Millie’s prediction had been correct: the discussion with the Spirit of the Archives did indeed take a while. However, there ultimately wasn’t much more her group was able to discover. Aside from a brief back and forth on the confusion of the name Eden (the Spirit had nothing to do with the Biblical garden—Catherine had simply thought it an appropriate name to give it), the Spirit had shared all it was willing to.

It did at least promise they could return later. The only cost to see the Spirit was the offering, which according to Catherine only took a few resources. This was only of note because the Spirit hinted that certain conditions could unlock the ability for it to share more information in the future. What those were—she obviously didn’t say. Which is pretty much to be expected at this point, Millie mused.

Regardless, once they’d finally decided they’d exhausted every topic, Millie’s group made to leave. Once outside the audience chambers, however, they were met with an unwanted, if expected, sight.

Their fellow students were waiting for them.

The Archive’s entrance lobby was packed with them, many in scattered groups, others in the midst of fresh arguments or renewed searches, but in all, there were nearly as many as they’d first seen that morning. A particularly large group was standing near the Spirit’s door, signs of them attempting to recreate what Millie and her group had done evident nearby. But as Millie and her group stepped out, the small group was forced back, eying them warily. Several of them were wearing actual uniforms, and there were even more in the crowd. It was still rare, however, indicating it would take more time before that changed for the majority of the students.

Near immediately, Millie’s group was met with incoherent shouts and calls, with a majority of the mob looking uncertain. Eyes filled with anxiety, greed, anger, or just mild curiosity took them in. It was a tense moment, but one Millie’s group had prepared for. Millie was grateful now—facing the sheer weight of the crowd—that despite it having been her idea, she wasn’t the one they’d decided would explain their group's plans to help the students.

Instead, Isabella stepped forward and gestured for the crowd to quiet. Once they settled, she began.

“We just spoke with the head librarian here about accessing the rest of the Archives,” she told them. “It turns out we need a library pass to get upstairs, and it's located after a series of trials down below. That way had also been closed, but we got it activated.”

Groans and shouts of dismay came from the crowd.

“More trials?”

“This never ends!”

“I told you it would just be more bullshit—”

Raj held his fingers to his mouth and let loose an ear-piercing whistle. The crowd’s outbursts subsided as Isabella nodded to the muscled man and cleared her throat.

“These trials are a test of magic,” she continued, “something that would normally only be taught to us after classes begin, but thanks to something our group found earlier we have that instruction. So, if we make it through, we’ll release videos discussing how to follow as well as the basics on magic.”

“You will?” A familiar voice chimed in. Millie saw it was Okimi, genuine shock on her face. Several others in the crowd echoed her disbelief.

“We will,” Isabella affirmed. “It’s not right that this place is pitting us against each other. Not when there’s obviously enough to go around, plus all the rules preventing any one person or group from hoarding everything for themselves. Letting others die because they didn’t find answers fast enough is bullshit.”

A susurration broke out. Several students were obviously wary of the declaration, with some appearing ignorant altogether of what Isabella was referencing. But a few of those scattered in the crowd, many of the ones wearing uniforms Millie noted, looked at them appraisingly. Raj had predicted some would respond like that, so Millie made sure to memorize their features. Those were the ones to approach with offers of alliances, or simply information trading, later on.

A back and forth occurred after that. The people who were unconvinced of the validity of the offer Millie’s group was making wanted assurances. Isabella continued to talk, going into more depth where she could on the rules to drive the point home. In the end, she also gave away the procedure for speaking with Eden. Holding onto it didn’t give Millie’s group any particular advantage, and what the Spirit ended up explaining would serve to prove what Isabella was telling them all now. That would strengthen their position when word got around.

Finally, the crowd began to relent. Millie’s group took the opportunity to make their way to the downstairs entrance. They didn’t rush, obviously, they simply made it seem that they’d explained enough and it was time to get going. There were still many that remained unconvinced in the crowd, but they’d either come around as verification came in later, or it was never going to matter in the first place. What was important was that they didn’t stop them, or trigger a negative reaction in the mob.

Descending down the stairs, the group was met with a black portal. Walking through it, however, felt as though the path hadn’t been interrupted at all. The staircase simply continued past the wall of black seamlessly. According to Eden, all the transitioning staircases in the Archive were like this—it allowed them to redirect students across floors without making it obvious where they’d ended up. It also meant that going back, regardless of the floor you were on, would always return you to the Archive lobby.

At the bottom of the stairs, the group walked out into a dark room. Despite the gloom, it was evidently quite large—the way the sounds of their footsteps echoed told them that much at least. In front of them was a semi-circle of glyphs serving as a barrier between them and the room, as well as serving as the only source of light in the otherwise pitch-darkness. They’d expected this, however—floors were ‘inactive’ until that threshold was crossed, giving students a chance to prepare themselves if needed.

Which, while the Spirit hadn’t elaborated on it, she had hinted that on some of the more advanced floors that prep time would be very necessary.

“We ready for this?” CJ asked.

“Best we can be, cutie,” Isabella responded. “This is just a magic test, right? It shouldn’t be too hard with Millie here.”

That’s the hope. “Let’s trigger it then,” Millie said. “Remember, she said even light can disrupt the barrier so we can hang back and use our phones.”

“Just remember the plan,” Raj reminded them. “If it isn’t what she promised, or if there's immediate danger—back up we go.”

The group nodded in agreement, but rather than use phones (Raj was wary someone would fumble one if danger jumped out at them), Raj instead took out a pebble from a small bag he’d been carrying. He apparently had dozens of small rocks with him—he claimed he’d tested out quite a few places in the Academy using them. Beats lugging around a giant pole, I guess.

Raj tossed the stone, and the moment it crossed the threshold the Glyphs disappeared as the space lit up. It was a linear path, though wide enough for the group to walk five abreast without difficulty. The stone floors, walls, and ceilings reminded Millie of the tunnels they’d encountered in their opening Trial, though this place was less of a crumbling ruin. A moment later, however, the traps turned on.

Axes swung across the hallway, gouts of flame or pressured water fired out from the walls. Hell, in one spot a boulder rolled back and forth as though on a hidden pendulum, showing no signs of stopping. All the traps, however, were static, and none of them were coming at the group. They just formed impassible, deadly walls between them and the way forward.

“Alright, let’s find the ‘test’ part of this,” Raj said as the group approached the first obstacle. Obviously, no one argued as they got to work, and they quickly found what they needed.

“What are those?” Tanya asked, pointing to the floor.

Five square panels sat in front of the array of swinging axes. They’d remained indistinct, however, until the group got close enough. Then, they flared to life with a circular diagram on each panel. They looked like chaotic lines drawn in concentric circles, but with periodic breaks and crossovers everywhere. It was as intricate as it was nonsensical.

To anyone other than Millie that was.

“These are Runes,” she told them. “Specifically, these are Formational Runes, which is just one of the alphabets in the First Language.”

“There are multiple alphabets in the stupid thing?” D’marco whined.

“Plenty of languages have multiple alphabets,” Catherine jumped in. “Japanese has Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.”

