Rex's metal body scraped faint electromagnetic sparks along the corridor as he led Fa and the others down the spiral staircase beneath the Central Palace. When they stepped into the sanctum hall, no sunlight fell from the vaulted dome—only countless "stardust lamps," luminous bodies of crystal and gears, hung frozen like a captured meteor shower. At the center of the floor lay a twenty-meter-wide circular proving ground, watched over by four five-meter statues at the corners, their bodies forged from sand and alloy, arcane runes of shifting colors flowing across their surfaces like ancient guardian tales.
The Cycle of the Four Guardians
"The Trial of Sand Forms begins," a deep voice rumbled through the hall, the sound waves rippling against the stardust lamps and sending waves of light across the dome. "You will face four statues that fuse desert magic and technology. They will test your combat skill and your teamwork."
The moment the words faded, all four statues opened their clouded crystal eyes at once, their chest cavities grinding with metallic groans.
The white statue in the upper-right moved first—its left arm clicked open into a razor-sharp sand blade that slashed the ground with a blast of searing air, leaving scorched black scars on the stone. The yellow statue in the upper-left slammed both fists into the floor; a ring-shaped sand wave erupted around it, the grains sharpened by magic into flying knives. The black statue in the lower-right suddenly lengthened its legs into four sand-serpent limbs and lunged with a howling wind. Finally, the green statue in the lower-left pressed both palms to the ground—the entire arena instantly turned to sand, and countless sand spikes burst upward beneath everyone's feet.
Fa's pupils contracted sharply; silver runes writhed like living things in her right eye. "Time Stop—"
With that low command, every grain of sand in the air froze into amber crystals, the four statues' limbs hung mid-motion, and the erupting spikes became grotesque sculptures. She clutched her spinning head and, with tactical hand signs, drew five golden clock sigils that wrapped her companions inside a spacetime barrier.
"I can't perfectly control full stasis yet—twenty seconds at most!"
"TISK, the yellow and green ones have gear gaps at the joints! Arya, the black one's serpent bodies have blue light flashing between the scales—those are energy nodes!"
TISK used the frozen sand waves as footholds, leaping to the green statue's side. His warhammer carved a silver arc through the suspended grains and crashed into the elbow-joint gear port. "This texture… it's a symbiotic body of sand and alloy!" The metallic impact rang muffled in the frozen time; a few screws burst out and tinkled against the barrier's edge.
Arya seized the brief stillness, planting five elemental arrows into the black statue's four serpent bodies. The glowing marks on the arrow tails would become homing beacons once time resumed.
When the first frozen grain began to fall again, the arena exploded back into noise.
The green statue's elbow joint screeched; its punch slowed by two beats. TISK, drawing on years of battle instinct, dodged easily and brought his hammer down on the same flaw again. "Fa! Does your time magic mess with mechanical structures?"
Fa panted heavily on one knee, the silver in her right eye dimming. "It can temporarily freeze gear rotation… but their cores have magical shielding!" Before she could finish, the white statue's sand blade, lagging slightly, slashed toward her. She barely rolled aside; the hem of her battle robe was scorched black.
Salsa's mechanical cat shell trembled; a crack opened in her chest and a mass of solid darkness drifted out. When her soul form fully manifested, twelve pale-blue arrays unfolded behind her like wings. "Skeleton soldiers, shadow wolves—come forth!"
Thirty bone-white warriors poured from the arrays, crimson flames burning in their eye sockets, shadow-forged longswords in hand. Six two-meter-long shadow dire wolves materialized beside them, their tar-like fur rippling, venomous purple light flickering between corrosive fangs.
"Entangle the one that makes sand waves first!" Salsa's soul rose high, hands weaving intricate patterns. Ten skeleton warriors roared and threw themselves at the yellow statue; their blades sparked uselessly against its body but successfully drew its attention. Two shadow wolves circled behind and exhaled corrosive breath, etching shallow grooves in the nape and exposing a flashing blue core device.
Meanwhile the black statue's four serpent bodies coiled and slammed against the spacetime barrier, the impact making blood seep from Fa's forehead. "Arya—during its attack lag—"
The lingering effects of stasis caused a 0.3-second stutter in the serpents' movements. Arya loosed a wind-element arrow; serrated wind blades severed one limb completely, electrified sand spraying in blue arcs from the stump.
TISK took advantage of the skeletons distracting the yellow statue, pressed both hands to his hammer haft, and poured liquid metal magic into it. "Metal Growth!"
The hammer swelled to two meters, its head sprouting jagged serrated spikes. He leaped atop the frozen sand pile and roared as he smashed the statue's chest—only to be flung back several meters by the rebound, his hammer dented. "Damn it! The body is forged alloy!"
Salsa's soul suddenly flickered; silver light flashed in her eyes. "Scan complete! Core is ten centimeters below the sternum, wrapped in three layers of protective arrays!" She swept her arms; the remaining twenty skeletons detonated simultaneously, thick dark magic smoke engulfing the yellow statue. "TISK—while its vision is blocked, strike the third rune line on the left chest!"
