I appear seated on one of the stone benches arranged around the sphere at the center of the cave, where the water continues to swirl endlessly in an unpredictable dance of motion. Tess, Sophie, and Lily are nearby.

Other than us, there are only two more people. A feylith woman and a thylarin man with four arms.

Something about this meeting seems to unsettle the others as well. I notice them putting up their defenses and making themselves more alert. Lily shifts her huge axe and steps forward, Tess creates some distance, and Sophie narrows her eyes, steadying her stance.

My handler's last words echo in my mind, tightening the tension inside me. In the back of my mind, I already start preparing countermeasures after taking a moment to estimate the capabilities of the duo in front of us.

Noticing us, the feylith woman smiles and waves. She looks young, probably younger than me. Her hair and eyes are light green, but they keep shifting toward white and yellow. Like all feylith, she has small wings folded on her back.

Meanwhile, the thylarin is the tallest of his kind I’ve seen so far. He has four arms, and each of his forearms is covered in white, intricate, glowing lines through which light constantly shifts, sometimes deepening into orange. It feels almost as if a living flame is burning within them.

“Didn’t expect to meet people from Earth’s tutorial,” the feylith woman says. Her voice is calm, unhurried. “But that’s Beyond, isn’t it? Full of surprises.”

"And you are?” Tess asks.

“I’m Faora, and you must be Sset. The unfriendly-looking man is Noname, also known as Nathaniel. The tiny black-haired one is Grumpy, and the sneaky bitch over there is Soph. Is that short for Sophia or Sophie?” she asks with a curious smile.

“Sophie.”

“I see! Thank you for telling me, Sophie. And stop messing around with your mental abilities before I kill you. It probably feels pretty awkward for me to already know your names, right? I apologize. Luan and I had a long talk with someone from your tutorial not long ago. Right, Luan? So I remembered your names and descriptions.”

She gestures toward the huge thylarin, who stays quiet.

Faora doesn’t seem bothered by his silence at all. “This place is pretty, isn’t it? I like to stop here when I go fishing to make shards. And who would’ve guessed I’d run into people from Earth? Please, sit down.”

As she gestures at the benches near her, I tense up. This time, I let more mana seep into my body and push back against the pressure I've been sensing since we arrived. The pressure the massive thylarin is sustaining over the whole area.

“Luan,” Faora says, and the pressure vanishes instantly.

(Should we…) Lily tries to send through the link.

(Don’t talk. She’s listening,) Sophie replies, then tears apart the web.

That only gets an amused chuckle from Faora. Her eyes and hair are both yellow now as she comfortably sits on the bench. She seems to enjoy the situation. Unlike her, Luan just stands nearby with his arms crossed.

Faora pats the bench beside her like she’s inviting us to a picnic, not… whatever this is.

“I promise the benches don’t bite,” she says with a grin. “Though I can’t vouch for Luan.” She jerks a thumb toward the towering thylarin.

The thylarin doesn’t react. He just watches us. The glowing lines on his arms shifting slightly, as the color deepens for a moment before fading again.

I stay standing. So do the others.

Faora shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Suit yourselves.”

She leans back with one arm resting on the back of the bench, relaxed. The kind of relaxed that only serves to make me more alert. Her presence doesn’t press down like Luan’s, but there’s something else off about her.

“What do you want?” I ask.

“Want?” She seems to think it over, then smiles briefly. “A lot of things, but it would be boring to talk about that. After all, I just got to meet people from Earth’s tutorial. You might not know it yet, but because of that man, there are a lot of people curious about Earth. Tell me, what floor are you on, Nathaniel?”

“Ninth.”

“Oh? Not bad. You told me, so I’ll return the favor. It’s only fair. Luan and I are on the thirteenth floor. As for me, I’m only a few months away from the end of our tutorial, and Luan has a bit more time.”

Her words confirm what I suspected. Both the thylarin man and the feylith woman are extremely powerful. Faora’s unsettling presence and Luan’s glowing lines don’t feel like a good sign.

Why? Why do I feel this way? Are my handler’s last words feeding the sense of danger? Is there something I’m picking up on that I can’t explain? The others don’t seem to notice it quite like I do. I’m sure they sense the danger and pressure more than I do, but they don’t seem to understand.

That woman looks like a cat playing with a mouse just before it eats it.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, Faora. We already have something planned, so we’ll be leaving now, okay?” Tess says, still trying to remain neutral.

At the front of our group, Luan walks from side to side. Lily stands in front of him, mirroring his movements. He towers over her, but she shows no hesitation.

Faora’s smile grows. In some way, that smile reminds me of Ari.

"You guys are so clueless it’s almost cute. Tell me, Sset, do you even know your planet is currently in the process of a Pairing?” she asks, resting her chin on her palm.

“Pairing? That shouldn’t even be possible until we complete the tutorial, much less without an Absolute.”

“I fully agree with you. It should be impossible, yet here you are. Progress is probably very slow right now, but it’ll speed up after your tutorial ends. Then, five years later, Earth’s non-attack phase will end, and it’ll be possible for enemy Champions and Absolute to enter Earth. Luan, wouldn’t you agree that Earth is screwed?”

