LOCATION: THE CRUCIBLE
PLANET: LAPIS DIVINUS, ORION LUMINARY INSTITUTE
YEAR: 1 | DAY: ?? | TIME: ??
The first five levels went by quickly for Kaela.
No opponent landed a single hit on her as she defeated everything handily.
She didn’t have to use her Phantom Blade. Didn’t have to phase into the aether plane. She just defeated everything the levels threw at her with a few punches and kicks.
She stepped through the portal and onto the sixth floor.
---
The Crucible
6th Floor
Congratulations on completing the 5th floor.
Your health, mana, and stamina have been restored.
You have been awarded 50 Lumens.
You have been awarded 500 XP.
Welcome to the 6th floor.
You may return to the portal to exit The Crucible.
If you wish to proceed, step through the door.
Defeat all enemies on the floor to continue to the next.
Beware. Some may be well-hidden.
Enemies defeated: 0 / 15
---
Kaela pushed the door open and found a rocky cave with tunnels heading to her left and right. It smelled damp and earthy.
“Here we go,” she muttered, starting to her left.
She was a little bored, but she knew it would get more challenging.
Eventually.
As the tunnel curved to the left, she saw a shadow move ever so slightly. She leapt around the corner and slammed her fist into something.
It was green and fleshy.
As she pulled her hand back, she smelled mucus and something that resembled blood. Her fist was covered in a gooey black substance, and she felt a jolt of pain rush up her arm.
“Fucking gross,” she said, watching a five-foot-tall lizard-like creature fall to the ground. She wanted to wipe her hands on something. The blood was obviously toxic, and it was oozing through her skin and straight into her bloodstream.
Kaela cursed again, bending over and trying to wipe as much of the blood off on the creature’s hide as she could.
She started to grow lightheaded so she retraced her steps and entered the safe room again to meditate.
It took five minutes for her to purge the toxins from her system, and when she was feeling better again, she stood.
Kaela came up with a plan to finish off the floor, running back through the tunnels.
When she was attacked, she would block and dodge until an opportunity to strike presented itself.
Then she made sure that the only blood she drew splashed only against her Phantom Blade. Reaching into the aether, she felt the heft of the sword in her hand.
She withdrew it from the dark realm and swung, quickly stepping aside from the arterial spray.
---
Enemies defeated: 12 / 15
---
She finished off the floor boss and its two guards and swiftly moved on.
Her face was covered in blood and it was already seeping into her skin. Even into her mouth, burning her throat as she swallowed.
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She leapt at the portal and landed with a thud on the other side.
The message told her she had been restored, but the metallic taste lingered in her mouth a few minutes longer.
“Yecch.”
She spat onto the ground and finally felt back to normal again.
Kaela pushed through floor after floor, amassing 635 Lumens and two levels. That was when she met her first worthy opponent.
It was the fifteenth floor.
---
The Crucible
15th Floor
Congratulations on completing the 14th floor.
Your health, mana, and stamina have been restored.
You have been awarded 100 Lumens.
You have been awarded 2,000 XP.
Welcome to the 15th floor.
This is a Boss Floor.
Your opponent is The Stygian Wisp.
You may return to the portal to exit The Crucible.
If you wish to proceed, step through the door.
Enemies defeated: 0 / 1
---
Kaela shook out her arms and legs and jumped up and down a few times.
She smiled as she pushed the door open.
Inside was an arena with a hard-packed sand floor and four-foot high wooden walls on each side. The space was oblong, and the door she stepped through put her on the far end of the arena.
On the opposite side, a door swung slowly open, and a very tall, dark figure entered.
It looked vaguely humanoid but lanky, with long arms and legs. Its body was covered with black robes with dark purple accents, and a low hood covered its face.
Black gloves and boots covered its hands and feet, and Kaela could have sworn she could see black smoke emanating from within the hood from time to time.
The stands to the left and right were nearly empty, save for ten men and women, all wearing the midnight blue and yellow robes that the Wardens had on at the start.
Kaela took it all in, then focused her attention on her opponent.
She had no idea how many levels The Crucible had, but she was certain it must go far past fifteen.
It had to.
All of that was to say that she didn’t expect too much from this opponent.
That’s why she was surprised when the lanky bastard let out a shriek that made her blood curdle, before launching a projectile at her.
It looked like a spiked sphere about the size of a baseball, but it was coming for her fast. Far faster than should have been possible.
She leapt to the side and was shocked to see the ball change direction and follow her.
She waited until the last moment and activated Phantom Step, fading from this reality into the aether realm.
She heard the ball embed itself into the wood six feet behind where she had been standing. Sound in this realm was diffused, almost as if she was underwater.
She wasted no time and ran straight for the hooded figure, but he did something unexpected.
He phased into the aether with her and launched another spiked ball.
Kaela had to shift back again to avoid getting hit. She was running as fast as she could, but she had only closed half the distance.
In the time it took her to get within melee range, she had to shift back and forth two more times.
The Wardens in the stands whispered to each other, but didn’t cheer. All eyes were fixed on the fight in the arena.
Kaela was now ten feet away from The Stygian Wisp.
She was finding it hard to breathe, as if this being was pulling all the oxygen from the air around itself.
Shadows swirled inside its hood, and she felt terror rising in her chest as she looked upon it.
The Wisp suddenly faded from view.
Kaela spun around, but couldn’t find it anywhere.
Something inside her mind told her to duck.
She never ignored her instincts in combat, something she had learned long ago.
As she rolled forward, she activated Phantom Step and phased into the aether, where she saw The Stygian leaning forward with its arm extended forward.
It had thrown another of its projectiles and it had just missed her.
Kaela reached out and felt her Blade enter her hand.
She used the momentum of her roll to swing upward, taking off the specter’s arm near the shoulder.
It shrieked out again, and Kaela felt her eardrums rupture. Somehow in the aether realm, where sound was normally muffled, this creature’s screams were more piercing, not less.
She shouted back.
“You will not be the end of me!”
The Phantom Blade tried to retreat after her swing, but Kaela kept her grip firm on the hilt.
It took all of her Strength to swing it once more, and the blade slashed cleanly through The Stygian Wisp’s neck.
Her sword disappeared from her hand, and she quickly snatched the head out of the air before it hit the floor of the grayed out arena.
Kaela phased back to reality.
Blood flowed freely from both of her ears onto her tunic, but they were already mending.
She fell to her knees, heaving from the exertion and lack of oxygen. She felt the color return to her face.
Then, she turned toward the instructors and held up her gruesome trophy.
In her right hand, the hood still covering its features, was the head of The Stygian Wisp.
The Wardens all stood and clapped, but spoke not a word to Kaela as a portal appeared next to her.
She wanted to yell out.
She wanted to ask questions.
But the scene around her faded without her even stepping through the gate, and she was immediately in the next safe room.
---
The Crucible
16th Floor
Congratulations on completing the 15th floor.
The 15th was a Boss Floor, and defeating this opponent was no small feat.
Your health, mana, and stamina have been restored.
You have been awarded 1,000 Lumens.
You have been awarded 5,000 XP.
Welcome to the 16th floor.
You may return to the portal to exit The Crucible.
If you wish to proceed, step through the door.
Defeat all enemies on the floor to continue to the next.
Beware. Some may be well-hidden.
Enemies defeated: 0 / 16
---
Kaela sighed.
“Let the grind continue!” she shouted as she turned the knob on the next door.