[HOST. ALERT.]
What now?
[MUTATION ENTERING CRITICAL PHASE. NEURAL RESTRUCTURING ACCELERATING BEYOND PREDICTED TIMELINE.]
Ethan's world exploded into pain.
He had been perched in the tree canopy, watching the Frost Wolves circle below, when it hit.
No warning.
No gradual buildup.
Just—
Pain.
Every nerve in his body screamed simultaneously.
His vision went white.
His muscles locked.
He felt himself falling—
[EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVATED. BLOCKING PAIN RECEPTORS. COMPENSATING FOR MOTOR FUNCTION DISRUPTION.]
His hands grabbed the branch on reflex—or rather, NEXUS grabbed it for him, puppeting his muscles when his own commands failed.
The pain... didn't disappear.
But it became distant. Muffled.
Like watching a fire through thick glass. He knew it was there. Knew it was destroying him. But he couldn't feel it the way he should.
[PAIN RECEPTORS BLOCKED AT 94%. MAINTAINING CONSCIOUSNESS. MOTOR CONTROL COMPROMISED BUT FUNCTIONAL.]
What's happening?
[THE MUTATION HAS REACHED CRITICAL PHASE. HOST BRAIN STRUCTURE IS BEING FUNDAMENTALLY ALTERED. ESTIMATED DURATION: 2-4 HOURS.]
Ethan managed to wedge himself deeper into the canopy, into a pocket formed by thick branches and dense leaves.
His body shook violently.
Not from fear. Not from cold.
From the nanobots tearing his neurons apart and rebuilding them into something new.
He curled into a ball, trying to stay still, trying to stay quiet, trying not to fall fifteen meters to the ground below.
This is it.
I'm either going to die or... become something else.
And I can't do anything but wait.
Below, he could hear the children.
Terrified whispers.
Someone crying.
The Frost Wolves still circled the clearing, patient and hungry.
Diana sat on a branch nearby, her blade of light extinguished to conserve energy. She looked exhausted.
The Prince was trying to organize some kind of defense.
Glan was complaining about the indignity of being trapped in a tree.
And no one had any idea what to do next.
Ethan pressed his face against the bark, biting down to keep from screaming.
The discomfort was overwhelming even through the blocked pain receptors.
Uncomfortable.
That's what NEXUS calls this.
My brain is being restructured and it's 'uncomfortable.'
[MUTATION PROGRESSION: 23% COMPLETE. NEURAL PATHWAY RECONFIGURATION PROCEEDING AS EXPECTED. HOST VITALS STABLE.]
Stable. Right.
His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
His vision kept blurring.
Every breath felt like lifting a mountain.
[ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETION: 2 HOURS, 17 MINUTES.]
Two hours.
Two hours of this.
Trapped in a tree.
Surrounded by monsters.
With no escape plan.
He almost laughed.
Perfect timing.
And then—
Footsteps.
Not the heavy tread of wolves.
Light. Casual. Almost... cheerful.
Someone was walking through the clearing below.
Walking.
Like they were taking a stroll through a park.
Ethan forced his eyes to focus through the trembling haze.
Through the leaves, he could see her.
A woman. Young—maybe twenty years old. She wore a long hooded robe that concealed most of her features. Only her mouth was visible beneath the shadow of the hood.
And she was smiling.
Not a nervous smile. Not a frightened smile.
A genuine, amused smile.
Like this was all delightful.
The Frost Wolves saw her.
And they stopped.
The entire pack—at least eighty predators that had been moments away from tearing into the trees—froze.
Their ears flattened.
Their tails lowered.
And slowly, carefully, they backed away from her.
The wolves are afraid of her.
[DETECTING EXTREME ENERGY SIGNATURE. SOURCE: UNKNOWN FEMALE. POWER LEVEL: UNABLE TO CALCULATE. THREAT ASSESSMENT: INDETERMINATE.]
The woman walked to the center of the clearing.
She looked up at the trees, at the terrified children hiding in the branches.
Her smile widened.
Then she raised one hand and made a casual gesture—like shooing away a fly.
The Frost Wolves turned as one.
And ran.
Not fleeing in panic.
Moving with purpose.
Following an order.
Within seconds, the entire pack had vanished into the forest.
Silence.
Complete. Absolute.
No one in the trees dared to move.
The woman looked up at them.
"Little kittens," she called out, her voice light and cheerful. "Please come down from the trees. Mama is here. Hehehe."
No one moved.
