Whole night Dune's eyelids hung heavy, his mind fogged like a window left too long in the rain. It had probably been more than a day since he last slept.
His back leaned against the cold, see-through platform, his eyes flickering up toward the rippling ocean above.
That damn thing was going to fall again, he just knew it. And this time, he doubted he'd have the strength to hang on.
His stomach growled, loud and angry. Right. He was also starving.
"Okay… okay… think, idiot. You either find a way down… or die up here when another calamity decides to dive-bomb on your head."
There had to be a way off this death trap. If he stayed, he was finished. But the thought of falling down again, hoping gravity might flip a second time and save him? Risky didn't even begin to cover it.
Worst of all he didn't even know what was below him.
He glanced to his side, seeking some kind of emotional support.
Dune blinked. He turned slowly, just in time to spot the tiny, white-feathered thing flapping its goofy wings and soaring into the distance.
"What," Dune muttered.
The bird flew higher, flapping away like it was late for something.
"Yeah, go ahead! Fly away, you traitorous bastard!" Dune shouted after it, throwing up a tired arm. "I can totally handle this nightmare by myself!"
He sighed, defeated, and slumped down on the platform again, rubbing his temples.
"Shit," he whispered. "I don't know what to do."
The area was already lightening. A low rumble rolled across the heavens, a stomach-turning groan that sent chills down his spine.
It's happening again. I see rumbling shows that ocean is falling, if I'm correct it should happen in every 12 hours, whenever night and a day arrives.
Dune's eyes flicked to the side. The fragments he had collected, five in total, still pulsed in his vision. He'd been avoiding it, hoping to keep them for something else. But now? Now he needed a miracle.
"Fine," he muttered, standing. "Let's see how strong this barrier is."
Blue light sparked in his hand. The fragments merged together in a glowing core, forming a smooth, circular object that floated an inch above his palm. Lines of runes burned into the air around it.
[ Shatter the core if you want to activate the barrier. ]
Dune exhaled slowly. "Whatever."
He closed his eyes and crushed the core.
Instantly, a rush of water-like Neba surged around him, spinning in a spiral as it shaped into a sphere. The transparent dome enclosed both him and the platform, the surface humming with a light current that shimmered like starlight.
The ocean above cracked.
And then it fell.
Dune's eyes snapped open as the entire sky poured downward. A flood of monsters, colossal waves, and churning darkness slammed into the barrier.
His hands clenched as he braced himself, yet nothing penetrated the shield. The impact was muffled, distant, like watching the apocalypse from inside a snow globe.
Hundreds, no, thousands of sea creatures swam around him. Towering shapes with mouths full of spiraling teeth. Some pounded against the barrier, their roars like thunder underwater. One brushed against the dome, its jagged fins dragging sparks across the surface.
Dune grinned. "Ha! No way, it works!"
But then… the light dimmed.
A shadow fell over him. Everything grew quiet.
Dune turned slowly… and froze.
A single, massive eye stared into the barrier. It was so large, it took up his entire field of view. A deep purple iris swirled like the ocean itself, and within it, a consciousness.
Calamity.
It saw him.
It looked into him.
The eye lingered… and then slipped away, descending into the abyss below.
Dune stood still, breath caught in his throat.
Then just as expected, ocean passed and it was a morning now, gravity twisted again.
"Oh, here we go…"
He fell.
He grabbed the shiny blue core inside the barrier. The barrier spun, flipping with him, as the entire ocean reversed and plummeted into the newly exposed sky.
Dune's barrier, still intact, fell opposite the current, straight down, toward a new world below.
Clouds broke around him, light piercing through like golden swords. Below, land rushed into view, forests, mountains, rivers, lakes… and one massive tree.
The fall was long. So long, he could've written a book midair.
And then—
CRASH.
The barrier struck water beside the waterfall with a deafening impact, sending waves across the surface.
Dune slammed inside, thrown against the barrier wall. Even shielded, his body cracked in protest. The shield held, but he didn't come out untouched. His ribs screamed. Blood dripped from his mouth.
"Damn," he grunted, pain flaring across his back.
The barrier began to flicker. With a grunt, Dune crushed the core again and quickly deactivated it. The water crashed over him, but now it felt normal, just water.
