After the demonstrations and testing, the group dismissed their Class Forms to let their Mana fully recover. The chamber fell into a quieter rhythm—people resting, stretching, and mentally preparing for whatever came next.

  Luna sat against one of the pillars, watching the group. She took the opportunity to restore her arrows. She'd used seventeen shooting at the dummies and hadn't replenished them yet. Each took maybe a percent of her Mana, but this added up, making her sustain worse compared to the melee fighters—which was fair enough. From what she'd noticed, they replenished on their own, but rather slowly compared to when she did it intentionally.

  She focused on the quiver, willing an arrow into existence. Mana flowed out of her core, and five seconds later, a new arrow materialized among the others. Arrow after arrow appeared until her quiver was full again—thirty arrows waiting to be used. She took her Class Form off to recover faster.

  Mia settled beside her, knees drawn up to her chest. "Hey, Lu?"

  "Mm?"

  "I didn't know Marcus knew Derek. They seem close."

  Luna glanced toward the two men, who were talking in low voices near the weight plates. "You'd have to ask them."

  As if sensing the attention, Marcus looked up and caught Luna's eye. He nudged Derek, and the two of them walked over.

  "Mind if we sit?" Marcus asked.

  Luna gestured to the empty floor. They sat.

  "So," Mia said, unable to contain her curiosity, "how do you two know each other? You seem like an unlikely pair."

  Marcus smiled slightly. "Childhood friends. Our families lived on the same street growing up. Haven't seen each other in years, actually—running into Derek at the hotel was pure coincidence."

  "Small world," Derek said. There was something different in his voice now—softer and less aggressive. "Smaller than ever, apparently."

  He turned to Luna, and she saw hesitation in his expression—unusual for someone who'd been so confident and pushy.

  "Look," Derek said, "I wanted to apologize for being a... difficult guest yesterday at the hotel. I know I was rude to the staff, demanding, all that bullshit." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm at a hard point in my life. Not that it's an excuse, but..." He trailed off, shrugging.

  Luna studied him for a moment. The apology seemed genuine enough.

  "Okay," she said simply.

  Derek blinked. "That's it? Just 'okay'?"

  "What else do you want me to say?"

  A surprised laugh escaped him. "Nothing, I guess. Thanks for not making it weird."

  The conversation drifted after that—small talk about the hotel, about Los Angeles, about anything except the fact that they were trapped in some ancient temple waiting to fight for their lives. Normal topics that felt surreal given the circumstances.

  Time passed. People recovered their Mana, tested a few more things on the dummies, then settled into anxious waiting. Sam paced. Steven cleaned his already-clean sword. The two Adventurers sat together, holding hands and speaking in whispers.

  "Five minutes remaining, if I have to guess," Margaret announced eventually. "Everyone should summon their Forms and prepare."

  The group complied. Armor materialized, weapons appeared, and the chamber filled with the soft glow of magical equipment manifesting.

  Luna's bow settled into her hand like it belonged there. Her senses sharpened, her body strengthened, and her mind cleared. Whatever came next, she was ready.

  Then a message finally appeared:

  [PREPARATION PERIOD COMPLETE]

  [Trial 2 will commence in 60 seconds]

  [Prepare for combat]

  The group tensed.

  "What do you think the second Trial will be? Fighting mummies?" Sam joked anxiously.

  "Please, System, no mummies!" Mia cried out. "They're scary."

  [10 seconds]

  [5 seconds]

  [1 second]

  Luna's eyes swept the chamber, looking for changes—and found one.

  Part of the stone wall was dissolving like sand washing away in water. An opening appeared, revealing darkness beyond—a corridor stretching into shadows, lined with the same yellow-gold sandstone.

  [TRIAL 2: UNDERSTANDING YOUR ENEMY]

  [Some humans are unstable and endanger society. You must be prepared to face fellow sapient beings, even those who look the same as you, even your own Race.]

  [Enemies: 20 individuals sentenced to death or lifetime imprisonment for their crimes—mass murder, terrorism, human trafficking, and worse. Their guilt was confirmed by scanning their memories. Each of them has been armed with conventional weapons but no Class access. They have had time to prepare traps and defenses. You're their executioners... or unlikely prey.]

  [Objective: Reduce the number of living participants to 10. Survivors—regardless of origin—will proceed to Trial 3.]