“Sure,” Millie said—she’d take the girl’s word on that one. “It’s, ah, all just different methods to express the same concept though. It helps you understand the Runes in different ways. With Formational Runes, it expresses a Rune much like a Formation.”

“I think we’re going to need a little more than that,” Isabella said dryly. She looked about as pleased as her brother.

“Can you start by describing the exact nature of a Formation?” Raj clarified. “Then explain how this Rune is like that and why that’s useful?”

Millie nodded, that seemed fine with her. “So most Spells are often called Formations. Technically speaking, what a Formation actually is, is a Mandala and series of Runes.”

“Should we be writing this down?” Tanya asked.

“Fuck, I didn’t bring anything to take notes!” D’marco yelled.

Catherine paused, a notepad and pen already in hand as she stared at the tall boy. “You didn’t?”

“Why am I not fucking surprised,” he replied, glaring at the curvy girl.

Millie cleared her throat to get their attention. “Hey, don’t worry—the technical details aren’t important just yet. Just know that a Mandala is, essentially, a matrix of magical energy. Like how our organs have connective tissues, or cells have membranes. It's a raw magical encapsulation of information, the Runes, inside.”

“Do we need to know how Mandalas are made?” Katelyn asked.

Millie shook her head. “Not yet. When you cast Spells, your mind will form a Mandala naturally. Or maybe it's your soul that’s doing it? Sorry, doesn’t matter. The point is connecting and drawing the lines between the Runes is something we’ll get to when we get to spellcasting, so you don’t need to worry about physically making them. For now—just know that you have the ‘spell matrix,’ and Runes. Together, that’s a Formation.”

“So this is a Mandala with Runes in it that describes a Rune?” Raj asked. “And that makes it a Formational Rune?”

He looked confused, alongside many of the others. She didn’t blame him—that was technically a way to look at it, but she still had a lot to explain.

“It is a Mandala, but what’s inside it wouldn’t be considered Runes per se,” Millie replied. “But, let’s back up real quick and cover some other bits of the lexicon.”

“I need a fuckin’ thesaurus or something man,” D’marco complained.

“Why the fuck would you need a thesaurus?” His sister asked.

“To explain all this shit!”

“Oh my God! That’s a fucking dictionary numbnuts. Jesus fucking Christ, no wonder you were flunking all your classes.”

“Fuck you, Issie! They’re the same damn thing!”

“Hey—hey!” Millie interrupted. Jesus, this is like herding cats. “It’ll make sense, I promise. Just give me a damn minute to explain this shit!”

D’marco folded his arms as he glared at his sister. She returned the look with equal sibling ferocity.

“SO!” Millie yelled, feeling flustered. “If a Formation is like a protein, aka a complex molecular structure that performs some sort of action based on input in the environment, then Runes are the atoms that make it up. You also have Complex Runes, which are like common molecular compounds. Think of stuff like H two O or N H four. Then—”

“It would be N two H four,” Catherine interrupted.

“Huh?” Millie said, staring.

“That’s the structure of hydrazine. Unless you really were meaning an ammonium ion? Which seemed odd given what you said. Common ammonia is N H three, it only generally forms its ionic version in solutions.”

Millie continued staring. This explained why she failed chemistry, didn’t it?

“Fine, it's N H three then,” she told her. “I was meaning ammonia.”

Catherine frowned before scratching out some of her notes.

“Two bad it’s not N two O, eh?” CJ said.

Millie glanced at him blankly, but Catherine laughed. “Nice one!” She said.

The two…were the only ones who understood that joke, apparently. Millie cleared her throat again, glad she’d never wanted to be a teacher.

“So anyway,” she continued dryly, the wind gone out from her sails, “A collection of Runes and or Complex Runes is referred to as a Glyph. We passed some examples on the way in, but it looks like they’re gone now. You can think of those as more complicated materials, made up of lots of compounds or stray atoms. You use Runes, Complex Runes, and Glyphs to make Formations. The inside of a Formational Rune, instead, is like the quantum bits that go into an Atom. Nothing inside them corresponds to anything that’s easy to describe, but they will help you understand a Rune better than anything.”

“Why do you sound like a bored substitute teacher?” Catherine asked.

Millie tried not to glare at her. “Any other questions on Formational Runes?”

“Isn’t the First Language supposed to be readable to anyone?” Katelyn asked. “None of these Runes make any sense to me.”

Oh wow, an actual useful question, Millie thought glumly. I forgot people could have those.

“In time, you’d probably be able to figure it out, but it would be difficult. Typically, you’d want some sort of reference, or to know what a Formational Rune is describing beforehand to help you connect with it. Ultimately, this is why there are separate alphabets in the First Language—each one serves its own purpose. Evocative Runes, for example, make up the written alphabet that’s incredibly easy to understand at a glance, and is what you’ll find in pretty much every book.”

“So we need a reference for this Formational Rune?” Catherine said. “Where are we supposed to find one?”

Millie actually knew what this Rune said, but she suspected there was probably something hidden nearby for those less informed. Stepping back, she looked around the tunnel before her eyes settled on the archway above the trap. There she saw something they’d missed, as it had only appeared once the panel’s Formational Runes had.

“Right there,” she said pointing up.

“Is that a…pictograph?” Catherine said.

“Hey, that’s fire! Right?” Tanya asked excitedly.

“Oh shit, it is,” D’marco mumbled.

“It is,” Millie confirmed. She couldn’t read it the same way they could, not without her tenth soul layer, but if there was any Rune she knew well, it was Fire—she could probably recognize it in any of its forms. “That up there is an example of an Artisan Rune. It's used in murals and artforms, and hell we’ve probably seen more of them than anything else considering how Magincia decorates. It’s just not as obvious as you might think.”

“Can pictures be magical?” Tanya asked.

Millie nodded. “Absolutely. Though, in most cases, I imagine it's just a different teaching method. You can look at the pretty painting and picture the Runes of the spells easier if that’s your thing.”

“Why would that matter?” D’marco asked with a scoff.

“There are different learning styles,” Raj answered, his low voice rumbling in the hall. “Visual, auditory, reading, and kinesthetic if I’m remembering correctly.”

“Are any of the Runes auditory?” Katelyn asked.

“I, ah, don’t think so?” Millie confessed. “But I know that the school’s classes are primarily lecture-based. Oh, wait. There’s magical music, isn't there? So yes? I don’t know what Runes would go into that though.”

“Wait, you can be a bard?” CJ asked, eyebrow raised.

Damn it, this is another D&D reference, isn’t it? “I don’t know! Look it up. Next! Question!” She clapped her hands in emphasis.

“Just how many alphabets are there in the First Language?” Katelyn asked. Millie decided then and there that Katelyn was her favorite student. Teachers shouldn’t have favorites, but screw that.

“I only know of five, but there could be more,” Millie answered. “I went over Formational, Evocative, and now Artisan. The other two I know of are similar. The first one is the Primeval Rune and the other is the Catalytic Rune.”

Catherine raised a hand. “Whats the—”

“Let. Me. Get. There,” Millie said through grit teeth. Patience girl. Patience. “The Primeval Rune is like the primordial, original Rune. It's cool to learn about, but dangerous as that specific Rune variant is highly reactive. Just by existing it does something, so few if any Magi bother with them because they’re hard to control.”

