Chapter Five: When Steel Meets Will
Wind screamed across the platform. Not natural wind manufactured. Controlled. It blew through cracked stone archways and across worn ground carved with old marks. Not words. Just… impressions. Fights had happened here. Many. And not all of them ended clean.
The text still hovered in the sky.
FLOOR FIVE
TRIAL OF ENTRY
ENEMY TYPE: INVADER GROUP
SURVIVAL REQUIRED: FOUR OF SIX
Soren shifted his weight. "Only four survive."
"Again," Dina said. "Every time, the Tower narrows the group."
They all turned to him.
He pointed toward the far edge of the platform. The mist parted. Six shapes emerged—slowly, confidently. A second team. Each wearing identical dark grey cloaks, thin armor under the fabric, faces painted with some kind of black resin across the eyes.
They weren't shocked. They weren't confused. They were prepared and seemed to have an incline on what's going on.
One of them stepped forward.
A woman, maybe in her thirties. Hard face. Short hair. She wore the look of someone who had seen this all before.
She raised her voice.
"You're early."
Caleb raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"We figured we'd reach Floor Five before any other squads. Looks like we miscalculated."
Her group spread out behind her. Calm. Controlled.
No one reached for a weapon. Not yet.
The woman took another step forward. "I'm Riven. Floor Four administrator's favored candidate. My squad calls ourselves The Scour.
That changed the calculation. Caleb didn't like unknown variables. And right now, the enemy team had the advantage seemingly more prepared and cable than his own
He raised his voice. "We don't want a fight."
Riven smiled. "That's too bad. We do."
Then everything snapped.
One of Riven's team launched forward—too fast. A blur. Class-enhanced speed. Caleb barely moved in time, side-stepping with Phantom Step, his skill activating with a cold pulse through his legs. The attacker skidded past, heading towards Dina, a clean attack. Yet she managed to dodge.
Caleb didn't look back. He was already moving.
So this is how it starts.
Not a fight for pride. Or territory. Just survival.
The two teams exploded into chaos.
Soren charged a massive man from the Scour, his Vanguard strength flaring. The impact leveled dust of the floor. Ellen's Veilcaller tricks flickered in the air shadows lashing out like whips, forcing two enemies back.
But it wasn't even.
The Scour were faster. Sharper. Coordinated.
Caleb ducked a spinning strike, swept a leg, drove his elbow into a jaw. He needed to control the tempo or they were dead.
Marek, the quiet one, activated a Binder skill chains shot from the ground, wrapping a Scour attacker mid-lunge. Dina followed with a slash that tore through armor.
But then
A scream.
Ellen.
Caleb's head whipped around. One of the Scour had him pinned. Blade raised.
He didn't think.
He moved.
Phantom Step again. Already on cooldown. Didn't matter. He forced it. Burned something deeper.
His body twisted through the air, his knife punching straight into the attacker's ribs. Clean. Final.
The Scour member collapsed.
Ellen gasped. "You—"
They regrouped fast. Four of them still standing. Soren had gone down, bleeding from the shoulder but unconscious. Marek dragged him behind a pillar.
Riven called out again.
"Enough!"
Everyone froze.
She stepped forward again, alone now. Her team was bleeding. One unconscious. One dead. One barely standing.That's not what was supposed to happen, she had information she had-.
Caleb matched her pace. "Trial says four of six survive. Not six of six. You want to lose another?"
She exhaled. "No. You win this floor."
He narrowed his eyes. "Just like that?"
"We've got two kills. You've got one. Another down and out. That leaves three each. If you hold this platform, it means we're the ones who walk away."
He paused. Then nodded. "Fine. We hold."
"Good," she said.
The Scour began backing away. A new path opened behind them an alternate stairwell, rising away from the platform. Not up. Sideways.
Caleb watched them go.
Then turned to the group.
"Everyone still breathing?"
"Barely," Dina said.
"Then we keep climbing."
Post-Floor Message:
YOU HAVE CLEARED FLOOR FIVE
BONUS REWARD GRANTED: Class Branching Option Unlocked
NEXT FLOOR: SANCTUARY HUB - INTERMISSION