Drex counted a full minute of descent. No ambush. No traps. The path just dipped lower, the air heavier. By the time they reached the gate, even the HUD was dimmer.
[ FLOOR 3 ENGAGED – TRIAL ROOM INITIATED ]
Objective: Stabilize the Beacon
Time Limit: 12:00
Failure: Environmental Collapse
Reward: High-quality crafting materials
Drex frowned. “Environmental collapse?”
“Means we don’t get a second chance,” Juno said.
The gate opened.
The room was massive—easily 400 meters across, domed overhead like an arena. The floor was uneven. Cracked tiles. Jagged stone. Half-built pillars.
In the center, an obelisk the size of a bus floated six feet above the ground, glowing with pale blue light. Sigils rolled across its face. Six relay towers surrounded it, flickering and unstable.
[ BEACON STABILITY: 58% – DECAYING ]
Juno checked the terrain. “Two each?”
“Three,” Drex said. “They’ll hit all at once.”
He was right.
The walls slid open.
Tower-beasts swarmed in—different this time. Same base shape—long, low to the ground—but faster. Limbs bent wrong. Spines exposed. The closest one leapt ten meters and landed crawling.
Drex didn’t hesitate. He opened with flame—tight cone, short burst. The creature lit and kept moving. He aimed lower and cut through the legs. It dropped.
Behind it, two more pushed forward.
He fired a thermite pod at the cluster. It exploded on impact—no flame, just a spike of heat and light. Their bodies cracked and dropped.
[ Spire 2 ONLINE – +12% STABILITY ]
Juno was across the room already, in motion.
One of the beasts hit him mid-step. He dropped his center of mass and slammed the shield down, pinning it to the ground. The shield-spike extended and drove straight through the creature’s skull. He stepped off and advanced.
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A second beast lunged. Juno grabbed it mid-air, used its momentum to slam it into the relay base. The impact sent cracks down the relay but killed the beast.
He activated the spire. Blue light flared.
[ Spire 3 ONLINE – +11% STABILITY ]
Then came the second wave.
From above.
The ceiling cracked, and a creature dropped like a weighted hook—twice the size of the first wave. This one had bone plating across its head and chest. It landed between Juno and the next spire.
Juno charged.
It charged back.
The first hit knocked his mech back three steps. He planted the shield and redirected, letting the next blow slide across the plating. Then he pushed forward, slammed his fist into the creature’s side—twice.
The creature didn’t flinch.
Juno feinted a third strike—then pivoted and drove the spike under the chin.
It stopped moving.
[ Spire 4 ONLINE – +10% STABILITY ]
Drex wasn’t doing as cleanly.
His legs were fast, but fuel was draining. His flame arcs kept smaller ones off, but the scatterport missed at close range. One of the beasts got under his shell and started biting into the underside of the frame.
He crouched. Boosted.
The mech slammed down, crushing the creature flat.
Drex rotated to check rear arc. Another pack was moving toward Spire 5.
No thermite left.
He sprinted—legs skipping over rubble—and caught them just as they neared the relay. Flame hissed out in three tight bursts, driving them back.
One circled. He turned the torso and nailed it with a short scatter blast.
The rest broke off.
[ Spire 5 ONLINE – +8% STABILITY ]
[ STABILITY: 49% – 04:47 REMAINING ]
[ WARNING: Spire 1 DEACTIVATED – Structural Breach ]
“Lost one,” Drex called.
“I’m covering 6. Hold middle,” Juno replied.
Drex moved into the center, guarding the exposed core. More beasts came—larger, but slower. He played spacing now. Bursts of flame to drive them. Scatter to finish.
One nearly reached the core.
He tackled it.
They rolled. The crawler legs dug in. He forced the mech upright, aimed, and overcharged the last shot.
The creature's head exploded.
[ BEACON STABILIZED – 00:17 REMAINING ]
Every enemy in the room stopped.
Then collapsed.
Drex stared at the empty field, weapons still steaming.
Juno walked toward the beacon. “You good?”
Drex checked his HUD.
FLAMETHROWER FUEL: 28%
SCATTERPORT AMMO: 3/12
THERMITE PODS: 0
SIDE VENTS: 1 BURST REMAINING
“Running low,” he said. “One-third left, give or take.”
Juno nodded. “Still standing.”
“Barely.”
A pillar rose from the floor.
Inside was a crate—tower-forged, edges seamless. It cracked open on its own.
No gear. No glowing trinkets.
Just raw materials.
[ Obsidian-Glass Shards (x12) ]
Ultra-hard, mana-reactive. Holds an edge at extreme temps. Used for high-speed blades or mech claws.
[ Coilhide Strips (x6) ]
Flexible beast leather. Reinforces under pressure. Can be layered for shock armor or joint padding.
[ Bloodmetal Ore (x1) ]
Dense, reactive. Requires refining. Core material for living-metal weapon cores or reinforcement skeletons.
Drex picked up the ore using the mech’s claw arm. It pulsed faint red.
“This is the good stuff.”
“Enough to make one serious upgrade,” Juno said. “Or sell it and build a workshop.”
Another door opened—this time, there were two.
Wide apart.
Just narrow enough that only one mech could pass through each.
No HUD prompt. No timer.
Just choice.