*Huff* *Huff*

Reus: I-is this it?!

Nyx: Yeah, this staircase leads to the floor below this one. I just hope there are no spirals anymore..

Xiel: I feel sorry for those people who works here..

Nyx: Anyway, let's go.

The 3 of them went down the stairs. As expected, there were someone waiting for them.

???: It's only been.. hmm...

According to her voice, she's most likely a female. She looked at the room that she was in. It was really big for an underground one. The room is covered with wood. Interestingly enough, the room doesn't contain anything, only wood. She was sitting on a wood pillar which was high above the wooden floor, close to the ceiling. The woman then deduced how much time she was in the room.

???: Ah, I've been here for 3 hours. Good thing you came soon, I was really, really bored.

Nyx: Uhh, you're one of those 5 guys, right?!!!

???: Guys? No, I'm a girl. Can't you tell?

They can't. Like the guy earlier, she was also wearing a fur blanket and a hat. But, the reason why they didn't hear her, is because she was so high off the ground that Nyx had to shout.

Nyx: HEY!! CAN. YOU. HEAR. ME?!?

???: Yeah, clearly.

She was talking in a really quiet manner, and to top it all off, she also has a small voice. Even the immortal one who reached the peak of his body's capabilities can't hear what she was talking about.

Nyx: Oh for-.. Xiel, can you go up there and tell it to her?! Tell her to go down here.

Xiel: Yeah, alright.

Xiel looked at the wall across the pillar that was on the other side. She then ran up the wall, and to the ceiling. Then, she jumped down, and jumped up, until she landed on the pillar that the girl was sitting on.

???: So.. you're going to tell me what?

Xiel: Can you go down? We really can't hear you.

???: Alrigh-

But before she could respond, Xiel pulled out a knife and stab her right in the chest.

???: I knew this would happen.

Xiel looked at the place she stabbed her. Oddly enough, she didn't even hear the sound of a knife wounding flesh.

???: If that strong guy over there did that to me, I might be dead by now. Ahaa..ha.ha.ha.

Xiel jumped down because of that, and reported her "findings" to Nyx and Reus.

Xiel: Fuck..

Nyx: Why? Why isn't she dead?

Xiel: She's made out of wood. My knife couldn't wound her.

Reus: We figured that her element is wood, but..

Nyx: We didn't expect that she can also manifest it. Is that an ability as well?

The wood pillar that the girl was sitting on went down, and the girl was smiling.

???: An ability? No, that's not what it's called. It's called a Guise.

Nyx: Oh.. oh yeah, I forgot.

???: Yeah. A Guise is your ability. But, not everyone has a unique one. Let's see, hmm, one could have regeneration like yours, and another one could also have it.

Reus: And we need to know this.. because... why?

???: You all seem uneducated enough to not know. Anyway, welcome to my territory.

Nyx: Wait, wait.

???: Why?

Nyx: Can I ask you something?

???: Yeah? What is it?

Nyx: You're awfully calm about all of this. We just killed your teammate upstairs, why're you so calm?

Reus: And also, what's yours and that guy's name? He kinda just attacked us and.. we didn't have time to ask him.

???: Why would he say his name in the middle of a battle?

Nyx: Probably because we can't just refer to him as "That guy" or "???".

???: What?

Nyx: You're talking and chatting with us... in the middle of a battle...

???: Oh.. oh yeah. Probably because I don't see you as a threat.

Xiel: Don't get ahead of yourself.

???: Who did it first though? You stabbed me because you probably thought I left myself wide open. Isn't that also called "getting ahead of yourself"?

Xiel: (...I hate her already...)

???: Anyway, my name is Cylo. Pretty weird name for a girl, right? And that guy above... hmmm.. I guess his name is Ross.

Nyx: Why'd you ask their names though?

Reus: I.. felt bad for the other guy.

Cylo: He had a really interesting Guise. Too bad, he was stupid enough to only enhance that.

Reus: What do you mean?

Cylo: His guise is "Possession". But, his guise can only possess his own elements, which is Air and Water. Combine that, and you get Ice.

Reus: Wouldn't Air be.. much more effective?

Cylo: He did that once, but he ended up teleporting into somewhere else. It's because Air cannot be contained. He can't control the direction to where he would teleport.

Reus: Then.. water?

Cylo: He doesn't like it.

Reus: What do you mean?