“So it's essentially an archaic alphabet?” Her favorite student clarified.

“Yes! Exactly.”

“It's a spider?” D’marco asked incredulously.

Millie glared at him, before hesitating. He seemed genuinely confused this time, rather than just being annoying. “It just means an older, unused version.”

He nodded before suddenly glaring over at Catherine. Millie followed his gaze to see the curvy girl was currently shooting him a haughty, judging look.

“Anyways,” Millie continued loudly, breaking the two up. “Catalytic Runes are used pretty much exclusively for any magical effect. Scrolls, Talismans, enchanted items. Hell, even when spellcasting most people use them in their brain, though you can obviously use whichever alphabet fits you best in there.”

“Is there something about them that makes them a superior choice?” Katelyn asked. Millie wanted to hug her so badly right now.

“Yup! Well, technically to each their own when it comes to spellcasting, but when it comes to enchanting work, nothing beats them. They’re inherently great at being passively controlled or directed inside Mandalas, like logical circuits. Plus, like I said, they’re more connected to the magical root of a Rune so, outside the Primeval Rune, it's the easiest to get a magical manifestation from them. You’d actually struggle a lot to cast magic with something like an Evocative Rune, for example. With those, you’d end up standing there babbling allegories or poems for a solid minute before anything happened.”

“Crap…” Catherine muttered suddenly, before madly scribbling in her notes.

Okay then, Millie thought, deciding not to ask what that was about. “Any other questions?”

“Yeah,” Isabella said. “What do we do now?”

“I mean, it’s probably pretty easy actually,” Millie told her, and by proxy, the rest of the group. “The Artisan Rune of Fire above tells us what this trap wants of us. We just have to find which of these Formational Runes below are of Fire and we’re done.”

“Can you do it?” Raj asked.

“Technically yes? But only because I know this particular Rune so well. There’s no guarantee I could do the others, so it's best if I guide someone on how to understand it.”

“Oh, can I try?” Catherine jumped in, hastily pushing her notepad back in her satchel. She almost poked her eye again as she tried to push at glasses that were long since missing from her face.

“Of course,” Millie said stiffly. At least she’s enthusiastic about learning? That…didn’t really make Millie feel any less annoyed with her right now.

Instead, Millie approached the tiles and gingerly settled down on her knees. Then, she patted the floor next to her, indicating for Catherine to join her, which the girl did with child-like exuberance.

“Okay, so what I want you to do, Catherine, is to hold your hand above the Rune. Don’t touch it, just in case this is a pressure plate or whatever, but close your eyes and focus when you do.”

The girl complied, both hands hovering over the Rune as she closed her eyes and scrunched up her face. “How do I sense it?” She asked.

“Remember how I ran you all through some basic meditative exercises earlier?

“When you were having us learn our uniform functions?”

“Exactly,” Millie answered, and the girl nodded in understanding. “Start there. Imagine the energy in your body flowing with your heartbeat. Rising, and falling, with every breath. Feel how it travels through you, eventually reaching towards your limbs and fingers.”

The curvy girl bit her lip, looking as though struggling before she gasped. “Oh! It feels…warm?” She opened her eyes, looking at Millie for confirmation.

“Not surprising if it's a Rune of Fire,” Millie said with a smile. Catherine just nodded matter-of-factly. “Imagine in your mind, however, that Rune you saw above us. Let that thought, that concept, connect into the flow through your body. And don’t worry about how that works—your soul knows what it's doing and it’ll feel intuitive. So let it work without fighting it.”

Catherine looked uncertain, but she kept quiet as she diligently did as she was instructed. Out of the corner of Millie’s eye, she could see a few others following along, Raj even holding his hand out from afar following the exercise. It probably wouldn’t work from that distance, but Millie figured she’d run everyone through this process before they moved on anyway.

“Something’s…wrong,” Catherine said.

“What is it?” Millie asked sweetly. She knew what it was, of course, but a part of her was reveling a bit too much in the schadenfreude of the moment.

The curvy girl shook her head. “I-I don’t know. This feels…this feels like Fire, but it isn’t. Something is just…wrong!”

The girl looked distressed, flailing her arms petulantly, but Millie put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, try one of the others.”

Catherine glanced at her, anxiety clear on her face, but on Millie’s insistence, she scooched over to try another. Again, she had the same response, but on the next one she squeaked in surprise almost immediately after her hand got close to the Rune, her eyes not even closed yet.

“This is it! It’s the Rune of Fire!” She shouted, looking surprised.

Millie nodded. “There really were only two ways they could set this up. Either each of the Runes would be a different one, or only one would the correct version of the Rune.”

“Wait, didn’t you say you knew the answer already?” Catherine asked, her eyes narrowing in a silent accusation.

“I did, but this was a good opportunity! You see, technically any of these Formational Runes would work for Fire. But they’d take more Mana and more focus to create a manifestation properly. By comparing and contrasting the flawed ones with the best one, it gives you a more complete understanding of the Rune in general.”

Catherine looked miffed but didn’t say anything. It probably didn’t help that Millie was smiling like a Servitor.

“Should I press the plate now?” Catherine asked.

“Not yet,” Millie said. “Let’s let the others get a chance to feel this out.”

“Can’t we just do the other ones?” D’marco asked skeptically. “It ain’t like there aren’t dozens of these fucking traps to go through.”

“Sure—but if these Runes disappear after we trigger the solution like the Glyphs did, and the other traps have different Runes, then you’re missing out on a chance to get first-hand knowledge on a basic Rune. You really wanna toss that away for no reason?”

She kept her tone lightly teasing, if a bit challenging, and D’marco glared at her before scoffing. She knew him well enough by now to know that he was probably just worried about what the Headmaster had told him. Of the group—D’marco and Braylon were said to have the lowest viability, so chances are this would be hardest for them.

All the more reason to insist that they try, Millie told herself, before standing up to allow others to begin feeling out the Runes.

The main corridor they made their way down was…easy. It was, in short, what Millie figured the Headmaster and the city thought their initial trials would’ve been like. While it was still likely to have been difficult for many students without Millie’s expertise, it was doable.

And with her there to guide them? They blew through it effortlessly.

The only time-consuming part was making sure everyone got a go at sensing the Runes. It helped that the traps ended up repeating the four basic elemental Runes, but after the initial representations, the others were Arcanum interpretations.

“What’s the difference exactly?” Isabella had asked at one of them.

“Most Runes, I guess you could say, have default ways they can be approached. Fire means Fire, right? But that’s inherently open to interpretation, which can make it harder to control, plus inefficient. The Arcanum instead frame the Rune in a way that’s more concise and systematically approachable. Take the Primus version of Fire, right? It creates a version of Fire that's most aligned with the concept of burning energy. If you were to look at it from the Arcanum of Materia though, you’d instead get a sense of vibrational energy in matter.”

“Ugh, as if this shit weren’t hard enough,” D’marco complained. “Why does the way you look at this shit influence how it acts?”

