*Date: 33,480 Second Quarter - Chalice Theocracy*
The chamber felt like a tomb.
Two stone-bodied figures stood at the far end, humanoid but wrong, like statues carved by someone who had never seen a living man. Their eyes glowed faintly, one a dull blue, the other a deep red. Their arms were raised in silent threat, palms braced outward as if eternally prepared to strike.
Aris's chest tightened. The air itself buzzed with a tension that made his hair stand on end.
"Two of them," he muttered, gripping the Witness Stone in his pocket as though it might lend him courage.
Orric spat onto the dusty floor, his wolfish features sharp in the dim glow. "Two too many."
Aris turned to him. "Show me the shield. Please. I think I can—"
Orric cut him off with a snarl. "Brother, you've tried for a month. Not once have you manifested a proper shield. What makes you think you'll do it now?"
Aris swallowed. "Because I feel... different. Just trust me."
"I don't want to waste stamina showing you tricks," Orric growled. "If one of us has to carry both, it'll be me."
Before Aris could argue, Orric strode forward. His blade hung at his side, but his free hand lifted, fingers curling into a practiced sigil. A shimmer formed in the air before him, a translucent barrier of light that rippled like heat haze.
"Stay behind me," Orric said. "That one's elemental." He pointed at the red-eyed guardian. "I fought Shadowborn casters all my life. I can take it."
Aris held his breath as Orric planted his feet. The red-eyed golem moved first, a low hum building in its core. Then a blast of fire and lightning tore through the air, striking Orric's shield. The barrier wavered but held, dispersing the energy in a spray of sparks. The wolfkin grunted, teeth bared, but stood firm.
Aris's eyes widened. In that moment, as he watched, something snapped inside him.
[Bzzt!]
His mind filled with a rush of knowledge. The shape of the sigil. The pull of mana. The alignment of will with defense. It wasn't copied, it was learned, seared into him as if he'd always known. His theory was right: creating Healing Cure had opened the slot he'd lacked.
"I can do it," Aris breathed. "I can!"
But before he could prove it, the second guardian moved. The blue-eyed one, ignored until now, turned its palm toward them and unleashed a pulse of raw force.
It slammed into their flank.
Both Orric and Aris were hurled sideways, crashing against the stone floor. Air ripped from their lungs. Pain bloomed across Aris's ribs like fire. He gasped, coughing, unable to breathe for several seconds.
When he finally dragged in air, he saw Orric struggling up, growling.
"We can't just take one at a time," Aris croaked. "If we don't both shield, the other flanks us."
Orric spat blood onto the stone. "Yeah? And how are we going to do that if you can't—"
Aris shoved himself upright, raising his hand. Light shimmered into existence, a wall of radiance forming before him. Elegant, extremely real.
Orric froze, eyes wide. "You... You're full of surprises, human. Were you hiding this from me?"
Aris grinned despite the ache in his chest. "Nope. Just learned it. Right now."
The wolfkin let out a short bark of laughter. "I'll be damned."
But the guardians didn't wait. The red one hummed again, elemental energy gathering. The blue raised its palm for another pulse.
Aris steadied his breath. "One shoots elemental. The other physical. It's a puzzle."
Orric nodded grimly. "Then we solve it."
They moved forward together, shields braced. The guardians fired. The blasts struck, one against Orric's shimmering elemental barrier, the other against Aris's physical defense. For the first time, both held. The force shuddered through them, but they remained standing. Step by step, they advanced.
Aris's heart raced. "This is working."
Then, without warning, the guardians switched.
The red-eyed one spat a wave of force. The blue-eyed unleashed fire. Aris's physical shield crumpled instantly under the elemental blast, throwing him to the ground with searing pain. Orric, caught mid-switch, couldn't adjust in time. His barrier flickered, and the force blast struck him hard, sending him sprawling.
Aris hit the stone with a grunt. His vision blurred. His arm screamed where he landed.
"Damn it!" Orric cursed, dragging himself up.
Aris forced himself to his knees, summoning Healing Cure with a shaky gesture. Warmth spread through his ribs, easing the worst of the pain. "We both have to switch. Together."
"Easy for you to say," Orric grunted. "I can't change that fast."
Aris hesitated. "Neither can I. Not really." His Player skill set let him manifest every fifth time. He couldn't reveal that weakness now.
So he lied. "I can. I just... don't want to waste energy."
Orric shot him a sharp look. "You'd better not be bluffing, human."
The guardians readied again. Fire sparked. Force hummed.
Aris clenched his jaw. "Every fifth time. That's my limit. I can't afford to miss."
They tried again, stepping forward, switching shields as the blasts came. Once, twice, three times they endured. But then the guardians switched faster. Fire, force, fire again. Their timing faltered.
"I don't have to keep casting. I just have to change my concentration of the shield. One barrier, two faces."
A double blast caught them mid-change, shields caught halfway. The impact knocked them both to the ground. Aris's cheek split open against the stone, blood running down his jaw. Orric's shoulder smoked from a partial elemental hit.
Pain throbbed in every joint. Aris pressed his glowing hand to his face, sealing the cut, but the ache remained.
Orric groaned. "We can't keep this up. My stamina's draining fast."
Aris panted, staring at the guardians. "It looks random. But what if it's not?"
He forced himself to focus. Every switch, every blast. He replayed them in his mind. Fire once. Force once. Then force again. Then both swapped. Then fire three times...
His eyes widened.
"It's not random," he whispered.
Orric blinked at him through sweat and blood. "What?"
"The switches," Aris said, heart racing. "There's a pattern. I think... it's a sequence."
The guardians fired again. Orric barely raised his shield in time, the blast staggering him.
Aris's brain whirled. Numbers, sequences. One, one, two, three, five... The rhythm of it. The guardians weren't random, they were following Fibonacci.
He nearly laughed. "It's Fibonacci!"
Orric coughed, grimacing. "It's a what?"
Aris bit his lip. He couldn't say "mathematical sequence from Earth" without exposing himself. "A... a pattern I studied. Trust me. Just switch when I tell you. Don't hesitate."
Orric studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. I'm out of better ideas."
They staggered back to the entry point, shoulders pressed together, shields raised. Aris called out each number as he counted the blasts.
"Now!" Fire came. Both switched. Shields held.
"Now!" Force struck. They adjusted. The barrier hummed but stood.
"Hold, now!" Another switch.
The guardians pressed harder, the blasts coming faster, trying to throw off their timing. But Aris's mind burned with clarity. He saw the pattern, the sequence unfurling in his head. His calls came sharp and certain.
Orric followed without hesitation. His faith steadied Aris even as doubt clawed at his gut. Each switch landed true. Each blast was met by the right shield.
Slowly, step by step, they advanced.
Sweat poured down Aris's brow. His arms shook with the strain of holding the barrier. His Witness Stone pulsed in his pocket, feeding him just enough strength to keep going.
Finally, the guardians faltered. Their eyes flickered. Their blasts sputtered. The sequence ended.
The red-eyed one lowered its arm. The blue-eyed followed. Then, as if strings had been cut, both collapsed into lifeless heaps of stone.
Silence fell.
Aris swayed on his feet, gasping. His barrier flickered out. Orric dropped his own shield, clutching his shoulder, chest heaving.
They looked at each other. Despite the blood and bruises, both laughed, half madness, half relief.
"We did it," Orric said, voice hoarse.
Aris nodded, his grin ragged. "Fibonacci."
"Still don't know what that means," Orric muttered, "but I'll take it."
They staggered forward together, past the fallen guardians, into the darkness beyond.