After seven hours, Lily was the first to stir. She slowly opened her eyes, coughing lightly and groaning as she moved her hands up to her face. Rubbing her eyes, she stretched and slowly pushed herself to her feet.
"What the hell happened to me?" she muttered, looking around before noticing that everyone else was passed out on the ground. Her gaze shifted to the large chamber in front of her, and she saw that massive spikes filled the entirety of the chamber. Through the gaps between the massive spikes, she caught a glimpse of the large white wolf lying motionless on the ground, its body impaled by an unknown number of spikes—it was too hard to tell for sure.
She scanned the area, noticing three iron doors and a pathway ahead.
Lily froze for a moment, torn between checking the pathway, the doors, or staying with the group.
"I'll just take a small peek," she decided aloud, before heading toward one of the doors. She reached out, her fingers curling around the cold iron handle, and slowly pulled the door open. The room inside was shrouded in darkness, but as the door creaked open, green torches flickered to life, casting an eerie glow across the room.
She stepped inside, her eyes quickly taking in the sparse contents: a desk, a mattress on the floor, a rusted knife lying on the desk, a small book, and a glowing green lamp that matched the torches. Curiosity piqued, Lily approached the desk and examined the two drawers on the side. Her gaze fell on the book, and she carefully picked it up, dust settling on her fingers as she wiped the cover clean. Holding it with one hand, she blew gently on the surface, sending the remaining dust floating into the air. She glanced at the title.
"Lucia Valentine."
She stared at the words for a moment before opening the book to the first page. Her brow furrowed as she skimmed the text, but confusion overtook her when she realized she didn't recognize the language.
Sighing, she closed the book and set it back down on the desk. Lily moved to the side of the desk and opened the first drawer. Inside, she found another rusted knife, a pair of binoculars, and some gold pieces.
"What is with this weird collection?" she muttered, picking up the gold and glancing around. She slipped the pieces into a pocket of her fur coat.
Closing the first drawer, she crouched down and opened the second one. This time, she found more gold, along with a small silver key, its surface gleaming without a trace of rust.
"Weird..." she whispered to herself.
Lily picked up the key and the gold, tucking everything into her coat pocket before closing the drawer. Standing up, she turned to look at the wall behind her. There, she noticed a large, cracked mirror. She approached it, staring at her reflection for a few seconds, before walking back out of the room.
She slowly closed the iron door behind her, casting a final glance at the still-unconscious group before heading to the second door. She opened it cautiously, but a strong metallic odor hit her immediately. The stench was unbearable, and she quickly shut the door, unable to tolerate the smell from within.
Lily then moved to the third and final door. She opened it slowly, relieved to find the room didn't carry the same metallic odor. Peering inside, she noticed bones scattered in one corner, a mattress stained with something dark, and two desks. Both desks were cluttered with books and other objects, all covered in layers of spider webs and dust, making them impossible to identify.
"I'm not getting sick for a month over this," she muttered, shaking her head. She closed the door and sighed, reluctant to go any further without the others.
Stretching her body, she heard a few satisfying cracks before leaning her back against the cold stone walls. Sliding down, she settled onto the ground and closed her eyes.
Kazren sat at the wooden table, looking down at the three siblings. He sighed heavily.
"It's already been four days since they entered the First Sequence..." he muttered, exhaling slowly as he took a sip of water. He then stood up, walking over to a cabinet where he pulled out some meat and bread he had gathered just an hour ago. After that, he stepped outside.
Within a few minutes, he had started a fire and cooked the meat. He placed it on the bread and took a bite, chewing for over three minutes before swallowing it with a sip of water.
"Well, it's about time I get going." he murmured, taking another bite before walking away.
After another four hours, Renzo shot up, standing with heavy breaths. His vision blurred, and he rubbed his eyes. Slowly, the world came into focus as he stared at everyone before collapsing to his knees.
"Thank Vaelisir," Renzo said loudly, running a hand through his hair before leaning back against the ground.
Lily slowly opened her eyes at the loud noise.
"What is it?" she asked groggily.
"Nothing... just that I saved all of us from becoming wolf dinner," he said proudly, letting out a small laugh.
"So, you were the one who killed that giant wolf?" Lily asked, standing up slowly. She stretched her legs before walking around a bit more.
"Sure did," Renzo replied simply before standing up and wiping dust from his coat.
Lily tried to remember what had happened, but a headache struck when she tried to recall. "What the hell happened to me?" she asked, looking over at Renzo.
Renzo took a moment and remembered what Zay had told him. "...A pack of wolves charged us, and I accidentally punched one with a lot more strength than I thought. It knocked into you and sent you to the ground."
Renzo said this with a smile, exhaling and bracing himself for a beating. But instead, Lily walked over and hugged him.
"Well, take this for at least not getting us all killed... but do expect a beating later," she said with a smile before breaking the hug and stepping back.
Renzo sighed, his gaze shifting to Zay, who was still passed out with Lyra on top of him.
'Just how much aura did he use to still be unconscious?' he thought to himself before turning his gaze to the three iron doors.
"Don't bother. There's nothing interesting, honestly. I've already checked earlier," Lily said, noticing where his gaze was.
