1 – The Chamber of Mirrors
The survivors stumbled into the next chamber, their boots echoing on smooth black stone that seemed to absorb sound rather than reflect it. The ceiling arched impossibly high, lost in darkness, but it wasn't the height that unnerved them—it was what the walls contained.
Mirrors. Thousands of them, scattered unevenly across the chamber in every direction. Some stretched from floor to ceiling, others were broken, jagged shards sticking out of the walls at sharp angles. Each reflected not just their forms but something else: shadows moving independently, faint outlines that mimicked them with a delay, or in strange, impossible ways.
Rayan froze. His reflection wasn't him. It smiled when he didn't. It raised a sword that wasn't his.
2 – The Rules of the Mind
A whisper emerged, floating in the darkness like smoke:
Trust not your eyes. Trust not your hands. Only the mind unshaken may survive.
Rayan's heart skipped. The Fourth Trial wasn't about brute strength or speed—it was about perception. Mistake the illusions for reality, and death came instantly.
He could feel the others trembling beside him. Darim, the scout, kept flicking his torch from mirror to mirror, his face pale under its glow. "It's… it's all wrong," he muttered. "Everything we see—every step we take—it's a trap."
3 – The First Illusion
Rayan stepped cautiously, gripping his sword. The reflections weren't just mimicking—they were predicting. When he swung, the image in the nearest mirror swung first, leaving the real space behind it empty… and then a blade shot out of the reflection, slicing across his arm.
Blood sprayed, and he fell back, teeth gritting against the sting. He realized with horror: the mirrors were connected to the beast, or to the dungeon itself. Each reflection could materialize reality for those who faltered.
"Careful!" he shouted. "Every reflection might be deadly! Step only where you can see the real floor!"
4 – The Hunters' Panic
Chaos erupted. Hunters shouted at one another, pointing out reflections that weren't real. Some attacked shadows that weren't there, leaving themselves open to the traps embedded in the stone floor. Arrows flew, hitting glass mirrors and shattering, sending shards into the faces of those near them.
Rayan moved like a ghost through the madness, eyes scanning for patterns. The dungeon wasn't random—it was teaching, or perhaps mocking them. Each mirrored corridor repeated at odd angles, forcing them to double back, creating dead ends, and sometimes opening walls that weren't there a second ago.
5 – Serin's Memory
Amid the chaos, Rayan froze as a familiar warmth brushed his memory: Serin, laughing as she tried to teach him to focus, even during training.
Focus… trust your instincts, not what you see.
He exhaled slowly, letting the memory anchor him. Unlike the others, he no longer tried to fight the illusions physically. He moved with his mind, sensing the safest path by intuition, listening for tiny discrepancies in sound, in air pressure, in the faint scent of stone.
6 – The First Casualty
A scream tore through the chamber. A hunter had tried to leap across what he thought was solid floor, guided by the reflection of a safe landing. The floor beneath him had vanished, leaving only a pit lined with razor-sharp spikes.
Rayan watched, paralyzed for half a second, as the man fell. There was no time to mourn. The dungeon's pulse quickened, urging the survivors forward.
7 – Adapting to the Illusions
Rayan started experimenting. He dropped a torch, watched its shadow shift in the mirrors. He tested steps slowly, tapping stone with his sword, listening for echoes that differed from the reflections. Each small success reinforced a growing confidence, a sharpness he hadn't felt before.
The glow along his weapon intensified again, almost responding to his mental clarity. He realized his senses were sharpening, his mind learning to predict the dungeon's tricks before it executed them.
8 – The Psychological Assault
The dungeon didn't just attack the body—it attacked the mind. Reflections of hunters already dead appeared, screaming silently, their faces twisted in agony. Whispers called Rayan's name, each one blending with Serin's voice.
He stumbled, almost fooled. But then he gritted his teeth, focusing on her real smile, not the specters.
This is what it means to be chosen, he thought. The dungeon is testing my mind, my will, my heart.
9 – Coordinating the Survivors
Using his sharpened instincts, Rayan began guiding the remaining hunters: "Step where I step. Touch the wall with your left. Move slowly, listen to the floor."
It worked. One by one, they followed him safely, avoiding mirrors that tried to trap them, dodging illusions that would have killed them in an instant.
For the first time in the Fourth Trial, some semblance of order emerged from chaos.
10 – The Trial's End
Hours—or maybe it was minutes—later, the mirrored walls began to shimmer and dissolve like mist. The chamber fell silent, save for their labored breathing.
The glowing letters appeared once more:
Those who survive the Fourth Trial may proceed.The Fifth Trial awaits, where strength and cunning will be tested beyond all limits.
Rayan lowered his sword, bloodied and trembling, yet something deep within him had changed.
The dungeon had taught him more than survival—it had awakened a part of himself he hadn't known existed.
And in the back of his mind, Serin's memory remained, the quiet reminder that even in this hell, someone was worth fighting for.