Millie shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just how Runes are, I guess. Your understanding frames how they work, and the Arcanum give a codified way to do that. That'll be a vital part of spellcasting later, but learning to spot the ways the Runes are written differently due to the Arcanum’s influence is important too.”

Beyond that brief interlude, they made their way past the other three basic elements, of water, earth, and wind, with similar variations in interpretation along the way. As she had predicted, both Braylon and D’marco struggled to make sense of the Runes, but aside from Catherine who kept growing impatient, the rest didn’t mind working with them until it clicked.

At the end of the hallway past the traps, however, was a bit of a puzzle. It split into four directions, two to the sides and two in front, with each dedicated to one of the elements. It wouldn’t have been an issue, save for one tiny problem.

Each diverging corridor was literally filled with a very extreme, and very deadly, expression of those elements.

“What the hell is this?” Isabella said with a scoff. Her brother echoed the sound.

Yeah, this is a bit much, isn’t it? Millie thought.

Directly to their left, was the fire branch. In it was a roaring, yet solid, wall of fire blocking the way. In front of them, to the left and right, were water and earth. In the water’s case, it was like looking into a pool from above, but it became solid darkness after barely a few inches. A quick pebble from Raj caused the stone to sink into the depths rapidly, disappearing from sight as though sucked away. The earth tunnel seemed to be loose gravel, and a probe revealed nothing.

The final path was the path of wind to their right. It was deceptively calm-looking compared to the others, appearing as a misty cloud bank. A stone from Raj, however, was met with an absolutely ludicrous deluge of static discharges and lightning bolts that actually froze the rock mid-air before jettisoning it back out. Millie wasn’t even sure if electricity worked like that normally, but there was no questioning just how angry the storm clouds were. Just in case, Raj tried a pebble against the fire, but it simply disappeared into the flames, the roaring noise covering any sound the stone might have made beyond.

“What do you think, Millie?” Raj asked, having finished his initial tests.

“I mean, one of them could be an illusion, but I think the rock would’ve broken it.” She wasn’t a hundred percent on that, she knew high-level illusions could enact real-world effects, they simply were easier to break and less effective than their actual counterparts. However, she also doubted this test was looking for such a complex answer—not after what they’d just gone through.

“Hmm, let’s look around and see if we can find anything,” she told everyone. They agreed and quickly set about to scan the area.

A short while later, a discovery was found. Confusingly, they then found three other points of interest—one for each path, and each one identical.

“What are these? Is this another Formational Rune?” Catherine asked, pointing at a diagram on the ground that had appeared on her approach. It neatly blended into the ground and was hard to see, but as Millie stepped up, she gave her appraisal.

“No, this is an actual Formation, it’s just a very, very simple one. See these odd squiggles here and here? Those are Catalyzing Runes.”

The curvy girl smiled dreamily. “So cool.”

“If this is a Spell, what’s it for?” Raj asked. She could see a bit of frustration on his face—he hadn’t struggled nearly as much as Braylon and D’marco, but it obviously wasn’t coming to him as easily as it did for people like Catherine, Tanya, and CJ. Isabella and Katelyn seemed to be a bit better than Raj, but not by a lot.

“The best way to know is to read the Runes, but Catalytic Runes aren’t always the easiest to understand. Don’t worry though—if my memory serves me correctly, this outer portion of the Mandala looks keyed to Mana, meaning the Formation won't do anything until someone pumps some into it. That means this is most likely a Foci.”

“And Foci are the things that let you cast a Spell easier and faster?” Isabella parsed out.

“Correct,” Millie said with a nod. “They’re Formations that substitute parts or even all of a Spell for you. In this case…if someone is feeling adventurous, they could channel a Mana into it and—”

“I’ll do it!” Catherine jumped in, barely waiting for Millie to finish before kneeling in front of the small Foci.

“Wait—do we know if it's safe?” Katelyn asked, accidentally interrupting Raj, who looked to be in the process of asking the same question. The two glanced at each other before Raj nodded in deference to the tall woman. Katelyn then turned to meet Millie’s eyes, waiting for an answer.

“I think it depends on the context of where the traps are,” Millie explained. “Can you have a Foci that would explode a fireball on you? Absolutely, but that also makes for a pretty inefficient trap. Anyone with a basic education would be able to read the Runes inside it and know better. Plus, look at what we saw on the way in.”

Several people looked backward at the now-defunct traps, contemplating her words.

“Are we sure we trust this place not to lure us into a false sense of security?” Katelyn asked.

“I’m not sure I do,” Raj said. “But I’m also not sure if—”

“It’s a Spell!” Catherine shouted suddenly, eyes wide with shock as her hands rested on top of the Foci. She’d clearly grown impatient and figured out how to channel Mana into it, and the group turned to stare at her. She at least had the good graces to blush.

“I think we got that thicky thickness,” D’marco said dryly. “Got anything useful?”

Isabella slapped her brother’s arm, and the tall boy scowled. “Don’t be an ass,” she told him.

Catherine flushed, however, glaring at D’marco before biting her lip. “I…I don’t know how to describe it. I managed to send Mana into it but then…all I knew was that it was a Spell! I don’t…did I screw something up?”

The girl looked deeply unsettled, but suddenly Millie laughed. The group turned to look at her as she slapped her forehead, though Catherine began to look even more concerned. Shit, does she think I’m laughing at her? I need to remember she takes things very literally.

“Sorry, don’t worry Catherine, I just realized what Spell is inside the Foci, that’s all.”

The curvy girl looked mildly relieved, but obviously still wanted an answer. Millie was happy to give it.

“So first, a bit of context. There are ten tiers of Spells, right? Technically this one is a first-tier Spell, but so weak compared to others in its category, that most refer to it and others like it as…I guess, in CJ’s terms they’d call it a cantrip? There aren’t a lot of Spells that fall into this category, but it's considered a trick of sorts. For more experienced Magi, it actually becomes something of an addition to other spells to improve them. I think some call this one, in particular, a checksum.”

“Can you put this in stupid people terms?” D’marco said darkly. Millie restrained herself from reacting, realizing the boy was clearly more touchy about his difficulties here than she’d originally thought. Or maybe I’m not explaining this well?

“You’re not stupid, stupid,” Isabella told him. “This shit’s hard for all of us to get.”

“Please don’t be too hard on yourself,” Millie added. “Your sister’s right that this is a lot, okay?”

“Whatever, I’m not asking for your fucking pity,” he shot back. “Just tell us what this shit is.”

Isabella smacked his arm again. “It isn’t pitty, she’s trying to—”

“What the fuck ever!” The boy shouted. “I said I’m trying—just back the fuck off!”

The group fell into an uneasy silence. Fuck, is this how teachers feel with difficult students? Millie thought. ‘Cause this shit sucks. What am I supposed to say to him?

The awkwardness dragged on for a moment, before being interrupted by an unexpected source.

“Oh hey, I think I get it,” Braylon said suddenly, lightly smacking his hands together in emphasis. D’marco glared at him, but Braylon smiled back. “The Rune of Fire was warm because it's fire, right?”

The group fell even more silent as they stared at him. Then, D’marco’s eyes bulged as he snorted loudly. A few other chuckles broke out, as Braylon grinned like an idiot.

