Walking to the center of the island was relatively easy. The most pressure they felt would've been able to stop them had their Battle Power been below 2, but as they were, it did little.

Alex and his two beasts arrived at the center of the island, where they finally noticed the three platforms. The platforms were small circular dais, split in black and white halves with a sinuous line separating them at the center.

Alex paused, staring at the three identical daises, confused about what his next move should be. He worried since it mattered where they stepped.

"According to the old beast, these platforms decide what our next trial is going to be, right?" Alex asked the other two. "I can't sense any difference between the three platforms."

"Are we sure the difficulty isn't the same no matter which trial we take next?" Scarlet asked. "Just to be safe, let's take the third one. We should all stick together."

Pearl nodded.

"Alright," Alex said, walking toward the dais to the right. He stepped upon it and felt a sort of pulse move through his body before vanishing. Then he got off.

Pearl and Scarlet did the same, getting off a second later.

"Now what?" Pearl asked.

Alex shrugged. "There's still half an hour before the hour passes, so we just wait," he said. But, just to be sure, he stepped onto the other platforms as well. There was no feeling this time around, so he moved over to the side.

They watched the many beasts attempt the trial with all of their strength. To Alex's surprise, there were more than a few beasts who were struggling to continue. The pressure on the first trial alone was strong enough to falter them.

Time passed, and by the time the trial came to an end, two-thirds of the original participants had passed, which made up nearly 4,000 total participants. Nearly 2,000 had failed.

Alex saw the sight of a massive island emerging through the smog. At the same time, two other islands arrived from another two directions as well. A lot of the crowds were surprised by the arrival of the two other islands, but those who knew about the trials knew that there were more than just a single path forward.

When the islands finally merged, the bird appeared once again.

"Those who failed shall remain on this island. Those who passed may move on to your respective trials."

Alex and every other beast that had passed sensed a pulse coming from deep within them. The pulse came from their specific islands, beckoning them to get onto it.

Alex, Pearl, and Scarlet walked toward the island they belonged to, now no longer feeling any pressure at all. They crossed the threshold between the two islands, moving onto the second one.

Just as they walked in, they heard a screech. Everyone turned around just in time to see a fire bird appear from the lava below, shooting out into the sky before coming down toward the beasts.

Alex pulled out his sword immediately, ready to fight, but at the last moment, he noticed that the trajectory of the bird was not in his direction.

"No, I'm—" a large blue bear was struck by the fire bird, its left arm burning to cinder, the fire creeping up to its shoulder to hurt it further. The bird reappeared from the fire, flying up in an arc as it came back around.

Before the bear could say anything, it was struck on the head, immediately killed.

Everyone watched in horror at how easily the bear had died.

The bird's voice came from the flames that remained around the dead bear. "Do not try to cheat. It will only lead to your death."

Many of the beasts that were about to get onto the islands took a step back, their forms now trembling with clear fear. Despite not having passed the trial, many had been about to continue.

Only after the death of another beast did they finally understand the gravity of the situation.

Alex heard a chuckle in the silence.

"Dumb animal," Wu Tanglan's voice came from the entrance to another island. "You should know better than to test the patience of the master of these trials."

Many beasts nodded, agreeing with him.

Scarlet spoke softly. "Let's continue moving."

Alex and Pearl followed her, walking onto the island. This island was different from the last one. While the last one had no obstacles, this one had nothing but that.

The entire island was covered in hedge walls, as though they were going to take part in a maze. Only, it wasn't a maze. Their senses worked perfectly enough that even if it was a maze, it wouldn't have mattered.

What the hedge walls were was a spiral shape that spun around the island, making a long path to the center. If it took half an hour to walk to the center, taking the path around the hedge would increase the time by nearly ten times. The openings to the walls were blocked with giant rocks for now, stopping anyone from entering.

The island began separating from the previous one, and as it did, the bird emerged, giving them the information about their second trial.

"For this trial, you shall take one of these stones to the center of the island through one of the many pathways presented to you. If the stone breaks, you will have to carry every piece. Your time limit is one day."

Alex looked toward the opening through the hedge walls, now understanding the purpose of the rock blocking their entry. They had to take these rocks.

"Stones, huh?" Scarlet said, chuckling at the bird's strange choice of words.

Pearl frowned to the side. "Isn't this task… too simple?" he asked.

Alex nodded. It really was. Maybe there was some sort of hidden feature to these rocks that he wasn't yet aware of.

"We'll see what trick is at play soon, if there is one," Alex said. "Let's go find our spots for now."

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