He nodded before sitting down on the ground.
'That blade of aura Zay used... that looked so awesome, but how much aura did it really take out of him?'
"Lily, do you have any idea what could've happened to... what's her name again?"
"Lyra?" Lily replied, turning her gaze toward Lyra.
"Yeah, her. Any ideas?"
"Well, maybe it was aura overuse? She kept telling us where to go and warned us to be careful, so maybe she was using her aura the whole time—just in such small amounts that none of us noticed?"
Renzo looked up and nodded. "That's probably what happened... but to have that much control over her aura... that seems really amazing control."
Another hour had passed as Lily and Renzo leaned against the stone walls, waiting for either Zay or Lyra to wake up. Eventually, Lily drifted off to sleep.
A few more hours went by. Renzo stayed awake, keeping watch over the three and glancing occasionally down the pathway and toward the large chamber filled with massive spikes, just in case anything moved. He sighed and shook his head out of boredom before dropping to the ground and doing push-ups to pass the time.
After a few minutes, Zay slowly opened his eyes, only to immediately squint and clench them shut as the green torchlight blinded him. He groaned and rubbed his eyes before reopening them, catching sight of strands of blonde hair.
Renzo, still sitting against the wall, heard the noise and looked over. Noticing Zay had woken up, he raised an eyebrow and said, "You alright, man? You've been out for... honestly, I lost track of how long it's been."
Zay felt the weight on his chest and reached up, brushing the strands of blonde aside. He looked down to see Lyra sound asleep on top of him. With a sigh, he turned his gaze to Renzo and whispered, "What the hell, man?"
"I kept my end of the deal — not telling anyone what happened," Renzo replied with a shrug, "but I didn't have time to make sure you were ultra comfortable."
"You couldn't have moved her off me when you woke up?"
Renzo paused, glanced up at the ceiling thoughtfully, then back at Zay.
"Didn't think of that at all, if I'm being honest," he said with a grin and a thumbs-up.
"For fuck's sake," Zay muttered under his breath. "Give me my coat."
Renzo stood up, grabbed Zay's coat from the ground, and gave it a quick shake to knock off the dust before handing it over.
Zay took the coat, laid it out on the ground beside him, and carefully moved Lyra onto it before getting to his feet.
"Did you at least find any Sacred Relics while I was out?"
"I passed out for a while and haven't gone anywhere else... how the hell would I know if I did collect one?"
"Say this phrase: 'Arbiter: Resonance Lens.' Then it'll show everything."
Renzo nodded. "Arbiter: Resonance Lens."
Suddenly, a sigil appeared before his eyes — a rotating emblem of an eye made of blood enclosed in a hexagon, layered with eight pairs of chains. One by one, each chain shattered, and the Resonance Lens manifested.
[Since this is your first time opening the system, everything will be displayed. After this, the Arbiter may choose what to reveal — or conceal.]
⁑
⌈Name: Renzo Yuso⌋
⌈Current Location: Frostvine – Sequence⌋
⌈Age: 20⌋
⌈Time: Year 476 of Frost, Month of the Fly, Fifth Day. Hour 19.⌋
Condition:
– Internal organs cooling
– Aura Reserve: 25% remaining, slowly regenerating
– Blood: Regenerating (95% complete)
Vault:
– 1x Sacred Relic
⁑
Renzo stared at it for a moment, taking in the view as he'd never seen anything like this before. "What the hell is this?"
He asked, looking around and seeing his name, age, a time he didn't even recognize, and his conditions. He was learning something new, as he didn't even feel like his internal organs were burning or anything at all. His exact amount of aura and the status of his blood, which he hadn't even been aware of, were now on display.
Zay looked over and chuckled slightly before leaning against the stone wall across from Renzo.
"It's called the Resonance Lens. It's a way for an Arbiter to resonate with their aura core and apply it outward to a small, menu-like interface — like something you might find at a restaurant, in a way. On that menu, a lot of information is available to view."
"I see... this is interesting. How long were you going to wait before telling me about this?" Renzo asked, turning his gaze from the menu to Zay.
Zay looked away and faked a cough. "Quite an amazing time, isn't it?"
"I think it's wonderful—WAIT, don't try to change the damn conversation! Answer the question!" Renzo said, shaking his head.
"I was planning on telling you both... after a while," Zay replied with an exhale before standing up, dropping to the floor, and starting push-ups.
"Join me," Zay remarked, turning his head toward Renzo as he continued doing push-ups.
Renzo nodded sharply before getting up and walking over to Zay. He dropped to the ground, his hands landing on the floor as he began doing push-ups.
"Oh yeah, I did collect one of those sacred relic things." Renzo said as he turned his head, looking over at Zay.
"How many do you think we need left?" Zay replied, turning his head to face Renzo as they began to match the same pace of doing push-ups.
"Hell if I know man. I just hope this shit doesn't take much longer. I'm starting to gain a real hate for the cold and for the snow." Renzo closed his eyes and just continued his push-ups.
The two of them continued for around forty minutes before Zay stopped and stood up. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them until the dirt was gone. Renzo stopped and looked up at him. "Why the sudden stop?"
Zay closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them, and a passive from Midnight activated.
[Midnight: Danger]