Kaius was confident as he walked down the open path. Oh, he was still cautious — but he trusted in his reaction times and his abilities. Still, he didn’t underestimate the danger. The first trap had almost gotten him — though, in his defence, he hadn’t been expecting it — so he would have to be a fool not to.
Quickly, he reached the halfway point to the first obstacle — the low wall as tall as his waist, something that looked suspiciously simple. He slowed, taking another look at the shattered wall that had been broken by the dart.
He readied himself to blast himself back if the trap had been reset. Unfortunately, just like before, there was no evidence either way. Not even a passage or barrel that had fired the dart in the first place.
Neither could he catch any hint of further traps ahead of him.
At least he got a clear sight of the first few obstacles he had to clear. Fifty longstrides of questionably safe stone walkway, then a low wall, then a tall set of bars that he would have to swing across to clear a gap slightly too wide for him to burst across with a shunt. Beyond that, he could see another gap — this time with a balance beam as wide as his finger. That would be tricky, but doable without any complications. Finally, there was a tall climbing wall — easily ten longstrides tall, that blocked off an easy view of what lay beyond.
He shook his head, focusing. Whatever was behind the climbing wall didn’t matter — he wasn’t going to make it there this attempt. His goal was to work of Vyrthane, and push his inscribing skills as far as he could.
Leaping forwards, Kaius felt his stomach clench as he crossed where he had last triggered the dart.
This time there was no click.
He landed lightly on his feet, breathing out slowly as he judged the rest of the distance to the low wall. It seemed likely there would be another trap before he got there, purely based on the gnawing bite he felt in his gut — and if not there, then definitely at the next obstacle.
Warhaven, thanks to the levels he had gained in its glyph, reached a maximum width of forty longstrides — a little more if he shaped it into something with less volume than a dome. If he got a little closer, he could make a tunnel of force that would cover him almost the whole way to the hanging bars beyond the wall that he would have to swing across.
Setting his jaw, Kaius crept his way forward — ready and waiting for the next trap to be sprung — before he slowed to a halt. Focusing in towards his glyph, he bound Warhaven in his will and pressed his intent upon the spell. A faintly shimmering barrier appeared in the shape of an arched tunnel, just tall enough for him to walk through.
Shaping the spell took him a little effort — the elongation of its area running against the spell’s natural tendency to settle into a plain dome when it wasn’t infused into an existing structure. He still managed, quickly layering the defence with a second cast.
Slightly more comfortable with solid walls of force protecting him, but no less alert for danger, Kaius continued his advance. Every step, his eyes flicked from side to side — desperately searching for any sign of a pressure plate or trigger mechanism.
His vigilance saved his life.
Five longstrides before the low wall, a faint click pulsed through the sole of his feet. Icy panic shot through his spine — he reacted decisively. Blue motes poured from his feet as he desperately reached for a shunt.
A glinting blur arced down from the ceiling, heading straight for him.
Force blew him back in the same moment Warhaven shattered, both layers of shielding shattering instantly as a colossal blade cut clean through. The world froze — Kaius steeped in a moment between heartbeats.
His spell, for all it broke like cheap glass, slowed the descending blade by the barest of hairs. It was just enough. It swung past — Kaius capturing a glimpse of his own wide eyed look as it cut a fingerwidth in front of his nose.
Another blast erupted behind him, bringing him to a sudden halt as he bled off his speed. Kaius watched the trap shoot back up to the ceiling in its arc. Solid stone melted out of the path of the cutting edge, resealing the moment it passed.
He frowned — this was proving tricky, and he still had no clear idea of how it was supposed to push his Mentis to the point of embodiment.
….
Kaius sat cross-legged on an empty section of the path, a terse look on his face as he stared up at the climbing wall that towered over him.
He’d been stuck here for hours.
