Chapter 30: Exam (10)

"Ok focus, here’s the play." Tristan said, speaking as fast as possible, the thunderous steps of the minotaur getting louder by the moment. "The beast has a few basic attack patterns, mostly wide axe swings and grappling. But its most dangerous move is its charge. When it locks onto a target and charges, its speed is terrifying, but its momentum makes it impossible for it to change direction easily."

Oliver kept his eyes on the rattling door, his grip white-knuckled on his polearm. "And?"

"And," Tristan pointed to the massive, rusted iron statue of the Minotaur in the center of the candlelight array. "That statue is solid iron, much tougher than these limestone walls. What better prey to trigger a charge than a wounded target? You stand in front of the statue. Act hurt or something. When it bursts through that door, it will lock onto you and charge. With your speed stats, you can dodge at the absolute last millisecond. The beast will crash headfirst into the iron. It’ll be concussed just long enough for us to slip out the door."

Oliver frowned, finally tearing his eyes away from the entrance to glare at Tristan. "And what exactly will you be doing? Why do I have to take all the risk?"

"Because I don’t have the speed to dodge it, Oliver. You do. Also you look stupid which should help it lock in to you. I’ll be by the door, ready to—"

Tristan didn’t even see the swing.

The blunt end of Oliver’s steel polearm slammed viciously into Tristan’s ribs. The sickening crack of bone echoed through the eerie chamber as Tristan was launched backward, crashing hard against the base of the iron statue. He coughed violently, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the cold stone floor, his vision swimming with black spots.

"Why pretend to be wounded," Oliver said coldly, his eyes dead and unfeeling, "when one of us could actually be the bait?"

Tristan wheezed.

Before Tristan could force air back into his paralyzed lungs, the heavy stone door exploded inward.

The Minotaur tore into the room, its violet eyes burning with corrupted rage. It immediately spotted the bleeding, helpless boy crumpled at the base of the statue. A guttural roar shook the candles, extinguishing half of them instantly. The beast lowered its massive horns, dug its hooves into the floor, and charged.

"Enjoy the exam, Verneuil," Oliver sneered, instantly retreating to the far, shadowy edges of the room to slip out the ruined doorway.

’You son of a bitch,’ Tristan cursed internally, struggling to raise a hand. ’Can’t say I didn’t see that coming.’

The beast was a freight train of muscle and iron closing in at blinding speed. Tristan had a fraction of a second. He slammed his bloody palm backward against the cold iron of the statue. He pushed his core to the absolute limit, forcefully ignoring the agony in his ribs, and activated his unique ability.

"[Reave]."

He targeted the statue behind him. He reached into the conceptual fabric of the rusted monument and violently tore away its defining physical trait, slotting it directly into his final empty capacity slot.

[Concept Acquired: Iron Density]

The Minotaur hit him.

It was like being struck by a meteor. The impact launched Tristan backward, pinning him between the beast’s massive skull and the statue. But instead of turning into a fine red mist, Tristan’s magically condensed body held firm. He felt his bones strain, but they didn’t break. He had become as dense and unyielding as solid iron.

’Not to say this doesn’t hurt’

The Minotaur’s momentum carried completely through him, slamming squarely into the statue. Because Tristan had stolen its density, the towering monument was now as brittle as dry clay. It exploded into a thousand rusted fragments upon impact, sending the Minotaur tumbling into the debris with a deafening crash.

Across the room, Oliver froze mid-sprint. He turned back, his eyes widening in absolute shock as the dust cleared to reveal Tristan, bruised, bloody, but very much alive, stepping out of the rubble.

But Oliver was nothing if not pragmatic. Shock quickly gave way to a new move. If Tristan was alive, he could still be the target. Oliver immediately turned and bolted out the broken doorway, desperate to reach the golden doors of the sanctum before the stunned beast recovered.

"Oh, no you don’t!" Tristan snarled, his iron-density fading as his essence ran dry.

He scrambled over the rubble and chased after the armored noble. But as they burst back out into the main corridor leading toward the exit, the reality of their stats set in. Without any charges of [Swift] left, Tristan was significantly slower. Oliver was a blur of motion, rapidly pulling away down the long, final hallway.

Tristan raised a hand, considering [Restrain]. But the chains required a brief moment to travel and lock on. Against a target moving that fast, accelerating away from him, it would miss entirely. And behind him, an infuriated roar signaled the Minotaur regaining its footing.

’This is not fun’

He wasn’t going to catch Oliver. No chance.

’Unless...’

Tristan closed his eyes for a split second while sprinting. He thought about the labyrinth. He had spent the last several hours mapping every single turn, every door, every threshold. He understood the architecture of the exam on every possible level. An entrance was just a concept. An exit was just a concept.

Right?

He didn’t have to reach the exit.

Tristan expelled the [Iron Density] concept from his queue, freeing up a slot. He reached out with his mind, casting [Reave] not at a physical object, but at the sprawling, magical framework of the labyrinth itself. He focused entirely on the golden double doors resting hundreds of yards away at the end of the hall.

’Give it to me.’

Tristan didn’t care. He burned the last dregs of his stolen essence stones, overriding the warnings. He felt the fabric of space stretch and tear under the weight of his command.

Tristan screamed at the burden he was placing under his body and core, but he didn’t stop,

Suddenly, right in front of Tristan in the middle of the empty hallway, the air shimmered and split open. A glowing, golden doorway materialized out of thin air.

Far down the hallway, Oliver skidded to a horrifying halt as the towering sanctum doors he had been sprinting toward simply vanished, leaving nothing but a blank, dead-end stone wall.

Tristan held the abstract concept of the exit in his mind. He then immediately used it to carve his own way out. He slammed his palm against the solid, seamless limestone wall to his right.

The stone rippled like water. The stolen concept forced the labyrinth’s architecture to obey, tearing open a swirling, jagged portal straight through the solid rock into the relative safety outside this room.

Tristan stood by his newly made doorway and looked down the hall at the trapped, terrified noble. Oliver was backed against a solid wall, his polearm trembling as the massive shadow of the Minotaur swallowed him.

Tristan offered Oliver a lazy, two-finger salute.