionally to cause confusion amongst us,” she said.

Orion clapped, nodding approvingly at the brawler. “I’m 60% leaning towards that being the case,” he said. “It’s likely there’s a hidden detail about this layer we have yet to discover, and it’s inevitable we fail the second trial. Should my expectations come true, then it’s likely the voices will become louder and more bewitching. It won’t be long before some of us lose ourselves to madness,” the mage proposed.

Silence once again enveloped the area as the champions fell into somber reflection. Scott, on the other hand, subconsciously wore a smile at the prospect of several people being overridden with madness. He raised his head toward the chaotic mass once more, this time retrieving a core elemental shard and an ordinary elemental shard.

Orion spotted the items as soon as they emerged, uncertainty gleaming in his eyes. He noticed Scott staring upwards, and it didn’t take him long to piece two and two together.

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“I absolutely wouldn’t do that,” the mage advised, gaining the eldritch knight’s attention. “Those items are usually crafted from a pure homogeneous source. What do you think would happen once they're thrown into such a chaotic mix?” he asked with a teasing smile.

At that moment, the others realized that Scott had taken out two items. Everyone recognized the elemental shard, but not its superior core variant. However, none of them understood what chaotic mix Orion talked about, and it didn’t seem like the mage had any intentions of explaining further.

Scott lowered his gaze, focusing on Orion. “You’re probably right, but I think I might have figured something out.”

The eyes of the champions lit up as they all focused their attention on Scott. The eldritch knight returned the elemental shard and its core variant to his inventory before retrieving a crimson and snow-white elemental shard.

Instantly, the snow-white elemental shard forcefully propelled itself out of Scott’s hand, detonating with a muffled explosion. At that moment, the cold in the area intensified several times over, causing hail and snow to fall like an unending torrent.

“No matter what you do, don’t use your energy sources,” Orion suddenly screamed, before curling into a fetal position to endure the onslaught.

Confusion and doubt welled up among the champions, especially the ladies from Claw, who didn’t know the mage well enough to gauge the reliability of his words. Nevertheless, Scott and his companions quickly mimicked Orion, lying on the cold ground as hail pelted their bodies. Lysa hesitated for a moment before instructing her companions to do the same. “We’ll follow suit,” she said, before joining them on the ground.

The harpies and Daphine quickly followed suit, and the group remained motionless as snow gradually accumulated over their bodies. Barely five minutes later, a crimson elemental shard emerged from the snowy land, levitating in midair. It shattered, unleashing a devastating heatwave that melted the accumulated snow and hidden hail into water.

Although the temperature in the area had returned to its previous levels before Scott took out the elemental shards, the minds of the champions were plagued with numerous questions.

“What the hell was that?” Daphine coughed as she struggled to sit up. Everything was wet, and the return of the cold only exacerbated the situation.

“Are we going to repeat the same situation from that damned place?” Slim grumbled, his expression darkening as he recalled their time maneuvering through the test forest and Togan.

Zara wore a similar expression. Given the choice, she would prefer not to participate in any trials like that, but luck didn’t seem to be on their side.

“What are you guys talking about?” Uvophine demanded, frowning as she glared at Scott and the rest of the Hound Extermination Crew. “Do you realize your carelessness could’ve cost us our lives?” she hissed.

Scott cast a glance toward the harpy but wordlessly averted his gaze. Uvophine ruffled her feathers, shaking off the lingering water on her body as she stood up. “Don’t look away. Take responsibility for your actions,” she demanded.

“Calm down, Uvophine,” Lysa mediated as she too stood up. “He surely didn’t mean it,” she said, resting a hand on the harpy’s shoulder.

“No, that’s not what’s important. Whether he meant to do that is irrelevant,” Uvophine said adamantly, shaking off Lysa's arm. She pointed at Scott and continued, “Look at him. He doesn’t even look bothered. That’s what irks me the most.”

“I agree,” Daphine chimed in, standing up. “I don’t know whether he knew that was going to happen or not, but a simple apology would be nice. After all, things could’ve been much worse,” she added while cleaning her hair with some towels from her inventory.

“Calm down, Uvophine,” Uvoinne said tenderly. “It’s not like he meant for that to happen,” she added, trying to ameliorate the situation.

“Don't do that,” Uvophine retorted, her gaze fixed on her sister. “Don't make excuses for him.”

Meanwhile, as the ladies heatedly discussed among themselves, Scott and his companions also conversed, albeit over the party channel.

“Buddy, do we need to climb up there?” Slim asked, recalling the levitation of the elemental shard before it detonated. It had only lasted a moment, but a trace of silvery gas had been drawn into the item before it exploded.

“No, that would be suicidal,” Scott replied. “I didn't expect that to happen, but now I understand why it did.”

