**Chapter 8: The Architecture of Death**
The Tower of Trials stood in the center of the city like a spear piercing the heavens. It was a monolithic structure of black obsidian, pulsating with a low, rhythmic bass that could be felt in the teeth.
At the base, a massive set of double doors stood closed. Two Knights in golden armor, Level 50 NPCs, stood guard.
Usually, there would be a queue here. Parties checking gear, praying, or hesitating.
Today, there was only Zayne.
He walked up the steps, his new black cloak trailing behind him like smoke.
"Halt," one of the Knights rumbled. His voice was like grinding stones. "The Tower is not a playground for the newly Awakened. The entrance fee is 100 Coins. Turn back, child."
100 Coins.
For a normal survivor fresh from the tutorial, this was a fortune. It was the System's way of forcing them to do "safe" quests in the city first.
Zayne didn't break stride. He flicked his wrist, and a pouch of coins sailed through the air.
*Clink.*
The Knight caught it. He opened the pouch, counted the gold, and froze. He looked down at Zayne—this small, hooded figure radiating a chill that had nothing to do with the weather.
"Enter," the Knight said, stepping aside. The tone of condescension was gone, replaced by professional wariness.
*Creaaaaak.*
The massive doors groaned open just wide enough for a single person to slip through.
Zayne stepped into the darkness.
[Entering Floor 1: The Shifting Labyrinth.]
[Environmental Effect: Dampness. Agility reduced by 5% on wet surfaces.]
The interior was not a room, but a sprawling maze of grey stone walls covered in slick, bioluminescent moss. The ceiling was lost in shadow.
Zayne took a breath. The air smelled of mold and ancient dust.
"The Labyrinth," he whispered.
In his previous life, players hated this floor. The walls moved every hour. Maps were useless. People died of starvation here, walking in circles for days.
Zayne activated *Void Sovereign*.
His pupils dilated, violet light flooding his irises.
The grey walls became transparent wireframes in his vision. He didn't see the stone; he saw the mana circuits running beneath the floor that powered the shifting mechanism.
[Analysis Complete.]
[Route Calculation: Optimized.]
Most players would hug the left wall. Zayne walked straight toward a solid stone wall.
He stopped inches from the face of the rock.
"Open," he commanded.
He pressed his hand against a specific moss patch.
*Rumble.*
A hidden mechanism clicked. The wall slid back, revealing a narrow service tunnel that bypassed the first three zones of the maze.
"Shortcuts," Zayne noted. "The privilege of knowledge."
He sprinted into the tunnel.
His speed was frightening. With 40 Agility and the *Night-Walker* set bonus, he moved at nearly 20 meters per second. He was a phantom.
He emerged into a large circular chamber.
*Click.*
As soon as his boot touched the floor, the sound of grinding gears echoed.
From the alcoves in the walls, six statues animated. They were Stone Sentinels, humanoid golems wielding stone halberds.
[Enemy: Stone Sentinel]
[Level: 15]
[Defense: High]
[Agility: Low]
They were slow, tanky gatekeepers.
"Intruder..." one of them groaned, dust falling from its mouth.
Six halberds slammed down, aiming to crush Zayne into paste.
Zayne didn't retreat. He advanced.
*Shadow Step.*
He blinked *through* the falling blades, reappearing in the center of the circle, surrounded by the enemies.
It looked suicidal.
But Zayne knew the flaw of the Sentinels. They were linked. They shared a single core processing unit to coordinate attacks. If you broke the rhythm, they crashed.
He spun low, his *Fang of the Alpha* glowing with a red aura.
He didn't slash the stone armor. He slashed the back of their ankles—the only joint made of leather.
*Slash-Slash-Slash.*
He cut three tendons in a fraction of a second.
Three Sentinels buckled, falling to their knees. Their fall blocked the swing path of the other three.
*Crunch.*
The standing Sentinels' halberds slammed into their fallen comrades, shattering stone shoulders instead of Zayne.
"Friendly fire," Zayne murmured.
He leaped onto the back of the nearest kneeling Sentinel. He drove his sword into the gap at the neck.
[Critical Hit.]
[-200 HP]
[Bleed Immune (Target is Stone).]
"Right. No blood."
Zayne adjusted instantly. He sheathed the sword and placed his palm on the Sentinel's head.
[Mana: 40/40]
"Mana Manipulation: Vibration."
He poured mana into the stone, vibrating it at a high frequency.
*Hummmmm.*
The stone began to crack. Physics again. Resonance. Every material had a frequency that would shatter it.
*CRACK!*
The Sentinel's head exploded into gravel.
[Experience Gained.]
[Mana Recovered: 1% (Gluttony Ring does not work on non-organic targets).]
"Tch." Zayne clicked his tongue. "No mana refund. Inefficient."
He looked at the remaining five confused golems. He didn't have the mana to blow up all their heads.
He checked the room. The exit door was on the other side, currently barred. It would only open when all enemies were dead.
Or...
Zayne looked at the ceiling. A heavy iron chandelier hung above the center of the room, suspended by a rusty chain.
He looked at the Sentinels, clustered together in confusion.
He picked up a stone shard from the destroyed golem.
He threw it.
It hit the chain's weakest link.
*Snap.*
The massive iron fixture plummeted.
*BOOOM.*
Dust billowed out. The ground shook.
[You have slain Stone Sentinel x4.]
[Level Up!]
One Sentinel remained, crawling out from under the wreckage, missing half its body.
Zayne walked over, drew his sword, and stabbed it through the eye slit.
"Floor 1 cleared," he said, stepping over the rubble toward the exit. "Time: 3 minutes."
A record that would stand for a hundred years.