Another shift. A panel of the floor dropped slightly. Thin metal spikes hissed upward. Ren reacted instinctively, dark abyss shadows whipping forward, enveloping him and the rookie, dragging them back just as the spikes pierced the snow where they would have stood.
Nyxa whispered, almost solemnly:
"Every step, every breath here is a lesson. Ignore it at your peril. The Hollow does not forgive mistakes."
The squad pressed forward, navigating hazards, avoiding traps, and fending off controlled constructs that grew increasingly complex and adaptive. Ren's mind raced, every lesson, every scar, every instinct firing in rapid succession. This was the true test. This was survival beyond the training chambers.
And somewhere deep in the Hollow, the faint hum of more experiments, stronger, older, more dangerous, hinted at the darker truths yet to be revealed.
