After overcoming this trial, our girls appeared on the fourth floor. They were met with a vast expanse of prairies while climbing out of a hole in the ground. The hole was not a roughly dug-out one, though. It had stairs at the sides and was large enough for giant creatures to step out comfortably.
After stepping out, the girls instantly became alert. After all, a giant prairie with nothing to cover yourself with but the waist-height grass was one of the most dangerous biomes.
Yasenia squinted as she looked around, using all of her senses to cover the surroundings. "I don't see anybody. What about you?"
The girls answered, Andrea, being the first to do so. "I don't see anyone, love."
Kali's senses spread far out through the grass, and she answered. "I can't see anything uncanny, Yasenia. We should be fine."
Cecile shook her head a few seconds later. She had been checking extremely far out with her spatial element. However, similar to the others, she didn't see anybody. "I can't see anyone, my love. I've looked about 100 kilometers around us but couldn't spot anything. This place is more silent than a desert."
Yasenia tilted her head, confused. "That shouldn't be possible. This means that we are the first to arrive here, and that can't be true."
Andrea suggested. "What if people still can't lift that rock?"
Yasenia shook her head. "Impossible. Are mid-level Epoch Cores not lifting that rock? I admit I used High-Level Epoch Core levels of strength to lift it and then I was helped by the three of you. However, five mid-level Epoch Cores should be strong enough to surpass our combined strengths."
Yasenia added. "Remember that the people participating are not common mid-level Epoch Cores. They are those selected by their sects as the strongest mid-level Epoch Cores. Even the weakest of them is not much different from a weak High-level Epoch Core."
Yasenia remember the fight they had on the first floor. Those bear people were extremely tough. If it weren't for her out-of-the-norm firepower, Yasenia wouldn't be confident in reliably breaching their defenses. In the end, their win was a combination of surprise factors, equipment differences, and planning in advance.
Remember that our girls were clad in high and peak-level Heaven Ranked treasures. These treasures increased their strength several times over.
Yasenia used Mirrory's method and sent out a ripple of energy to test the intentions of the surrounding energy. What she got gave her chills.
Somehow, she felt danger everywhere. Yasenia's expression didn't change, but she sent a mental message to everyone to be careful.
Eira and Valeria looked at Yasenia with praise. They had noticed it a while ago, but they were acting as if they didn't know.
The trap was extremely clever.
The fourth floor was not a regular prairie. It was a prairie infested by traps of many kinds.
Moreover, one would think that if they flew toward the 20,000-meter-tall ceiling or floated around the middle, they would be safe.
Well, that was wrong. The blue sky they were seeing above their heads was an illusion created by complex geological phenomena and energy.
Yasenia's expression became serious as she said. "Follow me closely. Eira, Valeria, this time, don't hold back from helping. I don't have the confidence to pass through this hell maze myself without putting us all in danger."
The dragoness first compressed her spiritual sense. From the over 4,000 meters wide, it shrunk to just 200.
However, this enhanced the ability to perceive nearby things much more clearly.
After focusing, the dragoness finally began seeing the actual shape of this place.
The entire prairie was nothing but an illusion. In truth, they were in a place filled with ruins. There were broken-down altars, streets, and many more man-made structures.
Adding to that, there weren't any visible ways to reach the tower toward the fifth and final floor.
After Yasenia focused and finally broke through the illusion, she sent out an energy pulse to disrupt its nature, allowing Cecile, Andrea, and Kali to shatter that illusion completely.
Looking at the changed environment, Andrea whistled. "This looks dangerous."
Yasenia laughed and commented. "It is dangerous. Each thing that has the shape of being man-made has a highly delicate formation that has been worn down and is about to trigger. I can't tell if it is done like that on purpose or if they've naturally been worn out over time. However, as soon as one triggers, we will be in deep trouble if it is a wide area of effect formation. This can create a massive chain reaction that can send all of us packing."
The girls understood the dangers, so they nodded as well. While Yasenia was the leader and usually explained things and made most decisions, our girls weren't stupid. All of them would be considered monstrous geniuses of their own kind if it weren't because a mountain as tall as Yasenia stood in front of them.
These kinds of deductions were easy for them to form. Moreover, to avoid relying too much on Yasenia, they all took learning sessions with the seniors on problem-solving and many other subjects.
In short, while Yasenia was the leader, this didn't make the others lacking in any way.
Knowing that, Yasenia asked. "What do you dears think should be our course of action."
Andrea started. "There are many ways to tackle situations like these." She crossed her arms and continued. "The first option, and the least recommended one, is to brute force it. We'll throw skills toward our surroundings, activate a bunch of them, and then walk forward if we feel that it is safe."
Andrea laughed. "However, that tactic is impossible. How could we do that?"
Kali interjected. "The second option we have is to use summons in a similar way Andrea suggested. This one is much better because the things that will land will be controlled. However, we will lose one of the advantages, and that is distant testing. After all, the summons can't fly over large distances to test out theories. There is also a chance that some formations only trigger with cultivators, making the summons a less than appealing method."