Fa gritted her teeth and forced another Time Stop, this one lasting only ten seconds. "Now! The protective arrays' magic rhythm is disrupted!"
TISK used the brief pause to adjust his angle; the hammer struck exactly where Salsa marked. Web-like cracks spread across the alloy, revealing a walnut-sized crystal pulsing with blue light and tiny currents. "Arya—Fire-Wind Arrow!"
Arya instantly formed a fire-and-wind arrow, drew the string to her ear. "Explode!"
The flaming whirlwind struck the crystal; blinding electricity burst outward and the yellow statue froze rigid.
Wind-Sand Maelstrom: A Symphony of Teamwork
The white statue's sand blade finally shattered the last spacetime barrier and slashed toward Fa with scorching heat. A few strands of her hair curled from the heat. "TISK! Create metallic resonance to disturb its magic rhythm!"
She slammed both palms to the ground—Time Disorder. Sand grains around the white statue began rising and falling in bizarre rhythms, completely scrambling its attack pattern. TISK instantly hammered the floor repeatedly; the metallic clangs resonated with the gears inside the statue.
"Arya, lock its movement path with your elemental arrow combo!" Golden clock patterns appeared around the white statue; every time it swung its blade, warning light flared. Arya fired a rapid volley—fire arrows to counter heat, wind arrows to disrupt airflow, dark arrows to erode shielding—three elements clashing continuously on its surface.
Salsa's six shadow wolves burst from temporal rifts and clamped onto the black statue's serpent bodies. Their corrosive breath reacted violently with the lingering wind element, ripples spreading across the shield. "Now!"
Arya switched to a wood-element arrow and struck the diamond crystal on its forehead—the wind-tech nexus. The instant cracks appeared, all four serpent limbs went limp and collapsed into sand.
The green statue, silent until now, suddenly raised both arms. A massive sandstorm tornado formed overhead, sand bullets pinging off armor. TISK's plate was soon pockmarked; cracks spider-webbed across Fa's time shield. "Salsa! Bind its magic nodes with shadow chains!"
Fa's eyes flashed silver; she forced one final Time Stop, freezing the green statue at the peak of its cast.
Salsa's soul clasped hands; all twelve arrays blazed. "Shadow Prison!"
Countless black chains erupted from the storm and locked the statue's limbs. The tornado weakened instantly. TISK charged behind it and smashed the barely visible crystal port at its nape. "Break!"
Metal magic resonated; the protective array shattered, exposing a red-glowing core.
Arya's light-element arrow arrived at the same moment. Blinding radiance swallowed the core; the green statue toppled into a heap of sand and alloy shards. Finally, under Fa's time suppression, the white statue's core shattered too; its sand blade clanged to the ground amid rising dust.
The arena fell silent; the stardust lamps softened their glow. From the fragments of the four statues rose four differently colored crystals that drifted gently to the companions.
Fa accepted the yellow crystal and felt scorching sand magic within. Arya's green crystal trembled with airy lightness. TISK's white crystal carried the weight of metal. Salsa's black crystal radiated cold darkness.
"Trial of Sand Forms—passed," the deep voice echoed again, this time with faint approval. "You have shown exceptional combat skill and teamwork."
Fa touched the wound on her right temple, looking at her companions' exhausted but resolute smiles. TISK was repairing his hammer with metal magic, Arya checking her bowstring, Salsa recalling her last shadow wolves. The stardust lamps bathed them in gentle light, casting long overlapping shadows on the floor—like an indivisible whole.
"What's the next trial?" Arya asked, stowing her crystal and staring eagerly toward the depths. A map to the next level faintly appeared on the far wall, glowing with mechanical and arcane light.
TISK clapped Fa's shoulder, armor ringing. "Whatever it is, we'll crush it." He glanced at Salsa repairing her mechanical cat shell. "Especially when we learn to trust each other's summons—those skeletons and wolves were perfect scouts."
Salsa chuckled, her soul slipping back into the cat body, eyes glowing blue again. "Next time don't use my skeletons as meat shields. They cost mana to maintain." Despite the complaint, pride colored her voice.
Fa gazed up at the stardust lamps; the frozen "meteors" seemed brighter than before. She knew the trials were far from over, but as long as they fought together, no challenge was insurmountable. She gripped the crimson crystal, feeling the desert magic surge within, and strode toward the depths with steady steps.
From the passage ahead came the sound of flowing water mixed with cracking ice. The next trial would be harsher than sand.
Trial of Machinery and Wisdom
Passing through an arch of blue light, the party entered a chamber filled with gears and glowing magic rings. At the center throbbed a gigantic mechanical heart, its steel valves pulsing with silver radiance, each beat rumbling low. Runes on the walls encircled it like the mechanical sketches TISK always drew.
"So do we smash it or fix it?" TISK leaned in, nose almost touching a screw.
