The hour granted to the group felt more like a few minutes, the quiet hum of the holographic layout filling the space as the four strangers gathered in the room, each eyeing the others with curiosity. They shared small talk at first—names, where they came from—but the conversation took a turn when Halric spoke up, his voice steady but carrying an underlying frustration.

"Like you, I woke up here with no memory."

The words were simple, but they carried a weight that immediately drew attention. He continued, pacing slightly, his expression darkening. "I don’t know who I was or why I’m here, but I’ve spent... months, maybe years, trying to piece together this place."

Rook tilted his head. "Months? Years?"

Halric nodded sharply. "It doesn’t make sense. One day, I was somewhere else, and then... I woke up on the floor. It’s like I’m stuck in some endless loop."

Echo and Rook exchanged a glance, the unease in the air thickening. Echo, always the one to ask the hard questions, raised his eyebrows. "Endless loop? What do you mean by that?"

Halric sighed, sitting down on the edge of the table, his fingers tracing the edges of a worn, rolled parchment he had been carrying with him. "It happened twice already," he explained, unrolling the map. "The first time, I woke up in this place and had no idea where I was. I tried to leave, but everything seemed... wrong. The second time, I woke up, and it was as if nothing had changed, but I knew I had been through it all before."

Echo’s heart skipped a beat as he leaned over Rook’s shoulder to get a better look at the map. It was surprisingly detailed, more so than any of the crude sketches they had made in their short time here. Lines and symbols crisscrossed the page, marking what appeared to be ruins, forests, rivers, and settlements. There was a circular marking near the center, and small notes in Halric's handwriting dotted the margins.

Rook leaned in, his eyes scanning over the map, and then his hand froze. "Wait..." He pointed to a specific spot near the edge. "That... that's the house we woke up in. The one we’ve been living in!"

Echo’s stomach twisted as he stared at the marked location. It was unmistakable. The same house, the same structure. The realization hit them all at once—Halric had somehow mapped their world, and their house was part of it.

"That’s impossible," Echo muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "How could you have...?"

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Halric nodded grimly. "I didn’t want to believe it either, but after spending so much time trying to figure out this place, I can’t ignore it anymore. This map is... too precise. It’s almost as if it’s an updated version of the one I’ve been using to navigate. And that house—I found it days ago, but I thought it was abandoned. Now it seems like everything’s connected."

The tension in the room deepened, but Halric wasn’t done. His finger hovered over the map again, tapping it lightly. "I’ve been here for two loops," he said slowly. "Two full cycles. And I have a hypothesis."

Echo and Rook leaned in, both eager to hear more.

"This place—the Colosseum—it might be some kind of error," Halric continued. "It doesn't fit. It feels wrong. The more important locations, the places that seem to matter, are all closer to the center. The Colosseum is on the edge of this place, but everything of significance is deeper inside. It’s like this arena was a mistake, an anomaly in the design of this place."

The implications of his words hung heavy in the air. Rook frowned, his mind racing. "So, you think we’re supposed to be somewhere else?"

Halric nodded slowly, his eyes darkening. "I do. There’s something about the core, something in the center of this place that calls to me. And I think it’s the key to understanding all of this. Maybe even how to escape. But I can’t be sure."

Aris, who had been silent until now, raised an eyebrow. "And the fog?"

Halric’s face hardened as he tapped a line near the map’s edge. "I’ve tried crossing it. Once, I thought I was close enough to the center to make it through, but the fog—this barrier—it's not just a wall. It’s more like it’s rejecting me. I tried walking into it, but the next moment, I was back where I started."

The room went silent as they absorbed his words. Echo's gaze flicked to Rook, then back to Halric. "You think we’re trapped here, then?"

Halric let out a long breath. "I think we’re part of something bigger. This place, this loop—it’s all connected, and the answers are buried at the center. We just need to figure out how to get there."

Rook shook his head, trying to push back the growing sense of unease. "So, we’re supposed to... what? Just ignore the Colosseum and focus on the center?"

Halric smiled faintly. "I’m not saying ignore the Colosseum, but the further we get from the edge, the more we uncover. If we want answers, we need to move inward. That’s where the truth lies."

Echo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The map, the fog, the repeated loops—it was a lot to take in, but there was no denying the truth in Halric's words. They were all in this together, stuck in the same place, caught in a cycle they didn’t understand.

"Alright," Echo said, his voice firm. "We train, we survive, and we figure this out. We’ve got each other, and we’ll get to the bottom of this—whatever it is."

Rook grinned. "And when we do, I’ll be ready to take on whatever’s next. Let’s make sure we’re ready for the fight, though. That tournament’s still waiting for us."

The group nodded in agreement, understanding that whatever strange mystery held them here, they would have to face it. But for now, they had each other—and that was enough.

Halric folded up the map, tucking it back into his satchel with a quiet, final resolve. "We move forward, step by step. Together."