“The fuck man—you’re a bigger dumbass than me!” D’marco scolded him.

Braylon shrugged. “At least I’m winning at something then!” The big man broke into a laugh, before offering a fist to D’marco. The tall boy eyed it dubiously, before sighing as he fist-bumped the cornrowed man.

Millie gave Braylon an appraising look before smiling. She was grateful for his help here—she was seriously starting to doubt her ability to tutor the group with the way things were going.

“So, this Foci’s Spell,” Millie picked back up, as the group refocused on her, “has a lot of names. The Truth Cantrip, the Spell Checker, the Checksum. Fundamentally, all it does is cast a Spell that checks to see if the Spell cast is a valid Spell. Like asking and answering a simple question of ‘is this a Spell?’ If cast correctly, it’ll respond with yes.”

“That’s…it?” D’marco asked skeptically.

“So wait, it’s a Spell equivalent of a boolean?” CJ clarified.

Millie looked at him blankly. “A what now?”

CJ sighed good-naturedly. “A boolean is a logical term, Millie. It's used a lot in programming for detecting if something is true or false. You even said this is like a checksum, right? I can see the use in it as a safeguard to keep you from casting a Spell that would return a false result. That would cause a backlash, after all.”

Millie smiled and nodded, trying to ignore the creeping blush on her neck.

“Millie…” CJ asked, eyes narrowing. “Did you not know what checksum meant?”

“O-of course I did,” she replied. “It’s a check for some…thing. A checksum.”

CJ stared at her, his lips struggling in a barely repressed smirk.

“I’m not a computer person God damn it—it's just something I remembered people saying!”

Several people laughed, but thankfully Millie wasn’t the only one who wasn’t familiar with the term. Katelyn continued to be her favorite for so many reasons.

Still, after a brief discussion with the group, it became understood among them what the ‘Truth Cantrip’ was. Catherine volunteered to check the other Foci, though Millie cautioned against trying too many, as each check still required a minimum of one Mana to be spent. Catherine did, however, have the largest Mana pool in the group, with a whopping seventeen MP. That means her MP stat is over seventy. Jesus Christ, she really does have a high viability, doesn’t she?

Regardless, everyone had a go, especially after Catherine determined that each Foci was identical. That did leave the question, after the others had a go, on what they were supposed to use it for. Millie was still coming up with an answer when Isabella had proposed an idea.

“Can we use the Runes we just used with these Foci?”

“What would that do?” Katelyn asked.

“Raj asked if these were illusions, right? Maybe that could tell us if these are elements are real?”

The group looked to Millie for advice, but she had to think on that one. In theory, using the Rune with this Spell, would still only return a result of whether the Rune itself was a true Rune. Unless, of course, there were aspects of the Foci that were hidden. When she explained this thought, she was met with more confusion.

“There’s hidden shit now too?” D’marco lamented.

Millie quickly held up her hands to calm him. “Hey now—that isn’t what I was meaning. I meant in a more literal sense that there could be hidden Spell engravings under the stone connecting the Foci to these elemental walls. It's not uncommon for a trigger Glyph or Foci to be attached to a larger Formation or device. These could essentially just be switches.”

“What would that imply then?” Raj asked.

“Honestly? It could mean that Isabella’s theory is correct. I can run someone through channeling a Rune with the help of a Foci and we can check. Worst case scenario you might lose a few Mana in the process.”

Predictably, Catherine volunteered. So, Millie sat down with the curvy girl again, running her through the process of modifying the Foci’s Spell. In this case, given the extreme simplicity of the Spell in the Foci, it was almost as easy as visualizing the Rune itself while channeling Mana into the Foci. That, more than anything, is what gave Millie the confidence this was the right plan.

This is a simple trial that’s more educational than challenging, she mused. She also had a brief flash of inspiration, that perhaps the reason they could visualize the Runes when she couldn’t—despite her knowing them—was that they weren’t really visualizing them at all. Hadn’t Eden said that Runes and magic were imprinted in some way to the soul? Maybe ‘visualizing’ the Rune actually involved looking at the reflection of the concept inside your soul. In this case, by the mysterious tenth layer.

Still takes a shit ton of mental effort though. But the theory aligned nicely with what Eden had told them about the source of a Magi’s power. Oddly enough, the small epiphany was met with a weird sense of phantom sensation from her missing soul bits. Shit, did I just feel what it's like to gain experience? Jesus Christ, that’s fucking creepy as hell!

“This…isn’t Fire?” Catherine said in confusion, snapping Millie out of her contemplation. A moment later, Catherine tried again on the next wall, only to go wide-eyed. “This is water. Absolutely.”

“Shit…good job, sis, you were right,” D’marco admitted. “I guess”

“What do you mean ‘you guess?’” Isabella jokingly accused him, before flipping her hair back like a Deva. It turned out it wasn’t just the male Navarro sibling that could act smug as hell.

“It’s probably best if everyone gives this a go. If just to get practice,” Millie emphasized.

The group quickly agreed, and one after the other they all had a turn at exploring the basics of Spellcasting. The ease in which it was working made Millie confident that the Formation certainly went down and underneath the stonework, with the Foci up top acting as a trigger. Not that you’ll hear me complain about something actually working in this stupid place for once.

Afterward, came a brief, yet harrowing journey through a hallway of ‘not fire.’ It quite literally felt like it was burning them, so most ended up sprinting even as they yelped in pain, but on the other end the discomfort immediately abated and they were all perfectly healthy and fine. Once through, however, they were met with a staircase down into the second floor of Collections.

“One floor down, two more to go,” Millie said. The group descended, relishing the rather novel feeling of success. If the other floors were like this, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all?

“CJ pull the lever!” Raj’s voice bellowed.

“I’m trying—it’s stuck!”

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Isabella screamed as she sprinted across one of the bridges crisscrossing above them. A boulder followed on her heels a heartbeat later. “I can’t find the last fucking piece!” Her voice echoed out from the passage she’d disappeared down.

“I can’t keep this up, I’m almost out of Mana!” Catherine whined, holding onto a crystalline lattice that kept the room lit.

“Well don’t stop!” Braylon shouted, his back pressed against a splintering doorway, as a few bony arms snaked their way out, trying to claw him.

“I’ll relieve you!” Tanya yelled, sprinting towards Catherine before an arrow shot out from a gap in Braylon’s door. The girl was struck full force in the chest and sent tumbling across the floor.

“Tanya!” Millie screamed.

“Owwww…” the petite girl moaned, rubbing at her chest. It glowed with Arcane light from where she’d been struck. While she wasn’t injured, much like being shot with a bulletproof vest on—that had probably hurt like hell.

“Damn it Navarros, get it together and one of you help CJ!” Raj bellowed, hands clinging to an intricate mural, keeping its sliding pieces from moving out of place and triggering another trap. Above him, CJ stood on a small platform desperately yanking on the stuck lever.

“Easier—” D’marco shouted sprinting down a path followed by a wall of water.

“Said than—” Isabella said a moment later, now outpacing fire.

