They had no goal, or destination. What made it worse was the lack of information. There was no indication of what they were supposed to accomplish in this realm or where an exit might exist.

They were simply walking through a labyrinth, navigating split pathways and timing their movements to survive the crushing cycles. But wandering aimlessly couldn't be the intended solution. There had to be an objective, a purpose, some kind of completion condition that would allow them to escape.

"We can't just keep doing this indefinitely," Selene said quietly, voicing the concern they both felt. "Eventually we'll make a mistake, or Mirage will tire, or we'll encounter a situation where the pattern doesn't hold. We need to find what we're supposed to be doing here."

Moon nodded grimly, his flame orb illuminating the curved passage ahead. "Agreed. This is survival, not progress. There has to be something we're missing a clue, a marker, some indication of where we're supposed to go or what we're supposed to find."

"The entry mechanism required two people to activate simultaneously," Moon reasoned aloud. "That suggests cooperation and coordination are important. Maybe the exit or objective requires something similar, a challenge that can't be completed alone."

Selene considered that. "Or the entire realm is designed as a test. Survive long enough, navigate correctly, and you reach... what? A reward chamber? An artifact? Another challenge?"

"Only one way to find out," Moon said. "We keep moving forward, but we stay alert for anything that could help us."

♢♢♢♢

Both awakeners kept navigating through the same deadly cycle for close to ten minutes, their movements becoming more confident with each successful escape.

Having just evaded another closure, Moon and Selene both knew from experience that they had exactly one minute before reaching the next pathway split.

It took them approximately ten seconds to traverse the very short passage they'd entered, leaving them with fifty seconds to search for clues without fighting for immediate survival.

Moon pulled out his dagger from spatial storage.

Selene looked at him curiously. "What are you trying to do?"

Moon didn't respond verbally. Rather he demonstrated it by activating his Assassin class skill, Dagger Art.

He began attacking the wall, trying to determine what material composed these barriers.

Whoosh!

His hand struck against the wall with power. But the wall was almost impenetrable. Moon's eyebrows rose in surprise. Despite his enhanced strength attributes, he was unable to deal any visible damage to the surface.

He began putting progressively more force into his attacks, increasing power with each strike. Eventually, Moon was committing his full physical strength to the blade work, his muscles straining with maximum effort.

For a brief instant, Moon felt the wall actually give way slightly—the surface parting under his blade's edge. But before he could process what he'd seen, the damage healed instantaneously, the organic material knitting back together as if he'd never struck it at all.

"Yeah... this is not normal at all," Moon said, breathing slightly harder from exertion. "A wall that regenerates damage. There's something terribly wrong about this place."

Selene's expression darkened with worry. "What if we're trapped under some kind of powerful illusion? What if we're unable to find the escape route because we're not perceiving reality correctly? Stuck in an endless loop that will not break?"

Moon immediately shook his head with absolute confidence. "Impossible. We're not under any illusion. This is real, as real as it gets."

The reason behind his certainty was a secret Selene didn't know about. After completing the Trial of Winter in the hidden realm and defeating the Winter Beast, Moon had been rewarded with an Epic-rank skill that provided immunity to mental manipulation.

—

[Tenacity]

[Rank: Epic]

[Level: MAX]

[Details: Your will cannot be broken, no matter the circumstances. Illusions do not affect you, and your courage makes those with you feel stronger. +5 to Strength, Agility, and Constitution]

—

Illusions had no effect on him whatsoever—at least not from First Sanctuary sources or First Order beasts. If they were trapped in an illusion powerful enough to bypass Epic-rank resistance, they had far bigger problems than navigation.

"Then what is this place?" Selene couldn't help but ask, her voice carrying a hint of frustration.

Before Moon could respond, a strange substance began oozing from the exact spot on the wall where he'd been attacking moments earlier.

Selene's eyes widened as she noticed the change. "Moon... look! There's something coming out of the wall where you struck it!"

Moon's internal thoughts were disrupted immediately. He snapped his attention back to the wall he'd been testing. A white, viscous liquid was seeping from a tiny puncture—almost imperceptible to the naked eye, yet Selene had caught the movement.

Moon approached cautiously, his hand hovering over the mysterious fluid. Just as he was about to touch it directly, he stopped himself.

Curiosity kills, Moon reminded himself firmly.

He'd read too many stories about adventurers and awakeners who'd died or been severely injured from touching, eating, or otherwise interacting with unknown substances without proper testing protocols.

Instead, Moon used his dagger blade to make contact with the liquid, keeping his skin safely away in case it proved poisonous or corrosive.

The gooey, slimy substance adhered to the metal, coating the blade's edge with a thin layer of white fluid.

Moon lifted the dagger to eye level, inspecting the substance carefully. "What is this liquid exactly?"

His question was interrupted as the walls began their familiar rumbling again, the contraction cycle beginning anew.

Moon immediately leaped onto Mirage's back. Selene mounted behind him without needing instruction, and they escaped the closing passage successfully, guided by their growing understanding of the rhythm.

The white liquid remained on Moon's blade, moving by itself in a slow, almost eerie manner. It didn't drip or evaporate—instead, it seemed to move slightly, as if possessing some kind of independent life.

Both awakeners began theorizing about what this white liquid could be and how it had been released from the wall.

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