The training grounds were unrecognizable from Jose and Lysa’s early morning use. There were thick panes of glass surrounding the arena that separated the onlookers from the volunteers.

His eyes were drawn to the massive statue sitting in the center of the artificial dirt, the moss on its teal white stone making it look like it was dredged up from the swamp and thrown into the building. It was hard to make out the details in its face on account of all of the foliage but its distinctive multiple arms were spread out as if inviting the volunteers to it.

“No lo creo…” Carmina muttered under her breath, her face imbued with a sickly pallor. Jose noticed a similar stiffness to Matteo, the big lug balling a fist so tight the whites of his knuckles were breaking through his calloused dark hands.

“What’s with the statue?” Lysa asked one of the Vanguardian soldiers herding them along, oblivious to the conditions of her teammates.

The Vanguardian soldier gave her a smile, “It’s your third event.”

How cryptic.

Lysa frowned at the response and crossed her arms, an air of impatience rising from her to get this event over with. Joanna was neutral. If she had an idea of what the statue was or held any emotion towards the event, it was hidden behind her faint placid smile, eyes lost in thought.

Jose shifted his attention back to the statue and turned on his Sight. The energy that radiated out of the statue was so bright as to be blinding, his head reflexively pulling away from the intensity.

The glimpse he could catch before turning away made his teammates' apparent terror more understandable; he’d never seen the soul of a creature or object shift and move like threaded smoke before, columns of it poking out of the ceiling and beyond.

“For the safety of our audience, we ask that you step away from the glass. Our event is about to begin.” The bemused Vanguardian soldier announced. They quickly disappeared into the other end of the arena and past the glass cube.

A moment later, a unit of soldiers walked the Elders into the arena. The three individuals of importance walked one behind the other to a raised stage overlooking the glass and the audience.

“Good afternoon, prestigious citizens of Ileah,” Elder Isabella began, her voice carried with the echoes of the hall and enhanced with a collar around her neck, “You all are privy to the final event that will determine the first five volunteers enlisted for the expedition. The remaining five volunteers will be decided by the winners, rounding out our total to ten and concluding these displays of talent and ingenuity.”

Unlike the previous hall with its riotous applause and enthusiastic cheers, the applause in the room was like the soft thrumming of rain on a windowpane. Jose wasn’t sure if the glass had anything to do with that fact.

“This final event is using a Vanguard relic few outside of our organization get to see, let alone experience.” Elder Nero addressed the audience, motioning for Isabella to sit down on her chair. He took the floor with an animus fueled by nostalgia and pride, “The specifics of this ancient machine are held to secrecy, I’m afraid, but suffice to say these volunteers will be living through an experience similar to what they’ll be facing on the expedition.”

The Vanguard soldiers within the enclosure began corralling their team towards the statue. A circle was drawn on the ground and they were asked to sit within the boundaries of it. Each group was separated around the statue, all meant to face forward the mysterious device.

“I don’t like this…” Carmina mutterred.

“It’ll be fine.” Jose attempted to reassure her and himself.

She snapped and whispered, “You don’t understand what that thing is. I shouldn’t be surprised they wouldn’t have books in your little archive.” She sat down with crossed arms and legs next to Matteo, clinging tight to the man and he to her.

“If this device were dangerous, the Elders would be held accountable. I doubt they or the Vanguard would bring this ancient machine out to hurt us.” Joanna chimed.

A whistling sound carried through the room and the earth underneath them began to dampen. Jose scanned the room and saw a figure enter into the room wearing a robe made of mangrove vines and a mask made of bark depicting a contorted face.

“Our Whisperer will begin the ritual and blur the veil between this world and the world we’ve asked to fabricate. Victory will be achieved by the first party to wake up from their dream. The conditions for victory will be made apparent when the event begins. Those that die in the process will slump over and dream of the swamp for a few hours, a condition set by the statue for its abilities.” Elder Nero explained to the audience and the volunteers. Jose was enamored by the ancient machine now and was dying to have a conversation with the user dressed in the ceremonial regalia. If he could have his hands on that statue and identify its properties…

“It’s...not the same then…” Carmina loosened slightly but her glare at the statue remained steadfast. Lysa gave Carmina’s back a thundering thwack with her palm.

“See! Nothing to worry about.” Lysa smiled mischievously at Carmina. Matteo gave Lysa some of her own medicine, slamming his own palm of reassurance onto Lysa’s back. She recoiled in pain and hissed nonsense through her teeth.