“Done!” D’marco shouted, jumping from a completely new path to CJ’s platform. He immediately grabbed onto the stuck lever and yanked it down for all he was worth.

“I’ve got you, sweetie!” Katelyn said, joining Catherine as she began to channel Mana into the light crystal. Her hair was frazzled from an earlier static discharge that had nearly taken her out.

I hope they can keep that up, Millie thought, looking over anxiously to the side where a wall of darkness lay, hundreds of hungry eyes staring at them from the shadows, just waiting for the light to falter. She gulped.

“Millie! Catch!” Isabella suddenly shouted, barely glancing as she tossed a piece of the mural down from above. A stormcloud zapped her ass as she sprinted away, the beauty screaming bloody murder.

“Oof” Millie groaned, stumbling back from the impact of the object on her chest. She ignored the pain, however, and waddled as fast as she could towards Raj, Tank Mode activated in case of any stupid arrows.

“I fucking hate this place!” She shouted, her head throbbing in pain.

She got the distinct impression her teammates agreed.

Exhausted, the group stumbled out into the entrance of the third floor. The second floor had technically been much like the first. Only if the first floor had been using kid gloves and a friendly ‘go get’em tiger!’ attitude—then the second floor?

It had hauled off with an unrestrained haymaker to the fucking face!

“At least…we got…experience…right?” CJ panted, sprawled out on the ground.

The rest of the group, much of whom were on the floor with him, glared at him.

“Was that enough of a dungeon for ya?” Millie said snidely, and CJ laughed. While Millie had come out unscathed, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t irritated. It was beyond frustrating to have to stand off to the side and watch everyone put themselves at risk. Especially considering Eden’s explanation that the difficulty of the floors was based on the number of students.

I feel like all I did was make it harder, she thought darkly, before becoming a glorified torchbearer in the end. She had to remind herself how much they’d needed her just to understand the basics in the beginning though. It helped her mood, but not by much.

“I don’t get it,” Katelyn said. “What was the point of that mural puzzle and all of that?”

“Honestly?” Millie replied. “Aside from a hectic way to test what you learned on the first floor, I’m pretty sure that puzzle was a representation of the process of casting a Spell. In a lot of ways, you start with a Formation template and then replace and balance Runes in it as needed to get an effect.”

“Which is why the door didn’t open fully even when we finished the puzzle,” Raj said with a huff. “It's like you said—Spells can be cast even if poorly constructed, it just makes it harder.”

Millie nodded. “Pretty much.”

“That’s why the stupid lever was so hard to move?” D’marco mumbled, lifting his head from the floor to glare.

CJ laughed lightly. “My arms are jelly.”

“I still felt like we were moments away from complete catastrophe…” Katelyn muttered, one hand futilely attempting to tamp down on her frizzled hair. “Were all the traps really necessary?”

“Probably not, but then again, casting magic can feel that way,” Millie said. “Especially if you’re in a dangerous situation.”

The group fell silent as they rested, contemplating her words. Millie stared off into the darkness of the new room as she thought about it more too. It was both admirable and infuriating how accurate of a representative simulation the second floor’s trial had been.

“This is the last floor, right?” Braylon asked, breaking the silence. There was blood running from a scrape on his scalp—his ‘Mage Armor’ had run out by the end and would need to be recharged.

“Yup,” Millie said. “Just one more between us and a library pass.”

“Where we get to do this all over again…wooo,” CJ said weakly, waving a jelly arm in faux celebration. When the group looked at him questioningly, he sighed. “Did you guys forget what Eden said? The Stacks and Collections mirror each other. That means the first three floors of the Stacks are probably more trials.”

“Oh, son of a whore…” Isabella cursed. Millie and several others echoed her.

The one bright side to their situation was that the Spirit had confirmed there were fast travel options—they shouldn’t have to go through these trials again unless they felt particularly masochistic. Or if we need more ‘soul experience,’ she silently complained.

Regardless, after a good ten minutes of resting, with a quick snack and water break, the group picked themselves up and prepared to meet their final challenge—for now, at least. After confirming with the group, Raj threw a pebble, and the darkness faded to show what lay ahead.

The room was an arena. It was smaller than the Colosseum they had all first arrived in, but it was still nearly the size of a warehouse. The seats on the periphery, nearly two stories above them, were unsurprisingly empty. The pit they were in had a rocky floor and non-descript walls framing it. Poles of light jutted into the air, coming up from the walls to illuminate the room. There were chains draped between them like some macabre decoration, forming a mesh above them. The ceiling, however, was dark and clouded, only adding to the oppressive atmosphere. Opposite of them were a set of large, iron doors locked by those very chains.

But in the middle of the arena were the scattered remains of a skeleton. There was nothing else in the room to greet them.

“Oookay, this is spooky,” CJ said, trying to let out a laugh. It sounded strained.

“Do you think this will be a combat trial?” Tanya asked. “Or is there going to be another puzzle?”

“I’d assume there would be pillars if there were going to be puzzles,” Catherine said matter-of-factly. “Or something on the walls? A completely barren arena only seems good for fighting.”

“The full picture might not be visible until we approach,” Raj said. “Braylon and the Navarros, with me. The rest of you—hang back. Retreat up the stairs if you have to.”

“But didn’t Eden say that would cause us to exit the Collections altogether?” Catherine said.

Raj nodded. “Yes, but I’d rather go through the opening trials again than risk losing anyone. Stay cautious.”

The girl looked uncertain but eventually stepped back to join the non-combatants of the group. She’s probably frustrated by the idea of us losing our progress, Millie guessed. I can understand that—but I’m with Raj. Better to do it all over again than risk death when we don’t have to.

Raj and the three others walked forward, improvised weapons up and at the ready. A few tense moments passed as their footsteps echoed across the stone floor, bouncing off the walls, and punctuating the sense of dread that was slowly growing. As they approached the mid-point, they froze when the skeleton twitched.

Slowly, the bones rolled into a pile, forming a familiar shape. It was clearly a human skeleton, and as it stood up, pieces flying together, it stretched lazily. It was tall—nearly as much as Braylon. The skeleton cocked its skull to look at the group, an odd sense of amusement coming from the burning, dark flames in its eye-sockets.

Fuck, it's sentient, Millie realized.

“Are you…our challenge?” Raj asked cautiously.

The skeleton raised a bony hand to its chin and scratched at it. After pondering Raj’s question, it then nodded before stretching out a bony arm to beckon the group arrogantly. Raj exchanged glances with the others alongside him, nodding to them as they stepped up, weapons ready to strike.

The skeleton took a combat stance, and Millie realized immediately it knew exactly what it was doing. Raj seemed to sense it as well.

“Be careful. Flank it, and don’t give it—”

The skeleton charged before Raj could finish giving orders. Hurtling forward with blistering speed, it collided into Isabella, who shouted in fury as she swung her war club viciously, stumbling backward. The skeleton dodged her attack effortlessly before sliding past her like a dance partner. She spun, trying to connect another swing, but it was already sprinting away.

“After it!” Raj shouted. The small group charged.

“It’s not going to come for us, is it?” Tanya squeaked.

