Chapter 96: Test

Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Test

The passage grew narrower behind them.

Tolu crawled forward as quickly as he could, one hand against the stone wall while the other dragged his hammer behind him.

The creature was still coming.

CRACK!

A section of rock behind them broke apart.

Kenny looked back.

"It’s almost through!"

"Keep moving!"

They pushed themselves forward.

The tunnel suddenly widened.

Tolu saw light ahead.

Not sunlight.

Something softer.

A pale white glow spilled through the opening.

Kenny reached it first.

He threw himself forward.

Tolu followed immediately after.

They emerged from the tunnel and dropped onto smooth stone.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Then Tolu turned around.

The tunnel behind them was still there.

But the creature wasn’t.

The cracking had stopped.

Silence filled the space.

Tolu slowly stood.

"Kenny."

"I’m here."

They looked around.

The place was enormous.

It was a perfectly circular chamber with walls so smooth that they looked carved rather than naturally formed. The floor was made of pale stone, completely free of dirt, grass, roots, or water.

There were no crystals.

No plants.

No monsters.

Nothing.

Kenny slowly stood beside him.

"Where are we?"

Tolu didn’t answer.

He was staring at the walls.

Something about the place felt wrong.

The natural dungeon they had been exploring felt alive.

This place felt...

Still.

As though it had been waiting.

Kenny walked toward the edge of the chamber.

"Look."

Two large openings had appeared in the opposite wall.

They hadn’t been there a moment ago.

Tolu stared at them.

There were no doors.

No markings.

Just two identical entrances leading into darkness.

Kenny looked at Tolu.

"I think they’re for us."

Tolu nodded slowly.

"Probably."

"That thing chased us all the way here."

"And stopped at the entrance."

Kenny glanced behind them.

The tunnel remained empty.

"It didn’t come inside."

Tolu looked back at the two openings.

"Which means whatever is in here is something even that creature doesn’t want to enter."

Kenny swallowed.

"That’s not exactly comforting."

"No."

Tolu stepped toward the openings.

"Stay alive."

Kenny nodded.

"You too."

They separated.

Tolu entered the opening on the left.

Kenny entered the one on the right.

The moment Tolu crossed the threshold, the opening behind him disappeared.

He turned.

Nothing.

The passage was gone.

There was only a smooth stone wall.

Tolu’s expression hardened.

"Kenny?"

No answer.

He called again.

Still nothing.

He was alone.

A soft light appeared above him.

Then the passage disappeared entirely.

Tolu found himself standing in a completely white space.

There was no floor.

No ceiling.

No walls.

Yet he was standing.

He looked down.

Nothing existed beneath his feet.

He looked ahead.

Nothing existed there either.

Then a voice spoke.

"You seek wealth."

Tolu froze.

The voice was resounding in his mind.

It was unfamiliar.

Calm.

Neither male nor female.

"Who are you?"

There was no answer.

Instead, the white space changed.

The emptiness disappeared.

Tolu suddenly found himself standing in front of a massive estate.

It was beautiful.

Far larger than any manor he had ever set his eyes on.

Gold decorated the gates.

The walls were made of polished stone.

Servants stood on either side of the entrance.

Beyond them were warehouses.

Shops.

Caravans.

Factories.

Land stretching farther than Tolu could see.

Then the scene changed.

A massive city appeared.

People crowded the streets.

Merchants called out from their shops.

His name was everywhere.

Tolu.

The resource merchant.

The owner of the largest trading organization in the kingdom.

His wealth was enormous.

Thousands of gold coins.

Then tens of thousands.

Then more.

He had everything.

A beautiful home.

Powerful connections.

People who depended on him.

People who respected him.

No one could order him around.

No one could take anything from him.

No one could force him back into poverty.

Tolu stared.

He knew it wasn’t real.

He knew this was a test.

But that didn’t make it less tempting.

The scene changed again.

He saw himself standing before an enormous dungeon.

His dungeon.

It had become magnificent.

Massive forests stretched across its territory.

Mountains rose from the ground.

Rivers crossed the land.

Millions of creatures lived within it.

Rare ores filled the earth.

Ancient trees grew beneath beautiful skies, towering over all other things.

The Dungeon Heart floated at the center.

Level Ten.

Supreme.

Tolu’s eyes widened.

He could feel it.

The power.

The authority.

The freedom.

Nothing could threaten him.

Nothing could take his home.

Nothing could take his wealth.

Nothing could take the people around him.

Then the voice spoke again.

"Everything you desire."

Tolu’s heart beat faster.

"Power."

The dungeon grew larger.

"Wealth."

Gold appeared.

"Security."

Walls rose around him.

"Companionship."

