Remembering the spells he’d recently learned in the Chartreuse Cougar library, he began practicing moving his inner power in the correct flow. He did not actually cast anything, as he did not want his enemies to know his strengths, but he could perform all but the culminating trigger without giving away anything of importance. Of course, pulling back the spell half-cast was a strain on his soul, but his soul was strong enough to handle it.

It did require more effort than he preferred to expend on training, but right now he was acutely aware of how far beyond him his adversaries were.

He would triumph, he knew, but not without sacrifices and effort. He'd come this far with strength and determination, and he wasn't about to give up and start relying on luck or something like a coincidence to save him now.

Zu Mari made his own coincidences.

To anyone else, it would appear that he was practicing some odd dance or martial arts kata. Zu did his best to play into this misapprehension, by shifting his body excessively about between spells, as though in the throes of some deeply spiritual fighting practice.

He had about half an hour of this before their free time came to an abrupt end. Menya and Nira returned, their faces as opposite as could be. Menya looked positively gleeful, while Nira had a look of sorrow upon her countenance.

"The first trial awaits the acolytes," Menya declared happily. "Follow me."

Zu set off after her, most of the others falling in line. Two chose to stay behind. He saw Nira moving toward them, probably trying to convince them not to throw their lives away, but then he had passed too far into the tower to see the balcony any longer. He wondered if the two would survive, and suspected they would not.

Menya led them to a doorway, upon which she placed a hand. “Beyond here, the walls will begin to close as soon as you enter. Each section has a different method to hold back the walls from crushing you. Each section also moves those beyond. If you can hold the first open fully, the second will begin fully open. If you allow the first to close halfway, the second will begin halfway closed. Survive to the end, and you pass the trial. If you’re the first, you’ll receive a special advancement opportunity.”

She smiled at them, then nodded toward the doorway. “Go on, whenever you’re ready.”

Zu drew in his strength and sprang forward. The casting of [time slow] enabled him to take in the system moving the walls at a glance. The first room was controlled by pressure, and could be physically restrained. He sprinted through it without pause, casting a second time as he reached the next room.

Holding back these walls required heat, the temperature of the room would hasten or slow the compression. He threw balls of fire at each of the side walls on his way through without slowing.

The third room was controlled by water. But the water flowed on the other side of the walls, and would take complicated techniques to impact from here. Zu drew on his inner phoenix for strength and continued running without pause.

Each room was harder than the last and Zu began to strain to fulfill all the requirements to progress without growing too overwhelmed by the walls as they continued to close. As fast as he was progressing, he was still subjected to the effects of everyone else who was earlier on and allowing their walls to close as well.

Fortunately, he was the strongest and wisest of any of them. None could match him for cunning. He knew what to do at once, manipulating each room's environment in the desired methods to pass to the next room unscathed.

Ten minutes later, he reached the last room and had to face the final challenge. The walls were already narrowed to a thin corridor by now and he did not trust it to remain safe to traverse for much longer. The others were not doing a very good job. He wondered if any of them would survive, then decided it did not matter. They had already proven their weakness, their unwillingness to fight even for their own freedom. He would not spare a thought for them.

The final room contained a great beast, chained to the walls, which meant that the nearer they drew together, the more freedom the beast had to move. Zu saw that before it closed entirely, the creature would be able to escape into another room.

It was probably used to the people coming and being crushed, and running at the last moment.

When it saw Zu, its giant maw slavered with drool, eyes glinting with wicked hunger. It lunged forward, the chain rattling behind it as it snarled, mouth gaping open to consume him.

Zu fired a globe of ice into the creature's mouth, smashing it directly into its throat. The beast gagged and vomited, the giant ice projectile hitting it at the perfect spot to disorient and discomfit it.

Zu didn't let his guard down, but leapt into the air, striding across the air above the beast while it recovered from the unexpected assault.

Alas, even running across the air, he couldn't get out of its reach fast enough. It spun on him, furious, flailing its massive clawed hands toward him in eager vengeance.

Zu instinctively reached for Heart of Fire and Spirit of Twilight Death, but the sword was not at his side. He was weaponless and alone. Only his spells and his phoenix could be relied on.

He channeled the phoenix's flame into his hand, empowering a fire attack and blasting it into the guardian beast's face. It exploded in one eye, bursting hot goo all over. The beast roared in rage, leapt into the air and grabbed Zu's leg, its claws piercing through and dragging him down from the air.

The walls continued to close.

Zu screamed back at the creature, firing another fireball into its face, but this time it got a claw up to block it and the fire hissed away uselessly against its hand.

Zu had to get away, he would be eaten or crushed if he didn't move now! But the claw speared through his leg was a rather significant problem.

Old instincts rose in him, the impulse to flash immolate himself and escape back to the start of the loop - but there was no loop now, he was going to die, really and truly die...

No. "NO!" Zu screamed, slamming his fists against the beast's claw, wrenching himself to try and slip off, but the beast was too canny and too strong. Its claw had pierced through Zu's thigh, snared deep in his flesh and nestled against the bone, he couldn't pull himself free.

His vision whitened in pain as his struggles intensified the effect, making it a hundred times worse. But desperation was upon him now. He had no choice. He couldn't give up! He was Zu Mari, future lord of the heavens! He would not let himself die at the hands of an insignificant testing beast!