"What… the hell was that?" Alex asked, her voice trembling.
"The second trial," Adrien said grimly. "If the apocalypse and what followed last month was the first trial, this is the second."
"Wait—you're saying this thing is related to the system?" Ria asked.
"Yes and No," Adrien said, shaking his head. "It's not the system. That's different. Like… like it was waiting for us to reach a certain point before triggering the second challenge. Or it's meant to just notify us not trigger, could be one of the two."
Han slumped against a tree, gasping. "We don't even know what direction the cave is anymore. We could walk for days and never reach it."
"And if we stop moving, we die," Mel said softly, her eyes wide and distant. "It's feeding off us. Wearing us down."
Adrien crouched, running his fingers through the mossy ground. 'Living, breathing… adapting.'
But something in the notification caught his mind—'It sees you. But not everything that sees, understands.' "But how do we get out of its reach" He muttered to himself.
That was the hard part. This thing, it was essentially doing it's very best to keep them entrapped in within the forest.
'Once we get out, it probably won't be able to reach us.'
The forest was watching them. Shifting around them. Guiding them. But it definitely didn't understand them, which was why it was forcing their hand, trying to tire them out…
Maybe they could use that.
He stood up, suddenly alert, eyes scanning the sky.
"The crows," he muttered. "They're its eyes. But they never attacked."
"What are you thinking?" Ria asked.
"If it can see us—but doesn't understand us—it means it doesn't fully know how we think. How we plan. It can enthral every living thing in this forest, but us. Must be because of the difference in mental capacity. Everything has it's limits, I don't think we would get a trial that is impossible to conquer."
A small glimmer of hope sparked in his voice.
"Maybe, but at what cost?" Han asked, his eyes looking over at the less 'privileged in the group.
They all understood what they meant. These trials felt like they were meant to trim out and separate the strong and the weak. Like thinning and hardening your plants to get the cream of the crop.
The way the world had become was such that, if you are weak, you would not survive a day in this place.
Fortunately, Sarah and Mel had ascenders around them to keep them somewhat safe.
"We can't beat it by brute force. But we can outsmart it." Adrien said.
They looked at him, battered, bleeding, exhausted—but something in his tone gave them some of the reassurance they needed.
Han sighed, if there was one thing he would agree on with anyone, was that he felt Adrien was more than capable of doing the impossible. They all felt like Adrien had been carrying each of their burdens along with his.
As such, it had been easy cruising for them so far.
"What do we do then?" Alex asked, gripping her weapon with shaky hands.
Adrien's eyes narrowed. His mind raced, drawing on every combat simulation he'd ever run, every strategy he'd ever rehearsed.
'Sometimes, running is not the answer, we have to face this head on. If we had some sort of flying or movement treasure, we could quickly get out of The Thrall's influence like the system said, but we don't.'
"We stop running."
He turned to face the forest, eyes locked on the ever-shifting trees and creeping foliage that had never stopped circling them.
"We need to stop thinking like prey.""It's time we start hunting."
"I'm guessing whatever is causing this is at the centre of the forest. We go attack it and lift this cursed spell.'
Shifting their direction, Adrien ran in what seemed to be a random direction, but he knew from his memory this was the general direction of the centre, even if the forest was ever changing, 'It probably can't move its position, to keep its tether active, otherwise we're screwed.
'Hopefully, I am right, otherwise...' He did not finish that thought, he did not want to.
The forest groaned.
A low, guttural sound that thrummed through the soil, the roots, the air itself—as if it resented their very breath. As if it had realized what Adrien had guessed, and in response, it was panicking. The thrall had seen their sudden change in actions, and it could see where they were headed.
They moved in a tight formation now, Adrien at the front, eyes sharp, blade drawn, he had brought out a sword, to hack and slash at the vines and branches.
Behind him, the others fell into a practiced rhythm. They weren't just wandering anymore.
They had purpose. They had direction.
And the Thrall knew it.
At first, it sent whispers.
Low, hissing murmurs that wormed into their ears and crawled into their minds. "Turn back… You are nothing… They will all die because of you…" They all heard the same whisper.
Sarah stumbled, clutching her head. Mel nearly collapsed, eyes wide and teary. It was now attacking their psyche.
Even without taking complete control, it looked like it could influence their thoughts to some degree.
