LOCATION: THE CRUCIBLE
PLANET: LAPIS DIVINUS, ORION LUMINARY INSTITUTE
YEAR: 1 | DAY: ?? | TIME: ??
The bear stood six feet tall at its haunches when it was down on all fours.
Its brown fur was matted with blood. Some of it was even its own.
It roared loudly, and Kaela could see spittle fly through the air as the rancid breath from the enormous beast’s yell assaulted her senses.
She faltered for a split second, and the bear didn’t waste its opportunity. A giant claw swiped forward faster than Kaela could react, and left a deep gash that went from her cheek down her neck and onto her shoulder.
She gritted her teeth against the pain, feeling her frustration and anger boil over.
But she had to master herself or she wouldn’t be able to defeat this one.
It was the 25th floor, and the boss was far more ferocious than anything she had faced yet.
Kaela felt the blood flowing freely now, and it fueled her focus.
She could feel the Phantom Blade almost back to full power again.
She had used it three times early in the fight, planning to end this one quickly, but the bear had been able to dodge just enough that each of the slashes did minimal damage.
After that, the sword was out of charges and Kaela had to rely on her fists and legs, extending the fight far longer than she had intended.
She stepped through the aether for just a moment, appearing on the bear’s right flank, and punched it in the side of its head.
Kaela winced as she felt several bones in her hand crack under the pressure, then knit themselves back together.
The bear turned quickly and tried to head butt Kaela, but she was ready for it.
---
Phantom Blade Charge: FULL
---
She smiled at the welcome notification. As she stepped through the aether again, she grabbed her trusty sword, feeling it’s familiar weight in her hand.
She appeared on the other side of the beast and screamed with fury as she swung the sword down with everything she had.
The bear’s eyes met hers, furious and unyielding.
With a satisfying squelch, Kaela’s blade sliced through fur, hide, and bone, taking the mighty bear’s head cleanly off.
It landed six feet away with a wet thud.
The blade disappeared from Kaela’s hand, and she fell to her knees, sucking in air in an attempt to catch her breath after the close fight.
Blood dripped from the gash for several more minutes as she knelt unmoving. Finally, her Vitality kicked in and began reversing the damage.
When she could breathe normally again, she stood. The entire bear’s den was full of blood and viscera.
“Damn, you were tough,” Kaela said, bowing her head toward the beast’s carcass. “Well fought.”
She stepped through the portal that had appeared nearby.
---
The Crucible
26th Floor
Congratulations on completing the 25th floor.
The 25th was a Boss Floor, and defeating this opponent was no small feat.
NOTE: From this floor forward, your health, mana, and stamina will not be restored between floors.
You have been awarded 5,000 Lumens.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
You have been awarded 18,000 XP.
Welcome to the 26th floor.
You may return to the portal to exit The Crucible.
If you wish to proceed, step through the door.
Defeat all enemies on the floor to continue to the next.
Beware. Some may be well-hidden.
Enemies defeated: 0 / 26
---
“What the hell?” Kaela spewed. She read the line again. No more resource restoration.
“I guess I have to do it the old fashioned way.”
The safe room on this floor was configured differently. There was a standing shower to the right with a rack to hang her armor while she cleaned up.
And to the left, a simple cot with a pillow.
“How long have I been grinding already?” she wondered aloud.
It was hard to tell the duration of her time inside The Crucible. The resetting and replenishing of resources between floors made it even more difficult to mark the passage of time.
She checked her status.
---
Character Status
Name: Kaela Sirova
Race: Human – Augmented
Class: Phantom Blade
Level: 35
Profession: Student at Orion Luminary Institute
Year: 1
Health: 332 / 1,515
Stamina: 496 / 1,010
Mana: 228 / 840
Core Attributes (Stats):
Strength: 90
Dexterity: 78
Endurance: 101
Vitality: 101
Intelligence: 76
Wisdom: 70
Charisma: 90
Perception: 78
Free Points: 0
---
That floor boss had taken her down to 22% of her health.
“That was too close,” she muttered as she sat down on the cot.
She had taken her armor off and hung it up, triggering its self-cleaning feature.
Exhaustion tore at the corners of her vision, and she barely remembered laying back onto the cot before a dreamless sleep overtook her.
When she woke, she saw that her resources were back to full, but she had no idea how long she had been out.
She got dressed again and pushed the door open, entering the 26th floor.
Day after day, week after week, Kaela continued grinding out the floors. The boss floor on the 40th floor truly pushed her limits.
When she stumbled over the portal and fell onto the safe room floor, her health pool was down to 119 and still dwindling.
That one had rattled her. It was a massive snake, and it could not only inject venom through incredibly fast bites, but it could also spew it through the air.
The glob that landed on Kaela’s hand began burning and bubbling through her skin, muscle, and bone immediately, leaving behind a festering wound that her Vitality was having trouble overcoming in mid-combat.
But it wasn’t the near-death experiences that were getting to her at this point.
In fact, she relished those moments during the tougher fights, where life or death hung on a knife’s edge.
No, that wasn’t the issue.
It was the isolation.
The loneliness.
The more time Kaela had to spend between floors resting and healing up, the worse it got. She began talking aloud in the safe rooms, just to hear the sound of her own voice.
She kept trying to remember the ballad Milanon had sung that first night in their room at the Sapphire Gaze dormitory.
“How did it go again?”
She strained to remember, but could only recall the final chorus. Yet no matter how many times she sang it, she never got any sort of stat boost.
Or any reprieve from her isolation.
“Call forth the line who sings the rain,
And storms shall rise again.”
She laughed.
Then she laughed harder.
Then she stopped abruptly and looked around, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
“I must look like an insane person right now,” she muttered, falling back onto the cot.
She didn’t bother cleaning her armor anymore.
Just let the blood dry and cake onto it, knowing it would be replaced by more soon enough. The smell was horrible, but she just ignored it.
It was the 43rd floor where that one line from the Crucible messaging system really began getting to her.
---
You may return to the portal to exit The Crucible.
---
It was so tempting.
She yawned.
“Maybe after I rest, I’ll make the decision.”
But each time when she woke up, she somehow found it within her to keep pushing forward.
After clearing the 49th floor, she decided she would exit after the next one.
“Fifty and out isn’t bad, right?” she muttered, stepping into the shower this time to clean herself properly.
She pulled the curtains closed and felt the warm water rush over her body. She closed her eyes and rubbed the chunks of flesh and bone from her long hair.
Kaela wondered how Milanon was doing in his own Crucible. He had told her he wasn’t interested in it, but she knew he was also stronger than he let anyone know.
As she lay back on the cot once more, High Warden Zerathion Telvannis watched through the monitors. The images in the safe rooms were blurred heavily for the aspirant’s privacy.
But the microphones were on, and once they began speaking aloud, the High Warden and other observers could hear everything.
This usually started happening around the 20th floor, but Kaela had held onto her sanity longer than most.
“She’s handling the isolation well,” Zerathion said.
Ambassador Skrixx sat next to him, watching his charge together with the High Warden.
He nodded.
“I guess we will see. The whole game changes at the 50th floor. I have a feeling she won’t be done any time soon.”
The High Warden raised and eyebrow and turned toward his old friend. “Really? Care to make a wager on that?”
Skrixx laughed. He did not gamble often. But there was something about the indomitable spirit of this young human that pushed him over the edge this time.
“Actually, I would. What are your terms?”