Fengyu took a slow step forward, boots scuffing against the stone. A corridor stretched ahead, long and narrow, walls slick with moisture that shimmered dully in the dim light. At the very end, standing alone in the gloom, was a simple wooden door. No carvings, no markings, no sign of what lay beyond. Just plain, aged wood, slightly warped with time, its iron handle dull with rust.
He stepped through the door.
The chamber before him was enormous, cavernous, stretching into unseen heights. In the middle of it was jagged thing, only a resemblance of a bridge. Suspended in nothingness. No ropes, no railings, just a winding path of disjointed, hovering slabs of rock stretching over an abyss. Some stones were solid. Some were not. Standing on it, halfway across, was a woman.
She had the unmistakable bearing of a Thalorim - rigid, proud, utterly self-reliant. Her clothing was practical, built for movement, dark fabric reinforced at the joints. Her hair was black, thick, tied back in a practical braid that still managed to have a few rebellious strands. Her stance was tense, arms slightly out, poised to react. She seemed stranded, unable to see which steps were safe.
The whispers curled around them both, smooth and measured - a patient puppeteer guiding a blindfolded dancer. "A step to the left. Two forward. One to the right."
Fengyu's eyes flicked to the woman. She heard it, of course. He saw the subtle twitch of her fingers, the way her shoulders tightened at the sound. But she did not move as instructed.
Instead, her lips pressed into a thin, irritated line, she took the step to the right, tapping the stone lightly with her foot before shifting her weight onto it. The stone gave way beneath her. With a sharp gasp, she stumbled back, barely catching herself on a more solid piece. Her breath was sharp, angry, but no fear showed in her face - only frustration.
Fengyu sighed. She would rather fall than trust a voice not her own. Those Thalorim were raised with belief that they must be self-sufficient, both physically and emotionally. They were never to submit.
He waited until she was steady, feet planted firmly on the precarious slab of rock, before calling out.
"Hey!"
She jerked at the sound of his voice, head snapping toward him. Her gaze was sharp, searching, but also captivating. Fengyu felt immediate liking toward her, another human soul in this wretched place.
But her expression hardened, lips curling into something between irritation and disdain. "Oh. It's you."
Like he was somehow worse than the whispering labyrinth trying to guide her. Fengyu exhaled. Fantastic. He had no idea who she was, but she definitely knew him. And, judging by her tone, she wasn't thrilled about it. So much for camaraderie.
He tilted his head, lips quirking into something that wasn't quite a smirk. "Oh, a lovely day, isn't it?" he mused, as if they weren't standing over a yawning abyss. The woman blinked before her glare sharpened.
Fengyu pressed on, utterly unbothered. "How are you today?"
She let out a sharp breath, more scoff than sigh. "Oh, just enjoying the scenery." Her voice was dry as a sun-bleached bone. "And you?"
Fengyu grinned. "Taking a leisurely stroll. Thought I'd drop by."
She arched a brow, unimpressed. "Lucky me."
Unbothered by the obvious contempt, Fengyu placed a hand over his chest with a theatrical flourish. "Fengyu," he announced, "of Solirae".
She stared at him. "I know who you are."
"Ah, good. That saves time. And you are…?"
Her lips pressed into a thin line. She saw exactly what he was doing. And then, again, she played along. "Kaelyn of Thalorim."
He grinned and gave an exaggerated bow. "Pleasure, Kaelyn of Thalorim. Tell me, do you always make a habit of ignoring friendly advice, or is today special?"
She smirked - just slightly. "Says the man pretending he hasn't already known my name."
That made him pause for a moment. Was he supposed to know her?
She caught the hesitation in his face. "Unbelievable. You really didn't know my name."
Fengyu opened his mouth, but she wasn't done. "You didn't even bother to learn about the other candidates, did you?"
Fengyu sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "In my defence, I didn't plan on being here. And frankly, I hoped to be disqualified long before needing to care."
She scoffed. "Typical."
Having dismissed him, she turned on her heel and returned her attention to the path ahead.
Fengyu watched as she crouched slightly, testing the edges of the stone straight ahead with the tip of her boot, ignoring the whispers curling around them.
"A step to the left. Two forward. One to the right."
She wasn't going to listen. Of course she wasn't. Fengyu sighed, crossing his arms. "You do realize the last one nearly dropped you into the abyss, right?"
She didn't even look at him. "And yet, I'm still here."
Stubborn. He could respect that, unless it was going to get her killed.
"You know that the one on the left is different? It looks different."
"Does it?"
Fengyu could not decide whether she was really asking or mocking him again. The difference was obvious - the stone to her left was solid, bulkier beneath, its edges firm and weighty. The others, thin wisps of mist barely pretending to be real. But as Fengyu took a step toward the head of the bridge, the difference vanished. The stones now all looked identical - clear, circular outlines, perfectly uniform, perfectly deceptive. No bulkiness, no mist, no distinction at all.
