"A test?" Therod echoed questioningly.

The young woman sighed irritatedly like it was a complete chore for her to even speak.

"Yes - a test," She droned out, speaking as if to a child. "Do you not find it odd that we have all been placed in a room with no direction or goal to lead us? Maybe as if we were all put together to see how we would react and handle the situation? If we would kill each other or find some other, more intelligent way to get out? Uh - it honestly astonishes me that savages such as you even get appointed a title as prestigious as a Sanctioned Lord. Such things will forever elude me to the end of time I suppose..."

She sighed deeply, a hand resting on the line of her neck and a mockingly sad expression on her face, as she said that last part. But apart from that, it was as if in answer to her explanation, that System proved her theory to be entirely true.

∼[The Trials]∼

[2nd-stage, Ambition]

[Will you follow your ambition and let it lead the way to your goals? Or will your courage and determination waver in the face of death and adversary?]

[Navigate the perilous Labyrinth and discover your second relic before you either succumb to the dangers or your courage wanes and you abjure the trial!]

[Relics collected - 0/1]

Brows raised in surprise as I read the prompt, my attention found itself lingering on the last part of the message.

"We can give up?" I wondered internally as it seemed like death or success weren't the only options this time around.

With that thought, a low rumble in the room got everyone's attention as a door next to the tunnel opened itself.

"A way out..." I thought unconsciously, barely realizing that the purpose of that door was being fed directly into my head by the System.

We all shared looks, no words needed. And unsurprisingly, no one backed down. We had all certainly sacrificed quite a bit to reach this far, and the showing of a way out definitely wouldn't be enough to discourage us from going further.

But knowing the system, that was probably only for now...

"Well then," A voice suddenly said, breaking the silence.

It was the roguish guy with those menacing daggers of his who had spoken. He stepped into the center of the room, arms out wide as if to gesture to each of us.

"I honestly couldn't have asked for a better team than this," He smiled sickeningly. "Two brawns for brains, a glum midget, a lizard, a gods' damned fairy, a lass who seems about as lifeless as a dead fish, and a... some kind of weird elf with a no-shirt kink? I don't know about you guys, but I'm relieved that I've been put in such fine hands."

He smiled all the while, but his words were dripping with sarcasm. I also flinched at him calling me an elf despite him obviously knowing that I wasn't. Simply the derogatory way that he put it was enough for me to know that I wasn't going to like this guy. At all.

"So how about we all just gather up, aaand∼ you two," He pointed at the hulking leonids. "Take the lead down that spooky tunnel. Sounds good? Great, let's get a move on th-"

"An' just who put you in charge - hooman," The dragonewt-like monster grumbled with a faint hiss at the back of its throat, its accent quite distinct and funnily enough reminded me of some African dialect of English.

"I agree with the airhead, I believe we should get a move on. This dungeon stink is simply too much," The beautiful gal, whose name I still did not know, said imperiously while looking at her nails distractedly.

"Exactly! Now let's- wait, hold on, airhead?!" The rogue stopped himself, mock offense in his voice as he caught up to the girl's words.

I would've groaned at his antics and the girls' incredible arrogance and lofty demeanor, but the dead and chilling voice of the other human broke the tension between us all like a hot knife through butter.

"Enough," She said. "Regardless of appointed leader, we can all agree that is the priority that we all get moving and stop this needless squabbling - lest we want to erupt into fighting. Nevertheless, either option would work for me."

Meeting the gaze of everyone, I felt that chill intensify many times over as I got to stare directly onto those cold silvery-white eyes.

Before I had recognized her as being one of the more powerful among us, but now, I had a feeling that she was probably much more dangerous than anyone else here. Though, it was just an intuition at this point.

No one had any words to say anymore, or at least, no one dared voice them.

"Then it is settled - we depart now," She nodded, her tone never wavering and containing that same eerily flat note.

Turning to leave towards the tunnel, the leonids were the first to react as they simply shrugged and followed the woman. I myself was hesitant only a moment longer but ultimately followed along too, which did everyone else.

***

"Okay, okay - let me guess. The lord of..." He paused to cup his chin thoughtfully. "Ah-ha! Asininity, right?"

Frowning, the larger of the two leonids, Therod, glanced at the rogue skipping alongside him.

"What is that supposed to mean - man-cub?" Therod growled.

The rogue was barely able to hold in his snicker.

"It would appear I hit right on the mark," He laughed.

Taking the rogue's obvious mockery for some prank that he had probably pulled on the less than brainy leonid, Therod's rage quickly bubbled over and he took a swing at the young man.

But before the lion man ever connected the powerful swat of his clawed hands, the rogue disappeared into a puff of smoke, the power of shadows very clearly under his control.

Looking around, the confused Therod tried to locate the eccentric rogue.

"Soo, what's your shtick, mister, all quiet and dangerous," The rogue grinned as he suddenly appeared next to me, walking alongside as I tried my best to pay my own mind.

I cast the rogue what could only barely be considered a glance, not really being in any mood to indulge this insufferable guy any more than absolutely necessary.

"What, cat got your tongue? I can ask Amos here if he'd-"

"If you don't have anything better to do than sputter off with your incessant yammering, I think it'd be best if we would just get it over and see which one of us two will be the first take the hard exit to these damned trials," I said, wanting to fight the guy right here and now rather than later because if he was going to continue blabbering on like this - a fight between us would definitely be inevitable.

"Fine, fine - I knew elves were pissy but damn," He said, hands raised defensively as he backed off.

I would've probably attacked him right then and there if not for the sudden noise that had the whole group stop dead in our tracks.

It sounded like it came from far down the straight tunnel we had been walking down for almost half an hour by now. I couldn't exactly make it out, but I would've described the sound as a rapid thudding with the muted swooshing of displaced air.

It was at first very subdued but within the blink of an eye grew incredibly loud and was practically on top of us.

"What in the celestials above is tha-" The girl who had been identified as a Fae, a rare enlightened race, by the rogue blabberings, said before suddenly being cut off.

No one had time to react, and even I barely managed to capture the blur that flashed before my eyes.

As everyone tried to catch up to whatever the fuck had just happened, the sound we had just heard was already moving away far down the other side of the tunnel. Away it went.

Slowly, I turned to witness what had happened to the otherworldly beauty and was downright shocked at what I saw.

Her entire head was just... gone.

Body pressed up against the wall with blood, brain matter, and skull fragments painting both her dress and the tunnel bricks along the walls. The only thing left in the place where her head should've been was a football-sized spherical indent that pressed into the tunnel wall and had even cracked it.

Stunned beyond belief at what I was seeing, all of the others were just as mortified as I at the sudden and abrupt execution of an incredibly powerful individual that was the Fae Sanctioned Lady.

But even more shocking than just that, was the fact that whatever had killed her, was not only fast enough to almost entirely elude my perception, but also powerful enough to make an indentation in the wall that we had thought nearly indestructible.

Even Amos, the one with the most strength of all of us here, couldn't even leave a mark with a full-powered punch or attack with a weapon.

"Fuck... me..." Was the only thing I managed.