Tyler’s body thrummed with the searing intensity of mana surging through him like a wild, untamed river. The raw energy coursing within was almost too much to contain—he could feel it scorching him from the inside out, burning against the fragile limits of his physical form. But Tyler had been here before, walking the knife’s edge between control and destruction. This time, the power was on a whole new level, yet he forced his will into it, bending the volatile energy to his command.

He skidded to a halt, the world around him blurring momentarily as he decelerated. As his senses caught up, he took in the breathtaking and bizarre sight of the ring’s interior. The sky arched above in a vast, curving horizon—a colossal structure encircling the stars. It was both awe-inspiring and unsettling, but Tyler had no time to admire the view.

His focus narrowed to a single, urgent thought: Find the others.

Gritting his teeth, Tyler zeroed in on the connections he had forged with his friends, each one tethered to his core like a delicate thread of light. As he mentally traced those bonds, his breath caught in his throat. One of the threads was gone. Panic gripped him, tightening in his chest like a vice.

“No… there should be four,” he whispered, his voice tinged with disbelief.

His mind raced through the possibilities, but deep down, he already knew the truth. He could feel it—a cold emptiness where there should have been a vibrant connection. One of his friends was gone. Another death. Another failure he couldn’t prevent.

Markus was dead. Tyler had come to terms with that grim reality. But who else? Who had he lost now?

Please don’t let it be Livia.

His heart pounded painfully as he scanned the landscape below, desperate to see all the markers he expected. But the hollow ache in his core confirmed what he feared. One of his friends was gone, and the thought of it being Livia—the first name that had come to mind—sent a shudder through him.

Tyler clenched his jaw, forcing himself to stay focused, to push the fear aside. But he couldn’t shake the gnawing ache in his chest. His thoughts kept circling back to Livia—the one who had become more than just a teammate. The realization hit him with the force of a blow: he cared for her more deeply than he’d allowed himself to acknowledge until now.

“No, it can’t be her,” he whispered, almost pleading with the universe. The very thought of losing her made his breath hitch, his resolve threatening to crack under the weight of that fear. He’d already lost too many people—he couldn’t lose her too.

The mana roared within him, both a blessing and a curse. It gave him the raw power to do almost anything he could imagine, but the risk of it spiralling out of control and consuming him was very real. He needed to channel it, to use it before it overwhelmed him entirely.

Tyler’s gaze sharpened with resolve. The shields he had placed around his friends were still active, and if he forced them to expand, they would become visible from miles away. It was a risky move—every other challenger in the ring would see them too—but it was the only way to confirm their locations.

He hesitated for a moment, weighing the risks. Could expanding the shields accidentally trap an enemy inside one of them? He quickly dismissed the thought. The shields were designed to repel everything as they expanded; usually, they would be like a second skin but now as they expanded anything caught within their boundaries would be pushed out or obliterated if it couldn’t move. It would drain a massive amount of mana, even with the vast reservoir he had access to—but he was running out of options. If he didn’t act now, his friends could be lost in the vastness of this arena.

“Here goes nothing,” he muttered, steeling himself as he unleashed the command.

Tyler clenched his fists, feeling the tremendous pull on his mana core as power surged into the shields. The strain was immediate and immense, his vision blurring as the mana coursed outward. He could sense the barriers stretching, expanding until they became towering, glowing domes within the ring.

He scanned the expanse, searching for the telltale signs of his friends. Three blue bubbles began to swell across the terrain—one nestled within a dense jungle, another resting within a desert scarred by canyon-sized cracks, and one slowly moving across varied landscapes not far from him. The glowing orbs were like distant stars, small but unmistakable against the vast interior of the ring.

Tyler exhaled shakily, relief washing over him as he located the markers. But he couldn’t afford to linger in that moment. The mana still roared through him, wild and restless, demanding to be channelled. He had to move quickly if he was going to prevent another tragedy.

Pushing aside the surge of emotions, Tyler honed in on the closest bubble, his focus narrowing like a blade’s edge.

