Eli's spirit clapped her hands together indignantly — or at least made the motion a spirit could manage.
"I had no intention of telling anyone! Do you think I'm evil? I was the mage of the Hero's party!"
The chamber echoed with the spirit's wounded dignity.
The trial… had taken a very unusual turn.
But Floralys — in her own completely unique way — had passed it.
Elisabeth's Trial – Ironclaw's Side
After the flash, Ironclaw found herself in a completely different chamber. The room was round, lined with dusty old shelves filled with books, vials, and crystals. A faint bluish glow shimmered in the air, and in the center of the room a floating figure appeared.
Elisabeth's spirit.
"Welcome, Beast‑girl, to the Sacred Trial," the spirit said. "If I'm not mistaken, you are a half Earth‑Wolf, but you don't seem to be a mage."
Ironclaw wrinkled her nose.
"Ha! I'm a maid. You didn't even know that? You're not very smart for a spirit, hahaha!"
Eli's spirit froze for a moment.
"You certainly don't look like a maid! And how was I supposed to know you were one?! Never mind, it doesn't matter!"
Her tone grew impatient.
"You have the chance to gain great power. The greatest magical staff on the continent can be yours — all you must do is sacrifice the souls of your two companions."
Ironclaw frowned.
"You really aren't smart. The best magic staff in the world is Master's. With it we can make little wolf‑pups."
Eli's spirit stared at her, puzzled.
"A staff that summons wolves? I've never heard of such a staff. What magical crystal is it made from?"
Ironclaw hesitated.
"Magical crystal? Uh… well, it has two eggs."
"Two eggs?" Eli repeated. "What kind of eggs? Dragon eggs? Phoenix eggs? Or both? But if it summons wolves, how can it be made from eggs? Shouldn't it summon dragons then? I don't understand! And how many wolves can it summon?"
Ironclaw puffed out her chest proudly.
"As many as I want!"
Eli's spirit floated closer, genuine curiosity in her eyes.
"No upper limit? By the stars, now I'm interested in that staff! I want to see it — I want to examine it!"
Ironclaw took a step back and growled, shaking her head.
"All girls want that staff. See? You want it too. But you're not getting it!"
Then she added with offended superiority:
"But you can shove your own stupid staff up your ghost‑butt!"
Eli's spirit stared at her for a long moment, then let out a quiet sigh.
"Very well… you have passed the trial."
A faint shimmer flickered in the air — as if the spirit's approval settled on Ironclaw's soul like an invisible seal.
The Earth‑Wolf maid simply nodded and said:
"I told you from the start that I'm smart."
Elisabeth's Trial – Young Wolf's Side
The light of the teleportation faded, and Andras found himself in a spacious, circular chamber. Floating crystals illuminated the walls, and fine golden dust drifted through the air — as if magic itself were breathing.
In the center of the room, a figure slowly took shape.
Long, flowing hair.
Translucent robes.
And that familiar, slightly superior gaze Andras knew all too well.
Elisabeth.
The spirit of the Hero Mage.
"Greetings, young Mage, who has come before me to undertake the sacred trial!" she declared solemnly.
Andras smiled.
"Hi, Eli. Long time no see. I'd jump into your arms, but your astral form doesn't have a physical body, so I can't hug you."
He glanced around.
"So you created a magical construct that copied your consciousness, and another one that stores it."
Eli's spirit raised an indignant eyebrow.
"What do you take me for? Of course I achieved all this with one magical construct, not two!"
Then she fell quiet.
"So… you knew my real self. That explains why you recognized me instantly and called me Eli. Only my friends called me that. To everyone else I was always Elisabeth… the Hero Mage. I mean the real me."
Andras shrugged.
"You could've told me you made a copy of yourself and that I should look for you once I reached Greenwood. Were you that sure I'd find you? Or did you not want me to? This version of you is basically a thousand years dumber than the one I knew."
Eli's spirit froze.
"A thousand years? Don't tell me… I lived for a thousand years? So I survived the battle against the Demon King?"
Andras shook his head.
"You didn't survive. You drowned in your own blood. But before that, you blasted a massive fireball right into the Demon King's face."
Eli's spirit slowly nodded, a faint smile appearing.
"Then even in my final moment, I was cool. As expected of the real me."
Then her expression darkened.
"But if I died… how did you meet me a thousand years later? Don't tell me I became undead?"
"No, nothing like that," Andras waved dismissively. "The Goddess chose you as a Valkyrie from the Hero's Party."
Eli's spirit snapped her head up.
"What's a Valkyrie? Was Robin chosen too?"
Andras smiled.
"Oh, right… this version of you was still in love with your Hero, Robin Greenwood."
"I am NOT in love with Robin!" Eli protested — her voice a little too high.
Andras continued calmly:
"You can deny it, I don't mind. I already found your diary from a thousand years ago."
Eli's spirit went pale — or as pale as a spirit could.
"Burn it immediately! Then erase it from your memory!"
Andras waved her off.
"Anyway, about Valkyries: they're the Heroes of Heroes. Only one person every five hundred years is worthy of being chosen by Uriel. Uriel is the true name of Neptune, the Goddess."
Eli's spirit pondered this.
"So Robin wasn't chosen. That idiot deserved it too."
Then she straightened proudly.
"But nothing to be done. I'm just that much of a genius."
The chamber echoed with the spirit's self‑satisfied declaration.
For Andras, the trial felt more like a conversation with an old friend.
But something in the spirit's eyes changed.
She recognized someone.
Someone she had lost a thousand years ago.
The crystal‑lit chamber shimmered with magic as Eli's spirit hovered before Andras, listening. Their conversation no longer resembled a trial — it felt more like two old acquaintances teasing, confessing, and laughing through memories that were sometimes painful, sometimes absurd.
Andras stood with his arms crossed, head tilted slightly.
"With taste as terrible as Robin's? He chose the princess over you. Gross."
Eli's spirit exploded — as if a thousand years of suppressed fury burst free.
"Exactly! That princess was a total tramp! The Hero just couldn't see it! Before Robin, she flirted with half the handsome knights in the kingdom, and slept with more of them than I could blow up at once! She even fooled around with her own maids. They literally kissed her ass. And that little brat was the one Robin wanted instead of me!"
Andras hid a smile.
"Well, after the Hero died, she married a rich nobleman three days later. If it helps, her husband was as fat as a pig. And she got fat too, living the easy life."
Eli's spirit fell silent. When she spoke again, her voice was softer.
"So Robin didn't survive the battle with the Demon King, did he?"