The Archive chamber faded again.
Not gently.
Not like the slow shift that brought the forge.
This time, it was sudden—like a curtain ripped from the world. One blink, and Thane was somewhere else.
He didn't land.
He appeared.
Standing.
Alone.
The space around him was no longer a forge or a training ground.
It was an arena.
Massive walls of dark obsidian loomed high above, shaped like waves frozen mid-crash. Fire danced in the seams between the stones. Pillars jutted up from the floor like broken spears, some scorched, others still smoldering.
There were no enemies in sight.
No statues.
No warning.
Only the tablet.
Floating again in front of him.
Waiting.
He stepped forward, his boots skimming ash as he moved. His pulse remained steady. There was no fear. Not yet.
Just tension.
The kind of stillness that precedes storms.
The tablet flashed once, then spoke.
"Trial Three: The Flame as Wall."
"Objective: Defend your core."
"Duration: 300 seconds."
"Destruction of the core results in failure."
Before he could ask what core meant, the arena rumbled.
From the ground behind him, a tall pedestal rose, made of polished stone. At its top sat a glowing orb of white-gold flame, encased in a ring of hardened glass.
It pulsed once.
Softly.
Like a heartbeat.
Thane turned slowly to face it.
Then he heard it.
The first hiss.
Followed by another.
Then a roar.
From every direction.
No enemies yet.
But something was coming.
He opened his status screen instinctively, already preparing himself.
[STATUS]
🧍 Name: Thane🔥 Mana: 3 (29/30)🎒 Skills: [Firebolt – Lv. 1] • EXP: 22 / 100 • Mana Cost: 10 [Flame Arc – Lv. 1] • EXP: 6 / 100 • Mana Cost: 12 [Burning Chain – Lv. 1] • EXP: 4 / 100 • Mana Cost: 14 [Quiet Casting](Passive) [Poison Resistance – Lv. 2](Passive) • EXP: 4 / 25📈 Level: 1🧪 EXP: 30 / 100
Not enough mana to cast more than two attacks at once.
He'd need to be deliberate.
Then the ground at the far end of the arena cracked.
Something crawled out.
It looked like stone at first.
But it moved like flesh.
A creature made of molten rock, its limbs dripping with fire, its eyes empty voids of smoldering heat. No face. No mouth. Just a furnace where a soul should be.
Then another emerged beside it.
And a third.
They stalked forward in slow, deliberate steps, radiating pressure.
Behind them, more shapes moved in the smoke.
Thane backed up and placed himself between the glowing core and the advancing monsters.
The tablet blinked once more.
"Time Remaining: 300 seconds."
He didn't wait for them to reach him.
He raised his hand.
Firebolt.
The flame surged, tight and sharp, streaking through the air and smashing into the lead creature's chest. It stumbled—but didn't stop.
No damage indicator appeared.
No EXP notification.
They weren't designed to die.
They were here to test.
His mind raced.
He didn't need to kill them.
He needed to slow them.
Redirect them.
He reached into his memory.
His last spell—Burning Chain—could restrain, but only one at a time.
And the others?
Flame Arc was wide, not deep.
Not enough.
He had to try something new.
He closed his eyes.
Focused.
What could flame be, if not a weapon?
Shield.
The thought rose like a command from his bones.
He raised both hands and imagined fire forming not in a stream or arc... but a barrier.
A rising wall.
He shaped it like a half-circle.
And cast.
[New Variation Attempted: Flame Wall]
Mana surged out of him.
Too fast.
The wall of fire burst upward between him and the enemies—tall, rippling, unstable. The heat pushed back the stone creatures. Two stopped. One pushed through.
The wall flickered, then collapsed.
"Variation: Flame Wall — Stability: 19%"
"Rejected. Too inefficient."
He gasped and dropped to one knee.
Mana dropped to 15.
He didn't have time to recover it.
The first creature was on him.
He rolled backward, arms raised, and threw a last-minute Flame Arc. It struck the monster's leg and staggered it.
That was enough.
He cast Burning Chain to bind its torso.
Flames wrapped around its arms and held—only barely.
But the second was coming now.
He needed cover.
Wall didn't work... try something smaller.
He imagined a dome this time.
A tight, curved shell just around the core.
Fireguard.
He cast.
[New Variation Attempted: Fireguard]
The spell snapped into place.
A small hemisphere of fire erupted around the core.
The heat bent outward. The pressure hummed.
The second creature struck it with a molten claw.
The fire held.
Then it cracked.
Then broke.
"Variation: Fireguard — Stability: 41%"
"Insufficient. Partial success."
Thane stumbled again.
He was down to 6 mana.
The creatures were circling now, searching for gaps.
Time ticked.
240 seconds.
He didn't have it in him to cast again yet.
So he moved.
He sprinted toward the closest creature and shouted—not a spell, just noise.
It turned.
He leapt toward one of the broken pillars and climbed.
The creature followed.
It bought him twenty seconds.
Just enough to breathe.
Just enough to recover 1 mana.
Not enough for a spell.
But enough to think.
The Archive didn't want power here.
It wanted function.
He closed his eyes again and visualized a flame that pulsed... not burned. A flame that absorbed. Not repelled. Not shielded. Just endured.
Ward.
He climbed higher on the pillar, pressed his hands together... and whispered in his mind.
Flame Ward.
The fire circled him—not a wall, not a dome. A shimmer of orange that pulsed with each heartbeat.
When the next creature reached him and struck... the blow landed.
But softer.
The screen pinged.
[New Spell Acquired: Flame Ward – Lv. 1] • A basic fire-aspected ward that reduces physical and magical damage for 5 seconds. • Mana Cost: 8 • EXP: 0 / 100
The spell held.
He jumped down from the pillar and ran to the core.
Two creatures were nearly there.
He cast Flame Arc again, sweeping their feet. They stumbled.
He threw his hands out wide and poured the last of his mana into another cast of Flame Ward, this time expanding it outward.
The shield shimmered around the core.
And held.
Time Remaining: 5 seconds.
He stood there, chest heaving.
The monsters surrounded him.
But they didn't strike.
The screen blinked again.
"Trial Complete."
"Candidate has demonstrated defensive shaping capacity."
"Unlocking Spell: Flame Ward."
"Mana depleted."
"Recommended: Rest."
The creatures vanished.
The walls faded.
And the Archive returned.
Thane collapsed to his knees, trembling, empty.
But smiling.