Suddenly, Eleanor felt an unbearable heat consu her entire body. In the next instant, she found herself standing inside a cave, already in her wolf form. She instinctively tried to revert to her human shape, but failed again and again. Frustrated, she turned her attention to the source of the scorching heat. One glance was enough to drain the colour from her face... a vast expanse of lava churned before her.
After examining her surroundings more carefully, she realised there was no exit except the path that led towards the molten flow. She padded forward to gauge the heat and recoiled in shock. With temperatures like these, even tal would lt in monts. The lava pool stretched for kilotres, its sheer scale making her lips twitch.
She searched the cave for any other way out, but there was none. Feeling helpless, she waited to see whether the trial would give her so form of instruction or guidance. Nothing appeared.
"Since there’s no instruction, the only way to discover the path is to explore it myself. This isn’t a scene playing out like before... so this must be the real trial," she thought.
After a mont of consideration, she stepped along the one narrow strip where the lava had spared a line of rock. She walked beside the molten pool for more than a kilotre, and by then she was certain... this was no illusion. This was the true trial.
The further she ventured, the more intense the heat beca, until she had to stop and rest. Yet she noticed sothing curious: her body’s resistance to the heat was gradually increasing. Her wolf form was clearly suited to this infernal environnt. Had she been in her human body, she would already have been burnt in several places. Her fur acted as a barrier between her and the scorching stone.
Finding a relatively stable perch, she settled down and began to ditate.
Over an hour later, she felt her heat resistance slow its progression and then level out entirely. The blistering air no longer troubled her. She rose and continued walking.
The process continued for an unknown span of ti. She walked until the heat overwheld her, then stopped to ditate until her body adapted once more, before pressing on again.
Eleanor had long lost any sense of ti. All she wanted was to pass the trial and return to the world she knew.
Without warning, the lava pool widened. She was still underground, yet the molten expanse now stretched like a lake. As she approached its edge, several creatures she did not recognise lunged at her.
They were coated in lava, as though they had just crawled out of the lake itself... crocodile-like beasts in various sizes. The larger ones spewed fire; the smaller ones threw themselves at her in frenzied, physical attacks.
Fortunately, she was no longer as drained as she had been at the start of her journey. Her ditations had restored much of her strength, and the heat was no longer unbearable. She launched several lightning projectiles at the approaching creatures, but they seed barely affected. She was forced to fight them directly. Thankfully, her claws tore through their bodies with brutal efficiency. She carved a path through the line of enemies by sheer force.
By the ti the last creature fell, she was panting heavily. Despite her efforts to dodge, several blows had landed. Black burn marks streaked her fur and skin, leaving her looking rather pitiful.
After ditating for a while and regaining more than half her energy, she turned her attention to the lake.
It was an enormous subterranean lava lake. A few crocodile-like creatures floated in its centre. On the far side, she spotted a tunnel that looked almost identical to the one she had entered from.
Judging by the situation, she would have to cross the lake and reach that tunnel to complete the trial.
Taking a deep breath, she walked along the narrow ledge. It was treacherous; in several places there was barely enough space for a pawhold. She was forced to leap across gaps and take perilous steps to avoid slipping into the lava. She had no intention of testing whether she could survive being subrged in molten rock.
During her journey, several crocodiles attacked her, but their assaults were scattered, and she could easily defend herself so long as she chose her battleground wisely.
After a long while and after killing more than twenty of the creatures, she finally reached the opposite side. As she stepped into the new tunnel, she imdiately felt the heat diminishing, little by little.
She did not know how long she walked before at last reaching its end. Unlike the entrance, which had been sealed, this exit was open. Above her, she could clearly see the sky. A staircase had been carved into the rocky wall beside the opening.
Without wasting a mont, she began to climb. The instant she erged from the tunnel, the heat vanished. She found herself in a mountain valley covered in green grass. The weather was perfect. At any other ti, this would have made an ideal place for a picnic. The air was cool and clean, carrying the scent of damp earth and wild herbs. What struck her most was the abundance of green, in a dozen shades. The adow grass shimred in a bright, lively erald, while the moss clinging to the sun-ward stones glowed in deep, velvety jade.
In the distance lay soft, rolling hills, embraced by towering grey-blue mountains whose peaks wore collars of drifting cloud. Their slopes were dressed in the rich, dark green of an old forest. Younger trees gathered along the valley’s edge like shy children lingering near the doorway of a room. Their bark peeled in thin, papery strips; their leaves flashed silver whenever the sunlight touched them.
Low, tangled bushes bore tall white flower spikes, alive with the lazy buzzing of plump, content bees. Thick mats of flowering scrub clung to the bases of the trees, a riot of yellow and pale purple blossoms blooming nearby. Between the swathes of grass, the ground was speckled with wildflowers... cheerful white petals, bright pink blooms, and delicate blue star-shaped flowers in generous clusters.
Above her head, the clouds hung like artful smudges... high, soft, and white against the vast, seamless do of blue sky. The sun poured down a gentle, clarifying light that picked out every detail: the dew trembling on a spider’s web stretched between two blades of grass, the distant flicker of a white-winged bird circling the highest peaks.
It was a place of deep tranquillity, yet alive with a quiet, secret vitality. The breeze that drifted through the valley carried the sweet, honeyed scent of flowers and the clean, sharp breath of pine from the distant heights. It was a land dozing in the sunlight, untouched and beautiful.
Eleanor’s body and soul softened under the serenity around her. All the exhaustion she had gathered in the lava tunnel seed to lt away. A profound peace settled over her. She lay down on the velvety green grass and drew in a long, luxurious breath.
After a while, she sat up and began to ditate to restore her strength. Judging from the circumstances, she was still within the trial. If it had ended, she would already have returned to the temple.
Yet in this peaceful haven, all she wished was to rest for a mont after the agony of the lava passage.
Ti slipped by. Eleanor sank completely into the tranquillity, ditating again and again. Suddenly, a voice jolted her awake... Nora’s voice in her mind.
"Master, why have you been in the sa state for the last four hours? Has your trial ended?"
"Nora, aren’t you with ?" Eleanor replied quickly.
"Yes. I am in your body. But after you touched the statue, your body froze in that position. I thought your trial had begun, so I didn’t disturb you. Your body showed many reactions in the anti, so I waited patiently for you to finish. But for the last four hours, you’ve shown no reaction at all. At first, I thought you were recovering, so I stayed quiet. But it has been a long ti. That’s why I called... I wasn’t even sure you would hear ," Nora said.
"How much ti has passed on your end?" Eleanor asked.
"It’s already night here. Your trial started more than sixteen hours ago," Nora replied.
"Alright, thank you. If you sense that I’ve stopped moving for more than half an hour, inform imdiately," Eleanor said.
Eleanor looked around. The scene was unchanged. The place carried an unnaturally soothing effect that settled too deeply, too quickly. When she first climbed out into this valley, she had been delighted by its serenity. Now, a faint dread stirred in her chest. This place clearly had so chanism designed to keep her lingering... long enough to fail the trial.
She checked her condition. Her body had fully recovered from the lava tunnel; she felt energised and whole. But when she attempted to shift back into her human form, she frowned. She still couldn’t change.
She reached for her powers, and her eyes widened in horror. She couldn’t open her status screen. She tried to stir her bloodline abilities; nothing responded. One after another, she attempted every ability she possessed, and each attempt failed completely.
She had no abilities. She wasn’t even a werewolf now... just a wolf. A wolf who couldn’t shift, couldn’t cast, couldn’t awaken a single gift.
Terror crept coldly through her.
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