Dawnbreaker was surrounded, trapped against the outer wall of the Crucible. And of course, it wasn’t just a wall. The outer wall was protected by a powerful Mana Shield, making it impossible to break down the wall, tunnel underneath the wall, or even fly over the wall, since our whole city was encased in a dome-like Mana Shield that isolated the city from the outside world.

I wished I could see some flustered emotion on Dawnbreaker’s face, or some sign of exhaustion. But it was impossible to read her—she stood, just as defiantly as always, but with not an inch of skin showing, her expression hidden by a silver helmet, all features erased except for the two glowing eyes.

I was about to charge forward, when Samantha said,

“Petrov,” Adia called.

I felt the temperature drop, and the tornado of icicles that had been building and circling around himself for so long started moving, inching, towards Dawnbreaker.

Dawnbreaker charged towards Amos, but the earth under her feet gave way, dropping her into a pit about 5 feet deep.

Dawnbreaker jumped, almost leaving the pit, but then the icy tornado appeared above her, slamming her back down into the pit.

From where I stood, I watched as the walls of the pit became covered in slick sheets of ice, and the pit somehow continued growing deeper.

I watched, almost feeling a sense of pity, as Petrov’s icicle tornado descended directly on top of Dawnbreaker.

The pit was about ten feet in circumference, and the rest of us stood, a few feet away from the edge, spaced evenly to prevent any attempts to escape out of the pit.

And try she did. The first time, she jumped up, somehow leaping not just out of the pit, but above our heads. For a moment, I had a terrifying realization—what if Dawnbreaker could fly? Had she been toying with us, this whole time?

But then Dawnbreaker’s leap hit its peak, turning into an arc, and Hank, bless his heart, was ready.

With a bellow, Hank swung his massive war hammer. The hammer landed directly on Dawnbreaker’s stomach, and I saw her body crumple in a curve as she was slammed back into the icy pit.

Just a few seconds later, another leap happened, this time, targeting Adia.

This time, as Dawnbreaker appeared, I could see clear gaps in her armor. Her chest and back were covered by the armor, but her arms and legs were partially exposed, and I could see that she was bleeding from a dozen small scratches.

Adia, too, was ready. Four throwing knives flew towards Dawnbreaker, perfectly predicting her trajectory.

Dawnbreaker spun in midair to try to avoid the knives, but one of them still managed to finallydraw first blood.

“Hold!” Adia called.

At her command, the ice tornado, which had been moving towards Dawnbreaker, fell back into the pit.

Dawnbreaker landed unsteadily on the ground, level with the rest of us.

And then Adia threw more knives. Dawnbreaker stumbled, but not due to the ground, this time. Adia threw three more knives, each one drawing blood at a different extremity.

Soon, the sole Hell-mode Tutorial challenger lay unconscious in front of us.

I didn’t even get to go all out, I complained, jokingly, to Samantha.

Glancing around, I could see the shocked low-leveled faces, and the grins of my victorious team.

I felt this euphoria coursing through me. We had done it. We had defeated the most powerful person in North America. It hadn’t been easy, and none of us would have been capable of defeating her individually, but thanks to the Crucible’s organization, and her own overconfidence, we had done it.

Throughout the battle, there had been a few people who played a crucial role who I hadn’t actually met before.

“Who’s the earth magician?” I asked, glancing around.

Adia didn’t look up from handcuffing Dawnbreaker’s hands and feet and stripping her of her sword and Interdimensional Pouch, so I turned to Parker.

Parker pointed to a girl, probably around 13, standing next to Petrov and gesturing excitedly. Petrov rustled the girl’s hair affectionately.

I glanced from Petrov, then back at the girl. They both had sharp chins, narrow noses, and thin, high eyebrows.

“Petrov has a daughter?” I asked, incredulous. “Petrov, why didn’t you tell me?”

Petrov shrugged. “You have never asked. Vasilia, this is Jarek. Do not trust him.”

I was reaching out to shake the girl’s hand, when I faltered, halfway. “What?”

Vasilia quickly looked away. The ground under her moved, shuddering, and without having to move her feet, I suddenly saw that she was standing next to Parker.

“MVP!” Parker shouted, raising Vasilia’s hand in a victory pose.

Vasilia giggled. “I’m the MVP, and what are you? The MUP? Most useless player?” She spoke with a very slight Russian accent, and she paused slightly as she pronounced each letter in MUP.

Parker shrugged, sighing suddenly. “I’m just glad I wasn’t needed.”