His eyes locked onto the moving bubble, tracing its flight path with precision. The weaving, controlled dips and sharp climbs were unmistakable—it was Darius. Relief surged through Tyler, but it quickly turned to concern as he realized the issue: Darius was encased in a shield the size of a football stadium, glowing brightly as it followed Tyler’s earlier command. There was no way Darius could get close with that enormous barrier—it would repel everything in its path, including Tyler himself.

The shield was meant to protect, but in this instance, it was more of an obstacle. He needed to compress it, tightening it until it clung to Darius like a second skin.

Tyler reached out with his mana, feeling the thread of connection linking him to Darius. He visualized the shield shrinking, folding inward, and wrapping closer to Darius’s form. Slowly, the pull on his core lightened as the shield responded, coiling tightly until it was nothing more than a faint shimmer around Darius.

Freed from the oversized bubble, Darius shot forward, his massive hammer thrumming with the gravitic runes he’d inscribed on it. The runes bent gravity to his will, allowing him to glide effortlessly through the air. Tyler shot a massive fireball toward Darius to draw his attention and immediately Darius changed his course, heading directly at Tyler. As he closed the distance, Tyler could see the tension etched in his friend’s face—relief mixed with lingering worry.

When Darius finally touched down beside Tyler, he didn’t waste a moment before speaking, still catching his breath. “I thought you were toast back there, man. That energy spike from the shields was off the charts! You holding up?”

Tyler nodded, though he could feel exhaustion gnawing at the edges of his mind, threatening to drag him under. “Yeah, I’m hanging in there. I burned through a lot of extra power tracking you all down, but the danger’s not over. I still haven’t found a way to stop the torrent of mana pouring into me.” His voice wavered slightly as he exhaled heavily, struggling to steady himself. He could feel the raw energy seething beneath the surface, wild and barely contained. “And that’s not the only bad news.”

Darius’s expression darkened immediately, his voice dropping to a grave tone. “Markus… it’s him, isn’t it?”

Tyler’s fists clenched involuntarily, the memory of Markus’s last moments stabbing at him with a fresh surge of pain. “Yeah. He’s gone. The old bastard fought like hell right to the bitter end.” The words came out rough, heavy with grief, but Tyler forced himself to meet Darius’s gaze. The determination in his eyes flared up, even as the loss threatened to drag him down.

“You saw it happen?”

Tyler’s throat tightened. “I’m sorry, Darius. I tried, but I couldn’t reach him in time.”

Darius’s jaw tightened his expression a mix of sorrow and acceptance. “He’s with his family now,” he said quietly, a hint of something bittersweet in his voice.

Tyler nodded, but the pain didn’t stop there. “It’s not just Markus. We lost another one a few minutes ago—I don’t know who. One of the connections went cold.”

Darius’s eyes flashed with a grim resolve, though the weight of loss hung heavy between them. He drew in a slow breath, then gave a determined nod. “Then we can’t waste any more time. We need to keep moving.”

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He paused, his gaze dropping to the shield strapped to his arm. The runes etched into its surface glowed faintly, mirroring the ones carved into his hammer. Without a word, he unstrapped it and held it out to Tyler. “You’re gonna need this if we’re flying together. We stick together, we have a better chance.”

Tyler took the shield, feeling the hum of the gravitic runes pulsing beneath his grip. He strapped it to his arm, focusing on syncing its power with his own mana. Almost instantly, the weight of gravity seemed to shift, becoming something he could mould and control at will.

“Ready?” Darius asked, already lifting off, the runes on his hammer thrumming with a steady glow.

Tyler activated the runes, feeling the subtle tug as gravity adjusted around him, allowing him to hover effortlessly beside Darius. “Let’s find the others.”

The two shot forward in unison, slicing through the air with the precision of arrows. Tyler’s focus had already shifted to the next bubble—they needed to reach Livia and Elric, and they couldn’t afford any more losses. Not now, not when they were so close to regrouping and escaping this nightmare.

With Darius by his side, Tyler’s resolve solidified. Whatever challenges awaited them next, they would face them together.

The landscape blurred beneath them as they streaked through the air, passing over arid plains and jagged rock formations. The curvature of the ring’s interior distorted distances, but Tyler’s eyes remained locked on the glowing blue bubble in the desert below. As they drew closer, he noticed something was off—the shape wasn’t the smooth, clean orb he expected.