As before, the huge thylarin doesn’t even bother to answer. Instead, he faces Lily just as she faces him. Only two of his arms are crossed over his chest, while the other two hang at his sides.

“We’ll be leaving now,” Tess repeats, deciding that enough is enough.

In response, we get ready.

“Sset, I’d rather you didn’t do that,” Faora says, standing up as her smile widens more and more.

Her eyes and hair are now a striking shade of red.

“I don’t like that mind mage of yours. I hate her. I don’t like you, Sset. You’re too calm, your hair is too pretty, I hate the name your healer chose, and the way she looks at me. But most of all, I hate that bastard standing there making his preparations. I hate that nauseating mana I can sense radiating from him and the fact that he has the same subclass as me.”

The wide smile vanishes.

“Please, don’t be sad. Even if you had done everything you could to please me, the result would be the same. I do this to everyone with the subclass of Pride.” She fully turns to me. “Let’s play and see how long it takes to break you, Nathaniel.”

Everyone moves and attacks. Lily clashes with Luan. Lightning surrounds Tess, and the ground thunders as stones and debris begin to rise around her, falling apart under the pressure.

Without hesitation, I form the orb of black mana I’ve been preparing and-

I find myself in darkness I cannot pierce, no matter what I try. No fire I conjure lights it up. I feel water up to my knees as I take a step, and around me, splashes echo as something moves in the blackness.

My mana, primordial energies, everything is completely out of reach.

Then, a faint glowing orb rises, revealing Faora sitting on a throne made of bodies and illuminating a small area around her. Each body is a version of Faora, I recognize. Beyond that light of the glowing orb, everything is lost in pitch-black darkness.

Even the splashes around are more Faoras. When the light reaches them, they begin to groan and flail. They try to climb out of the water, but every time they take a breath, something drags them under.

“Please, ignore them,” Faora says, smiling. “They’re parts of my mind that... well, let’s just say if you push too hard, things start to snap. Welcome to my Mind Palace, Nathaniel. Oh, and don’t bother. You can’t use your mana here or anything else.”

It is just as she said, but I don’t wait for her to finish. I take a step toward her, then another, breaking into a run through the water, which I now see is red. Before I get too close, something far stronger than me grabs my feet and pulls me down, then lets go. When I rise and try again, it happens once more. It keeps dragging me back, further from her.

I search for my mana, for anything I can use, but there is nothing.

“Your mental defenses are impressive. I’ve only felt stronger from a rare few fourth-year attendees.”

I keep jerking my legs to break free and kick at whatever is grabbing me, but that only draws more Faoras closer. They groan as they move. I see how twisted they are. Some have too many limbs, some too few. Some are huge, others are too small. Some are missing eyes, and others have far too many.

I fight them off, feeling blood trickle from my nose as my temperature spikes. A ringing starts in my ears, and the pain forces a groan out of me.

Still sitting there, Faora smiles.

“Finally. I was starting to worry your mind was handling this too well. You know, Nathaniel, here in my Mind Palace, time passes much faster than it does outside. Of course, it’s not actually affecting the flow of time, it’s more like thought acceleration, and there’s always a cost. Most people die after just a few seconds, but you and Sophie are both holding up surprisingly well.”

Once again, I kick away the corpses. I leap over one powerful arm and duck under another charging at me, only to be hit by that same dizzying lightheadedness.

"Oh, come on. This is getting pathetic, Nathaniel. But who told you to pick such a subclass? Wouldn't you agree that Pride is the worst option? All these weaklings pretending to be strong, just to meet the expectations it places on them. There’s nothing better than beating them down and breaking them."

The dozens of broken and twisted fragments of her mind keep screeching around us.

"You might think I only know Sophie's name now, Nathaniel, but I now know so much more. Would you like to hear some of her secrets?"

My body rises into the air as one of the largest twisted versions of Faora lifts me up, holding me so I face Faora, still seated on her throne of bodies.

"Dear Sophie is scared all the time, yet she’s pathetic too. Because of her sister, she tries to be a better person. She holds back, barely makes use of her abilities, dabbling here and there, and mostly on natives. That’s why she didn’t put up a better fight against me today," she laughs.

No matter how I twist or strain, I can’t move.

The woman in front of me falls silent, her eyes glazing over as she focuses on something else. A drop of blood trickles from her nose.

Then silence falls. No splashing, no screaming.

And Faora says,

"Oh, I pushed a little too hard. Sophie might be dead, but it’s her fault for resisting me so much. I..."

At last, I find a sliver of mana. Only one skill works here. I use [Manifestation], and a spear made of mana forms in my hand, piercing through Faora´s neck as she screams.

The world around me vanishes, and I find myself back outside. My body wobbles, and my mind feels like it's about to shut down. I glance at the spot where I formed the black mana orb, but it's gone, and there's a huge hole in the wall.

It feels nearly impossible to reach for my mana, but I try anyway. Then something slams into my chest and sends me flying into a wall.

I try to move again, but that presence closes in. I barely dodge one fist, but the next two slam into my stomach, breaking both of my arms. When I try to rise and call on my mana, he doesn't let me. A punch to my chin nearly knocks me out.

