The hall before the second trial was stark, lit with a dim, ethereal glow that reflected off the polished stone floor. Wads adjusted the handcuff around his wrist, feeling the subtle weight of the chain that tethered him to Reiyell. The small metal link seemed almost trivial, yet he knew in combat it would be a constant reminder of their shared burden.
Reiyell, standing beside him, shifted slightly, the cold indigo of her eyes reflecting the faint light. "I suppose I'll forgive you if you trip me this time," she remarked lightly, though the corner of her mouth twitched with a rare, faint amusement.
Wads didn't respond immediately, his gaze fixed forward, calculating. "I don't trip," he said evenly, his tone clipped, carrying that unshakable calm. Then, with a tilt of his head, he added, "But you might."
The corners of Reiyell's lips curved upward imperceptibly. "Careful, Wyxro. I'm fast enough to make you regret that."
He didn't rise to the bait, instead letting the silence linger. His rectangular glasses caught the light as he shifted his weight, eyes scanning the trial entrance. "Let's just get this over with. I want to know how effective these… restraints are under pressure."
The chamber beyond the archway was alive with an unnatural heat. The air shimmered, curling with waves of fire that licked along the walls in erratic patterns. The source of this heat revealed itself in the center: a massive lizard, scales glimmering like molten rock, claws glowing with smoldering energy. Its body was easily three times their height, and its eyes burned like twin coals, radiating intelligence as well as sheer malice.
Wads' jaw tightened as he instinctively adjusted the chain between them, testing its reach. Reiyell's hand hovered near her ice-formed blade, her breath misting in the warm air.
"This will be… interesting," she said softly, almost to herself. "Two of us, bound together, against that thing."
"I thrive in constraints," Wads replied, voice low. "This is nothing I haven't considered."
The lizard let out a low, rumbling growl that echoed across the chamber, vibrating in their chests. With an almost imperceptible shift of its massive tail, the fight began.
Wads moved first, calculating the trajectory of the lizard's initial charge. Gravity Lattice activated instinctively, creating subtle distortions in the chamber that slowed the beast's movements just enough to allow them to react. Reiyell swung her ice blade, forming a slashing arc of frozen energy, attempting to keep the lizard at bay. Sparks and molten scales collided, sending small explosions of fire and ice into the air.
The handcuff was an immediate handicap. Every maneuver had to be calculated not just for the lizard, but for the other's positioning. When Wads lunged to intercept a claw swipe, Reiyell was forced to pivot, dragging him slightly with her momentum. The chain snapped taut, pulling both of them off-balance.
"You move like a glacier in summer," Reiyell said, her tone sharp but tinged with wry humor as she adjusted her footing.
"Watch your footing," Wads retorted coldly, spinning midair and launching a thread of probability from Seer toward the lizard's leg. The thread's shimmering silver lines snaked through the air, subtly altering the angle of its next strike. The lizard staggered, fire erupting from its throat as it roared, smoke and ash filling the chamber.
Reiyell's ice blade connected with a blast of frost to counter the heat, forming a temporary barrier, but the lizard's sheer size and burning energy overwhelmed it. Wads adjusted the Gravity Lattice, creating a micro gravitational distortion to tether the lizard's tail mid-swing. Reiyell spun through the air, striking it again, sending molten scales flying like sparks from a forge.
For a moment, the battle became a tense ballet of fire and ice, weight and gravity. Each step and strike was measured, with neither of them able to afford even a single miscalculation. Wads could feel the pull of the handcuff with each dodge, the chain tangling around his wrist, tugging him against Reiyell's own movements.
"You rely too much on your powers," Reiyell remarked between swings, her tone steady, eyes sharp as she assessed the lizard's reactions. "If you miscalculate even slightly, it could kill us both."
Wads didn't respond with words, only a silent nod. He spun, dodging the lizard's flaming breath by mere inches, extending his threads from Seer to guide the trajectory of molten rocks launched from the beast. Gravity Lattice slowed them just enough for Reiyell to carve them into harmless shards mid-air.