“Damn,” Darius muttered, his tone grim. “That’s not good.”

The shield looked distorted, bulging unevenly like the yolk of a cracked egg. Ripples marred its surface, as if it had been forced to expand around the jagged terrain. The expanding barrier had displaced everything in its path, shoving debris, rock formations, and even creatures to the edges of a massive canyon. The result was a colossal crater-like depression, with jagged canyon walls bunching up around the edges as if the earth itself had been peeled back by some monstrous hand.

Tyler’s gaze zeroed in on movement near the shield’s edge. Four enormous, snake-like creatures slithered around the perimeter, their scaled bodies coiling and thrashing against the invisible barrier. Each serpent was a behemoth—easily the length of a freight train—with dark, armoured hides that gleamed like polished obsidian and eyes that burned with molten ember light. It was clear they had been in the canyon when the shield expanded, forcing everything within its range to bunch together, including these monstrous serpents. Now they were trapped at the boundary, unable to reach the figure standing at the centre of the crater.

Tyler’s breath hitched, his chest tightening when he saw her. “Livia.”

She stood alone in the heart of the crater, bow drawn, surrounded by cracked earth and swirling dust. The scene was hauntingly still, the destruction around her amplifying the eerie silence. For a brief, irrational moment, Tyler’s mind flashed to a certain shattered hidden leaf village left in ruins after one man’s wrath.

Relief surged through Tyler, clashing with the storm of emotions that had been swirling in him since this hellish challenge began. Seeing her safe—seeing her—was like a lifeline being thrown to a drowning man. His heart, which had been racing with fear and grief, now hammered with a fierce protectiveness.

Tyler quickly extended his will toward the shield, visualizing it retracting and compressing until it clung to Livia’s form like a protective cocoon. Slowly, the shield began to contract, pulling away from the canyon walls and retreating from the snakes that had been pressing against it. The creatures hissed in frustration, their massive bodies coiling tighter as the shield’s pressure eased, allowing them to slip free from its force.

Tyler and Darius descended into the crater, landing softly beside Livia. She turned toward them, a mixture of exhaustion and palpable relief in her eyes. For a moment, Tyler’s gaze lingered on her, taking in every detail—the tension in her stance, the slight tremor in her hands, the weariness shadowed by her determination. But most of all, the fact that she was alive.

“About time you showed up,” she said, her voice edged with fatigue, but also laced with the quiet strength he’d come to admire. “I was starting to think I’d be stuck in here forever.”

Tyler’s lips quirked into a small, relieved smile, the weight of everything they’d been through momentarily lifting. “We wouldn’t leave you hanging,” he replied, his voice softer than usual. But beneath those words was a silent promise—he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

For a brief moment, as the three of them stood together amidst the aftermath of chaos, Tyler allowed himself to feel something he’d been denying—how much Livia mattered to him, how much he couldn’t afford to lose her. But there was no time to dwell on those emotions, not here. He shoved the thoughts aside, steeling himself for whatever came next.

The real danger was still out there, and they couldn’t afford to let their guard down. Not yet.

Tyler offered Livia a quick, relieved grin, but the weight of the situation pressed down on them all. His gaze flicked to the serpents still slithering at the edge of the crater, their eyes locked onto the trio, waiting for a chance to strike. The creatures coiled and hissed, restless with the tension in the air.

“Let’s just say we had a few obstacles of our own,” Tyler said, though his attention never fully left the snakes as they all started heading straight toward Tylers' group.

Tyler made a snap decision as he shot forward in a blur of speed, swooping past the serpents. The creatures hissed in surprise as he seized each one with his enhanced strength, and with a quick burst of mana, he stored them directly into his inventory. The action was quick but deliberate—both a tactical move and a way to burn off some of the overwhelming energy surging within him.

With the immediate threat neutralized, Tyler returned to his friends, who gave him a questioning glance but didn’t comment. They all knew how unstable the situation was, and anything to reduce that pressure was a welcome move.

With Livia now safely in Tylers'arms, the trio shot through the air toward their next destination—the dense jungle. As they flew, Tyler quickly brought Livia up to speed on Markus’s death. The grim news hung heavily between them, a silent acknowledgement of the losses they had endured. As they neared the glowing blue bubble nestled among the trees, it became clear that the shield had carved out a strange clearing. The towering trunks had been forced back, creating a perfect circle around the shield, almost like a golf ball lodged in thick grass.