  [Time Limit: 60 minutes. Upon expiration, the ruins will be flooded, killing you all.]

  [Note: These individuals have been offered the same opportunity as you. If they survive, they too will receive the Gift.]

  Luna frowned. Not monsters this time—not goblins with yellow eyes and green skin.

  Humans. Criminals. Killers.

  And the System wanted them to fight, to prove they could take human lives—or die if they failed.

  Twenty criminals. Ten of her group. The objective was clear: only ten total could survive. If her entire group lived, every criminal had to die. If any of them died... then criminals could take their place. Even worse—every person they lost meant a dangerous criminal receiving the Gift. The power that let you tank gunshots and go beyond human limits would end up in the hands of someone deranged enough to be sentenced to death or lifetime confinement.

  "Sorry, System!" Mia's voice cracked, edging toward hysteria. "H-how about we just fight mummies? I was just joking—mummies are completely fine!"

  The System, of course, didn't answer.

  Luna looked at the newly opened passage. Somewhere ahead, the criminals were waiting in there, armed and ready, knowing exactly what they had to do to survive—and to receive the same power Luna's group possessed. And she could bet the System had already told their enemies what the Gifted were capable of.

  "Stay close," Luna said quietly. "Watch for traps, and don't hesitate."

  She nocked an arrow and stepped toward the darkness as the others followed behind.

  The corridor stretched into darkness, lit only by sporadic torches that cast more shadows than light. Luna moved first with her bow raised, every sense straining. Behind her, the others followed in rough formation—Steven and Marcus toward the front with their shields, Sam, Derek, and the healers in the middle, with the Adventurers and the Rogue bringing up the rear.

  The sandstone walls were carved with the same unfamiliar symbols as the preparation chamber. The floor was dusty and undisturbed except for—

  Luna stopped. Fresh footprints in the dust—multiple sets, leading deeper into the ruins.

  "They came through here," she said quietly. "Recently."

  "How recently?" Roger appeared at her shoulder, studying the prints.

  "Minutes, maybe," she said, relying on her newfound intuition. "The edges are still sharp."

  The corridor split ahead—three branches disappearing into shadow. Luna's hearing picked up distant sounds from multiple directions: footsteps, whispered voices, and the scrape of metal on stone.

  "A maze," Margaret observed. "They've had time to learn it, and we haven't."

  "We have something they don't, though," Clark said quietly. He tapped his temple. "Mental Map. Emma and I can track everywhere we go, so we won't get lost."

  Luna nodded. The Adventurers' utility was already proving valuable.

  "We should split up," Derek said, pushing forward. His battleaxe rested on his shoulder, eyes bright with anticipation. "Like this we can cover more ground. We've got an hour to deal with twenty people—sitting around being careful wastes time."

  "They have guns, and traps," Sam pointed out, voice tight. "The System said they've had time to prepare."

  "So? Our Aether Shields can take bullets. You saw in the first Trial—it took six shooters firing simultaneously to break through a goblin's shield, and we're stronger than goblins."

  "We don't know that for certain," Margaret countered. "Different weapons, different circumstances. Caution is—"

  "Caution is how people die waiting." Derek turned to Marcus. "You're with me, right? We take the left path, clear it fast, and meet up with the others."

  Marcus looked torn. His eyes flickered to Luna, then back to Derek. Old loyalty warred with tactical sense.

  "Derek," Marcus said slowly, "maybe we should stick together, at least until we understand—"

  "Come on, man. It's me. We've known each other since we were kids. When have I ever steered you wrong?"

  Marcus's jaw tightened. Luna could see the conflict in his expression—he knew splitting up was risky, but he also couldn't abandon his childhood friend to face danger alone.

  "I can't let you go by yourself," Marcus said finally. "If you're going, I'm going with you."

  "That's what I'm talking about!" Derek clapped him on the shoulder. "We'll clear our section and meet back up. Easy."

  "Derek." Luna's voice cut through. "Be careful. If you run into more than you can handle, fall back. Don't be stupid."

  Derek's grin didn't waver. "Relax, elf girl. We've got this."

  The two of them disappeared down the left corridor, Derek's confident stride eating up the distance. Within seconds, the darkness swallowed them.

  "That was a mistake," Roger said quietly.

  "Maybe." Luna turned toward the center corridor. "But it's his mistake to make. We can't force him to stay."

