The green doorway led to a new Haven unlike anything we'd seen before. Here, the ground was a deep, rich purple that seemed to glow from within. The sky wasn't really a sky at all, but a dome of swirling colors that changed constantly. Strange formations rose from the ground like trees, but they were made of crystal that chimed softly when touched.
I looked down at my new form again, still amazed by the changes. Where the acid had eaten away my surface, new colors and textures had grown. The purple patches were smooth and seemed resistant to damage. The orange veins pulsed with energy. My blue-green base had developed swirling patterns that moved slightly even when I was still.
"Third-tier Haven," said a passing blob with incredibly complex color patterns. "Only the strong reach this level."
Sapphire, Viridian, and Citrus examined their new forms too. Sapphire's blue now had clear protective layers that caught light in beautiful ways. Viridian's yellow-green had darkened with purple accents. Citrus had changed the most, their yellow-orange now mixed with red and green where they'd been most damaged in the Acid Plains.
"We should find the Rest Pools," Viridian suggested. "That trial took a lot out of me."
We rolled through the Haven, noticing how different it felt from the previous ones. Blobs here moved with confidence and purpose. Many nodded respectfully as we passed, recognizing fellow survivors of three trials.
The Rest Pools in this Haven weren't filled with silver liquid like before, but with a golden substance that sparkled in the light. As we settled into the pools, the liquid seemed to seep into our bodies, energizing us from within.
"That was the hardest thing I've ever experienced," Citrus said, their form relaxing in the golden pool. "I wouldn't have made it without you three."
"We stick together," I replied simply.
"What do you think the next trial will be?" Sapphire asked. "They seem to get worse each time."
Before anyone could answer, a large blob approached our pools. This one was mainly silver with rippling ribbons of every color dancing across its surface - I recognized Rainbow from before the Acid Plains.
"Congratulations on surviving," Rainbow said, their voice rich and melodic. "The Acid Plains claim most second-tier blobs."
"Thanks for the advice about the vapor," I replied. "It helped us a lot."
Rainbow's surface shimmered with pleasure. "Glad to see it wasn't wasted. You're developing quite... interestingly."
"What does that mean?" I asked, remembering how Crimson had said something similar.
"Most blobs follow predictable evolution paths," Rainbow explained, settling partially into an empty pool beside us. "Red gets redder, blue gets bluer, and so on. But you're developing in a balanced way. Multiple colors working together rather than competing. That's rare."
"Is it good?" Viridian asked.
"Good, bad... depends on your perspective. It's certainly more difficult. But potentially more powerful in the long run. The system... notices unusual patterns."
There was that phrase again - the same one Crimson had used.
"What is the system exactly?" I asked. "Why are we going through these trials?"
Rainbow's colors swirled thoughtfully. "No one knows for certain. Some believe we're being tested for some greater purpose. Others think we're in a giant experiment. The oldest blobs - those who've completed hundreds of trials - say that eventually you can become part of the system itself."
"And what do you believe?" Sapphire asked.
"I believe the journey matters more than the destination," Rainbow replied. "Each trial changes you. Makes you more than you were. Whether there's a final purpose or not, the growth is real."
I considered this. Three trials had already changed me dramatically, not just in appearance but in how I thought about myself and this strange world.
"What's the next trial?" Citrus asked, getting to the question we all wanted answered.
"The Mirage Maze," Rainbow said, their tone growing more serious. "A different kind of challenge. So far, you've faced physical trials - pressure, acid, absorption. The Mirage Maze tests your mind."
"Our mind?" Viridian seemed confused. "How?"
"The Maze creates illusions based on your deepest thoughts," Rainbow explained. "Things you fear, things you desire, things you might not even know are inside you. The illusions feel completely real. Many blobs get trapped in them forever, living in fantasy worlds of their own creation."
A chill passed through me. Physical pain was one thing, but mind games sounded potentially more dangerous.
"How do we prepare for something like that?" Sapphire asked.
"You can't, not completely," Rainbow admitted. "But knowing yourself helps. Understand what you truly value. What you truly fear. The Maze will use both against you."
After Rainbow left, we remained in the Rest Pools, quietly thinking about this new challenge ahead.
"What could the Maze possibly show us?" Citrus wondered. "We don't even remember anything from before we became blobs."
