The world shifted around Markus. The walls rushed in as the ground undulated under him and his nose filled with the scent of pine and lavender.

He jumped to the side, but before he landed, the shifting stopped.

He looked around, his heart rate spiking.

The room was completely different. Gone was the courtyard with its view of the sky. Now he was in a square room about thirty feet across and half as wide.

The white walls were pocked with strange lumpy holes, and the light was dimmer than in most of the Scenario.

At the far end of the room was a narrow hallway.

A sign was planted in the snow before him, and scratchy white letters spelled out: “Don’t let your Skill drop, or you restart the course.”

“Hmm.” Markus scratched his chin. So the Snow Lord had separated them. And if he were a betting man, he’d guess they each had some challenge in front of them.

A quiet bark startled Markus. He looked straight down to find Noodle staring up at him, his shadowed form sitting on the snow, an annoyed expression on his canine face.

“You okay, buddy?”

The hound nodded.

Markus had to stop himself from flinching. It had been several weeks since he’d first seen the dog, but his intelligence still took him off guard.

Noodle’s eyes shown a bright yellow within his shroud of shadow, but they were doing a fine job displaying his annoyance.

Markus crouched down and stroked his fur, the cool shadow parting around his hand.

“I don’t like it either, boy. We’ll be fast and make it back to the others. Maybe if we’re quick enough, we can help them too.”

Noodle grunted and stood. He took two steps, then shook himself.

Markus rose with him and studied the lumps in the walls with suspicion.

Something was absolutely getting launched at him.

He sighed. “After this room, I’ll enter the hallway first, and you follow close. I’ll tell you if there’s something you need to dodge coming straight at us, but you need to keep an eye out too.”

Noodle grunted again.

Markus nodded once. “Let’s do it then.”

He reached out to his Skill. Its comforting warmth was just within reach, a steady reminder that all he had to do was wish it, and the amber power would follow.

This course was designed for him. That was a safe bet. If the restart condition was dropping his Skill, then the course would probably try real hard to stop him in his tracks.

So, Markus had to advance.

Markus called to his Skill, and it answered.

Power rolled through him, spreading down his limbs as it burst from his chest.

Markus pushed off, the snow cratering around his foot as he burst into motion.

Immediately the room came alive.

Snowballs with long ropes tied between them launched from the walls, moving fast enough to whistle through the air.

Markus hurtled the first bola, ducked a second, then caught a third with his hand.

The cold snow burned as it slammed into his palm, but his Meter made it bearable.

He swung the bola, tangling up another.

Noodle ran silently behind him. The dog's occasional grunts the only thing letting him know he was still there.

Something about this room, about the single-mindedness of it, made his Class sing.

The purpose of the room and his Class were in perfect opposition, and to achieve his goal, he had to advance.

It was wonderful.

At the three-quarter mark, a massive volley of bolas blasted from the walls.

Markus blinked as half a dozen came at him from both sides.

He didn’t have any time to plan. He acted.

He threw himself into a dive, sailing under the first two bolas. He rolled as he hit, dodging another.

One’s coming in from my right. I can’t get away!

Markus threw his arm out as he sprang to his feet, letting the rope smack into it.

The snowballs wrapped around, slamming into his upper arm. The snowballs were closer to ice than snow, sending numbing bursts of pain through his limb, but it didn’t slow him down.

He hopped the next bola hurtling for his feet, then tanked the last one as he made it to the hall.

He gasped but didn’t stop.

He burst into the hallway. It was a long, twisting thing he couldn’t see the end of.

It was filled with icicles that stretched from wall to wall, blocking sections off so he would have to jump and dive.

Markus sighed.

He was going to have to crawl on ice.

“Ah shoot. I’m too old for this.”

Noodle barked.