He exhaled sharply. "Well, that's annoying. But if I stand here…" he shifted a step to the side. The bulkiness returned, the solid stone standing out again among the fragile illusions. "You can see it only from an angle."
"That I know and it is not helpful up here at all. It shows you only the first step. Once on the bridge you don't see anything. You have only these irritating whispers."
"But I, standing here, still do. The one to your left is solid."
"You see the one before me?"
Fengyu nodded. "Yeah, from here, at least. The one to your left is solid."
Kaelyn did not move, but he could see her fingers twitch slightly, suppressing the urge to clench into fists. She didn't like this.
"Am I not more trustworthy as the wretched labyrinth's whisper? Well, you could keep guessing. Seems to be working great so far."
That earned him a scoff, she shifted her weight onto her back foot, glancing once at the left stone, then at him.
"Look, if I wanted you dead, I'd just let you keep doing what you're doing. Saves me the effort."
She hesitated just a moment longer before finally, carefully, stepping onto the stone he had pointed out. It held. No shift. No crumble. No illusion breaking beneath her weight.
Fengyu grinned. "See? Trust isn't so bad."
"Don't push it."
"Two forward. One to the right. One forward" the dungeon provided promptly.
Fengyu looked closer. The stone before her looked solid, but the other ones as misty as ever. He could only see one step ahead.
"It does not lie to the next step, but the others I don't know. One step at a time then."
They repeated the procedure till she reached the end of the bridge. She jumped from the last step and turned around. "You turn. The first step is right... STOP!!!"
Fengyu had barely shifted his weight, he snapped his head up, one foot hovering just above the stone.
"The bridge... It's changing."
The entire bridge rippled, distorting at the edges, and then, piece by piece, it reformed. The stones were no longer arranged in a path. Some stretched larger, others shrank, unevenly spaced, tilting up and down. The gaps between them yawned wider, perilous. Worse yet, they flickered, from solid to mist. It wasn't a path any more. It was a moving puzzle.
The labyrinth whispered again, but this time, its directions were slower, uncertain, almost hesitant. "The left one is ok, I think…"
Fengyu scoffed. "You think?"
He tried shifting his weight from left to right, testing the reaction of the stones. The moment his foot hovered over one, it started to fade into mist before he even touched it. That was worse than the enigmatic circular outlines from before.
He looked at Kaelyn. "Any help from there?"
She observed the stones intently, eyes narrowed in sharp focus, tracing the shifting patterns, searching for something - a rhythm, a flaw, a trick hidden within the labyrinth's ever-changing puzzle.
"It reacts to you," she said at last. "The moment you move, it shifts. Try lifting your foot again. Just hover."
Fengyu did as she said, he placed his foot just slightly above the first stone before him. It flickered, its edges shimmering between solid rock and translucent mist, like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be.
Kaelyn hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe…" She paused, tilting her head. "Maybe it doesn't change until you fully commit. The moment you actually step, that's when it decides if it's real or not."
Fengyu frowned. "That's the worst mechanics I've ever heard of."
"Then don't hesitate."
"Oh, is that all?"
She smirked. "You know what your problem is?" She jerked her chin toward him. "It's the same as that whisper - you're still thinking."
Fengyu let out a sharp laugh. "Oh, sure. I'll just waltz across this floating death trap. No problem."
Kaelyn shook her head. "When you move fast enough, you can scramble back before it fully collapses. It worked for me."
Worked for her? She had been stuck here. He looked back at the bridge. It wasn't like that for her, only for him. A creeping realization settled over him. "It's reacting before I even step. Like it's waiting for me to make a decision."
Kaelyn gestured at the stones. "It wasn't reacting when I was testing them. Only when I stepped. And now it's reacting before you even move. What if that's the trick? It's waiting for you to doubt yourself. Think about it. What's the one thing you've been doing this whole time?"
"Not dying?"
"Hesitating."
She looked at him. "Well, I did my research. You have a reputation, Fengyu."
"Oh, have I?"
He looked thoughtfully at the stones. No hesitation? That was easy to say. Committing to a step when the ground beneath you might not even exist? He'd have to feel it, react before his mind could second-guess itself. This time he would not be in position to claim automatic reaction of saving a child or not carrying about cat or not cat.
The labyrinth required his absolute commitment. He had spent a lifetime avoiding that kind of certainty. Playing things safe, leaving doors half-open, always having an escape route. And now the labyrinth demanded he burn them all. It was a cruel game. It was a mocking game.
That was not even a test! THAT WAS PERSONAL!
He did the only thing left. He moved.
The moment his foot left solid ground, the bridge reacted. Stones flickered between real and mist, shifting unpredictably, but there was no time to hesitate. No room for doubt. Only forward.
His first step landed, the stone beneath him held. The second - solid. But the third? It wavered.
