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Chapter 12 - Chapter 12: Ascension Through the Veil – Floor Two

The transition was unlike anything they had ever experienced.

Stepping through the portal felt less like walking and more like being pulled through layers of liquid starlight. Cold tendrils of energy brushed against their skin, humming softly in a language older than the Dominion itself. When their feet finally touched solid ground, they found themselves standing beneath a twilight sky — a strange, floating expanse where gravity itself seemed uncertain.

A massive stone platform stretched outward, suspended in a void of slow-turning constellations. Around the edges, fractured paths hung in midair, twisting like serpents through the mist. Floor Two was not a battlefield like the first. It was alive — shifting, whispering, watching.

"Welcome to Floor Two: Labyrinth of Echoes," a voice intoned, resonant and ancient, seeping from the air itself."Here, strength means little without clarity. What you face is not what stands before you… but what lingers within."

Raven whistled under his breath. "Great. A spooky riddle maze. Just what I needed."

"Be careful," Lyra murmured. Her sharp eyes scanned the fractured paths, noting faint spectral reflections on the mirrored stone. "This isn't a simple puzzle. Look — every path… leads to something watching."

She was right. Reflections rippled across the polished floors like water disturbed by unseen steps. Shadowy figures moved in parallel — exact copies of the candidates, but subtly wrong. Eyes too dark. Smiles too wide.

Selene stepped forward, calm as ever. "The Tower's older floors test control, precision. But starting from here…" She glanced at the shifting horizon. "it tests the self."

Behind them, the portal pulsed softly, still open. A few lower-ranked candidates hesitated on the threshold, exchanging nervous looks. The inscription above the arch flared to life:

"Withdrawal permitted. Advancement irreversible."

Some would choose safety. Others… ambition.

But the top ten stood still, their names still burning on the ranking board in the plaza outside. Quitting wasn't an option anymore. Not when the Dominion was watching.

The candidates gathered — Nox Vale, Selene Aurelion, Lyra Fen, Taren Voss, Raven Drayke, Kaelis Norrin, Eira Solcrest, Finn Ashvale, Liora Cendris, and Draven Marric. The ten who had carved their names into history — at least for now.

A low rumble shuddered through the platform. Ten columns of light erupted from the ground, one before each candidate. Within the light, words inscribed themselves in glowing runes:

"Face the echo. Break the mask. Or be swallowed by yourself."

Kaelis stared at his reflection warily. "This doesn't sound fun."

"It's not supposed to be," Selene replied simply.

The first to move was Nox. His reflection grinned at him — not the quiet, focused expression he always carried, but something far darker. It spoke in his voice, smooth and venomous.

"You think you've escaped the forest, but the forest never left you."

Raven's reflection took on a cruel, taunting smirk. Lyra's wore a blank mask. Taren's was wreathed in wild resonance, chaotic and violent — like a mirror showing the storm beneath his arrogance. Selene's reflection didn't move at all. It only watched her, perfectly still, a mirror of someone who trusted no one, not even herself.

And then the paths split. Ten separate bridges of light spiraled outward into the labyrinth, each leading into the mist. The floor had chosen for them. There would be no teamwork here.

"See you on the other side," Raven said with a crooked grin, though his knuckles were white. One by one, the top ten stepped forward and vanished into the shifting maze, their echoes trailing after them like predators.

Far above the labyrinth, in the high towers of Astralis Academy, nobles and instructors watched through scrying mirrors.The head instructor lowered his quill slightly. "Second floor… the real trial begins now."

A noble from House Cendris chuckled. "I wonder how long the Vale boy will last."

"Long enough to make them nervous," came another voice.

The Tower of Astralis had swallowed countless souls over the centuries — but it had also forged legends.

In the dark maze, the echoes whispered louder. One wrong thought could fracture the soul. One step too weak, and the Tower would not give them a second chance.

The hunt had begun.

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