“Got rid of your nerves.” Matteo whispered.

The whistling in the room became louder and the dampness of the earth was becoming uncomfortable, the group sitting in a warm pool of sloshed mud. The other volunteering teams also looked uncomfortable as they fidgeted on the ground. The Whisperer placed a hand on the statue and at once its many eyes began to glow and the vines it was caked in began writhing like snakes.

“Good luck everyone!” Elder Nero’s voice was distant, the whistling overpowering the sounds of the arena and impeding their thoughts.

The ground underneath Jose disappeared and he sank through the mud into a murky darkness below.

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His insides were swirled through the muddy abyss. The warm humidity of the arena was replaced with a wave of cold that radiated from his core outward through the rest of his body.

The whistling that had occupied his mind remained present, an ever present background tone. His sensations were odd, eyes open but unable to see anything beyond a wall of shifting colors. It stretched directly in front of him and consumed his entire view and it always recoiled from his grasp.

“FIND YOUR WAY, VESSEL.” His head emerged from a canopy of trees far above the Great Glades. From the height above, it overlooked the world, the horizon of the Onesea, a band of black on one far end and-

“FIND YOUR WAY.” Jose turned and saw the statue piercing the heavens, arms stretched out to embrace the world like centipede legs grasping the earth.

His hand reflexively squeezed the air and the world twisted once more. His body was tugged out from the trees and through the branches into darkness once more.

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“Hrrrrgh.” Jose grumbled. The buzzing of cicada’s and the incessant chirping of the frogs lifted him out of his stupor. There was a tickling of his skin too, the grass underneath his head comfortable.

“Ah!” Jose’s eyes shot open as he recoiled from wherever his face was laying and groggily looked around his surroundings. It was like standing in a half finished canvas, his section of the work vibrantly filled with greens and browns with a meandering path guiding him out of his island while the rest of the scenery shifted in a smoky haze.

To his side was a filled backpack with supplies. Rummaging through the bag, he saw lighting equipment, breathing devices for underwater traveling, and explosives. There was even a compression charge in the bag, the small cube deceptively heavy with its many sigils warning users not to mess around with the device’s activation protocol. He gingerly placed it back into his bag.

Jose wasn’t sure where he was but he filed that question away in favor of finding out where his meandering path led. He strapped on his bag and began walking. Each step forward gave out a soft squelching sound and before he realized the difference, the soft patch of grass he had been resting in was replaced with long thin wisps of marsh grass with a film of murky water layered over it.

The island behind him was consumed by the murky haze, the path now obstructed by the roots of the massive mangroves that provided him respite from the sun. Even if this was fake, being next to one of those trees was awe-inspiring. Aside from the anchoring points at the mouth of the Great Plains or the coastline overlooking the Onesea, he’d never gotten the chance to explore the swamps like his partner did.

If this is what she got to see on her excursions regularly, it made him feel worse that he hadn’t mustered the courage earlier to explore the world with her.

She deserved better. He’d dedicate himself to make up for lost time.

“Jose!” Lysa called out in the distance. He ran along the path towards her voice and found his scenery shifting once more, the squelching of stepping on marsh grass replaced with the hard and dull thuds of wood.

He was on a boat now.

“Took you long enough to get here. We’ve been drifting in the water for hours.” Lysa said in a playful manner.

“It wasn’t that long.” Matteo whispered in Jose’s defense.

“Regardless, we’re behind. I don’t know if they hold others from starting their exam until everyone’s ready and I don’t want to find out by being among the losers,” Carmina walked to the bow of the boat and raised one leg on the edge, pulling out a telescope and inspecting something in the distance, “Regardless, we’re finally moving towards our destination.”

Jose turned his eyes to the horizon and inspected it for anything aside from mangrove roots and moss. A dilapidated structure sat in the bog, inert, with several arms subsumed to the side of the mangrove.

“The vessel…” Jose whispered under his breath.

Their boat moved silently towards the ruined mechanical mass of the waterlogged fortress.

“There’s an entrance to the side of the target. Matteo, turn the rudder towards the east.” Carmina commanded without turning her gaze away from the structure. Matteo silently followed her orders, the path of the boat veering towards the section of the vessel caked in vines and tree bark.

Once they were close enough, Carmina stepped down from the bow and rummaged through her pack. She pulled out a bundle of rope and a thin metal javelin.

