The greatest catastrophe a man faces is losing everything. A weaker man will break at the thought of starting over, but a strong one will gather the remnants of their willpower and view it as a fortune from disaster. A chance to rebuild and correct mistakes made in the past.

~Dzbog, the God of Fortune

Information filled Crow’s head, and with it, he looked off toward the northwest and saw the singular majestic mountain mentioned. It was at the center of this realm, and it rose far above the surrounding forest. Its shape gave credence to its name—Raven’s Beak Mountain. It had a cleft that went from the peak to halfway down its rocky slopes, giving it the appearance of a baby bird’s beak reaching toward the skies as if wanting to be fed.

The northernmost region held a volcano and lakes of molten lava. Above it was black clouds constantly swirling and ash raining endlessly. It was an area where few would tread because the heat was so intense.

In the southeast was a massive body of water that might as well be an ocean. The water froze near the edge of the realm because of Frostburn Glacier, which wasn’t nearly as majestic as Raven’s Beak Mountain. But that was because half the glacier was under the frozen seas.

Everything in between was considered Wistman’s Wood, a place that Crow knew from historical documents that his clan had. It was mentioned that Wistman’s Wood was an ancient place designed to train fledgling Draoidh. And if this was that place, then it wasn’t all that simple. It might even explain why some of the people in the crowd around him didn’t look as if they were from Litavis, which meant it was likely they came from other towers. So much information flooded his mind, and he evaluated many theories and tossed out most. The idea of these people coming from other towers was most likely the correct one.

“Now that you know where you are, we’ve also supplied a simple guide on resources and beasts you may find within. However, this is not a complete guide and only contains the most basic information surrounding the Colossus.”

“What about the rewards?” A random person asked from the crowd.

“While the trial isn’t complicated, the rewards are. Between the cleft in Raven’s Beak Mountain is the Temple of Awen. If you are truly worthy, you may receive an inheritance from that place, and if you aren’t but still manage to reach it, you may gain a reward. But you should know, only about a dozen of you will manage to reach the temple.”

“How do we reach it? Climb up?”

“You could climb, but you’ll most likely die. Look in the clouds above the mountain. You will see many flying beasts. It is highly recommended that you stay close to the ground, or you’ll become their food. If that was too subtle… don’t fly.”

Silence greeted this comment.

“Good, you understand. The best way to reach it is to find the Shrines of Awen—there are ninety-nine scattered all throughout the realm. You’ll know them when you see them, but just in case we have a few idiots among you, they are wooden structures that look like they were grown, not built. If you haven’t noticed yet, on your gate in the henge above us, you should have seen ninety-nine runes that haven’t been lit up yet, with the hundredth rune at the top center, which is partially glowing.”

“Are the Shrines safe?”

“If you’ve solved the puzzle of the Shrine, then yes, it’s safe—or at least you can escape danger through it. You’ll light up the rune on your gate by solving the puzzle, allowing you to teleport between the henge and there. At any time, you can highlight any Shrine you’ve activated and teleport to it from the henge. This means I should mention that the entire area past the Colossus is called Sanctuary. It is safe, and no beast will try to enter here because this statue above me isn’t a statue. He’s a guardian, a construct, and is very much sentient. If you try to harm, kill, or otherwise plot against each other here, Colossus will kill you. There are no grievances inside Sanctuary, and I hope you don’t learn that lesson the hard way.”

“So we can warp back to escape danger?”

“Warping back from a Shrine will link your gate to it, but the rune will remain dark if you don’t cross back through that gate. This means the next Shrine you enter will overwrite the gate, and that rune will be lost unless you go there again. If you are chased into the Shrine, the beasts are smart enough to know you need to return or attempt the puzzle gain. Call it a penalty.”

“Can we warp to a Shrine near it?”

“You can, but again, doing so will erase that rune. Going from Sanctuary to a Shrine will not darken the rune, only if you enter from a Shrine to Sanctuary. This is primarily to prevent you from using the Shrines as your personal transportation service.”

“Are there rewards for solving Shrines?” Crow asked.