He quickly swam up, coughing, his limbs burning. Reaching the shore, he dragged himself onto the wet earth, soaking and half-dead.
He lay on his back, staring at the blue ocean above, then laughed breathlessly.
"I did it…"
A weak smile cracked across his face.
"I really did it."
He was exhausted. Beaten. Bleeding. Hungry. But alive.
He sat up slowly, brushing cold dirt from his palms as he looked around. The ground was uneven, filled with shallow roots and moss that pulsed faintly beneath his fingers.
"Looks like a normal forest."
He stood, dusting himself off as his thoughts settled. If the ocean came down again tonight, and he knew it would, he'd need more fragments. As many as he could gather.
He also didn't know how long each barrier lasted.
He stepped forward, careful but steady. He kept his body low, his weight balanced, and his eyes moving. There was no telling what kind of creatures lived here. But if this place was part of the Trial, then he wouldn't be alone for long.
His gaze landed on a stone cliff rising high above the trees. Sharp and jagged.
Without hesitation, he sprinted toward it. The rock face loomed taller with every step, its surface wet with moss and streaked with strange markings. He reached out, grabbed a ledge, and began to climb.
Every motion was practiced. Measured. This wasn't the first time he'd climbed something like this, he was trained enough in the bloodrose academy.
Minutes passed and finally, he pulled himself over the edge, chest rising and falling as he stood up straight, and saw it.
Far in the distance, towering above the forest and clouds, stood a tree unlike anything he had ever imagined.
It was massive, its trunk wide enough to fit an entire city. Its bark shimmered faintly, pulsing like a living thing. And its leaves… even from here, he couldn't believe their size. Each one as big as a house, swaying slowly in a wind that didn't reach the rest of the world.
The ocean sky had split open.
From that rift, ocean water poured downward, not falling like rain, but moving, twisting. Wrapping around the tree in massive, serpent-like streams. Water coiled in spirals, endless and alive, dancing around the tree like a thousand silver snakes.
Dune stared, unmoving. Something about it pulled at him, called to him.
He sat at the edge of the cliff, legs dangling over the side as the wind brushed past his face. He wiped sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, letting his breath slow.
That tree… it has to mean something. Maybe a clue, or even the way out.
His eyes narrowed.
That's where I'm heading.
He leaned back, letting the stone cool his aching muscles. The climb had been rougher than expected, and worse, his neba was still limited.
He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers slowly.
No Nebastep. No Nebawave. This is gonna be hard.
He clicked his tongue in frustration. It wasn't just inconvenient, it was dangerous. Without his abilities, he was slower and weaker. If something serious showed up, he wouldn't last long in a straight fight.
He let out a low breath and stared again at the horizon. Doesn't matter. I'll adapt, just how i always do.
He yawned loudly. The kind of yawn that came from boredom, not sleep.
Then he looked down from the cliff. Something moved. Something was climbing up the cliff.
A shadow crawled up the cliff wall, limbs clicking against stone. Its movement was erratic, like it couldn't decide whether to crawl, leap, or shudder itself apart.
The sound it made was worse, a series of high-pitched squeals and teeth gritting scrapes, as if metal nails were being dragged across a hollow skull.
"Uh?"
Before Dune could speak, hollow threw itself at him, all crooked legs and snapping jaws. Dune dodged sideways as claws carved through the air, kicking up flecks of stone from where he'd been standing.
It spun around mid-lunge, unnaturally fast, and lashed out again. Dune blocked with his forearm, skidding back from the impact.
"Fast," he muttered, frowning.
The hollow hissed in response, a crackling sound building inside its throat. Before Dune could move, its body pulsed with a sudden blue flash, just a flicker, and a blast of lightning ripped through the air and struck his side.
Pain exploded through his ribs. His vision flashed white. He flew back, hit the ground hard, rolled.
what the hell was that?!
The creature didn't wait. It sprinted toward him, limbs clawing at the dirt. That same awful squeal came again.
Dune pushed himself up, barely catching his breath before another flash lit the creature's body.
Another bolt screamed toward him. He twisted his body, felt the heat of it as it grazed his shoulder. The ground behind him cracked, blackened.
