The third trial began the moment I realized I couldn't feel my mana.
That sounds dramatic, I know, but for me, that realization was less oh no, my power is gone and more why does my body suddenly feel like it's been downgraded to the free trial version.
I reached for space.
Nothing answered.
No bend.
No fold.
No familiar pressure responding to my thoughts.
Just empty air and my own pulse thudding in my ears.
I stood alone in a vast circular chamber, the walls smooth and colorless, the ceiling lost somewhere in shadow. The floor beneath my boots was cold stone, slightly damp, and carried sound far too well. Every shift of my weight echoed, as if the room itself were listening.
"…Okay," I muttered. "That's fine. This is fine. Who needs mana anyway."
That was when the first projectile appeared.
A ball of blood materialized in front of me, suspended in midair like an accusation.
It was small.
