Floor 21 hit different.
The test area looked simple—an underground cavern system, lit by glowing Shinsu crystals. But the administrator's explanation made it clear this wasn't going to be easy.
"Navigation challenge," the woman said. She was a Ranker, judging by the density of her Shinsu. "Three exits. Only one leads to Floor 22. The other two..." She smiled. "Well, let's just say you won't like where they go."
"What's the catch?" Ran asked.
"The caverns shift every ten minutes. Passages close, new ones open. You could be five minutes from the exit and suddenly find yourself back at the start." She gestured to the entrance. "You have six hours. Good luck."
Team 3 entered the caverns. Yamamoto took point, staff in hand, eyes scanning the terrain.
"This is going to suck," Laure said. "I can track our position, but if the walls keep moving..."
"Then we move faster," Yamamoto said. "Laure, guide us. Ran, Novick—watch our flanks. Ship, stay alert for traps. Rak, rear guard."
"Why do I have to be in back?" Rak complained.
"Because if something attacks from behind, you'll enjoy fighting it."
Rak grinned. "Good point!"
They moved through the caverns methodically. Laure's Light Bearer device tracked their progress, mapping the tunnels as they went. But every ten minutes, a low rumble echoed through the stone, and passages would shift.
Walls slid into place. Floors dropped away. New corridors appeared where solid rock had been seconds before.
"This is insane," Ship muttered after the third shift. "How are we supposed to navigate when nothing stays still?"
"Pattern," Yamamoto said. He'd been watching carefully. "The shifts aren't random. They follow a sequence."
"You can see the pattern?" Laure asked, pulling up his tracking data. "Because I can't."
"Not see. Feel." Yamamoto tapped the ground with his staff. "The Shinsu in the walls changes density before they move. About thirty seconds of warning."
"You can sense that?" Ran looked impressed. "That's pretty subtle."
"Practice," Yamamoto said. "Shinsu's not that different from spiritual energy."
They continued deeper. Other teams appeared occasionally—some ahead, some behind. One group tried to attack them, thinking elimination would improve their odds.
Ran dealt with them in under a minute.
"Getting faster," Yamamoto noted.
"Learning from the best," Ran replied.
They reached a three-way split. Each tunnel looked identical—same width, same lighting, same Shinsu density.
"Laure?" Yamamoto asked.
"Checking." Laure's device scanned all three paths. "Can't tell. They all register the same."
"Great," Novick said. "So we guess?"
"No." Yamamoto stepped forward to the left tunnel. He stood there for a moment, eyes closed, staff planted in the ground. Then he moved to the middle tunnel. Same thing. Finally the right tunnel.
"This one," he said, pointing right.
"How do you know?" Ship asked.
"The air's different. Moving. The other two are stagnant—dead ends." Yamamoto started walking. "Come on."
They followed. Five minutes later, they found the exit to Floor 22.
Other teams were still wandering the caves when Team 3 emerged. Total time: forty-two minutes.
The Ranker administrator looked shocked. "You—how did you finish so fast?"
"Good leadership," Ran said, jerking her thumb at Yamamoto.
"And pattern recognition," Laure added.
"Mostly the old man's weird sensing abilities," Rak said.
Yamamoto said nothing. He was already looking toward Floor 22.
---
Floor 22 was different again. Not combat, not navigation. Something worse.
The test area was a massive open field. In the center stood a single tower, maybe a hundred feet tall. At the top was a glowing orb.
"Capture the Flag," the administrator said. A different Ranker this time, younger, with a scar across his face. "First team to bring the orb down wins. Everyone else fails."
"How many teams?" Yamamoto asked.
"Ten. Forty-eight Regulars total."
"And I'm guessing there's more to it," Laure said.
The administrator grinned. "The tower is coated in Shinsu suppression fields. The higher you climb, the more your power gets restricted. By the top, even A-rank Regulars are reduced to normal human strength."
"So it's not about raw power," Novick said. "It's about technique."
"Exactly. And speed. And teamwork." The administrator raised his hand. "BEGIN!"
Chaos erupted.
All ten teams rushed the tower at once. Some tried to climb immediately. Others fought each other at the base, trying to eliminate competition.
"Up," Yamamoto ordered. "Now. Before the crowd thickens."
Team 3 hit the tower running. Yamamoto led, his hands finding holds with practiced ease. Behind him, Ran and Rak climbed fast, their physical training showing. Novick and Ship struggled more, but kept pace. Laure... wasn't built for climbing.
"This is terrible," Laure gasped, pulling himself up. "I hate this. I hate everything about this."
"Keep moving," Yamamoto said. "Complain later."
They were halfway up when another team caught up. Six Regulars, all moving like experienced climbers.
"Move aside, old man," their leader said. He was younger, maybe early twenties, with the confidence of someone who'd never really been challenged. "This is our floor."
"No," Yamamoto said simply.
The leader smirked. "Your choice."
He attacked while still climbing—impressive control, using his free hand to launch Shinsu blasts while maintaining his grip with the other.
Yamamoto blocked them with his staff, never losing his hold on the tower.
The suppression field was strong here. Yamamoto could feel it pressing down on his spiritual pressure, limiting his Shinsu control. At full power, he could've incinerated the whole tower. Now? He was maybe twice as strong as a normal person.
Good. Made it more interesting.
The enemy leader launched a more serious attack—three Baangs, coordinated, designed to blast Yamamoto off the tower.