It's shooting lightning, he thought, breathing heavily. But…
The creature danced left, then right, then charged again. It struck low this time, Dune leapt over it, landed behind it, swung a kick at its back. The blow connected, but the thing absorbed it with little more than a jolt and flailed around to claw at him again.
Dune dropped under the slash, eyes narrowing.
It stops for just a second before the lightning comes… not long. Half a breath.
Another flash. Another bolt. Dune dove and rolled, dodging by inches.
That flicker again. He gritted his teeth. It has to pause to charge it. That's my chance. The only time it's still.
The creature twisted in place, limbs cracking as it wound up again.
So I'll hit it when it pauses again.
The creature's body pulsed again, a faint flash of blue. Lightning tore through the air.
Dune threw himself to the side, hit the ground on a shoulder-roll, and came up running. Before the creature could twitch again, he was already dashing forward.
Come on, charge another one!
The creature had just started to glow blue, limbs frozen for half a second.
That was all Dune needed.
He launched off the ground and slammed a spinning kick into its side.
There was a sickening crack as his boot connected.
The creature coughed, a burst of dark blood spraying from its mouth as its metal-hard skin cracked and split, greenish plating shattering across its ribcage.
It staggered.
But Dune didn't stop.
He pressed forward, another punch, then another, each blow crashing into the creature's side like piledriving rhythm. It bent inward under the force, shrieking with each hit, its limbs scrambling for footing.
One of its arms launched upward, aiming for his face.
Dune's hand shot up, caught it mid-air. Hollow struggled as Dune grinned.
"Wrong move."
With a violent wrench, Dune twisted the limb sideways. a loud snap, and ripped the entire sharp hand off at the joint. The limb twitched in his grip like a severed wire.
He didn't hesitate.
Slash!
He drew the jagged limb across the creature's face in a diagonal arc. A gash tore open across its featureless mask, blood and sparks bursting out in twin sprays.
The hollow howled and reeled back, limbs jerking erratically.
Dune darted in, blade ready, legs coiled to finish it. But the creature suddenly slid sideways, too fast. Its remaining limbs snaked around his waist and yanked him off the ground, dragging him close with unnatural force.
It arched back, screeching. Dune realized what it was doing a second too late. It was going to slam him into the earth.
The ground rushed up. But his mind moved faster. He twisted his body mid-air and threw both hands to the ground first, catching the impact. The force rattled through his bones, but his spine didn't break. His elbows bent just enough to absorb it.
Then, his legs snapped upward, wrapped around the creature's head.
He wrenched his body mid-rotation. twisting, rotating, and with a growl, he slammed the creature's face directly into the stone.
The impact shattered the rock with a deafening crack. Dust exploded and the ground split.
The creature jerked, but didn't die. Instead, it rolled. Its limbs wrapped around him tighter, and it dragged Dune with it, tumbling across the shattered cliffside in a mess of limbs, sparks, and blood.
They rolled, hard. Dust, claws, broken stone and blood blurred into one spinning mass.
Dune and the creature tumbled off the edge of the plateau, both tangled in midair. The world turned upside-down. Until the devastating impact.
The crash thundered through the canyon floor.
Dune slammed back-first into the earth, hard enough to send cracks spiraling across the stone. Dust rose like a smoke cloud.
For a second, everything was pain. His lungs forgot how to work. His eyes saw static.
But then, he moved. Staggered to his feet, coughing, ribs screaming in protest. His muscles trembled, but his bones hadn't broken. Thanks to neba.
It surged faintly through him, pulsing in his limbs like a protective second skin. His body was bruised, battered, but not broken.
He exhaled sharply, then dashed forward. The creature was there, half-risen.
Time to end it.
He closed the distance like a bullet, ready to drive the jagged limb through its skull.
But just before he struck, The creature raised one of its remaining limbs. Not to fight but to give a signal.
A clawed finger lifted. A slow, almost… human gesture. Stop, Dune froze. For a second, they just stared at each other.
Then, the creature limped over to the severed limb Dune had torn off earlier. Its movements were jerky, but intentional. It grabbed the arm, cradled it against its chest like it meant something.
And then It ran.
Just an awkward, twitching sprint into the fog beyond the rocks, disappearing with uneven speed into the wilds of the Grave.
Dune stood there, breathing hard. Eyes narrowed.
"What the hell was that?"
No answer came. Just wind.