Kael's body dissolved into light as the golden radiance lifted him. There was no feeling of movement, no rush of wind or pressure on his skin, just the fading hum of the runes behind him.
Then—
His boots touched solid ground. A dull clang echoed underfoot.
He blinked. "Fog."
Thick, gray, and heavy like soaked cloth clung to everything around him. Shapes loomed in the mist—twisted shadows, motionless. The air was cold here. Not freezing like essence-cold, but wrong. Still. Breathless.
A chime rang deep in his ear, low and metallic.
———
[Floor 8: Trial of Illusion – Navigate this battlefield where allies become enemies and false enemies appear.
Goal: Test intelligence, decision-making, calmness under pressure, and inner balance.]
———
Kael narrowed his eyes. The system didn't lie, but it never told the full truth either. Every floor had its own weight, its own pattern. This one? This one was silent and smelt of deceit. A battlefield that didn't start with blood, but confusion.
