As usual, the whiteness at the beginning of every Trial stretched endlessly around Deremiah. This pale void of nothingness was the true form of a Corridor before it began to take shape, building itself based on the properties of the participant who had stepped into it.
Or, aligning them with another participant's Corridor at random.
Deremiah stood silently as he waited for this to happen. Even with the time that had passed, he still couldn't believe his actions back in the last Trial, the way he dispatched those reflections.
If they had been real people...
Clenching his jaw, he chased the thought away and saw that the Corridor was slowly starting to come to life. Faint shapes began to materialize in the emptiness, the whiteness gave way to corners, creating layers like a real life 3D printer.
Outlines shimmered into existence like ink spreading on parchment, and the emptiness shifted, giving way to the scene where Deremiah's Fourth Trial was to take place.
First, the Corridor turned contrastingly dark, and a forest-like place emerged. Sprouting out of the earth were gigantic plants, except they didn't look like normal plants.
Not only were they unnaturally oversized, larger and taller than Deremiah himself, but their texture seemed to be made of a translucent dermis, allowing the neon lights inside their bodies to glow.
These neon lights were of many colors, shifting with patterns of electric pink to cerulean blue. There were lots of mushroom shaped ones, the size of houses standing in clusters, also phosphorescent like the rest of the plants.
At this juncture, seeing his words come to life in front of him was becoming jarringly common. But even at that, this Corridor was breathtakingly otherworldly. Beautiful wasn't a fitting word, because even with all the colors and the transparent giant plants, there was still a daunting feel in the air.
Deremiah would know. This was the Gigantic Ether Forest, the stage he had designed for the Fourth Trial.
If one ignored the beautiful, pulsing lights that contrasted with the night sky above, then this place would be utterly terrifying.
Not only did these plants give off an uneasy aura, somewhere within the depths of this forest lay the true test of terror: a particularly interesting Paragon beast.
Deremiah took a step forward, his boots crunching softly against the spongy, black moss underfoot. He looked down at the soil and frowned. It would be difficult to run in such moist ground.
Then, on the floor there, he saw a shadow loom above him. By the size and shape of it, Deremiah believed it to be the tentacle of a large octopus, and it was growing larger and getting closer with every second.
Lifting his chin up, he saw that his guess was right and instinct instantly took over. Quickly, he warped out of the way. Exploding into purple goo and reforming on top of a giant mushroom some distance away, sword in his hand.
From where he stood, he saw the tentacle slam into the ground, creating such an impact that a shockwave rippled through the forest, bending the giant plants and scattering glowing spores into the air.
Deremiah's hair covered his vision as a result, and he pushed the silver locks behind his ears with one hand, surveying the scene to know what was happening.
He watched as the ground shook slightly, causing the mushroom he was squatting on to wobble. Then, another large tentacle rose high in the air and curled around a hill, pulling up a massive structure with it.
This structure was a creature, terrifying and humongous, like the plants around it. Just like the plants as well, the creature possessed a translucent body, appearing to be made of jelly.
Inside the skin was the same glowing colors, pulsing and pumping. The beast resembled a squid, except a million times bigger, and uglier.
Pulling itself up the mountain in a slithering manner, Deremiah saw distorted faces and skeletal limbs pressed against the surface of its gelatinous flesh before they dissolved back into its mass.
Its giant head was crowned with uneven, glowing eyes that moved independently, scanning the forest as it sought for a way to hide.
Then, from the base of its body extended countless tentacles, each impossibly long and coated in a slimy, phosphorescent residue, moving like snakes as they dragged it high up the hill.
An interface appeared beside the monster:
[Your adversary is: Humongous NeonSquid]
[Beast mode: Paragon]
[Echelon: Gilded]
For a short moment, Deremiah was about to panic, to start a mindless calculation of his odds against the Paragon beast. But then he noticed... it was not alone.
Unsure what it was at first, Deremiah narrowed his eyes and he could make out a human figure, jumping from one tentacle to another, brandishing a greatsword and swinging it in attack and defence.
The figure was fast, wearing a black armor and relentlessly attacking the writhing mass of tentacles.
Deremiah began to make out more features. The warrior had a feminine figure, raven dark hair, and the armor seemed to be an expensive one. Also that fighting skill, the way she expertly leapt from one tentacle to another, pestering the large beast with her persistence.
There was only one female character that Deremiah had written about who possessed those qualities.
His eyes widened as the realization struck him.
It was her.