Cylo: It's true that he could create droplets of water and teleport there, but, he comes out wet. So he doesn't want to.

Reus: Then, wouldn't ice have the same effect?

Cylo: No, he just comes out really cold. But, he can't be frozen since he comes out really fast.

Reus: Oh.

Xiel: Are you guys done yet?

Cylo: Yeah, yeah. You wanna know my guise, though?

Xiel: Let me guess, it has to do something with wood.

Cylo: Yep! I could bend and control wood. I could make the floor go upwards and smash you with that ceiling! It's quite easy really.

Nyx: Wow, isn't that a really overpowered Guise?

Cylo: Well duh, that's why I'm one of the elites here!

Nyx: And those below you.. are better than you?

Cylo: I don't know.. they just use their brain better than me. Plus, I can't really use my other elements though. I got used to the combination of the both of them that I forgot how to use them separately. It's not like I need it, anyway.

Skree: (This is... going to be really easy.)

Nyx: (Haha, yeah.)

Cylo: It's nice talking to you folks. But aren't you forgetting why you're here?

Reus: Of course not.

Xiel appeared in the ceiling, and using her speed, she jumped to Cylo to pierce her another time.

It failed again, because a thick wall of wood blocked her from piercing Cylo's neck.

Cylo: You thought I didn't see, no, feel you over there? I told you, my Guise is "Full Manifest". Which means, I can feel whatever my "wood" feels.

Nyx: Augh, not another innuendo.

Reus: That's a really bad ability then..

Cylo: What makes you say that?

Reus: Did someone manage to break that wood of yours yet?

Cylo: Nope, my wood is hard like metal, I doubt anyone but me could make it bend..

Nyx: Fffffuccckkk. How can a girl say that so damn innocently?!

Reus: I may not bend it, but I can destroy it.

Cylo: Try it then.

Reus slashed the room's wall but his axe got stuck. He managed to pull it out eventually.

Cylo: Hahahaha, you know, below the wood, there's actually what you call, "Cement". And, I made my wood manifest it, so now, this room is a combination of cement and wood! It cannot be penetrated!

Nyx: ...Ok, I think she's very aware of what she's saying.

Reus: The pillars, then...

Reus jumped out to slash the pillar with his axe. He was prepared to slice it in mid air until another pillar came crashing into Reus's side, pushing and damaging him. Luckily, he managed to transform into his form while mid air when he was about to strike.

Cylo: Oho, your Guise is Body Hardening.. I see.. but.. THAT'S TOO SLOW! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Reus was standing in the middle, then pillars surrounded him. It formed a some sort of prison around Reus, then the floor suddenly began going upwards at a very fast rate.

Cylo: Bye! Hahahahaha!

Xiel: I doubt he would go down that easily, you know.

Xiel was still in the wall. The wood enveloped her arm, trapping her in the process.

Cylo: Grrr..

Cylo couldn't extend her pillar. She couldn't make it go upward. The pillars surrounding Reus went back to the floor, but the pillar that Reus was on couldn't squash him, because he held his axe and buried it downwards. The blade of the axe was facing the pillar, and if Cylo extended it upwards, the axe would pierce through her wood, damaging her.

Cylo: You fuck!

The pillars that went back to the floor strengthened the pillar that was going upwards, but Cylo's wood pillar still couldn't break the axe.

Cylo: How the fuck... it.. IT SHOULD BREAK BY NOW!

Reus: Then go upwards and try and break my axe.

Cylo: You...

Reus: A closed room isn't your ideal space, is it? Add the fact that this room is also big. You're "wood" depends on how much you can release your elements, and the fact that you need to bring back your pillars that surrounded me to strengthen the pillar I'm on just to squash me.. I'd say that you can't release more. You've already reached your limit.

Nyx was just sitting down, and he has an opinion so he said it to Xiel who was still stuck on the wall. He climbed up the wall, and stuck his scythe on the wall so that he could hang from it.

Xiel: ...Why the fuck aren't you helping Reus?!

Nyx: Oh, come on. Look, he got this.

Xiel: *Sigh*

Nyx: Anyway, I've read it somewhere before.. in that F.A.Q book. They said that you can release how much elements you want according to your element percentage. Then, it determines the MP in the Rail card, which is your fuel to create this elements, Mana.

Xiel: So, she can't.. release more?

Nyx: Here's the thing, it also says in the book that mana is replenishable when you let it rest for, let's say, 20 minutes.