Millie watched the skeleton’s moves. “No, it’s creating space to keep from getting cornered. Everyone group up just in case and get your weapons out.”

“Oh Christ,” Katelyn muttered, crossing her chest as the non-combatants took a step back. “Should we try to look for hidden Glyphs or Formations?”

“I…I don’t know,” Millie admitted. Something about this trial seemed off to her, and she couldn’t figure out why.

Meanwhile, the skeleton did as Millie predicted. Its bony form was fast, and as it made space, it jumped to the side. This turned out to be a great choice on its part, as, despite its speed, Braylon was apparently faster. The big man came charging at the skeleton like a freight train and even managed to maneuver with it, turning on a dime as he kept up with the juking skeleton. Right, American football player, Millie remembered.

D’marco and Raj did a good job keeping up as well, though Isabella quickly began to fall behind, fury twisting her expression. I know she’s athletic, but I don’t think mad sprints are her thing, Millie silently commented.

Suddenly, Raj broke to the side, sprinting parallel to Braylon. He gestured to D’marco, who went the opposite direction, and in a moment the three were coming in with a pronged attack. Millie was impressed by the coordination the men were showing—as far as she knew they’d never even practiced this kind of maneuver. Clearly, she wasn't the only one who'd played sports.

With Braylon hot on its trail, and a wall closing in, the skeleton had to make a choice. Get crushed by Braylon against the wall, or dodge out the way and get hit by one of the other two in response. Millie expected it to likely dodge and take its chances with D’marco—the boy was boisterous but didn’t have the same air of experience Raj had. This time, however, she underestimated the skeleton. It ran into the wall—and then up it.

The men skid to a halt, lest they smash into the edge of the arena, while the skeleton ran up the wall’s surface and kicked off it with a spinning flip above Braylon. The big man looked up at it gawking, even as Raj scrambled to close in, but it was too late. As the skeleton landed, it spun on the ground, sprinted back towards Braylon, and power slid between his legs. The big man swung his club looking confused, only to be met with an unfortunate fate.

The skeleton planted itself on the floor and kicked upwards. Braylon practically levitated, dropping his club and grabbing his groin, before toppling to the ground like a felled tree. Laying on the stone, one foot lightly twitching, he slowly let out a high-pitched groan that went on for a long, long time.

“You fucking monster!” CJ screamed furiously, tears in his eyes. Millie just winced in sympathy. The skeleton was apparently a really dirty fighter.

“Get the fucker!” D’marco shouted.

“I’ve got him!” Isabella answered, as the two men scrambled to follow the sprinting skeleton, its bony jaw bouncing merely, as though cackling with sadistic glee. As Isabella blocked off its retreat, however, she met with a different fate altogether.

She swung her club, and the skeleton dodged again. A bony fist shot out, striking her in the face, which flared with Arcane light from her Mage Armor. She stumbled back from the force, but the skeleton unleashed a flurry of strikes, so fast the eye strained to see them as the girl lit up like the fourth of July. The beauty tried to attack despite the skeleton’s ferocity, but it kept dodging even as it pummeled her, forcing her to fall back maladroitly.

Then, it finally caught one of her wild swings, grabbed the club, twisted it from her grip, twirled her around like a puppet, before smashing the club against her jaw, shattering the weapon dramatically. The girl’s pupils disappeared as her eyes rolled to the back of her skull, her body crumpling as she went unconscious. She didn’t seem injured, at least, but it was clear the Mage Armor had only protected her so much.

“Issie!” D’marco yelled.

“Kid—no!” Raj tried to keep up, but the tall boy sprinted ahead with renewed vigor, screaming bloody murder as he rushed the skeleton. This is all happening so fast!

The bony enemy took one look at D’marco, tossed its head back with a laugh, and then set its stance. D’marco came crashing into it, swinging his club, but the skeleton grabbed his arm, pivoted where it stood, and tossed D’marco through the air. The boy landed nearly half a dozen yards away, rolling across the ground. Raj was on the skeleton a second later, but it combat rolled to the side to avoid his attack.

“You okay?” Raj called out.

“Fuck man!” D’marco cursed, standing up.

“Should we help?” Katelyn whispered.

“What can we even do?” Tanya said.

Suddenly, Millie had an idea. “I got something, stay here though!”

With far less speed, she joined the fight, sprinting at first before slowing down to a more manageable speed. CJ joined her, despite her command.

“Millie—what are you doing!?” Raj bellowed, squaring off against the skeleton. Even the skeleton seemed to eye her uncertainly.

“Clear the area!” She yelled, and Raj’s eyes widened, before he rolled to the side, D’marco joining him a second later. The skeleton cocked its head, with a supreme air of arrogance, standing there watching her. Should’ve dodged like them, asshole.

“Go web go!” Millie held up her arm, and a web blasted out from enchanted bracers. It slammed into the skeleton, hurtling it back a dozen yards into the wall beyond, where its remains were splayed out like the remnants of a spider's meal.

“That’s all you remember from that movie, isn’t it?” CJ said accusingly.

“Not the time,” she snapped. He’s not wrong though—there were too many damn spider man movies!

“That’s one way to take care of it,” Raj said with a laugh, as he saddled up next to them.

“Issie!” D’marco cried out, kneeling next to his sister.

“F-fuck…” she muttered, her eyes fluttering as she struggled to reorient herself.

“Did we win?” Catherine asked quietly from the sides.

Millie turned to look at her. “I think—”

The lights in the room grew darker.

“—that I should probably keep my fucking mouth shut,” Millie finished. Fuck, is there a second stage to this shit?

Something began to ooze out from the lights, traveling along the chains. It coalesced near the middle of the arena, and Millie and the others there fell back, D’marco dragging his sister to safety. Millie shot a glance towards Braylon, but the big man was…‘safe,’ near the edge of the arena where he was being left in peace to writhe in agony.

*Plop* *Plop* *Plop-plop Plop*

An ooze fell from the chains with a squelching noise, before solidifying in the arena. There, the small round object formed imprints of eyes as it looked at them.

An awkward silence befell the room as they had an impromptu stare-off with the slime.

“Millie,” CJ said quietly, “did you bring your stakes with you?”

Stakes? But those are for vampires. Are slimes vulnerable to stakes too? She wasn’t sure, but she nodded anyway to CJ, and fished in her bag. The moment one of the sharpened pieces of wood came out, however, the slime reacted—only not how they expected.

Its eye-imprints bulged comically, as though terrified, and it immediately began rolling away at high speed.

“Another fucking chase?” D’marco groaned.

Millie sighed. “I guess it could be—”

“Stop the slime!” CJ shouted suddenly.

Millie snapped up, looking at him, and then to where he was pointing. The slime had bee-lined it to the skeleton. It was still trapped on the wall, but the slime bounced up and splatted against it. Instantly, the webs began to sizzle.

“Oh fuck—it’s freeing the skeleton!” Millie cursed, and Raj grabbed a stake and charged. D’marco was on his heel a second later, and Millie tossed him one as well. CJ stayed with her.