At that, Vasilia’s smile faltered.

Then Parker forced a smile, calling out, “Hank! Congratulations! You finally fucking hit something with your hammer!”

Hank lumbered over, offering a somewhat confused smile. “Thanks, Parker. It surprised me too.”

“I’m sure that’s why she targeted you,” Amos said, walking over to join in the conversation. “She didn’t think you could block her. Notice, though—she never tried jumping my way. Wouldn’t have stood a chance in hell.”

Parker coughed lightly. “Actually, I think she did quite well in hell.”

Everybody around Parker laughed.

Watching them talking, I felt…sad. I would have been in the circle—in fact, everyone had come towards me—but Parker and Vasilia both had their backs to me.

I felt completely cut out of this moment of camaraderie.

I walked over to Adia and Petrov, watching as Petrov formed a solid block of ice around Dawnbreaker’s body.

If not for my heightened perception, I probably would not have noticed—small icicles would form on the inside of the ice block, up against Dawnbreaker’s skin, shredding Dawnbreaker’s armor as it tried to regrow.

“Can I help?” I asked, tentatively, expecting to be turned down.

“Yes,” Petrov said. With a wave of his hand, he created several grooves—handholds—in the ice block. “You will carry the ice to Lord Ignatius.”

I glanced back at the giant block of ice, and then at Vasilia, who was zooming around on circles of moving soil.

“Wouldn’t that be a better job for Vasilia? Or Hank? Or you?”

Petrov shook his head. “Vasilia must rest. Hank did not offer. I am low on mana.”

I glanced again, pointedly, at Vasilia, who certainly wasn’t resting, and then shrugged my shoulders.

This was obviously about River’s death.

Even with all my floating points placed into Strength, it was hard to carry this massive block of ice. Since the walk would definitely take longer than a few minutes, it didn’t seem wise to risk drawing from my Mana Pool. It was always possible that Dawnbreaker might wake up from her drugged sleep. The worst part, then, was that the cold bit in to my body, since I didn’t want to increase my Physical Defense any more.

As I trudged, step by step, towards Lord Ignatius’s council room, with a massive block of ice freezing my back and hands, I remembered my early days in Sunday school: “If anyone would follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me.”

To follow Lord Ignatius, I would need to regain my team’s trust. If that meant carrying a block of ice through the Crucible, then I would swallow my pride and do it.

***

The throne room was packed. Not with Ryker, not with River, and certainly not with myself, had I ever seen so many faces present during a conversion.

There were about two dozen of us present. About ten people surrounding Dawnbreaker, another ten standing in a line between Dawnbreaker and Lord Ignatius, and the rest guarding the exit.

I stood between Dawnbreaker and Lord Ignatius, as Lord Ignatius stared intently at Dawnbreaker’s unconscious body.

It was the same process that I had seen with Ryker and River, but it felt, at least, like Lord Ignatius was taking longer.

He didn’t cast any spells, or mutter anything under his breath. His eyes just stared unwaveringly into Dawnbreaker's eyes, which had been forced open and then frozen open by Petrov’s ice.

We all waited in uncomfortable silence. As we waited, I couldn’t help but eye the Interdimensional Pouch and sword behind us. We had tried to open it, but it seemed it was locked, somehow. I could only guess at what riches it might hold…

“It is finished,” Lord Ignatius said, taking several steps back, and then seating himself on the throne.

Those of us he had designated as his guard followed him, putting even more distance between Dawnbreaker and everyone else.

“Wake her,” Lord Ignatius said.

Parker hurriedly mumbled something, and suddenly, I saw Dawnbreaker’s eyes twitch.

“Dawnbreaker,” Lord Ignatius asked, his voice ringing with power. “Can you hear me?” Then he paused. “Petrov, free her head.”

The ice around Dawnbreaker’s head immediately melted. To my surprise, Dawnbreaker’s skin was only slightly red and flush—I had expected to see blue and purple skin, to see her chattering and shivering uncontrollably. How high was her Physical Defense?

There was a part of me that felt distinctly uncomfortable with the idea that I would no longer have a shot at the position of Lord Ignatius’ most powerful servant. But if this meant Lord Ignatius would gain a stronger servant, then so be it.

“Dawnbreaker, can you tell me why you are here?”

As lucidity crossed Dawnbreaker’s eyes, I had the sudden, horrible realization, that things had gone oh, so wrong.

“I think,” Dawnbreaker said, with a mocking smile, “I’m here to kick all of your asses.”