Xiel: So she just needs to wait for 20 minutes! How.. How can we beat her, then?!

Nyx: She can't replenish mana anymore.

Xiel: What?! Why?!

Nyx: Reus already figured it out. The pillars surrounding him went back to the floor to strengthen the pillar he is on.

Xiel: So?

Nyx: Why would she do that though? She can just wait for a few minutes then strengthen it without bringing her pillars down. In that manner, she can just strengthen and strengthen it until Reus is done for.

Xiel: ...

Nyx: Her Guise is called "Full Manifest", right?

Xiel: Yeah..

Nyx: That means.. she can't only control and manifest wood..

Xiel: Ohhh, ok. She can also control her mana usage? Right?

Nyx: Yep.

Xiel: Basically, she's using all her mana right now. And to gain more mana to strengthen the wood, she needed to bring the pillars down to replenish a bit of her mana!

Nyx: Yeah. Reus figured it out, that's why he's just sitting there while.. uhh.. holding his axe.

Xiel: Soo, that wood on the pathway..

Nyx: It's to block our escape.

Xiel: Ahh, gotcha.

Nyx: Still, her mana is unimaginable. She covered a whole spiral pathway, and still use it to attack. If she retract it.. Reus is dead.

Cylo: I guess there's no choice now, huh? Promise you won't run?

Nyx: Nah, I have one more trick up my sleeve.

Cylo: Like that would help, let me just kill your friend over here.

The wood on the stairs began to fade, and Reus began to notice that the pillar was becoming stronger and stronger.

Cylo: And now, you're stuck. If you go away, you're basically destroying that axe. How much does it worth, though? It must've costed a fortune.

Nyx: ...fuck. I guess I should move now.

Cylo: Wait, you weren't stuck?

Nyx: Uhh, no.

Cylo: Welp.

The wood began to swirl around Nyx, trapping him.

Nyx: Too bad you can't make your wood manifest onto others except yourself, though. That would be killer.

Using his other arm, Nyx pulled his scythe and then slice his own arm. Free, he jumped and slashed his scythe in mid air, creating shockwaves. Cylo managed to block it using her powers.

Cylo: The fuck? Why does it feel a little funny... And.. your.. you.. you have a hidden element?!?

Nyx: Nah, it came with the scythe.

Cylo: What?! An.. An enchanted weapon!?

Nyx: I don't know.. what do you think, Skree?

Skree: HAHAHAHAHA!

Reus: ...?

Xiel: ...

Cylo: ...

Nyx: What, why?

Skree: Oh yeah, you haven't introduced me to your team. You said to keep quiet because it'll freak them out.

Nyx: Ah, yeah, I remember. Oh well.

Cylo: A talking scythe... now I've seen everything...

Nyx: Uhh, Skree, is it possible to use that dark thing that enveloped me?

Skree: Yeah. Those were the shockwaves, you know.

Nyx: Huh. Well, anyway, can I control that dark thing?

Skree: Well, I am fused with you, you know. So you can use it through the use of me.

Nyx: Ah, then can I pass some of those flame on Reus's axe without.. you know.. destroying it? It costs a lot..

Skree: Yeah, I think.

Nyx: Nice.

Nyx climbed the pillar, but while climbing, another pillar came crashing into Nyx. Nyx got sent off to the wall, heavily damaging him. Then, the pillar came and increased in size. With full force, it crashed into Nyx, brutally destroying him.

Cylo: HaHaAAHAHAHAH! DID YOU FORGET SOMETHING? I CAN DO THAT!

His brain got patched up and regenerated, then his head, then his whole body in a second.

Nyx: No, not really. God, it reminds me of that one time where a truck fell on top of me.

Cylo: Wait, what the fuck?! Th..Th..

Nyx: The? What?

Cylo: HOW THE FUCK DID YOU REGENERATE FROM THAT?!

Nyx: Your buddy upstairs also said the same thing.

Cylo: Grrrr..... I'LL KILL YOU!

Cylo became angrier and angrier and focused on Nyx, forgetting Reus. Nyx kept dodging and dodging the pillars that came into his way. Sometimes, he gets caught and he gets brutally destroyed by a combo of pillars, but he kept regenerating and regenerating. Reus, using this chance, jumped to Cylo's location.

Cylo: OH NO YOU DON'T!

A pillar crashed into Reus, sending him in the same direction where Nyx was at.