Adrien realised what it was trying to do, even though initially surprised by its ability to communicate thoughts, he focused. he could see that the others weren't doing as well though.
Adrien spun, grabbed their shoulders. "Ignore it. It's bluffing. It's scared."
The forest responded with a screech. Trees shifted, visibly moved, branches twisting like skeletal limbs to block the narrow paths they'd carved.
Moss bloomed too quickly, turning thick and sludgy underfoot. The terrain became hostile, sticky, wet, difficult to manoeuvre.
They were being rerouted.
"It's moving the forest," Han growled, cutting through some thick vines. "It's trying to make us walk in circles like before."
Adrien nodded. "Let it. The more tricks it throws at us, the more desperate it becomes. Just keep pushing. go straight, don't take any turns."
But the Thrall wasn't done.
It sent beasts next. ascended ones. Tall, twitching horrors, half-animal, half-mutation, their eyes glowing with unnatural light.
Birds with twisted wings and barbed feathers dove from above. Wolves with blackened spines and too many teeth came from the underbrush.
Even the trees themselves joined in—some bending low, swinging their limbs, others erupting in clouds of disorienting spores.
It was a war zone now.
Adrien struck first—a brutal, efficient slash that tore through a charging hound. Ria followed suit, flames spiralling from her hands, carving a path through the underbrush.
Alex fought like someone with nothing left to lose—furious, efficient, terrifying. Weaving into and out of existence.
Making parts of herself intangible just before making contact. Easily dodging fatal attacks, materialising to deal a deadly blow before the beasts could figure what had happened.
Han took up the rear, an Aether shield glowing faintly as it absorbed the blows meant for the others.
Sarah and Mel stayed in the middle. Protected. But even they fought, using every ounce of their training to contribute, to survive.
Every battle slowed them.
Every battle drained them.
And the forest refused to end.
"We've been walking for hours," Mel breathed, collapsing to her knees. "It's not letting us get any closer."
Adrien looked up. The canopy was thicker now, almost unnatural. No sunlight filtered through anymore. The moss-covered ground pulsed with something beneath it. Like veins. Like it was alive.
"It's stretching the space," he said. "Warping it. Like a maze, but we are getting there, even if slowly!"
Han swore. "Fuck, are you sure?"
Adrien closed his eyes. He reached out—not physically, but mentally—tracing every step they'd taken. Every shift in terrain. Every moment that felt… 'too familiar'.
Then he opened his eyes. "We're not looping anymore. We are almost there, the forest is getting thicker, and the beasts are coming in larger groups. We are also getting slower. Change of plans"
"What now?" Ria asked, panting, clutching her arm where a vine had nearly torn her skin off.
Adrien's gaze sharpened. "We split."
There was a beat of silence.
"You want us to split up in this?" Han barked. "Have you lost your—"
"Just for a moment," Adrien cut in. "Listen—this thing is adapting to our group. It's tailoring the maze to contain us. It will likely focus on those who attack it head on, we can leave Mel, Sarah and a third, they are on their last legs."
Sarah's voice was a whisper. "I think...haaaa haaaaa, that.... is... best. We would most definitely drag you down."
Adrien looked at her. She was barley standing now. Sarah was no better.
"Then the others push harder."
No one liked it.
But they agreed.
They split into two—Adrien, Ria and Han, then Alex, Sarah and Mel stayed behind with Alex for protection—then the rest ran towards the centre.
The forest convulsed. Trees screamed as they moved. Roots lashed out. Beasts appeared in greater numbers, more unhinged, more suicidal. It wasn't just trying to tire them out anymore.
It was trying to end them.
Adrien saw it—felt it in the way the wind howled, and the earth trembled beneath his feet. They were close. Too close.
"It's there," he said to Ria, pointing toward a dead patch in the forest where nothing grew. "That's the centre. That's where it's hiding."
The moment they neared it, the final wave came.
A horde.
Hundreds of twisted beasts, rushing from every direction. A stampede of nightmares. And behind it all, barely visible through the chaos, a pulsing root-like structure, coiled around something that looked almost fragile.
Almost… afraid.
It was a translucent shimmering core, that pulsed rhythmically like a heart. Shining with an iridescent glow, with a crystal-like shell.
"That's it," Adrien said, eyes narrowing. "The Thrall."
Despite the chaos, despite the madness of what surrounded them—Adrien smiled.
'We've got you now.'