Yamamoto swung his staff in a tight arc. The Baangs hit the wood and dispersed.
"What the—"
Yamamoto kicked the leader's hand off its hold. The man yelped and fell, catching himself ten feet down.
"Ran," Yamamoto said. "Deal with the rest."
"On it."
Ran engaged the other five climbers. Even suppressed, she was faster than them, more skilled. She didn't knock them off—just blocked their paths, keeping them busy while Team 3 climbed higher.
They reached the top. The suppression field was crushing now. Yamamoto felt like he was moving through water, every action requiring triple the effort.
The orb sat in the center of a small platform. It glowed with concentrated Shinsu—probably some kind of artifact.
"Grab it," Yamamoto said to Ship. "You're the lightest."
Ship reached for the orb. His hand closed around it—
An alarm blared.
"WARNING: ORB REMOVAL WILL RELEASE GUARDIAN CREATURE. PROCEED?"
"Guardian creature?" Ship's eyes went wide. "Nobody mentioned a guardian creature!"
The platform shook. Below, climbers stopped fighting, looking up in confusion.
"Grab it anyway," Yamamoto ordered. "We'll deal with whatever comes."
Ship pulled the orb free.
The tower exploded.
Not literally—but Shinsu burst from every surface, and something MASSIVE rose from the base. It looked like a serpent, but made of stone and Shinsu energy, easily fifty feet long. Its roar shook the entire field.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Laure screamed.
The serpent lunged at the tower. Its jaws closed around the section where several teams were climbing. They fell, screaming.
"Down!" Yamamoto shouted. "Move!"
Team 3 descended fast, jumping between holds, using the tower's surface to control their fall. The serpent struck again, demolishing another section.
They hit the ground running. Ship clutched the orb, Rak and Ran flanking him protectively. Novick and Laure followed, with Yamamoto bringing up the rear.
The serpent turned toward them. Its eyes glowed red, locked onto the orb.
"It's following us!" Ship yelled.
"I noticed," Yamamoto said. "Keep running. Head for the exit portal!"
The portal was visible across the field—a glowing gateway that marked completion. But between them and it was two hundred yards of open ground.
And the serpent was fast.
It lunged. Yamamoto stopped, turned, and raised his staff.
"GO!" he shouted to his team. "I'll hold it!"
"You can't fight that thing alone!" Ran protested.
"I can slow it down. That's enough. MOVE!"
His team ran. Yamamoto faced the serpent.
Even suppressed, even limited by the field, he was still Genryusai Yamamoto.
The serpent struck. Yamamoto dodged left, using minimal movement to avoid the massive jaws. His staff jabbed into the creature's neck—not enough power to hurt it seriously, but enough to redirect its momentum.
The serpent crashed into the ground where he'd been standing.
Yamamoto ran toward his team, the serpent giving chase. It was gaining, coiling its massive body to strike again—
Team 3 reached the portal. Ship threw the orb through, and it disappeared in a flash of light.
"TEST COMPLETE! TEAM 3 PASSES!"
The serpent stopped. The suppression field vanished. Everything went still.
Yamamoto stood there, breathing slightly harder than normal. The serpent's head was three feet from him, frozen in place like a statue.
"That was close," he said.
His team ran back to him.
"Are you insane?!" Ran demanded. "That thing almost ate you!"
"But it didn't," Yamamoto pointed out.
"You held off a fifty-foot stone serpent with a stick!" Laure said. "In a suppression field! While we ran away like cowards!"
"You weren't cowards. You completed the objective." Yamamoto walked toward the portal. "That's what matters."
"Still," Rak said, looking at where the serpent had frozen. "That was good hunting. Wish I could've fought it."
"Next time," Yamamoto promised.
They stepped through the portal together.
Floor 22, complete.
---
The arrival area for Floor 23 was packed. Other Regulars who'd passed the previous tests were waiting, talking, forming groups.
"Floor 23 through 25 are connected," Evan explained. He'd appeared to brief them. "You'll face three linked tests over the next few days. They're designed to push teams to their limits."
"What kind of tests?" Novick asked.
"Can't tell you. Tower regulations." Evan looked at Yamamoto. "But I will say this: the Tower authorities are watching your team specifically. Whatever comes next, they want to see how you handle it."
"Let them watch," Yamamoto said. "We'll handle whatever they throw at us."
Evan nodded slowly. "I believe you. Just... be careful. The middle floors are where most promising teams break apart. Don't let that happen to yours."
He left.
Team 3 stood together in the waiting area. Around them, other teams were resting, strategizing, preparing.
"So," Ran said. "Connected tests. That means they're building toward something."
"Probably something terrible," Laure added. "Something that makes the stone serpent look friendly."
"Bring it on," Rak said, slamming his fist into his palm. "We're ready for anything!"
Yamamoto looked at his team. They'd grown so much since Floor 9. Ran was faster, more confident in combat. Laure had overcome his nervousness, becoming a reliable scout. Novick and Ship had found their roles, supporting the team with precision. And Rak... Rak was still Rak, but focused now, channeling his energy productively.
They were becoming a real unit. Something that could challenge the upper floors.
But Evan's warning stuck with him. The Tower authorities were watching specifically. That meant they had plans. Probably not good ones.
"Stay sharp," Yamamoto said to his team. "Whatever comes next, we face it together."
"Together," Ran agreed.
The others nodded.
Floor 23 awaited.
And whatever the Tower had planned, Yamamoto was ready to face it.