Each strike leaves burning wounds, and I catch glimpses of the glowing lines on his arms, moving like living things. Shining brighter with every impact.

I release the heat building in my body and activate my passive to heal, but nothing happens. The burns from these blows don’t respond to healing.

Still, more thermal energy flows through me as I force myself to fight, even as my brain screams in protest. My wounds recover slightly. Then Luan is on me again.

Barely able to defend myself, he breaks my knee and slams me to the ground. My golden flames burn brighter around him, but he ignores them nonetheless.

His glowing lines pulse again as he flicks his hand to deflect a burst of kinetic energy that destroys the area behind him. When I try to gather mana, he grabs me by the neck and lifts me into the air.

"If you fight back, she will kill your friends," he says, his voice ringing quietly for the first time.

Another fist crushes into my stomach, and he throws me down again.

Then I hear Faora screaming.

I lift my eyes from the ground. She’s standing now. Her eyes are bleeding, her hair and irises burning in a deeper, more vibrant red streaked with white.

"Stop. You've done enough," Luan says to her.

Only that makes her stop kicking what I now realize is Sophie’s body. Lily lies on the ground nearby with the same burning wounds as mine, covering her body. Her hair is short, she is missing her arm, and the axe next to her is broken. Tess is nearby, with one of her javelins pierced through her shoulder and pinning her against the wall, and she’s covered in the same burning wounds.

"I will fucking kill them!" Faora screams.

"You've done enough, Faora," Luan repeats. "We don’t know how that man is going to react to this, since they are from his planet. So let it be. Is that mind mage dead?"

"How would I know? That bitch pushed against me, so I pushed back, so who cares?" Once again, she kicks Sophie’s body and then turns to me. "And you, what you did should’ve been impossible, how..."

Recovering a bit, I get back on my feet again. Luan also watches me, and so does Faora.

When I try to move to attack her, Luan is there again. I am unable to even compress my mana enough to do anything. My ankle breaks as I move with kinetic energy to dodge and attack him, but even then, he just grabs my fist. Then a punch sends me to the ground.

"Let the poor guy be, Luan. You can leave now. I’ll take care of the rest. Don’t worry, I won’t kill anyone."

The thylarin looks at her, then at me, before slowly walking away. "You find too much pleasure in your little cruelties, Faora. It will cost you your life one day."

Faora doesn’t say anything until he makes his exit and heads out through the tunnels. But only when he’s gone does she drop that polite smile, and her murderous intent is finally directed toward where he left.

She then turns and reaches me with a few nimble steps, blood on her cheeks from her bleeding eyes. "If you use even a bit of your mana, I will kill your friends. You can check, but I have placed some really fun marks on their heads. But be careful, if you aren’t, they will activate and..."

She drops to her knees, then stretches out on the ground, her face only a breath away from mine.

"I mean, if you’re really that confident, go on and remove these marks. To be honest, it would be fun to watch. But you know, I’m kind of a mind mage like Sophie, so you might miss some of my traps and end up killing them instead."

I can feel her warm breath on my face. I see the color of her eyes, her pupils expanding. A single strand of hair falls down her forehead.

She moves even closer, and her voice turns to a whisper. "But if you don’t do anything, they might still die. Luan’s Fragment is really scary, but he held back, so who knows?"

After brushing away some dirt from beneath her chin, she places her hands there, rests her head on them, and watches me. "Obviously, if you attack me, if you move from the position you're in, if you leak too much mana or try to use your primordial energies, they will die. They will also die if you try to use that black mana. I don’t know what it is, but Luan had a really difficult time getting rid of it, so I don’t want to mess with it."

The smile that forms on her face is one I make sure to remember. Every expression. Every word. I burn it into my memory.

Almost playfully, she watches me. "You won’t try anything? So boring. Say Please, don’t kill them, or I will kill that blonde."

"Please, don’t kill them."

Her expression shows a bit of surprise, but her eyes stay glued to mine. Then she bursts into a happy laugh. Her voice turns even quieter. "I lied. I wouldn’t have done anything to her, even if you hadn’t begged. To be honest, I don’t know if they’ll survive, but they’ve been wounded by Luan, so that’s going to be on him, not me. I’m not sure about dear Sophie, though. Her mind seems to be gone."

[Focus - lvl 66 Focus - lvl 67]

She pulls herself even closer and whispers right into my ear. "Nathaniel, I think I might have killed Sophie."

Right after that, she moves back quickly to watch my expression.

Not getting what she wanted, she sighs. "Boring. Maybe next time you’ll be more fun? I know from Sophie’s mind that you guys used a one-day stay token, so the traps should disappear a few minutes before it ends. Until then, just lie there and hope they survive, okay? Or try to remove my marks and help them."

Taking a few steps toward the same tunnel Luan left through, she turns back one more time. "How is your pride now?"

Without waiting for an answer, she leaves.

[Focus - lvl 67 Focus - lvl 68]

For the remaining twenty-three hours, I lie there with my eyes closed, unable to even make sure they’re still alive.