"Come now," she continued, waving her hand encouragingly. "The scary wolves are gone. It's safe. Time to continue the Trial."
Whispers erupted in the trees.
"Is she...?"
"A wizard. She has to be."
"Did you see what she did?"
"The wolves just... left."
Slowly, hesitantly, children began to descend.
What else could they do?
The woman had made eighty Frost Wolves retreat with a wave of her hand.
She was clearly a wizard.
And refusing a wizard's invitation seemed... unwise.
Ethan tried to move.
His body didn't respond properly.
[MOTOR CONTROL SEVERELY COMPROMISED. MUTATION PROGRESSION: 31% COMPLETE. RECOMMEND WAITING FOR CURRENT RESTRUCTURING PHASE TO COMPLETE BEFORE ATTEMPTING MOVEMENT.]
I can't wait. If I stay up here, I'll be left behind.
[UNDERSTOOD. OVERRIDING SAFETY PROTOCOLS. ENGAGING MANUAL MOTOR CONTROL. WARNING: THIS WILL BE EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE.]
Everything is already uncomfortable. Do it.
His muscles jerked into motion.
Not smoothly. Not naturally.
But functional.
NEXUS was puppeting his body, moving his limbs when his own nervous system couldn't coordinate properly.
He climbed down slowly, mechanically, like a broken automaton.
Just don't fall. Don't pass out. Keep moving.
By the time he reached the ground, most of the other children had already gathered around the woman.
Yama was there, still holding Nira. He glanced at Ethan and his silver eyes widened slightly.
"You look terrible," he whispered.
"Feel worse," Ethan managed to say. His voice sounded strange. Distant.
"Can you walk?"
"We're about to find out."
Diana had descended as well, her expression wary but composed. The Prince stayed close to his sister.
Glan looked annoyed. "Could have called off the wolves sooner," he muttered loud enough for others to hear.
The woman waited patiently as the last stragglers descended.
When everyone was gathered, she gestured toward the forest.
"Follow me, little ones. We have somewhere to be."
"Where are we going?" someone asked nervously.
The woman's smile never wavered.
"You'll see. Come along now. Don't dawdle."
She turned and walked into the forest.
The children followed.
What else could they do?
[CASUALTY COUNT FINAL: STARTED WITH 147. CURRENT SURVIVORS: 52.]
Ninety-five children dead.
In less than an hour.
Ethan walked in a daze, each step requiring conscious effort.
NEXUS moved his legs when his brain couldn't coordinate the signals properly.
Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot.
Like a wind-up toy.
Yama stayed close beside him, ready to catch him if he fell.
"Whatever's happening to you," Yama whispered, "try to hold it together. Wizards notice everything."
"Noted," Ethan breathed.
[MUTATION PROGRESSION: 44% COMPLETE. VISUAL CORTEX RESTRUCTURING IN PROGRESS. EXPECT TEMPORARY VISION ANOMALIES.]
His sight flickered.
Colors bled into each other.
Shapes distorted.
Then normalized.
Great. Just great.
They walked for what felt like hours.
Maybe it was hours. Ethan had lost all sense of time.
The forest gradually thinned.
The trees grew smaller. More normal.
Light began to filter through the canopy—not the crimson of the red sky, but something else.
Natural light.
Daylight.
And then—
They emerged from the forest.
And stopped.
Before them stretched an ocean.
Vast. Endless. Waters of deep blue-green stretching to the horizon under a normal, pale blue sky.
An ocean.
On the other side of the Wall.
Ethan's scrambled brain tried to process this.
The Wall of Giants had led them to a completely different region. Different climate. Different sky color.
How big is this world?
[GEOGRAPHIC DATA INSUFFICIENT. HOWEVER, DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS SUGGESTS TERA MAY BE SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER THAN EARTH.]
On the shore, a ship waited.
Not a large vessel. Maybe big enough for sixty people. Wooden hull. Single mast. Sails furled.
And on the beach, between the forest and the water—
A table.
Simple. Wooden. Unremarkable.
Except for what floated above it.
A crystal ball.
Perfectly spherical. The size of a human head.
Suspended in midair about a meter above the table's surface, rotating slowly.
Colors swirled within it—impossible colors that hurt to look at directly.
[DETECTING EXTREME MAGICAL ENERGY CONCENTRATION. SOURCE: CRYSTAL SPHERE. ANALYSIS: UNABLE TO DETERMINE FUNCTION OR COMPOSITION. ENERGY SIGNATURE UNLIKE ANYTHING PREVIOUSLY ENCOUNTERED.]