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  She looked at the Adventurer couple. "Clark, Emma. You're our navigators. Keep track of where we've been and mark dead ends. Can you do that?"

  Clark nodded firmly. "We'll make sure we don't get lost."

  "Good. Let's move."

  They moved deeper into the ruins. The corridors twisted and branched, a labyrinth of sandstone and shadow. Luna led, her Huntress senses alert for any sign of danger—tripwires, pressure plates, or the glint of gun barrels in the dark.

  The first trap was impossible to miss.

  The corridor ended abruptly at a massive pit—at least thirty feet across and God knew how deep. Luna peered over the edge and saw nothing but darkness below, with no bottom visible and no handholds on the smooth stone walls. Anyone who fell in would have no way out, Aether Shield or not.

  "That's... terrifying," Mia whispered, staring into the abyss.

  A narrow stone bridge spanned the gap—barely two feet wide, with no railings. Ancient and crumbling at the edges.

  "They want us to cross that?" Steven's voice cracked. "One wrong step and—"

  "We don't cross," Luna said. She could probably jump over it if she tried, but others weren't her. "Clark, is there another path?"

  Clark's eyes unfocused briefly as he consulted his Mental Map. "There's a side passage we passed about hundred feet back. It might loop around."

  They backtracked. The side passage was narrower, forcing them to move single-file, but it avoided the pit entirely. Luna made note of the trap's design—not meant to kill directly but to slow them down, force difficult choices, and maybe cause someone to fall in a moment of carelessness.

  The criminals had been clever.

  The second trap was worse.

  Luna heard the grinding of stone before she saw anything—a deep rumbling that vibrated through the floor, growing louder by the second.

  "MOVE!" she shouted, shoving Mia forward.

  A massive boulder—easily ten feet in diameter—came rolling down the corridor behind them. An ancient mechanism triggered by a pressure plate someone had stepped on. The thing filled the passage completely, crushing anything in its path.

  They ran. Luna's enhanced speed let her stay ahead easily, but the others weren't as fast. She grabbed Mia's arm and practically dragged her forward while Steven's armor clanked loudly as he sprinted.

  A side alcove appeared—barely large enough for all of them. Luna shoved people into it, counting heads as the boulder thundered past, close enough to ruffle her hair with displaced air.

  The grinding faded into the distance.

  "Everyone okay?" Margaret asked, already checking for injuries.

  Shaky nods all around. No one was hurt, but the fear was palpable.

  "These aren't just traps," Roger observed, his voice thoughtful rather than frightened. "They're herding us, funneling us toward something."

  "An ambush," Luna agreed. "They know we have to go somewhere. They're controlling where."

  "So we spring it on our terms," Sam said, trying to sound brave. His voice shook only slightly.

  They pressed on, more cautious now. Clark's navigation helped them avoid two more pits and a corridor rigged with what looked like explosive charges—wires running along the walls to bundles of material Luna didn't recognize but didn't want to test.

  "Turn left here," Clark said at the next junction. "We came from the right. The path ahead loops back to where we started."

  The Adventurers' navigation proved invaluable as they pressed deeper. Where Luna's group might have wandered in circles, Clark and Emma guided them efficiently through the maze, marking dead ends and avoiding backtracking.

  But even with perfect navigation, the maze wasn't the main challenge of the Trial.

  Luna heard them before she saw them—voices ahead, casual and confident.

  "—telling you, they'll come this way. Only path that ain't trapped to hell."

  "What if they don't show? We've been waiting for twenty minutes."

  "It would mean that they went another way and will, instead, arrive to the throne room. There's only two paths through, buddy."

  Luna held up a hand, signaling silence. She crept forward, using the shadows, until she could see into the chamber ahead even through the darkness.

  Three criminals. They wore faded orange jumpsuits and held weapons that made Luna's stomach tighten—those were a bit more serious than what the System had given humans in the first Trial. Two had assault rifles, military-grade from the look of them, probably AK-47s. The third cradled a grenade in one hand and a detonator in the other.

  They'd positioned themselves behind overturned stones and ancient debris, watching the corridor entrance and waiting. And Luna noticed something else—wires running along the ceiling above the entrance, connected to charges embedded in the stone.

  They'd rigged the corridor to collapse.