“Lysa I need you to tie this end of the rope to the anchor point here and throw it towards the tree as hard as you can.” Carmina handed her supplies to Lysa. “I’ll hold onto the other end of the rope when you’re done and tie it to the cleat of our boat.” She added.

“Sure thing.” Lysa inspected the javelin in her hand before tying the rope around and through a ring at the end of the device. He blinked on his Sight and saw her quickly identify the cursory properties of the device. Satisfied with her analysis, she arched her arm back and pointed her whole body towards the tree. “You ready on your end?”

“Yes ma’am. Fire when ready.” Carmina replied. Lysa’s arm muscles bulged as she placed one solid step forward and flung the javelin with all of her might. The device burrowed into the bark of the mangrove tree and held firm.

“Woah.” Jose understated. Lysa turned to him and slapped her bicep for good measure, the pride beaming from her face.

“Good. Give me a second to climb on the rope and I’ll throw down a rope ladder for the rest of you. I’ve got to make sure the mouth of the entrance doesn’t have any guests hiding inside.” Carmina explained. Before anyone could voice their opinions or plan, she swung to the top end of the angled rope and climbed.

“What’s the plan once we climb onto that heap of metal?” Joanna turned her attention to Jose and the remaining members followed suit.

“If this is meant to simulate our descent into the vessel, then I think victory comes with finding the forge room. Maybe even taking it out of the vessel and getting out of there.” Jose guessed at. It was the only sensible conclusion he could come up with.

Satisfied with his response, Joanna turned her attention towards the rope. Jose took in the size of the vessel and wondered at their chances of finding the forge room. They didn’t know how much of the vessel was entombed by the tree so the odds of finding the room in the water or not made their potential approaches different. And if this was a simulation, he wondered what kind of creatures they’d chosen to nest in the metal coffin within.

“Hey,” Carmina called from high up and swung a ladder to the crew below, “It’s clear at the mouth. Let's talk about the approach up here.”

Everyone climbed the ladder in a single file and got off at the top of the vine filled fortress. The mouth that Carmina had found was a mixture of former metal walkway and natural bark conforming to the shape. If he focused his attention and strained his ears, he could hear the faint chattering of creatures deep within.

“Oi, Jose. Come on over here.” Lysa called out to him and he shook the dull ache away. The group crowded together in a circle and looked at one another.

“Jose thinks we need to grab the forge and leave with it.” Joanna caught Carmina up to speed.

“I think so too. Meaning we have to find the room first. Any ideas?” Carmina opened the floor to the rest of the group for suggestions.

“I don’t know how closely they modeled this vessel after the real one. If it were the real one…” Jose trailed off. The advantage he had above everyone else was his recollection of the manual he’d archived that the Mire Men had dropped off. It was a bargaining chip he was holding onto in case he couldn’t secure a spot on the boat for himself through grit alone.

“If this is the real one, what?” Lysa looked at Jose with suspicion. He’d reveal some of his cards then.

“If this is the real one then we’d be able to explore the vessel with the maintenance tunnels in mind. Most vessels have their maintenance tunnels connected to their economic source for ease of access and repair.” Jose informed the group.

“And what if this vessel is an exception?” Joanna asked.

“That’s why I wish I knew the way this simulation worked. If they modeled it after a real vessel, then more often than not, following the tunnels would be the way to go. If it’s drafted by someone’s imperfect recollection of what a vessel is like, then I don’t know where anything might be.” Jose responded truthfully.

“We should just go in. My sister can explore ahead of us if we hit a fork,” Matteo turned his attention to Jose, “You should just focus on assessing if it’s genuine or not. If it is, we can shift gears. If not, we do what we can.”

“Works for me!” Lysa sprung up and punched her palm.

“Yeah, I agree.” Carmina pulled away from the group circle and began stretching her legs.

Jose looked at Joanna and they both relented. Even if they voiced their concerns for how reckless this plan was, they could see the benefits of making haste with their descent and they were overruled by the rest of the group regardless. All he could do was help out his team as best as he could.

“Everyone keep your weapons ready.” Jose asked the rest of the group. “Whether this vessel is real or not, expect danger in there. Keep your lights on, avoid making noise, and keep together. Carmina, you’re up front with Matteo. Lysa’ll be in the center of the line. I’ll bring up the rear with Joanna.” The group followed his instructions and began entering the mouth of the structure in a single file line.

He wasn’t sure if he was scared or excited as he plunged headfirst into danger.