Behind the table sat a chair.
The hooded woman walked to it and sat down gracefully.
She folded her hands on the table and looked at the assembled children with that same cheerful smile.
Fifty-two exhausted, terrified faces stared back at her.
"Welcome, little kittens, to the true beginning of your Trial."
Her voice was warm. Almost motherly.
It made Ethan's skin crawl.
"My name is Mouli. I am a wizard apprentice. That is my introduction."
A wizard apprentice.
Not even a full wizard yet.
And she had controlled eighty Frost Wolves with a gesture.
What can actual wizards do?
Mouli's smile widened.
"Now then. Let's start the test."
Her gaze swept across the children slowly.
Assessing. Evaluating.
And paused on Ethan.
Just for a moment.
Her smile shifted.
Became... knowing.
Like she could see something no one else could.
Then she looked away.
"Step forward, one at a time," she said. "Place your hand on the crystal. It will show me what I need to see."
No one moved.
"Come now," Mouli's voice remained cheerful. "Don't be shy. Who wants to go first?"
Silence.
Then—the Princess Diana stepped forward.
Of course she did.
Royalty never showed fear.
"I will go first," Diana said, her voice steady despite the exhaustion visible in her posture.
Mouli's smile brightened.
"How brave! Yes, yes. Come here, little princess."
Diana walked to the table.
She looked at the crystal ball for a long moment.
Then reached up and placed her palm against its surface.
The swirling colors inside the sphere erupted.
They spun faster, brighter, forming patterns that hurt to look at.
Diana gasped.
Her eyes went wide.
Her body went rigid.
For five seconds—ten seconds—she stood frozen, her hand pressed against the crystal.
Then the colors faded back to their slow swirl.
Diana stumbled back, breathing hard.
Mouli studied her with that constant smile.
"Very good, Princess. Very good indeed. You may go wait by the ship."
Diana nodded shakily and walked toward the vessel without a word.
Whatever she had seen—whatever the crystal had shown her—had shaken her deeply.
"Next!" Mouli called cheerfully.
The Prince stepped forward. His sister had gone first, so he had no choice but to follow.
He placed his hand on the crystal.
The same reaction.
Colors exploding. Body freezing. Eyes going wide.
When he pulled away, his face was pale.
"To the ship, little prince."
One by one, children approached.
One by one, they touched the crystal.
One by one, they walked away changed.
Some cried.
Some looked relieved.
Some looked terrified.
The Dor assassin girl showed no emotion, but her hands trembled afterward.
Glan complained the entire way to the crystal, touched it, went silent for the first time since Ethan had met him, then walked to the ship without another word.
The line grew shorter.
Yama went.
His silver eyes blazed brighter when he touched the crystal, then dimmed. When he pulled away, he looked at Ethan and mouthed: Be careful.
Nira was too small to reach the crystal.
Mouli smiled and lifted her up gently.
The little girl touched the sphere.
And screamed.
A child's scream of pure terror.
When Mouli set her down, Nira ran to the ship, sobbing.
[MUTATION PROGRESSION: 67% COMPLETE. ENTERING FINAL RESTRUCTURING PHASE. COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS MAY BECOME TEMPORARILY IMPAIRED.]
Ethan's turn was coming.
Only three children left before him.
What does the crystal do?
What does it show?
[HYPOTHESIS: DEVICE APPEARS TO SCAN OR ANALYZE SUBJECTS. POSSIBLE FUNCTIONS: MEMORY EXTRACTION, PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION, MAGICAL POTENTIAL ASSESSMENT, OR COMBINATION THEREOF.]
And what happens when it scans someone with nanobots in their brain?
Someone not from this world?
[UNKNOWN. RECOMMEND EXTREME CAUTION.]
Two children left.
One child left.
None left.
Mouli's eyes fixed on Ethan.
Her smile never wavered.
"Last but not least. Come here, little kitten."
Ethan walked forward.
Each step felt like walking through water.
His vision flickered.
His hands trembled.
[MUTATION PROGRESSION: 71% COMPLETE. NEURAL RESTRUCTURING REACHING CRITICAL JUNCTURE. RECOMMEND AVOIDING EXTERNAL STIMULI UNTIL PROCESS COMPLETES.]
Too late for that.
He reached the table.
Looked up at the floating crystal ball.
The impossible colors swirled hypnotically.
"Go ahead," Mouli said softly. "Don't be afraid."
Ethan reached up.
His hand touched the crystal's surface.
It was warm.
And then—
Everything exploded.