There was a loss for words between them, the wand was aimed squarely towards her chest with an amethyst hue glowing from its edge. Ronvel's expression seemed to harden but there was an air of nervousness.
"Nothing more than what's normal…"
"Expecting that thing? The doors? You want me to find that normal?" Ronvel glanced at the door.
"It won't last long—"
"Answer the question" an amethyst flame flickered as the banging became incessant, Crusch's gaze now centered over several parts of the room. She wasn't wholly distracted by the idea of the truth, half her attention and cognitive thought had already ran through at least a dozen escapes with Ronvel as bait and distraction.
"Ludy!" Ronvel brought her back from the room, her gaze ashen and the deep blue of her eyes shrunken to an alarming degree, "So long as the room isn't ours the protection spells only last temporarily, I reckon there's only a minute or two left before the thing starts bounding in here!!"
"And how exactly do you know this!?"
Ronvel bit her lower lip, "It's not easy to discuss…"
"You said you wanted a partner, that involves a level of trust that's breaking down by the second!"
Bang!!
There was another attempt from the beast but this one wasn't met without a reaction to its efforts, the room shuddered at its wake and Crusch swore she'd heard what sounded as though one of the hinges had loosened. She clicked a tongue and glared daggers at Ronvel who seemed far more terrified by the ordeal than her body could manage, she was shivering.
"I-I can help us pass this" She blurted, eyes darting from Crusch to the door.
"I swear!" She exclaimed, noticing Crusch's raising brow, "I won't deny that I know a few things that most of everyone here—no, no one should but I'm willing to use it to benefit us both!"
Crusch didn't answer, internally digesting her words. There was a level of worth to it, she had someone who knew more about the trial than anyone here, knew what to do and how to properly react but at the same time..
Crusch could guess that this alliance wholly formed because of two things, it truly and well truly seemed as though Ronvel hadn't been lying when she announced herself to her as an amateur Witch although a part of her still felt as though the fact was a reuse, secondly was that the trial seemed all towards partners. The rooms were made for two and for all she knew and they could only be entered if both of them were present and should a person lose their detector, they'd need their partner to compensate for the loss. The rift and seemingly already well known atmosphere between the participants would only make it an even harder situation to go in alone, thus this alliance was a flimsy ordeal; what was stopping her from doing something after?
The door shuddered once more but this time with the sound of cracking wood, quickly shattering into splinters as the beast barged Its way through. Ronvel's wand came out in a desperate flicker, icicles forming around her, small that they seemed harmless yet shot with a speed that dazed the beast for only a moment. Crusch's eyes widened in a little surprise, quickly turning into suspicion but before the wolf could gain any kind of ground did two Crusch's and a second Ronvel suddenly appear within the room as the last grabbed at the first Ronvel's wrist.
They darted for the door as the beast shook its head and took a leap for the illusions set in front of it, making it into the hallway did Crusch make a dash for the first turn on their left. She could feel her mana reserves depleting from the still running charm spell that was keeping the wolf at bay but wouldn't be long till it realized they weren't even real, another forking junction appeared before then as Crusch disabled the charm spell to re-enable it beside them while urging Ronvel to take a look at their detector.
"Right, right!!" She instructed as Crusch sprinted down the path while treading with her at the wrist, leaving behind the illusions to distract the beast once more by going the opposite direction.
The hallways widened at this point, once narrowed enough to fit at least three people side by side, could now accommodate a small army. The doors had changed as well, their colors a deep brown with the numbers having begun to recede in numerical value.
"The numbers, they've changed…" Crusch glanced back at Ronvel who made hesitant fleeting glances over the room
"There's another beast here…"
Crusch's eyes widened at the revelation while Ronvel explained.
"A different range in numbers means a different floor, each with its own beast"
"You mean to say there's another one here!?" The blood in her seemed to drain.
"Not if we don't wake it up, the numbers are a timer" She placed a finger on top of one of the doors, "twenty through fifty, thirty minutes till whoever's room here disappears and the rumbling wakes up whatever's here too"
"Are you ever going to explain why you know all this?" Ronvel shot her a wry smile.
"Right, so someone else's room is down here huh? And they need to get to it before their thirty minute deadline…" Crusch looked at the doors more hesitantly now.
"I'd rather not want to know what's here, the wolf is enough…