Not side-by-side. Far apart—just enough distance to rule out following the same path.
Each opening shimmered. Not with lights, but with symbols, burning blue-red in the air. And then they spoke—not in sound, but in meaning, burned straight behind their eyes.
Solo Trial Activated
One pilot per path.
Objective: Observe and adapt.
Combat parameters randomized.
Juno glanced left. “Pick.”
Drex went right.
D
rex’s Path
Drex followed the right tunnel.
Narrow. Dry. Barely enough clearance for his legs. No threats. Just a sharp incline and flickering lights on the floor. Then the tunnel opened.
Circular chamber. 40 meters wide. Stone. No cover.
In the center: a creature crouched on all fours.
Lion-shaped, but wrong. Too wide in the shoulders. Tail segmented like an insect’s, coiled high. Wings folded tight against its back. Its eyes tracked him the moment he stepped in.
The mech HUD pulled a match from the onboard bestiary.
IDENTIFIED: MANTICORE (ESTIMATE)
Possible traits:
– May launch tail spines as ranged attack
– Reported to have venomous breath or claws
– Heavy front-body armor
– Weakness to fire or sonic bursts (myth-derived)
Combat Type: Mid-range hunter
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Threat Rating: Medium-High
Confirmed Tower Kill Count: 16+
The manticore growled. No charge.
Drex circled, watching the tail.
It snapped—three stingers shot across the room.
Drex boosted low. Flame vented as cover. One stinger grazed the back plate—no penetration.
He fired a tight scattershot in return. One pellet clipped the manticore’s shoulder. It growled louder, pacing sideways.
Drex feinted forward—short burst of flame to the flank, then dodged left.
The manticore jumped.
He rolled under it, vented behind, and launched a thermite pod into its exposed stomach.
The pod exploded mid-air. The beast landed hard, tail slamming down behind it. Drex turned, aimed, and fired a short-range burst to the head.
The manticore staggered.
It lunged again.
He sidestepped, caught it with a quick jab from the mech's shoulder, and followed up with a last scatter burst to the jaw.
It dropped.
ENEMY DOWN – TRIAL COMPLETE
Collected Resources:
– 2x Manticore Tail-Barbs (potential toxin traces)
– 1x Shard-Hide Plate (resistant to fire, brittle under pressure)
– 1x Lesser Beastcore (contains minor mana signature)
Drex exhaled. “Still moving.”
He swept the room, confirmed no second enemy, then continued forward toward the next gate.
Juno’s Path
Juno’s path was different.
Narrower. Jagged turns. His mech barely fit.
The trial room wasn’t a circle—it was a line. Ten meters wide. Sixty meters long. Six tower beasts stood in a staggered pattern.
None moved.
[ ENEMIES IDENTIFIED – STONEBACK CHARGERS ]
Behavior: Territorial
Pattern: Engage one at a time unless provoked
Strategy: Route through without triggering all
Juno read the floor. Cracks marked the trigger zones.
He stepped forward. Clean. The first Charger woke.
It lunged. Juno didn’t meet it head-on—he stepped sideways, clipped it with the edge of his shield, then grabbed its front limb and drove the spike in clean.
It dropped.
He waited.
The others didn’t move.
Step. Step.
Second Charger.
This one feinted. Juno adjusted. Caught it mid-charge with a hard counter-blow. The crusher arm rang from impact, but the Charger cracked down the middle.
The third moved early. Triggered wrong.
Fourth came too.
“Perfect,” Juno muttered.
He braced, lowered stance, and held. The third hit. He blocked. The spike slipped under and ripped the leg joint. Used the momentum to turn and hammer the fourth.
Took three strikes.
Fifth and sixth never moved.
[ TRIAL COMPLETE – PATH OPENED ]
Resource Collected:
4x Stoneback Plating Shards
– Heavy outer armor component
1x Spine-Core Extract
– Used in structural reinforcement formulas
They rejoined outside a double-wide gate.
Drex’s mech was scorched and one side leg dragged slightly.
Juno’s armor was cracked at the forearm and shoulder.
Neither spoke.
Then the door lit up—runes spiraling down it, imprinting straight into their minds.
FLOOR 4 COMPLETE – REST INTERVAL
No hostiles. No challenges.
You may recover. You may observe.
Or proceed deeper.