Atlas awoke in the dead of night to the unsettling sound of splashing water. His heart pounded as he leaped from his resting place, his senses sharpened and his body tensed, ready to blink away if danger approached. His eyes cut through the darkness, seeking the source of the disturbance. Scanning, he found it: the slab that had recently landed close to their position.
His entire group had already risen, weapons drawn and faces etched with grim determination. But what lay before them was far more nightmarish than any foe they had anticipated.
The slab, now shattered, floated amidst a pool of blood, the metallic scent of death heavy in the air. But the true horror was the creature surging beneath the water's surface. A grotesque, giant, squid-like monstrosity appeared, its tentacles breaking through the water, dripped with blood. Unlike any natural squid, this abomination possessed dozens of thrashing tentacles, each powerful enough to send disturbing ripples across the water.
Atlas felt a chill run down his spine as the beast effortlessly smashed through the remnants of the slab. Occasionally, a tentacle would rise, revealing torn body parts—mangled remains of the group they had seen the day before.
As the creature's rampage continued, the group's fear grew palpable. Atlas pondered their grim reality. Here, on the open water, escape was impossible. Even if he exhausted his Aether core in a desperate bid to warp away, the creature would catch him easily. It was a brutal reality: if the squid decided to attack them, their fate was sealed.
After watching this rampage for minutes, a new terror began to unfold. A yellow mist, darkened with unsettling streaks of black, began to seep in around the broken slab. It crept across the water like a living, malevolent entity, its tendrils of shadow coiling and twisting as it obscured the scene before them.
The mist swallowed the broken slab and muffled the horrifying sounds of the creature. A cacophony of eerie, otherworldly shrieks and frenzied thrashing filled the air, creating a dissonant symphony of dread.
Atlas glanced at Iris, her face a mask of cold resolve. It was clear she, too, understood the grim reality: this was a force they could not confront, a predator so formidable that fighting back was a hopeless endeavor.
As the mist gradually began to lift, the scene that emerged was both horrifying and awe-inspiring. The monstrous squid, which had previously terrorized the waters, was now torn in half. One portion remained, but the other was missing, as if erased by an unseen force. Its insides were hollowed out, a grotesque testament to the might of whatever had caused its demise.
Atlas shuddered. He did not know what had transpired beneath that mist, but one thing was certain: if a force capable of destroying such a creature with ease existed, it was beyond anything he could hope to face.
Nothing happened after that, and the darkness slowly faded to light, leaving the small group on Atlas's slab trapped in a silence filled with horror.
***
When the first daylight arrived, it revealed more secrets of the night. There were many more slabs, just like theirs, scattered around them. Each one was separated by over one hundred meters in every direction. The most surprising discovery was that people stood on top of them!
Each slab supported somewhere between two and six people. Atlas could see clearly how many individuals were in the maze with him. When he first landed in that sand pit, he had thought he was in this alone. Now, with so many people present, he could imagine that a large portion of them might be able to fulfill the objective of this trial.
This revelation shook the group and altered the situation once more. Previously, if their slab had never moved again, they would have been stuck in the middle of the sea, destined to die. Eventually, they would run out of food and either have to catch fish or face the grim option of turning on one another.
Atlas had no doubt that he would have been the first to be chosen for sacrifice due to being an outsider taken in out of greed. Now, this influx of people meant new supplies—if they could somehow reach a new group without being consumed by the sea's horrors.
The group started talking amongst themselves again, leaving Iris and Atlas alone.
Atlas took this opportunity to ask the quiet healer some questions, hoping to learn more about the maze. Acting eager, he asked,
"Do you know what the actual objective of this trial is? My group never told me anything about it. Of course, if you don't know either, it might be a silly question."
Atlas sat back and waited for her response. She paused for a moment before saying,
"Yes and no. Our team has been here for two weeks and has figured out that to beat this place, it involves something with three keys."
She took a breath, started to put her hair in a high ponytail, and continued,
"We encountered a library in the maze, and there plastered on the wall was a riddle giving us information on how to beat it. It said:
Three keys unlock the path unknown, One reveals what's hidden, one guides, One shows the truth alone."
Atlas tried to dissect the riddle. Being a naturally curious person, he considered the many implications. Was someone leaving hints about the objective—perhaps the figure who owned the maze or someone else who discovered the secret and left clues for others?
The riddle itself was straightforward: collect three keys, each leading to a different treasure. Atlas wasn't sure if all three were needed to leave the maze or if they were simply required to obtain a treasure and escape using only one of them.
After deducing these implications, he asked Iris another question, "When you beat your first door, what type of powers did you get?" Atlas was eager to learn more about potential powers.
Iris did not act as if the question was taboo. Instead, she took a deep breath and prepared to explain her powers. Before she could begin, she paused and looked down at the water.
"Are you stupid?" she said simply.
Atlas was caught off guard by the response. She then turned to him and pointed at his shoulder, referring to the spot where he had deliberately stabbed himself to create a false story.
He knew about the healing but realized he hadn't communicated his message clearly. To preserve his Edmund persona, he said,
"Oh, right, I totally forgot about that. But like… what other things happened, and how did you get your Aether Core?"
She was about to explain more but was suddenly distracted by an incredible sight. Atlas looked in the same direction she did and saw a slab moving at high speeds. Ripples burst from the back as if a large motor was attached to it. And this slab wasn't just moving aimlessly—it was heading straight towards their location!
Atlas sprang up and grabbed his weapon. Iris alerted the group to the situation, and everyone prepared for battle.
Five people on the moving slab drew closer, each armed with a weapon. They appeared starved and had no food with them, which explained their frantic approach. If they didn't attack another group, they would face starvation. Since Sebastian's group was well-fed, these attackers had to take their chances.
The moving slab came within ten meters but showed no signs of slowing. It was clear they planned to ram them. Atlas was shocked by their reckless disregard for safety. A collision would mean certain death for everyone.
The attackers' slab closed to within four meters and suddenly veered to the side, using all its momentum. This action sent a massive wave of water crashing over Atlas and his group, soaking them from head to toe. The wall of water temporarily blinded them, obscuring the attackers' movements. Atlas kept his eyes open despite the water, sensing that this was part of a larger strategy.
His instincts proved correct when the wall of water was breached by the bodies of the attackers. Atlas was the first to see them land on the slab and was also the first to take action.
Unsure of the attackers' strength and techniques, he opted for the action of inaction. He stepped back behind his group, creating a makeshift shield of five people. No matter what, he was determined not to die here and if he had to let everyone take the hits it did not bother him one bit.