The stone gate loomed before Connor, its silence heavier than any Meteor's roar. His forehead pulsed with warning pain, a gift screaming that death awaited within. Logic urged retreat. Yet conscience, forged in scars of failure, pushed him forward.
Kyle's voice—his future self—spoke cold reason. Walk away, ignore the three who had entered. Survival mattered more than strangers. Connor's blood boiled at such callousness. Perhaps time had hardened Kyle into stone, but the man he was now could not leave innocents to die.
With a steady breath, Connor placed his hand against the stone. The sting turned to searing fire, but he pressed onward, forcing the gate open. The heavy slab groaned shut behind him, sealing away all escape.
Inside, the air changed. The oppressive miasma of the hall vanished, replaced by the earth's stale breath. A cavern stretched ahead, wide and hollow, its center consumed by a gaping pit. What at first seemed ropes stretched across its maw revealed themselves, under the faint glow of his scroll-light, to be colossal webs—thick enough for a man to walk upon.
Two cocoons hung from the walls, human-sized, wrapped tight in silken thread. The tingling at his forehead sharpened. Danger dwelled here.
A whisper drew his attention. Behind a jagged boulder crouched a familiar figure—golden hair in disarray, emerald eyes sharp despite fear. Sina Palen, the bow-wielding noble who once challenged him again and again.
She hushed him quickly, pointing upward.
The glowing orb of light he had summoned floated high toward the ceiling. There, suspended in silence, clung a monster. A spider vast beyond measure, its abdomen wreathed in purple fire, its skull-like head crowned with three embedded crystals of condensed mana.
A Rank 30 predator, lurking where only fledglings should exist.
Connor's blood chilled. Such beasts were apex predators, far beyond the scope of this exam. Its very presence was an anomaly—perhaps once a weakling Meteor that had survived extermination, hidden in shadow until it grew into a nightmare.
The orb of light brushed close. A hooked leg lashed out, shattering it. Though blind, the monster felt every vibration through its web.
Connor slid beside Sina, who whispered the truth. She had entered with two others—Jessie and Beatri. When one was injured, they sought refuge here. But refuge turned to trap. The spider struck, cocooning her companions in an instant. Only Sina's luck spared her. And worse—the return bracelets were dead, drained of power within this sealed chamber.
Her voice trembled, but her resolve did not. This was her burden, not his. She urged him to leave, unwilling to drag him into certain death. Yet Connor saw the truth in her eyes—a determination that burned even in despair.
Still, determination was not enough. Alone, she would die.
He studied the beast above. To slay it might just fill his cylinder in one stroke. To flee would mean nightmares—watching comrades perish in his memory once more.
Dropping his battered mercenary sword, he let its clang reverberate through the cavern. The spider twitched at the sound. Blue energy surged along his arm, shaping into a gleaming dwarven-forged blade. A true weapon, born of Kyle's power and his will.
Sina gasped, eyes widening at the sight.
Connor stood tall, voice firm with conviction.
If one cannot do it, then two must. If two cannot, then die fighting. But never again would he turn away and let others perish in his shadow.
His blade hissed, ice against stone. The duel for survival was about to begin.
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