Darius couldn’t help but chuckle. “Looks like we’ve found Elric. This should be good.” But as the words left his mouth, Tyler’s heart sank with sudden realization—the lost mana link wasn’t just anyone. It was Edward. The connection that had vanished was his tie to Edward, and the weight of that loss settled in, cold and heavy.

They landed softly on the forest floor, the towering trees looming around them like ancient sentinels. Tyler wasted no time condensing the shield, channelling his mana to pull the barrier inward until it shrank down to hug Elric’s form like a second skin. As the shimmering energy peeled away, Elric’s appearance left no room for doubt—relief and utter mortification were written all over his face.

The reason for his embarrassment became immediately clear—Elric was stark naked, clutching a large frond to cover himself. His flushed face was a mix of frustration and lingering horror, and, to top it off, his lips were smeared with what could only be described as bright red lipstick. The sight was so absurd that it momentarily stunned them all into silence.

But the quiet didn’t last.

Livia’s laughter burst out like a dam breaking, doubling her over as she tried and failed to stifle the giggles. “What in the world happened to you?” she managed to gasp between fits of laughter.

Elric shot her a glare that could’ve curdled milk. “Don’t. Ask.” His voice was tight, laced with barely contained exasperation. “And no, I am never going to talk about it… ever.”

Darius, clearly enjoying every second of Elric’s discomfort, couldn’t resist piling on. “Let me guess—you got really hot, stripped off all your armour, got ambushed by some mana beasts, and now you’re prancing around in nothing but a leaf?”

Elric rolled his eyes skyward as if begging the heavens for patience. “Yeah, because if that was all that happened, I wouldn’t be covered in lipstick. I swear, I’m never stepping foot in a place like this again.”

Tyler, unable to resist joining in, smirked. “I don’t know, Elric. You seem pretty comfortable in your ‘natural’ look. Maybe it’s your new aesthetic.”

“Very funny, Tyler,” Elric grumbled, trying to reposition the frond for better coverage with as much dignity as one could manage in such a situation. “Can we please get out of here before something else decides to crawl up my ass and lay eggs!?”

His words hung in the air for a moment, causing everyone to freeze and exchange bewildered glances as they began connecting the dots. Just as the implications sank in, as if summoned by Elric’s exasperation, a deep rumble reverberated through the ground. The clearing shuddered, and the towering trees around them rustled ominously as something enormous forced its way through the debris at the crater’s edge.

A low, resonant growl filled the air as a colossal gorilla-like creature lumbered into view. Its fur was matted with dirt and leaves, and its eyes gleamed with primal aggression. The beast’s huge fists pounded the ground, sending shockwaves rippling through the earth with each step. The very air seemed to vibrate with the creature’s fury.

“Yeah, no thanks, not sticking around for that,” Tyler said quickly, already bracing to take off.

Darius was one step ahead, reaching out and grabbing Elric by the arm before launching into the air with a powerful burst from his gravitic runes. “Come on, nature boy, time to fly!”

Elric yelped in surprise as he was hauled skyward like a ragdoll. “For the love of—! Could you at least let me grab something to wear?”

“Nope, no time,” Darius replied cheerfully, a wide grin plastered across his face. “Besides, this way you can really feel the breeze!”

Livia’s laughter rang out again as they ascended rapidly, leaving the enraged gorilla to roar in frustration below, swiping at the empty air with massive hands. Tyler and Livia quickly followed, shaking their heads in disbelief at the sheer absurdity of it all.

“Just keep flying,” Tyler called over to Darius. “The sooner we find Elric some clothes, the sooner we can stop traumatizing every living thing we pass by.”

Elric’s voice echoed back, dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, you’re all so hilarious. I’ll be sure to repay the favour next time.”

As they sped off through the jungle canopy, the group shared a rare moment of levity amid the chaos. Even with danger looming on every side, they managed to lift each other’s spirits. In a world this unforgiving, sometimes humour was the only shield they had against losing themselves entirely to the madness around them.