The ground didn't stay the same.
It folded.
Not breaking.
Rewriting.
Levi felt it before he saw it.
A shift beneath his feet—then the world snapped into place.
Trees.
Dense.
Wet.
The air was heavier.
Thicker.
A forest.
Not natural.
Too… arranged.
They stood scattered.
Four figures.
Same team.
Not together.
Kraith moved first.
No hesitation.
He scanned once, then stepped toward Velkar.
Nyxara followed—not directly, but close enough.
Three.
Grouped.
Levi stayed where he was.
No one called him.
No one looked back.
He understood.
They didn't consider him part of it.
Not yet.
Levi moved anyway.
Not to join.
Just… behind.
Far enough.
Silent.
His mind didn't stay on them.
It went back.
To the sphere.
The moment his hand touched it.
The feeling—
not when it formed—
but just before.
Levi raised his hand.
Tried again.
Focused.
Recreated the pressure.
Nothing.
No structure.
No reaction.
He clenched his fist.
Still nothing.
"…Tch."
Ahead, Kraith's voice cut through.
"You're trying again."
Not loud.
Not curious.
Just stating.
Levi didn't answer.
Kraith tilted his head slightly.
"Maybe you don't have one."
A pause.
"Maybe you're empty."
Velkar didn't react.
Nyxara's surface shifted faintly.
Levi lowered his hand.
His eyes didn't change.
But his focus did.
He remembered something else.
The one above.
Before the spheres.
It had given them something.
A small object.
Levi looked down.
Still there.
In his hand.
Three left.
He glanced forward.
Kraith had already thrown his away.
Velkar too.
Nyxara didn't even acknowledge it.
Levi crouched slightly.
Picked up one from the ground.
Cold.
Light.
"They help you unlock it faster."
The voice from above.
Echoing back.
Levi stared at it.
Then, without hesitation—
he put it in his mouth.
Sweet.
That was it.
For a second.
Then—
it changed.
The sweetness didn't stay.
It dropped.
Straight down.
His body reacted.
A pulse.
Faint.
Then stronger.
Levi stopped walking.
Not by choice.
Something inside shifted.
His arm twitched.
The structure—
for a fraction of a moment—
almost appeared.
Then—
gone.
Levi exhaled slowly.
Không phải đồ ăn.
"You consumed it."
Kraith again.
Still not looking back.
Levi didn't answer.
Velkar spoke.
"Unstable."
Nyxara moved.
Its form flickered—just slightly.
"Different…"
Levi ignored them.
Ahead, Velkar stopped.
A dip in the terrain.
Not a cave.
Not a structure.
But something carved.
"Shelter."
They moved in.
Kraith first.
Velkar after.
Nyxara sliding to the side.
Levi stepped in last.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
Levi looked at his hand again.
Three left.
He didn't eat another.
He closed his eyes.
Tried again.
Not the sphere.
The moment before.
His breathing slowed.
His body tightened.
Recreating pressure.
Still—
nothing.
Kraith's voice:
"Pointless."
Levi opened his eyes.
Didn't react.
Tried again.
This time—
he didn't force it.
He changed something else.
His stance.
His balance.
His weight.
A small shift.
A line.
Barely visible.
Running along his arm.
Like something—
trying to form.
Nyxara froze.
It turned.
For the first time—
focused.
"Something… moved."
Velkar turned.
"Detected."
Kraith didn't move.
But he stopped walking.
Levi held it.
Didn't push further.
Didn't rush.
Just—
understood one thing.
It's not about forcing it.
It's about when it responds.
The forest shifted.
A sound.
Not from them.
From deeper inside.
Something moved.
Watching.
Waiting.
The trial had begun.