"Maybe that's part of the test," I suggested. "Maybe we'll remember things we've forgotten."
After resting, we explored the third-tier Haven. The Practice Fields here were more advanced, with special areas for testing combined abilities rather than just single-color skills.
We found an integration zone where blobs with multiple colors practiced using their abilities together. I watched as a blue-red blob created steam by heating and then rapidly cooling sections of its body. A yellow-green blob could extend sensory tendrils to gather information from far away.
"Let's see what we can do now," I suggested to my friends.
In the practice area, we discovered our new abilities. Sapphire could now create bubble-like shields that offered temporary protection. Viridian could camouflage themselves, blending into backgrounds almost perfectly. Citrus could generate small amounts of acid, useful for dissolving obstacles.
I found that my balanced colors gave me multiple options. My purple patches could absorb harmful elements without damage. My orange veins provided quick healing for minor injuries. My blue-green base allowed both speed and flexibility. But my most interesting new ability was something unexpected - I could temporarily mimic the surface color of any blob I touched, gaining a fraction of their ability for a short time.
"That's incredible," Sapphire said after I briefly turned partially blue after touching them. "I've never seen a blob do that before."
"Adaptation taken to a new level," Viridian added.
We practiced our abilities until we felt comfortable with them. Other blobs watched us with interest, particularly me with my mimicry ability.
Later, we found the Memory Stones - large crystal formations where blobs could store and share experiences. Placing myself against one, I recorded my memories of the Acid Plains trial so others could learn from our experience.
To my surprise, when I touched another Memory Stone to learn from it, I received flashes of... something else. Not just trial memories, but fragments of images that made no sense - tall structures, moving machines, faces that weren't blobs at all. The images faded quickly, leaving me confused.
"Did you see that?" I asked my friends.
"See what?" Sapphire replied. "I just got someone's memories of the Pressure Chamber."
Why had I seen something different? I decided not to mention the strange images for now.
As we continued exploring, we came across Crimson speaking with a group of intimidating-looking blobs - all with dominant red coloring and aggressive patterns.
"Luck," Crimson called out when he noticed us. "Come meet the Crimson Clan."
Cautiously, we approached. The red blobs studied us with what felt like disdain.
"These are the balanced ones I mentioned," Crimson told his companions. "Particularly Luck. Watch his progress."
A large, dark red blob with black spike-like protrusions moved forward. "I am Carnage. Leader of the Crimson Clan. We dominate the upper trials."
"Nice to meet you," I replied, though I felt uncomfortable under their scrutiny.
"Balanced colors are inefficient," Carnage stated bluntly. "Specialization brings power. But Crimson says you're... different. We'll see."
The red blobs moved away, except for Crimson who lingered.
"Why show us to them?" I asked.
"The Haven has many factions," Crimson explained. "Red Clans value strength. Blue Guilds value speed and technique. Green Collectives value adaptation. Yellow Seers value knowledge."
"And those with mixed colors?"
"They usually join whichever faction matches their dominant color," Crimson said. "Or they remain independent. Few survive long enough to matter."
"What about Rainbow?" Sapphire asked. "They seem to have all colors."
"Rainbow belongs to no faction. Too powerful to need protection, too valuable for any faction to alienate." Crimson's surface rippled thoughtfully. "The truly powerful stand alone."
After Crimson left, we discussed what we'd learned.
"Politics," Viridian said with disgust. "Even here, blobs form groups to gain advantage."
"Maybe it's necessary for survival in higher trials," Citrus suggested.
"Or maybe it's just natural to seek others like yourself," Sapphire added.
I wasn't sure what to think. Part of me understood the appeal of joining others with similar traits, but something felt right about our small, diverse group.
As night fell (or what passed for night in this Haven, with the dome darkening to deep purple), a bell sound echoed across the space.
"The Mirage Maze portal will open tomorrow," announced the system voice. "Prepare yourselves."
We found a quiet corner of the Haven to rest. Unlike previous Havens, this one had small crystal alcoves where blobs could find privacy.
"Should we discuss our fears?" Viridian suggested. "Rainbow said knowing yourself helps in the Maze."
"I fear being trapped," Sapphire admitted. "Unable to move or progress."
"I fear losing my perception," Viridian said. "Being blind to dangers."
"I fear being alone," Citrus added quietly. "After you saved me, I realized how much I need others."