A surge of panic shot through him. He forced it down. He didn't stop.
Momentum carried him as the stone beneath his foot began to dissolve - but he was already pushing off, already reaching for the next one. His body knew before his mind did. The more he hesitated, the more the path would flicker beneath him.
The labyrinth wanted him all in.
His breath came in sharp bursts. The bridge wasn't just shifting anymore - it was actively fighting him. The stones trembled under his weight.
Faster.
He vaulted over a widening gap, barely making it onto the next stone. A split-second too late, and he would have fallen.
Don't stop. Don't think. Don't…
"Almost there," Kaelyn reached out her hand.
The rock under him cracked. He lunged forward.
"I got you" she gritted out, fingers digging into his arm as she hauled him up.
With a final, desperate pull, Fengyu threw himself onto the bridge landing, panting. His muscles burned. He rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling, and let out a breathless laugh. The labyrinth had demanded his absolute commitment, and now that he was across, a heavy weight settled in his chest. The realization that it wouldn't be the last time.
"I hate this place."
"Well, I am ready for more" said Kaelyn.
An incredulous woman!
With a grunt, he stood up, rolling his shoulders. "Alright. What now? Do we get a prize? A door that doesn't try to kill us, maybe?"
Kaelyn didn't answer immediately. She was staring past him, toward the archway at the end of the chamber. Unlike the crude wooden door from before, this one was different - tall, metallic, etched with symbols that pulsed faintly, as if alive. She moved towards the door. "One test passed. Another awaits."
Fengyu sighed. "Of course it does."
He observed her as she studied the shifting symbols.
"You knew me," he said at last. Not a question, just a statement.
Kaelyn didn't turn to face him, "I did my research."
Fengyu huffed a quiet laugh. "Research. Right. You know the other candidates, too?"
"Of course."
"All of them?"
"No, only the interesting ones. There are too many of others."
Still, he called him 'interesting'.
"You wanted to be here."
Kaelyn finally met his gaze. "Yes. Did you not?"
"No."
"So, you are here against your will."
"I would have thought it is obvious."
"It isn't."
He frowned, crossing his arms. "How is it not obvious? You said, you researched me."
Kaelyn tilted her head slightly, considering him. "I did, but still… You crossed that bridge. You didn't have to."
Fengyu let out a short, incredulous laugh. "Are you serious?"
"You could have turned back."
He scoffed. "To what? The labyrinth doesn't exactly offer exits."
"You may not have chosen to come here. But you're still choosing to move forward."
"I think there is no much of a choice in that."
"There's always a choice."
Fengyu shook his head. "I don't think you understand what 'no choice' means. That bridge wasn't going to wait for me to figure out my life. The labyrinth would not give me an exit just because I asked nicely." Wait, should he actually try that?!
"There's always a choice. You could have refused. You could have let the labyrinth swallow you."
"What? I don't think stopping is an option."
"It always is. People do give up."
"Then that's not a real choice. That's just-" He stopped himself, jaw tightening. Giving up was a choice. It just wasn't one he was willing to take.
"Like I said. You are still choosing to move forward."
There was something about the way she said it. He eyed her suspiciously. "And where exactly did you get that from?"
Kaelyn blinked. "What do you mean?"
"You're quoting something."
She hesitated. "...The Way of Steady Steps. Every step is a choice. To hesitate is to fall."
"Are you quoting a footwork manual at me?"
Kaelyn shrugged. "It's a good manual."
"It's about foot placement, not philosophy!"
She gave him a sidelong glance, expression completely serious. "Same thing, really. Step without intent, and you stumble. Step with intent, and you move forward." She paused, and then continued. "You know, it just so fits you." She gestured towards him, her hand gliding top down for a good measure.
"Fits me?" he echoed. She had obviously already labelled him in her mind. "For you it is just another exercise. Do you really think the universe works like sparring drills?"
Kaelyn studied him with a look he couldn't quite decipher. "This isn't just some trial of skill or survival. At the end of this, the labyrinth doesn't just let you leave. It forces you to decide."
"Decide what?" he shot back.
Kaelyn exhaled, glancing at the path ahead. "Who you'll become."
Fengyu felt a cold weight settle in his chest. It was obviously again a quote from the manual, but he hated how true that sounded. He became convinced that the end of this road would be more than just survival - it would demand something of him. A future. A purpose. Neither of which he had ever asked for. Lucky were the ones who had actually signed up for this.
"The Way of Steady Steps again?" He threw up his hands. "The big secret at the end of all this is just good footwork!"
Kaelyn smirked. "Well, if you had better footwork, you wouldn't have almost died back there."
"I swear, if I hear one more poetic life lesson from a book about walking, I'm turning around and throwing myself into the abyss."
"That would still be a choice," Kaelyn said, deadpan.
She stepped toward the door. After a moment, Fengyu followed.