Their two attackers didn’t reach the slime in time, however, as the bones began tumbling to the ground, enveloped in the gelatinous material. Raj skitted to a halt, holding out a hand to catch D’marco. The two squared off against their opponent, war club in one hand stake in the other, as the skeleton stood up, ooze dripping from its bones. It looked mildly miffed.

Millie wasn’t sure if she blamed it—that had been a bit of a cheap trick on her part.

Cautiously, Raj began to approach, weapons up, his eyes glued to the creature. He froze, however, when strands of ooze shot out, latching onto the skeleton as the slime began to cover it. Parts hardened along joints, strands of ooze twisting like threads before laying across the bones like muscles. A moment later, a translucent film formed over it like skin.

The skeleton now looked like a man. Albeit, one that was uncomfortably moist and pale green.

“Ah, that’s better,” the skele-ooze-man said, reaching up to crack his neck. And it was a he—proof of that swung freely as their opponent took a lazy stance. What is it with this place and nudity? Millie brooded. Would it really kill them to magic in some fucking pants? She was tempted to web him again, just on principle, but she was pretty sure that her web-enchantment only had one shot left. It was a little hard to gauge without working magical senses.

“What’s it take to win this?” Raj asked their opponent.

The skele-ooze frowned, reaching up to scratch at his bearded chin. His features were handsome, rugged in that ye-old warrior sense. Even his oozy hair helped highlight the Viking-esque vibes Millie got from him. While muscular, he was actually lither than Raj or Braylon.

“Hmm, I’d say once you’ve all learned your place and yielded, we can call it good there.”

Raj raised an eyebrow. “You want us to—”

“Fuck you asshole!” D’marco shouted, charging in like an idiot. Raj didn’t waste a beat as he followed.

The skele-ooze smiled, before dodging to the side, putting D’marco between him and Raj. The tall boy swung wildly as Raj tried to rotate around the two of them, but the skele-ooze laughed tauntingly as he continued to dance around them. Finally, he dodged past D’marco, charging Raj unexpectedly. Raj lifted his weapons defensively, but the creature reached forward with impossible speed, grabbed Raj by the coat, and slammed him into the ground. He then grabbed Raj again and hurled him into the sky.

A dozen feet into the air Raj smashed into the ceiling, dispersing the cloud cover, before falling back down with a rain of rocks, narrowly avoiding the chain mesh. He didn’t get up from the ground.

“Oh fuck,” D’marco said, staring at Raj’s unconscious form.

“A succinct appraisal,” the skele-ooze said, smiling cockily as he slowly approached the tall boy.

“B-but you were just a fucking skeleton! What is this shit!?”

The skele-ooze paused, as though contemplating, before grinning wildly.

“A trial of Ambition my dear boy,” The creature said with a laugh. Then he dashed forward, spinning to D’marco’s side, and kicked him. D’marco was launched at a wall, cracking it as he impacted it. Silently, D’marco’s limp form eventually fell to the ground.

“Now you know your place—on the ground beneath my feet where you belong. That is the price of your hubris.”

The skele-ooze laughed boisterously once more, before turning towards Millie and CJ.

“Fuck—get out of here!” Millie shouted to those near the door. She was too far to reach them, but it wasn’t too late for them. They hesitated, however, and in that moment chains sprang to life, cutting off the way out as the doors closed.

“Now, now, this is an important lesson in humility. Do your best,” their opponent said drolly, slowly marching towards Millie, who backpedaled in panic.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Millie tried to think of options. He wasn’t killing anyone, so maybe this really was just a test? Get your ass beat in some sort of ‘see how much you suck’ test? But if it wasn’t? What if he was waiting to kill them until the last second?

“Get behind me!” CJ shouted, stepping forward, arms spread defensively, terror in his eyes.

“Brave lad,” the skele-ooze said, nodding respectfully. Then, it moved like lighting, spinning around CJ, grabbing his waist, and body-slamming him into the ground. The stone on the floor splintered as CJ was left embedded into it, ass in the air. He made a similar sound to Braylon—which at least meant he was alive. That was the only thing that kept Millie’s panicking mind calm.

If it kills us after, there's nothing I can do. I just have to hope this really is some fucked up hazing, she decided, before running at the skele-ooze, screaming with fury, warclub raised. The thing raised an eyebrow at her, clearly amused by a charging pregnant woman, before catching her arm mid-swing, its free hand grabbed her other arm where Millie tried to stake him. It then lifted her into the air, her feet dangling beneath her.

“Did this go as you were hoping?” It said tauntingly.

“Fuck you, you slimy prick!” She screamed, activating Tank Mode as she planted her feet on his thighs, threw her veiled head back, and smashed into his face with a vicious head butt.

She bounced off ineffectively. She then had to cancel Tank Mode a second later, her head swimming for several reasons.

“Bwhahahaha!” The skele-ooze nearly laughed its ass off as it stared at Millie’s limp form.

Fuck that didn’t work at all. “You, ah, wouldn’t hit a pregnant woman, would you?” She asked sweetly, mind racing to find some sort of way to fight back, even while she stalled.

“My dear, when I was alive—I slaughtered women and children,” he said, giving her a genuine smile before he head-butted her in return. Millie’s nose crunched audibly, as her head lulled back with a spray of blood.

The world went dark, but a second later, she came to, lying on the floor, her face throbbing with pain in time to her heartbeat.

“Let’s see—you next,” he called out. Millie heard him walk away as she groaned on the floor. She was pretty sure if she wasn’t so hard-headed she’d probably be unconscious still.

“W-wait, we c-can t-talk or—” she heard Tanya beg.

“You have beautiful hair,” it said.

“W-what?”

“Golden, like the sun. Still—” Millie heard a meaty slam, followed by the lighter sound of Tanya’s body bouncing off a wall nearby. Fighting the pain, she opened her eyes to see the creature slam its fist into Katelyn’s stomach, the tall woman folding like a pretzel before falling to the ground, convulsing as she wretched loudly.

The only one left standing was Catherine.

“S-stay back!” She called out, holding her hands up threateningly.

“Make me, my dear. That’s the point of this after all,” it responded in a tone of light boredom.

Catherine looked around in panic before her eyes hesitated skyward. She looked back and forth, her eye movements rapid, before shutting her eyes holding her hands in front of her. In pure arrogance, similar to when Millie had cast her web, the thing actually paused to wait for her. What was she…?

Millie looked up at the ceiling, which was clear of clouds after Raj had been thrown into it. On it was a Formation.

Oh no, Millie thought. She’s trying to cast that Spell—no!

“Cath…rine…” Millie wheezed out, spitting out blood. Her voice was too weak to carry.

I didn’t finish teaching her the basics. I didn’t explain the dangers!

“I…I….C…C-cone of Fire!” Catherine shouted a triggering phrase, her face brightening as she actually managed to cast the Spell, using the tools presented to them on the way.

But Millie realized now, the true extent of just how terrible of a teacher she was.

Catherine’s hands burst into flame. The fire, as she’d wanted, coned outward, though it petered out before it even reached the skele-ooze, disappearing as fast as it had come. A second later, the girl gasped as she stared at the blackened remains of her hands. Her shriveled digits were covered in blisters and still smoldering.

That’s when she started screaming.