Rex's voice rang out: "To activate the mechanical heart, light the wall runes in the correct order and insert the corresponding elemental crystals."
Fa closed her right eye; starlike visions of the runes appeared. "Start with the third rune on the left—follow the star pattern."
Arya noticed tiny sand-fish carvings beside the runes. "It's the desert constellation we followed with the sand-swimmers!"
TISK gleefully attacked the wall, using his warhammer as a screwdriver. Each correctly lit rune made gears turn with a satisfying click. Salsa's mechanical cat rubbed against Fa's ankle; her soul popped out of the cat ear. "Something small moving back there—mechanical crows. I'll handle it." She shot off as blue light, leaving shadow wolves to guard the door.
"Third rune wrong!" Arya shouted. The block TISK had struck glowed red; the heart began grinding. Fa grabbed his sleeve. "My vision showed the one with sand pattern first, not gear pattern!" TISK slapped his forehead. "Got too excited about the mechanics and forgot magic!" He swapped order; red light faded, gears spun smoothly again.
When the final rune ignited, the heart let out a long hum. Five valves opened, revealing slots. From a wooden box Arya had found earlier, they placed earth, metal, wood, water, and fire crystals.
TISK shoved the metal crystal into the left valve—gears whirred wildly, silver sparks flying. Arya placed the wood crystal—green vines sprouted and wrapped the gears without hindering them. Fa set the earth crystal in the center—sand-like golden light flowed in, turning the floor soft like desert yet solid. Salsa tossed the water crystal into the lower slot—frost formed on steel, clashing with heat to create mist. Finally Fa placed the fire crystal at the top—tamed flames danced through gear gaps, bathing the heart in gorgeous light.
TISK pounded his hammer excitedly. "See! Magic and machinery can totally play together! I'm adding flame jets to my hammer when we get back!"
A staircase of light rose from the floor toward a star gate behind the heart. Rex's lenses flashed. "The Mechanical Heart acknowledges you. The next trial… concerns your eye." He pointed at Fa's right eye.
Arya hugged Fa's waist gently. "Don't be afraid. We're here."
Salsa poked her head out of the cat, smirking at TISK. "You looked exactly like the old dwarf downstairs who fixes pipes when you hit the wrong rune." TISK waved his hammer indignantly. "That was… testing the defense mechanism!" Laughter echoed as they stepped onto the light stairs, the heart behind them beating stronger—as if applauding.
Echoes of Stardust in an Illusory World
The instant Rex led them onto the glowing platform, silver-blue lines crawled up Fa's ankles like living things, weaving star maps across her battle robe. Rex's metal body hummed outside the gate: "This trial will manifest the 'Star-Eye Rift' deep in your soul—only by facing the shadows of your past can the star fragment resonate with you."
The platform plunged, swallowing her in ink-black abyss.
In the darkness, silver motes gathered. Fa found herself as a child standing before her old home. The rusted iron gate stood open; in the corner lay the first short blade she had welded from scrap—proof she had secretly learned blacksmithing. Memories flooded in: her mother's gentle touch before death, the mockery of children who feared her mismatched eyes, the stormy night she foresaw the flood with her star eye yet could only hug her doll on the roof waiting to die.
"You always do this," a cold voice spoke behind her. Fa turned to see another version of herself, left eye glowing with the same starlight yet shrouded in darkness. "You arm yourself with power only because you're afraid of losing again." Shadow-Fa raised a hand; illusions appeared—Arya sinking in quicksand, TISK torn apart by mechanical spiders, Salsa's soul dissipating under the soul-devouring bell.
Fa dug nails into her palms until blood dripped, the drops crystallizing into stardust on the illusory ground. "I became strong because no one would catch falling stars for me." She looked at her fading childhood self, voice growing firm. "But now I have companions—they are not fragile beings I must protect alone, but partners who fight beside me."
Repairing the Star-Core Rift
The illusion twisted; Fa stood amid stellar ruins. Countless shattered star fragments orbited her, each reflecting a different moment: the lonely silhouette practicing sword, the silhouette fighting beside Arya, the moment she blocked a fatal blow for her friends. At the center hovered a dark-red core covered in cracks—her long-suppressed fear: foreseeing an unchangeable future where her friends died for her, fear of becoming their burden.
"Answer me," the trial voice scraped like stardust. "When you foresee your companions dying for you, will you go alone, or will you trust their resolve?"
Fa closed her eyes. She saw Arya raising a wind shield in the sandstorm for her, TISK taking the recoil of metal impacts to buy her time. She reached out and grasped the dark-red core, pouring star-eye silver light into the cracks.
"I once thought loneliness was the price of strength, until they taught me—stars are never shine alone; they reflect one another."
The core trembled violently; pure starlight poured from the fissures. Fa opened her eyes to find the third star fragment in her hand, its radiance spreading through her body and resonating with the previous two.
She returned to her companions on the light staircase, the star fragment pulsing warmly in her chest. The laughter and footsteps of her friends echoed ahead—proof that no trial, however harsh, could stand against their bond.