The lizard's movements became more erratic, and Wads realized it was adapting, analyzing their pattern. He grimaced slightly under his calm exterior. "It's learning. It knows how we fight."
Reiyell's eyes narrowed. "Then we change. I'll create openings—you follow through."
A sudden surge of energy from the lizard forced them both back, chain rattling sharply. Reiyell formed a blade of ice from the floor, swinging to push the lizard back while Wads projected threads across the chamber, subtly altering probability to predict the next attack. Their synergy was flawless, but the exertion was evident; Wads' eyes flickered briefly, a faint clock-like shimmer of Seer active, and Reiyell's breaths were quick, precise, measured.
"You're… precise," Reiyell admitted, almost reluctantly, as Wads calculated the perfect path of an incoming fiery tail sweep. "I expected less restraint from you."
"Don't get used to praise," he said evenly, pulling the lizard into a precise sequence of missteps, guiding it toward a corner of the chamber. His threads wrapped around the molten scales, redirecting its fire into a safe zone, while Reiyell's ice blades finished the combo, slashing through its thick armor.
The lizard's roar reverberated through the chamber as it lunged desperately. Wads' body moved like a machine, every step, thread, and subtle gravitational shift executed with meticulous precision. Reiyell followed seamlessly, slicing and freezing with masterful control, but the weight of being handcuffed together made every action exponentially more taxing.
"You're… relentless," Reiyell breathed, sweat beginning to form at her temples. "Even bound… you're…"
Wads' expression remained stoic. "I told you. Constraints don't bind me."
A massive swipe from the lizard sent them both tumbling across the chamber, chain pulling them together, forcing them to collide mid-air. Wads' glasses slid slightly, catching the light, and Reiyell's ice blade nicked the floor, creating a fissure of frost. They scrambled to their feet, both breathing heavily but eyes locked on their target.
Finally, with a combination of Wads' Seer threads subtly manipulating the lizard's next moves, Gravity Lattice slowing its most dangerous attacks, and Reiyell's precise Cryomancy strikes, they cornered the beast. Reiyell formed a massive ice blade, and Wads adjusted the gravitational flow to hold the lizard in place. Together, they struck.
The final blow sent the lizard crashing into the chamber wall, smoke and steam hissing as fire met ice, and the beast collapsed with a ground-shaking roar. Both were panting, the chain between them taut but now useless as the lizard lay defeated.
Wads glanced at Reiyell, noting the faint sweat on her brow, the subtle strain in her posture. He allowed himself a small, almost imperceptible smirk. "Not bad, Your Highness."
"Rei," she corrected, though a faint smile tugged at her lips. "Just… don't let this make you think you've improved me."
He only raised an eyebrow, the stoicism of his cold moon persona intact. "Of course."
After catching their breath, Wads' curiosity got the better of him. He wandered toward the chest at the far end of the chamber, discovering a red box that immediately snapped a magical cuff around his wrist. It pulled him closer to Reiyell, handcuffing them together once more.
Reiyell sighed, exasperated but composed. "Of course it would do this. We're… magical tethered. Typical of a trial chamber."
"Doesn't matter," Wads replied calmly, his lips twitching in the faintest hint of amusement. "Just another variable to calculate."
They attempted to break the cuffs, their combined efforts ineffective. The inscription glowed faintly: Can only be broken upon defeating the Arch Demon Mage. Wads glanced at Reiyell, expression unreadable.
"Looks like we have a longer journey ahead," she said, voice steady, tone neutral but not unkind.
"Then we continue," Wads replied, his cold gaze forward, as if already calculating their next steps, threads of probability weaving silently in the back of his mind.
Despite the struggle, despite the handcuff, despite the burning, the duo moved forward—an intricate dance of fire and ice, strategy and precision, tethered together yet individually unyielding.
The trial chamber had tested them, and it had succeeded in proving one thing: even bound, Wads and Reiyell were a force neither fire nor fate could easily contain.