Nyx: Oh, hey. This got a lot easier. Here.

Nyx connected his scythe to Reus's axe, lighting it up.

Reus: A.. A dark flame?!

Nyx: Yeah, like my shockwaves.

Reus: Then why don't you do it?!

Nyx: She has no openings, I also can't slice through her wood because it's too thick. So you're the most likely candidate to finish this.

Reus: Right.. but what about that scy-

Nyx: Shhh, questions later.

Reus: Alright..

Reus's axe turned into a fiery one. Then, he jumped upwards to dodge the pillar. Nyx didn't and got crushed again.

Nyx: Damn it. What're you doing now, Xiel?

Xiel: Oh nothing, it's not like I could help.

Reus then jumped but still got hit by a pillar, pushing him back to Nyx's location again. He stood up, and he became angrier and angrier, making his eyes glow more and more.

Cylo: I doubt you could slice through.. THIS!

A thicker pillar began to form at the side where Reus was facing so it could gain speed and crush Reus. The pillar began to move and to crush Reus.

Reus then countered the pillar with an axe slash, destroying and burning the pillar.

Cylo: AGH!!!

She immediately removed any wood parts from her to avoid getting burned by the black flame that began to burn her wood.

Nyx: Wait, fuck, if it ends up burning the whole room, then you guys will get burned too.

Nyx jumped to Xiel and cut off the wood that was holding her. They then left and Cylo jumped away from her pillar and went to the path that she didn't cover with her wood, the path to the 3rd underground floor. Xiel and Reus ran to the stairs, but Nyx ran to Cylo, burning him in the process. He then reversed time and returned to his unburnt state then ran fast and caught Cylo.

Nyx: You're not going to escape though.

Cylo: SHIT!

Cylo couldn't summon wood, because Nyx was holding her in the neck and her wood is currently burning. One wrong move and she could burn herself.

Nyx: Alright, you decide.

Cylo stood down, and didn't do anything.

Nyx: Good.

Nyx went back while still holding Cylo, and put his scythe on the room. The scythe then absorbed the flame in the room, and Reus and Xiel approached Nyx.

Reus: Ho-how.. She should be dead by now!

Cylo: I can't summon wood if I remove it from my body.. My guise doesn't work that way. It needs to connect to me so that I could control it, so I needed the wood to manifest me in order to control it.

Reus: Wait, you couldn't summon the wood element?

Cylo: I can, but it can only do this.

A block of wood came out of Cylo's hand, then it just dropped.

Cylo: I can't shoot these things out.. I was so used to controlling it..

Reus: Ohh, I know now.. You can't control it now, because we can burn it whenever we like, and someone here can chase you down.

Nyx: So do we kill her?

Cylo: Pl-please... I.. I'll help you.

Nyx: Ok, then tell us why we were directed to this building.

Cylo: ...I also don't know that, sorry.. No one said anything to us, the king's assistant just said it's urgent and got us assigned to one of these floors.

Reus: So the one holding Vor is...

Cylo: The king, yes.

Nyx: But-but why?!

Cylo: I don't know, actually. They just began collecting irregulars..

Nyx: Ah fuck it, let's just see through this whole building. We'll get our answers here.

Reus: You think? Why not question her more?

Nyx: She doesn't know anything.

Xiel: Maybe she's lying.

Nyx: ...

He then faced Cylo, and aimed his scythe at her head, preparing to cut it off.

Nyx: Tell me, are you?

Cylo: NO..! I.. I'M NOT LYING! I REALLY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!

Nyx: Hmmm... Alright.

Reus: What?!

Nyx: We could use her. Like, for the other guy below. She knows their Guises, right?

Cylo: Y-yeah.

Nyx: Also, her powers are a waste if we kill her here. I could always burn her if she'll betray us. Will you, now?

Cylo: N-no.. I won't.

Nyx: Well, just to make sure. Skree, uhh, you can do it again, right?

Skree: Yeah, alright.

Cylo: I-I won't betray you. Look, I also want to get out of here. Something eerie is happening, and it was kept secret without us knowing until.. well.. now. I think I got the grasp of it.

Nyx: Yeah, save it for later. We need to hurry.

Nyx made his scythe surround Cylo, so she uses her wood, he can just burn her.

Nyx: Ok, now, run. Just don't run fast enough or you'll get cut in half, alright?

Cylo: *gulp*

And with that, Nyx's party got 1 more member.