  Three against eight. Normally good odds, but with that kind of firepower and those explosives, fighting in the open would be problematic. The worst part was that this, apparently, was the only one of the two passages to the depth. Which meant that the criminals were quite short-sighted—even if their plan succeeded, there was no way for them to bury Luna's entire party. It would only make it very hard or impossible for them to pass through, and thus the most likely outcome would be them all failing to decrease the number of survivors to ten before the time limit, and then die pointlessly.

  Thankfully, she already had a plan in mind.

  Luna slipped back to the group—a couple of hundred yards away from the chamber—and relayed what she'd seen in whispered words.

  "They've got automatic rifles," she finished, "and explosives. The entrance is rigged to collapse on anyone who walks through."

  "So we'll find another way," Steven said immediately. "Go around—"

  "There is no other way," Clark said, checking his Mental Map. "This is the only path forward that doesn't loop back or end in a pit. Or we'll have to return all the way to where we split with Derek... but then we won't have time to find all the criminals."

  "Then we're stuck," Emma whispered. "We can't fight that."

  "We can, and pretty easily, actually," Luna said. The only reason she'd returned was to... perhaps give herself a bit of time before coming to a decision. To convince herself that there really was no other way.

  "Wait," Mia said, voice strained. "Lu, they're... they're people."

  Luna looked at her friend. Mia's face was pale, her eyes wide with distress.

  "I know."

  "We can't just... kill them. Maybe we can talk to them, explain that we don't have to fight. There has to be another way—"

  "There isn't." Luna's voice was quiet but firm. "The objective is ten survivors total. They know that, and we know that. Talking won't change the math."

  "But—"

  "They'll kill us, Mia. If we hesitate, if we try to negotiate, they'll shoot us while we're talking. I won't let that happen."

  Mia's grip on Luna's arm tightened. "I can't do this. I can't just watch you murder people."

  "Then don't watch." Luna gently removed Mia's hand. "Stay here. Stay safe. Let me handle it."

  She looked at the others. Sam's face was troubled, his staff clutched tight but uncertain. Steven had gone pale, his sword half-raised, like he'd forgotten what to do with it. Margaret's expression was carefully neutral, but Luna could see the tension in her shoulders.

  And the Adventurers—Clark and Emma, stood frozen at the back of the group, their weapons undrawn and their faces white with shock.

  "We can't," Emma whispered. "Clark, I can't—"

  "It's okay," Clark said, pulling her close. "We don't have to. We'll stay back, help with navigation, but we don't have to—"

  "You don't," Luna agreed. "Stay here, you all. I can handle this alone."

  "And let you get all the rewards for the Trial?" Roger said, his expression unreadable. His knives were already in his hands. "I'm going with you."

  "I'll come too," Margaret said quietly. "Someone should be ready to heal."

  "Me too." Steven's voice shook, but he stepped forward anyway. "I'm a Knight. I should be in front."

  Luna studied him for a moment. He was terrified—she could see it in every line of his body—but he was trying.

  "You'll only slow me down. I'll rush in and kill the one with the detonator before he can trigger it," Luna whispered to their group. "Roger will follow me. The rest... you can just stay away unless we call for reinforcements."

  She roughly explained the plan and then went to execute it. One thing Luna had confirmed with her tests before was that she could move silently. And this was exactly what she decided to use to her advantage.

  Luna ran, Roger following her some distance away. Both were moving in complete silence thanks to the Traits of their Class Forms. Luna passed the rigged entrance in a mere moment, finding herself in the middle of the cavern. Then she nocked an arrow from her position and aimed. Sixty feet—easy range.

  Her first arrow took the man with the detonator through the throat. He dropped without a sound, the device clattering uselessly to stone.

  For a moment, the other two didn't react. They'd been so focused on discussing their future kills that they hadn't noticed her immediately.

  Then one of them looked over and saw the body.

  "FUCK! Tommy's down! We've got—"

  They spun with their rifles raised, searching for the threat. One of them spotted Luna and opened fire—the AK-47 roaring on full auto, bullets spraying wildly in her direction.

  Luna moved, avoiding most of the bullets, but not all. She felt impacts against her Aether Shield—one, two, three rounds hitting in rapid succession. Each one made her shield flicker, but it held easily. The bullets weren't concentrated enough, weren't coordinated.

  But it told her something important: conventional weapons could threaten them if enough rounds hit at once.

  Roger had already materialized behind the shooter. His knife opened the man's throat before he could finish his magazine.