The swinging blade had been sudden, but manageable once he figured out it wouldn’t reverse direction if he Shunt passed it before it could reset. Surprisingly, the waist high wall after it hadn’t been trapped, although the hanging bars after it had been. Just over half the bars sprouted spikes and spun fast enough to blur — but it had taken him all of half a second to start testing them by tapping each handhold with his sword.
Satisfied with his progress, he'd returned to the entrance room — confirming that some of the hidden traps stayed active on his way. Namely, the swinging blade.
Yet, despite his intentions to figure out just what had flashed on the canvas on the wall, the drawing still hadn't returned despite camping out for a full day and night. It was frustrating — amplified his confusion on just what he was supposed to achieve in the trial.
Still, there was little he could do, and he wasn't inclined to sit around for weeks hoping for something to change.
While he could have worked on his spells, Kaius hadn't been able to shake the oddly niggling feeling that he shouldn't. Not until he'd hit an obstacle he couldn't overcome.
Besides, there was solace in action — which might have helped his current frustration if he wasn't still trying to figure out a way over this damned wall!
He’d had a little trouble with the balance beam immediately before his current...obstruction. A fingerwidth wide, it had already been hard enough to make his way across without the wind that had started to blow when he'd made it half way across.
It would have been easy to circumvent with a Shunt, but… he still didn’t trust this place. Something in his gut told him that it wouldn’t react kindly if he tried to cheat. A hunch that had been proven right when he'd let his frustration get the better of him only a few hours before.
He'd been so bloody confident. He’d let his mana regenerate and reinscribed; at the time he’d been positively bouncing to give the wall his best attempt! If he ignored the possible — now confirmed — traps, it almost looked fun.
Sheer-faced and more than three times his height, its hand grips were closer to texture than ledges. Things that he could just barely cling to with his nails. It would have been a fun test of his growing physical abilities: one of those rare moments where you just felt how much you had surpassed the limits of an unenhanced body.
Unfortunately, it was trapped. Rotten roots was it trapped. He had no bloody clue how to finesse it.
Three attempts. All utter failures, even when he’d leaned on a full load of Warhavens to shield himself.
His first try was the worst. He’d covered the wall in a single barrier of force — one that would block any attack that came from its surface. Oh how confident he’d been as he’d grabbed hold and hauled himself up.
Unfortunately, the second he’d left the ground, twisted spikes had shot out of the wooden wall. They’d gotten him good, alright. A dozen leaking holes in his chest and thighs — clean through, too! It had broken through his barrier in a heartbeat — wounded him before he could rip himself clear with a shunt.
It was luck alone that had saved his life — even Lesser Regeneration would do nothing for him if one of those questing roots had punched through his eye.
In the next attempt, he tried to learn from his mistakes. For one, he put his armour back on. Even if it limited his range of motion a tad, the extra defence was worth it — it wasn’t like it slowed him down. Not with his Strength and Tempered by Dissonance being capped.
That wasn’t the only thing he’d changed. A full accompaniment of barriers coated the wall. Then he climbed.
He made it a bit further before they broke through — all of a whole longstride! Still, he did get away without injuries.
The third? Well, he could admit that had been a little stupid.
In his defence, he'd been frustrated.
He’d tried a roundabout route — a shunt to blast him higher than the wall, and another to send him over it. At least, that had been the plan.
The instant he’d gotten higher than two long strides in the air, the wall had exploded with a vengeance. Dozens upon dozens of roots shot straight for him. It was like they were incensed, actually mad that he’d dared to try to avoid them!
He’d been forced to retreat instantly — Shunting himself back and down.
Thankfully, the wall had seemed to accept his surrender. The roots had retracted to vanish back into the wall the second he touched the ground.
Kaius sighed — at least he’d gotten another level out of Vyrthane.
His next attempt would come soon. He just needed to wait for his mana to fully regenerate so that he could refresh Warhaven. Let no one say he didn’t learn his lessons!
Already, he’d layered a full eight Warhavens over the wall. A worthwhile effort that had netted him a few more levels of his shaping skills. He’d be done after his next batch — unfortunately.