“Fi-Fi also wants to understand too,” Fi-Fi interjected.

“Me too,” Llorva chimed in. “This is different from what happened in Enchanted Heights. Could there be different rules governing this place?” she theorized.

Scott nodded slowly. “I had the sane suspicion earlier, but I'm confident that's the case after what occurred.” He paused, noticing Orion muttering inaudible words while occasionally turning his head from side to side. The skull above the mage's head moved its mouth frequently, indicating a conversation between them.

Scott could only stare blankly at the mage, amazed at his ability to gather data.

Scott then shifted his focus back to the group. “There are still many uncertainties, but it seems the temperature amplifies upon encountering an elemental shard of the same property. The opposing elemental shard then nullifies its effects,” he explained.

“Does that mean it's possible to completely nullify the conditions in an area using only the opposite elemental shard?” Zara asked after a brief silence.

“In theory, yes, but things rarely go as expected in this place,” Scott admitted.

“That's true. Leaving that aside, what do you think we're supposed to find by doing that?” Slim pondered aloud.

“I honestly have no idea,” Scott admitted, shaking his head ruefully.

“I thought as much. I don't blame you. This place is wacky as hell,” the necromancer muttered, his attention shifting to Orion, who continued to mutter inaudibly. “What's he doing, and why did he say we shouldn't defend ourselves earlier?”

“You probably couldn't see it, but the space above us was chaotic before the elemental shard exploded. We might have been in big trouble if we had used our powers,” Scott explained, pausing for a moment. He hesitated before continuing, “We'll have to wait for him to finish his discussion if we want to find out more.”

Llorva and Zara simultaneously tilted their heads backward. “Huh? What do you mean? Who is he talking to?” Zara asked.

Scott pointed to the space above his head. “The illusionary skull,” he said.

Instantly, all eyes turned toward Orion. Coincidentally, the mage exploded into laughter, his eyes gleaming with understanding. “Huh? Why are you guys staring at me like that?” he quizzed mentally.

“Are you finished with your discussion?” Scott retorted with a question of his own.

The mage grinned even wider. “It was quite a conversation. Essentially, it was laughing at you for releasing an ice elemental shard in a cold zone. But I think I know what we must do now.”

“Hey!” Uvophine's shout suddenly echoed, interrupting the discussion. “Are you going to apologize or not?” she demanded, her eyes laced with fury.

Zara stepped forward, preparing to mediate a potential conflict, but Scott held her wrist, bringing the brawler to a halt. Instead, he approached the harpy in slow, deliberate steps.

“Um, Scott, please don't do anything rash,” Zara pleaded mentally.

No one could tell if they would be expelled from the labyrinth for harming or killing their teammate.

Scott didn’t respond, stopping only when he was ten feet away from the harpy. Both champions locked gazes, and an otherworldly fear gripped the harpy's heart, causing her to instinctively retreat. Then Scott's voice echoed, “Did you think it was my intention for that to happen? Well, it doesn’t matter. I probably would have apologized if you weren't so abrasive about it. Now, I'm more curious to see what you're going to do instead.”

This time, Zara and Lysa stepped in between the two.

“That's enough from both of you,” Zara said, urging Scott to retreat.

“Yeah, teammates shouldn't be at each other’s throats like this,” Lysa chimed in, guiding the visibly stunned harpy away.

Moments later, Zara approached Lysa with an awkward smile. “I apologize for what happened earlier. He can be quite stubborn sometimes. I assure you, he meant no harm,” she said apologetically.

“I understand,” Lysa replied, glancing toward Uvophine. “She can be the same way too. I also apologize for her previous outburst. I hope we can put this matter behind us.”

“Of course,” Zara replied, her smile becoming more natural. Then she continued, “I think we might have figured out the mystery of this place. You guys should come listen.”

Lysa's eyes lit up, and without hesitation, she called her companions to listen to Orion's report. The mage hesitated for a moment, blankly staring into space before facing the champions with an uncharacteristic frown.

“We are fortunate that we conducted that experiment before the next attempt began. Without delving into details, the first layer is divided into numerous zones, each characterized by its own unique temperature. To us, it may simply feel hot or cold, but the severity of the temperature in each zone varies considerably, even by a mere point one increase,” Orion paused, allowing the group to digest his words. “Although we conducted the experiment incorrectly, an exit should have revealed itself. This brings me back to the fortunate aspect I mentioned earlier. Since we were deemed to have failed in our initial attempt, we have absolutely no right to use the first exit if it appeared. Doing so would have resulted in severe consequences. Essentially, we're free to choose any exit from the second zone to leave the first layer.” The mage announced.

“However, the skull said there’s still so much more to come,” the mage added, giggling softly. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can’t wait.”