The stone arch closed behind Ainen, the last of the four to take his turn in this second round, and the notice that greeted all four of them on the other side landed with less ceremony than any of the last four had.
[Deck-Modification Attempts Remaining: 0]
[Further attempts require additional Champion-position event victories. Five 1st-place finishes will guarantee one new attempt.]
Rudra read it twice, unsurprised. "That tracks. Nothing in this layer hands out a second helping for free."
"Five wins," Lily said. "Not five attempts. Five outright championships."
"Then we'd better start winning outright more often," Almond said, and there was no complaint in it at all, only the same flat readiness he brought to everything.
"Music to my ears," Ainen said. "I was starting to miss losing to things that weren't caves."
---
They went home to a kingdom that hadn't slowed down in their absence.