He saw the beast shoot out a blast of purple energy at her. She quickly summoned a protective cover of vines, but they shattered away when the blast collided, and she flew backwards, crashing against a giant grass and falling to the ground in a heap.
Deremiah couldn't believe it. How was it that he had already caught up with her? What were the odds that he would end up in the same Corridor as hers? Had she been fighting this beast for hours?
But even at that, the fact that he had been put into the same Corridor as hers was a major coincidence!
He continued to watch, knowing that this was his big chance. Maybe, if she was struck down hard by the Humongous NeonSquid, he could go down there and finish her off, taking all her Marks.
But even as he entertained the thought, he saw that she was already moving. She found her feet not very long after and pushed herself forward with a burst of energy, leaping high.
Deremiah's eyes narrowed in surprise. 'She's already mastered how to integrate Aether into her battle. The way she channelled Aether in her legs and made that jump, pushing her higher and further.'
Her sword struck the temple of the beast, but its translucent skin was much too tough for her sword to tear through. Notwithstanding, she followed up with another move; she channeled Aether into the sole of her feet, then shot it out.
This attack made the beast fall backwards, as she backflipped off of it, fell on a giant leaf and slid to the ground.
The results of that attack caused a near earthquake as the massive form crashed to the ground, destroying swathes of glowing plants in its wake.
The wind and dust that came with that crash threatened to push Deremiah away and so he warped to change positions.
It was rather a lazy and desperate warp because he suddenly found himself in front of the lying Beast's vision.
Deremiah froze on his feet, cursing beneath his breath. He tried to warp once again, but he was unable to summon the Writhe to obey his command.
He cursed again.
Then, suddenly, the beast's eyes popped open and Deremiah's blood ran cold.
With wide terrified eyes, he saw the red colors inside the beast's head begin to glow. When the humming sound stopped, it burst out, aiming to blast him.
Deremiah could only cover his face with his sword and hope for the best, but just before the red blast hit him, a vine shot out from his side and pushed him to safety.
He landed roughly amongst a cluster of translucent grass, stunned, and looked up just in time to see the girl sprinting along another outstretched vine, her greatsword angled by her side.
She pushed Aether into her legs and leaped again, and when the NeonSquid sent a tentacle at her, she jumped once again in mid-air, like she had used Aether to create a false momentum.
Although this bought her some time to approach her attack differently, the tentacle was still able to regroup, twisting itself and wrapping around her waist.
It dragged her down fast and hard, slamming her into the mossy ground with bone-rattling force.
"Urrkkk!" Deremiah heard her groan. She coughed violently, blood dripping from her lip as she tried to rise.
But the NeonSquid was already slithering towards her, fast and menacingly, using its tentacles to crawl through the moss until it was now looming over her.
It moved closer, eyes pulsing, then multiple bubbles began to form below those eyes, tearing its face open. That opening was the beast's mouth as it lowered its face to devour her.
But she wasn't done.
Summoning the last of her strength and her Aether reserves, she placed one palm on the earth and extended the other furiously.
Two stems of plants suddenly erupted at her sides and stopped in front of the Paragon beast's face. Flowers grew from their tips and bloomed rapidly, before releasing a thick, green mist.
Ruuurrrrrr!!!! The NeonSquid shrieked a strange noise as it recoiled instantly. Its body began to writhe and convulse as the mist enveloped it, burning into its senses.
It let out another shriek and hurriedly began to retreat, sliding away and climbing on top of one of the higher hills which had multiple glowing mushrooms on its shaft.
The noise of the battle faded away after. The Gigantic Ether Forest fell silent.
"Ngh! Ugh!" The girl sat up slowly, clutching her lower body. There was blood streaking down a wound near her ear, and she had a torn lip. Her gallant armor was dented and scratched, but her aura was undiminished.
Using her greatsword for support, she rose to her feet, her raven-colored hair whipping behind her as she turned her gaze toward Deremiah.
She began to walk toward him.
Deremiah sat frozen as he watched her. From what he saw, everything about her was magnificent.
Her black armor gleamed with the lights from the plants, the crown of obsidian thorns on her head lended her an air of unassailable authority, the sway of her hips, the defiance in her beautiful eyes.
The main character energy was off the roof, her aura was at max level and even her rough beauty was mesmerizing.
Once she was close enough, standing over him, she offered him a hand, and then she parted her lips to speak;
"Take my hand and get up," she said stoically. "The Dawn is almost upon us."