Ore appeared.

Akin.

Temi.

Folami.

Kenny.

People he cared about.

All of them stood beside him.

Then another figure appeared.

Someone else.

Someone he hadn’t met yet.

A child.

Tolu stared.

The child reached for his hand.

His chest tightened.

He wanted it.

All the gold.

The power.

This.

A home.

People who stayed.

A life where he never had to wonder whether everything would disappear tomorrow.

The voice spoke.

"All of it can be yours."

Tolu took a step forward.

The scene became clearer.

His hands almost reached the child.

Then something felt wrong.

He stopped.

His eyes narrowed.

"What’s the price?"

The scene didn’t change.

The voice remained silent.

Tolu waited.

Nothing.

"What do I have to give?"

Still nothing.

He looked around.

The gold.

The dungeon.

The people.

The child.

Everything he had ever wanted.

It was all there.

But there was something missing.

He couldn’t see what.

The voice spoke again.

"Nothing."

Tolu frowned.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

He stared at the child.

Something about the answer bothered him.

Yet another part of him desperately wanted to believe it.

He stepped forward again.

His hand almost touched the child’s.

Then—

"Tolu."

His eyes snapped open.

He was still standing in the white space.

The illusion remained.

But the voice had changed.

It was the Dungeon Heart.

"Tolu."

His breathing stopped for a moment.

"You are being tested."

Tolu’s eyes narrowed.

"I know."

"No."

The Heart’s voice was unusually firm.

"You suspect."

Tolu looked around.

"What’s the difference?"

"Knowing means you understand what is happening."

The Heart paused.

"You do not."

The illusion shifted.

The people around him smiled.

The child reached for him again.

Tolu felt his resolve weakening.

The Heart spoke again.

"Look at what it offers you."

Tolu stared.

"Everything."

"No."

The Heart’s voice became quieter.

"It offers you everything without asking what you are willing to sacrifice."

Tolu froze.

He looked at the enormous dungeon.

Then the wealth.

Then the people.

"What am I missing?"

"The reason you wanted them."

Tolu’s expression changed.

He looked at the child.

The child wasn’t real.

None of this was real.

But the desire behind it was.

He wanted wealth because he had known poverty.

He wanted power because he had known helplessness.

He wanted a home because he had spent years uncertain of his future.

He wanted people around him because he feared losing the people he loved.

Those things mattered because of the journey required to obtain them.

Not simply because they existed.

Tolu slowly stepped backward.

The illusion began to distort.

The mansion cracked.

The gold turned to dust.

The people around him vanished one by one.

The child disappeared last.

Tolu clenched his fists.

"I’ll build it myself."

The white world trembled.

The voice spoke.

"Why?"

Tolu looked straight ahead.

"Because if I don’t build it, then it isn’t mine."

The illusion shattered.

The entire white space disappeared.

Tolu fell forward onto stone.

He caught himself with one hand.

He was breathing heavily.

The chamber was gone.

He was standing in another circular room.

A single glowing symbol floated in front of him.

For several seconds, Tolu simply stared at it.

Then the Dungeon Heart spoke.

"You almost failed."

Tolu sat down against the wall.

"I know."

"You nearly accepted the illusion."

Tolu looked at the glowing symbol.

"If you hadn’t spoken..."

The Heart remained silent.

Tolu exhaled.

"Thank you."

"You would have eventually realized the deception."

Tolu smiled faintly.

"You’re lying."

There was a brief silence.

Then the Heart answered.

"Perhaps."

Tolu laughed quietly.

For the first time since entering the strange place, some of the tension left his body.

He looked at the symbol again.

Whatever this place was, the first test was over.

And somewhere beyond the walls, Kenny was facing his own.

Kenny stepped through the opening.

The moment he crossed the threshold, the chamber behind him disappeared.

He turned around.

Nothing.

Only a smooth wall stood where the entrance had been.

"Kenny?"

His own voice echoed back at him.

He frowned.

"Tolu?"

No answer.

Kenny’s hand tightened around his sword.

He slowly turned.

The space ahead was enormous.

Unlike Tolu’s white room, there was no illusion of wealth or comfort.

It was a dark, empty plain.

The ground beneath his feet was hard and grey, stretching endlessly into darkness.

Then he heard something.

A growl.

Kenny’s body tensed.

Another growl followed.

Then another.

He looked into the darkness.

Two glowing eyes appeared.

Then four.

Then eight.

Then dozens.

Kenny’s breathing stopped.

Figures began emerging from the darkness.

They were beasts.

Dozens of them.

Then hundreds.

All Level One.

Some were wolf-like.

Others resembled large cats, boars, hyenas, and creatures Kenny