  The last criminal spun, rifle swinging toward Roger—

  Luna's second arrow caught him in the chest, piercing it through. He staggered, trigger finger clenching reflexively as he fell dead. The burst went wide, bullets sparking off ancient stone, and one stray round caught Roger in the forehead.

  The Rogue yelped, and took a step back. His Aether Shield shimmered where the bullet had struck—a headshot, which would have been lethal against an unprotected human—but it held firm. The bullet fell away, flattened against the invisible barrier.

  "Felt like someone threw a pebble at my forehead," Roger said. "Could've been worse."

  "Your Shield held up well enough," Luna said, checking him with curiosity. Seeing a man take a bullet in the head and survive sure was surreal.

  Also, the entire fight took them less than ten seconds.

  Luna lowered her bow, breathing steadily. Her hands weren't shaking, and her heart rate was elevated but controlled.

  She'd just killed two people. Roger had killed one.

  It had been... easy. Easier than the goblins, in some ways. The criminals had no Aether Shields, no magical protection—just flesh and bone against arrows that punched through human bodies like paper. And she didn't have to worry about the range, either.

  Roger was cleaning his knife on a dead man's jumpsuit, his expression calm and almost bored. Like he'd done this before. She surely hoped he hadn't.

  "That's three down," he said. "Seventeen to go."

  Steven entered the chamber with his sword raised, and stopped dead when he saw the bodies, the still rigged corridor entrance, and the blood spreading across ancient stone. His face went green.

  "Oh god." He barely made it to the wall before he was vomiting, sword clattering to the floor. "Oh god, oh god—"

  Margaret moved to his side, one hand on his back. "Breathe. It's over. Breathe."

  Sam was dazed as he took in the sight. Mia appeared from the passage behind them. She stared at the bodies with an expression Luna couldn't read—horror, yes, but something else too. Something complicated.

  "You killed them," she said quietly. "Just like that. They were alive, and now they're—"

  "Dead," Luna finished. "Because if they weren't, we would be."

  "They wanted to bury us under the rubble," Roger added, gesturing at the entrance. "And they had military hardware. This wasn't just self-defense—it was war. Don't waste sympathy on people who've already decided to kill us. And probably killed innocent people before."

  Mia didn't respond. She just stood there, looking at the bodies, as she held back the tears.

  Luna walked towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry... that it came to this."

  "I-it's... not your fault, Lu." Mia said. "I understand that you're right. But I can't change how I feel. Even if, logically, I know that those people deserve their fate, this still feels wrong. What will happen to the world when we're back? I'm afraid that... human lives won't be considered as precious anymore."

  Luna fell silent. Even if their group managed to kill all the criminals, there were others in different parts of the Tutorial. How many of those dangerous people would end up back on Earth after the Tutorial, holding the unstoppable power? And could the government afford the resources to catch and imprison the Gifted who decided they were above the law? When there was a simpler solution... just removing the threat at the root.

  "We'll have time to talk this through, later." Luna sighed. "For now, we need to complete the Trial, Mia."

  Her mind was already moving forward—seventeen criminals left, unknown positions, limited time. The emotional processing could wait.

  Behind her, she heard Steven retching again, heard Sam's shaky and relieved breathing, and heard Margaret's calm and clinical voice checking everyone for injuries.

  The criminals had tried traps, tried explosives, and tried military-grade weapons. And they'd failed—three of them dead, no casualties on Luna's side. The gap between ordinary humans and Gifted was becoming clear.

  She checked the System message to confirm that seventeen enemies remained. Which also meant that Derek and Marcus hadn't killed anyone else. And the criminals would be waiting and, very likely—together. She didn't think that her Aether Shield could take seventeen AK-47s firing all at once.

  ***

  The ruins grew older as they pressed deeper—the sandstone darker, the carvings more worn, and the torches fewer and farther between. Luna's enhanced vision compensated, but the others struggled in the dim light.

  "How much further?" Steven asked. He'd recovered enough to walk, though his face remained pale.

  "Unknown," Clark answered. "The Map only shows where we've been, not where we're going."

  "Great. So we're wandering blind."

  "We're making progress," Luna corrected. "Stay alert."

  They'd gone another hundred feet when Luna heard something that made her blood freeze—screams and gunshots further ahead.

  It could mean only one thing: the two allies who were separated from the group were about to face a group of criminals with military weapons and prepared positions.

  Luna ran, hoping that her worry was for naught.