Cecile commented with her usual cold and beautiful voice. "We can slowly disarm the formations and push forward. But this will probably make us late for the 1024 qualifier."
Yasenia agreed with their views, so she asked. "What should we do then?"
Cecile suggested. "We can try to dodge as many as possible, and if there is no way to dodge anymore, we can use either of the three aforementioned methods. What do you think, my love?"
Yasenia smiled. "Not much off. We also assume that every formation here is lethal and trying to kill us. However, some of them might be harmless, or at least not something that would become a significant problem if triggered. So, other than doing what you girls said, I would like to use Mirrory's method to check out for threats constantly."
Andrea agreed. "That method is really good. However, it can be a little exhausting. So, let us do so." Yasenia tilted her head, not understanding why she had the privilege of not using that.
Andrea laughed and clarified. "You are our only formation master. We need you to use your energy to break down formations and try to guess their meanings."
The dragoness sighed. "Fair enough. I guess."
Cecile commented. "What do you think about fights in this area?"
Yasenia barked a laugh. "If there are any suicidal people who want to try, they are more than welcome. However, if we ever get attacked, focus on defense and wait for a while. We don't want to be unprepared once one of these formations that is engraved in the surroundings to trigger and swallow us whole."
Looking around one last time, Yasenia commented. "Good, let's begin. Do you see those two crumbled buildings over there? I think we can pass through there to surround the house complex about 500 meters to the north."
Kali blinked. "Who, you know what direction to take?"
Yasenia looked at her fox and smirked. "Oh~. Did my honey not realize?"
Kali slightly blushed at Yasenia's teasing smirk. "I-I didn't. What's wrong?"
Yasenia smiled. "The entrance to the next floor has been in the same direction all of the time."
Kali titled her head. "How is that possible? Wouldn't we have reached the side of the mountain?"
The dragoness commented. "Spatial fluctuations. Cecile felt them on the second and third floors. I was unsure. However, this time, I felt them quite clearly. So, we just need to go in the same direction."
Kali blinked. "What if it is not in that direction on this floor."
Yasenia shrugged. "This is our best chance, honey. If it is not in that direction, and instead, they just changed this floor to be the opposite, we can only lament at their trickiness."
Kali giggled. "Well, I guess that's right."
Yasenia smiled, and they began threading the ruined city landscape. Yasenia looked around as they overcame obstacles, becoming curious. "Say, was this a civilization prior to the powers that currently occupy Distancia?"
Valeria commented. "Honestly, at the strength level we are at, it is difficult to imagine someone taking the time to create all of this just as a trial. I've spotted a few very eroded high-level formations that are sometimes used in houses on mid-level Worlds."
The girl felt their eyebrows jump. Yasenia focused more closely, but she was unable to feel them. She couldn't help but click her tongue. "After all, my formation proficiency is lacking."
Andrea said softly. "Love, you study Spiritual Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Formations, Tailoring, and Cooking. The fact that you are at your current level is already ridiculously mind-boggling."
Yasenia sighed through her nose. "I know, I know. Sorry, Darling. I didn't want to sound whiny."
Andrea chuckled. "No problem."
While advancing at a relatively high pace, Valeria spoke suddenly. "Stop."
All of our girls immediately stopped as if a pause button had been pressed. Valeria pointed at one point in the middle of the road. "That broken doll is dangerous. Let's circle around this place-Hm?"
Valeria turned around and looked back. Kali asked. "What's wrong?"
Yasenia expanded her senses in that direction and found a group of five following their tracks. "Are they using our steps to pass this place without problems?"
Valeria nodded. "So it seems."
Yasenia sneered. "I see." Then, she turned toward Cecile and Kali and said a few words.
Meanwhile, five people were smirking a few kilometers behind Yasenia's group. "We are really lucky, leader. We've found the tracks of someone, and they feel recent. Probably because of how this place works, they never bothered concealing their tracks, hahaha."
They continued a few turns and suddenly arrived at an empty, wide street.
They all blinked and saw the tracks follow sideways and suddenly disappear.
"Leader, what happened?"
The leader frowned and commented. "I think that they met with some unfortunate accident. I think we should avoid that street."
One of them scratched his head. "So, how do we continue?"
The leader snorted. "Obviously, while being careful. Let's continue straight."
A woman blinked and said. "Look, boss."
The man looked at where the woman was pointing and saw a broken-down doll in the middle of the wide street. "Oh? A human doll?
The woman smirked. "It looks cute. Can I get it?"
The leader pondered and nodded. "Sure. Let's continue that way."
One the woman bent down and was about to grab the doll, the immobile thing moved and grabbed her finger. The woman quickly reacted, but it was too late.
"BOSS CARE-"
BOOOM!
A massive explosion flowed from the doll, releasing a terrifying wave of pure energy. However, it strangely didn't damage the surroundings. Only the five mid-level Epoch cores were instantly slaughtered, leaving nothing behind.
The doll then fell down again, becoming limp exactly in the same position it was before.