They all looked at me expectantly.
"I fear..." I started, then paused. What did I truly fear? "I fear discovering I'm not what I think I am."
The words surprised even me. Where had that thought come from?
We rested uneasily that night, each lost in our own thoughts about the challenge ahead.
Morning came with another bell sound. The area near the center of the Haven began to shimmer, the air distorting as a new portal formed. Unlike previous portals, this one wasn't a solid color but a swirling mix of all colors that somehow showed no color at all - like looking into a mirror that reflected everything yet nothing.
Blobs gathered around the portal, many looking nervous. Even the confident red clan members seemed more subdued than usual.
Rainbow appeared beside us. "Remember, in the Mirage Maze, nothing is as it seems. Trust yourselves, not your senses."
"Any last advice?" I asked.
"Yes. The way out is often through your greatest fear, not around it."
The portal fully formed, its surface rippling like water.
"Portal entry beginning," announced the system. "Mirage Maze Trial now accepting participants."
The first blobs entered, disappearing into the shifting surface. Some went confidently, others hesitated.
When our turn came, we exchanged determined looks.
"Stay together as long as possible," I said. "But if we get separated, remember what's real."
We entered the portal together. The sensation was different from previous trials - not burning or pressure, but a strange vertigo, like falling while standing still. Colors swirled around me, then faded to white.
When my vision cleared, I was alone. My friends were gone. The Mirage Maze stretched before me - a labyrinth of shimmering walls that weren't quite solid, constantly shifting and changing.
"Welcome to the Mirage Maze," the system voice whispered, somehow sounding inside my mind rather than from outside. "Find the center. Ignore the illusions. Or embrace them forever."
I moved forward cautiously, my surface reflecting in the maze walls, creating multiple images of myself. Which was the real me? Already, the maze was playing tricks.
The path split in three directions. With no clear indication of which way to go, I chose the middle path. As I rolled forward, the maze changed behind me, erasing my route back.
No going back, only forward.
The walls shimmered and suddenly showed images - memories of the trials I'd completed. I saw myself as a white blob, facing the red hunter. I watched as pressure waves flattened me in the Pressure Chamber. I felt phantom pain as acid ate away at my surface.
Was this the test? Reliving past challenges?
But then the images changed to things I'd never seen before. A world of tall structures. Strange creatures with limbs and faces. Machines moving at high speeds.
And one image that stopped me completely - a reflection not of a blob, but of something else. Something with eyes and hair and features.
Something human.
The word came to me without explanation. Human. I knew what it meant, yet I didn't know how I knew.
"This is who you were," whispered the maze. "Before you became a blob."
I stared at the reflection, fascinated and terrified at the same time. Was this real? A true memory? Or just the maze tricking me?
"Remember," the maze continued. "Remember who you are."
More images flashed across the walls - a life I couldn't recall living. Places I'd never been. People I'd never met. Yet something deep inside me resonated with these visions.
"This isn't real," I told myself firmly. "It's just the maze testing me."
I continued forward, trying to ignore the images. But they became more vivid, more emotional. I saw myself - my human self - making choices. Living a life. Having connections.
Then the maze showed me something that broke my resolve - the moment I became a blob. An accident. Pain. Darkness. Then awakening as a white, featureless entity.
"You died," the maze whispered. "This is your afterlife. Your rebirth. Your chance to become more than you were."
I stopped, overwhelmed by this revelation. If this was true, everything changed. We weren't just blobs in a strange world - we were souls being reformed, tested, evolved.
But was it true? Or the most convincing illusion yet?
"Trust yourself, not your senses," Rainbow had warned.
I focused inward, searching for what felt true beneath the confusion. Something about these images resonated, yet something felt wrong too - like a story that's mostly accurate but with key details changed.
"The way forward is through your greatest fear," I remembered.
My greatest fear - discovering I'm not what I think I am.
The maze had found it immediately.
Taking a deep breath (or whatever the blob equivalent was), I made a decision. I would neither fully accept nor completely reject these visions. I would hold them as possibilities, not certainties.
"Show me more," I told the maze. "But I choose what to believe."
The maze seemed to pulse with approval. The path ahead cleared, leading deeper into the labyrinth.
As I rolled forward, I prepared myself for whatever illusions came next, knowing that my journey through the Mirage Maze had only just begun.