“Not from the Shrines specifically, but there are reward tiers for activating a certain number of Shrines. The first reward is at twenty Shrines… your reward is a unique rune that will appear on your gate, allowing you to exit this realm.”

“That’s it?”

“You’ll soon realize that leaving here alive might be the greatest reward you’ll ever receive,” the sphere’s mysterious implications quieted the crowd.

“When will the main rune activate?” Crow broke the silence.

“At seventy Shrines.”

“Only seventy?”

Sinister laughing came from the sphere, and Crow shuddered upon hearing it.

“Only? You fool. That will only get you into the temple, and remember what I said at the beginning?”

“Only a dozen of us will make it that far?” Crow lost track of all the people asking questions and didn’t bother paying attention. The information gathered was more important than who was asking. At least, so far. No one had asked a question that made Crow feel that person was someone worth paying attention to.

“At least someone is paying attention. All other rewards you’ll have to discover on your own. That is as much information as I’m allowed to give. I recommend you monitor the runes surrounding your gate. You may find something interesting if you’ve solved enough puzzles. All the amenities of Sanctuary will remain open to you, but please note there is a time limit. You solve a Shrine every thirty days, starting now. If you don’t… I’m afraid you won’t be leaving this place.”

“Thirty days from the day we solved the last one?” This was the question Crow was about to ask, and he turned to find the person asking. The man was about Crow’s age but was slight of build and had shaggy, unkempt hair. Outwardly, he appeared like a harmless scholarly type, but something about him registered as sinister. Crow knew he was looking at a person from the Unholde Sect. At the very least, he could faintly sense evil mana from the man he’d long registered as Hex.

“Correct. If you solve a Shrine today, you have thirty days to solve the next. If you solve it in twenty-nine days, you have thirty more days to solve the next. Overall, that seems easy, right? But if you are forced back to Sanctuary and reset a Shrine, your thirty-day timer works off the last Shrine you solved…”

Several people hissed at that, and even Crow had a cold sweat. Giving up a Shrine might be a death trap. Even if the time to solve a Shrine’s puzzle was short, Crow didn’t imagine the Shrines were all right next to each other. The realm looked massive, so the amount of travel time also played a part.

“May we start?” The same boy asked, and Crow noticed he was surrounded by another eight people that also gave off the same sinister vibe as him. His group was one of the largest, and most of the people he chose seemed competent enough. However, he sensed something was wrong with their attitudes toward each other, and they weren’t unified as they appeared.

“You may, but… you might want to hear the last part.”

“There’s more?”

“Other than beasts, traps, and puzzles, there is one last trick…” the sphere’s sinister laugh was grating, but Crow knew this wasn’t going to be pleasant. “Once you leave Sanctuary, all your abilities, techniques, and spells will be suppressed. The only technique you can use is the one inside your artifact, which is now open, so you may activate it like a vestige. The symbol on it should give you a clue. Learn it well because you should now understand that cooperation is necessary. If that isn’t a big enough hint, most Shrines can’t be solved by yourself. Team up or wait for your death.”

With that, the sphere faded into particles and disappeared inside the colossus. Everyone looked at each other. Crow was more interested in his ring and noticed once the barrier fell, the ring on his finger grew warm. Sending his consciousness into it, he saw there really was a technique inside of it.

“What do we do?” Hooligan asked.

“You both have one week to learn the technique inside your artifact. We leave once you’ve done that.”

“What about our thirty-day limit?” Hooligan asked and looked toward Munro, but he didn’t bother acknowledging her. Since he accepted Crow as his leader and knew how intelligent he was, he didn’t question the order. Besides, it didn’t take much intelligence to realize the danger outside Sanctuary. With no abilities, leaving this place was death. Even if the beasts didn’t get them, the other challengers would.

Crow pointed toward the forest through the Colossus’s legs. “That’s our first Shrine. We can reach it in less than an hour, but I’m not going there unprepared. A week is enough time to learn our new technique and still have plenty of time to complete that Shrine.”

Crow decisively left the gathering and went back to his room.