The Hall of Spire Explorers was almost exactly as it had been when we left.
Dozens of Awakened ones were discussing their assignments.
But when our team walked in, many turned their heads.
We looked as if we'd just emerged from a war.
Scarlett said quietly:
"Do we look strange?"
Orpheus shrugged.
"Usually people don't come back in the state we're in; they either return without much trouble or don't return at all."
Lilia was standing behind the counter.
She looked up.
And her eyes widened slightly.
"You… are back already?"
She looked at their condition.
"What happened?"
Orpheus said calmly:
"We need the briefing room."
The curator immediately became serious.
"I understand."
She gestured toward the door on the side.
"Come in."
A few minutes later, they were sitting at a long table.
Across from them sat two senior researchers.
A gray-haired man.
And a woman with short dark hair.
The gray-haired man said calmly:
"So."
"Who will be the presenter?"
Scarlett looked at Karina.
"I think she will."
Karina flinched slightly.
"Me?"
Rilay smiled.
"You're the most experienced."
Orpheus nodded.
"And you know more than anyone else about what happened."
Karina sighed awkwardly.
But then she nodded.
She straightened up.
And began to speak.
"We discovered the lair of the arachnid creatures about a hundred kilometers from the Citadel."
She spoke calmly.
Clearly.
Without unnecessary emotion.
"The Lord of the Spiders was there, commanding the swarm."
The female researcher raised an eyebrow.
"Lord?"
Karina nodded.
"Yes."
"He was destroyed by this team."
The gray-haired man looked closely at the four of us.
"I see."
Karina continued:
"Inside the lair were cocoons containing captive humans."
"We freed six survivors-exactly as many as we could carry. The rest might still be hanging there."
"Most… were used as food for the offspring."
The woman wrote down every word.
Karina paused.
And then she said the most important thing:
"However, this isn't the main nest."
Both researchers looked up.
"What do you mean?" the man asked.
Karina replied calmly:
"Before that, I was on an expedition about five hundred kilometers from the Citadel."
She looked them straight in the eye.
"There, our squad encountered a Relic-level Spider King."
A heavy silence hung in the room.
The woman stopped writing.
The gray-haired man said slowly:
"Are you sure?"
Karina nodded.
"Absolutely."
She continued:
"After the defeat, I lost consciousness from the sedative poison."
"And I woke up already in a cocoon in that lair, which this team destroyed."
The woman frowned.
"So…"
She looked at the map on the wall.
"Spiders transport their prey over enormous distances."
The gray-haired man said quietly:
"But why?"
Karina concluded:
"In any case, the threat is much more serious than a typical pack of minions."
The room fell silent again.
The researchers exchanged glances.
Finally, the gray-haired man said:
"That's… very important information."
He looked at the team.
"You did a great job."
The woman closed her journal.
"The reward for the reconnaissance mission will be increased."
She looked at them intently.
"And one more thing."
Her gaze settled on Karina.
"You said this squad saved you?"
Karina nodded.
"Yes."
The woman smiled slightly.
"Keep up the good work."
Rilay immediately smiled contentedly.
Orpheus leaned back in his chair with relief.
Scarlett nodded calmly.
And I looked at the rest of them.
When the briefing finally ended, the team left the researchers' hall.
The door closed behind us with a soft, muffled sound.
For a few seconds, no one said a word.
Then Rilay stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway, raised her hands, and announced:
"I'm dying."
Orpheus looked at her.
"From your wounds?"
"From hunger!"
She dramatically clutched her stomach.
"If I don't eat something in the next ten minutes, I'll start shooting people because I'm so hungry."
Karina blinked.
"Is that… possible?"
Oscar smiled.
"Yeah. If she says so, then it's possible…"
Orpheus sighed.
"Then let's save the city from a terrorist attack."
Scarlett said calmly:
"Food first."
"Plans later."
Rilay perked up instantly.
"Oh! I like that order."
The tavern near the guild was almost full.
The smell of roasted meat, bread, and hot soup hit her nose right away.
Rilay took a deep breath, as if she'd just found paradise.
"I love this place."
Orpheus looked at her.
"Have you even been here before?"
"No."
"But I love it now."
They sat down at a large wooden table.
The tavern owner, already accustomed to the Awakened, simply said:
"Food?"
The whole team nodded at once.
A few minutes later, the table was already covered with plates.
Meat.
Bread.
Soup.
Roasted vegetables.
Rilay grabbed a piece of bread and said with her mouth full:
"This is the best day of my life."
Karina laughed softly.
"After the battle with the Spider Lord?"
"Especially after that."
Orpheus raised a mug of water.
"To the fact that we didn't become the spider's dinner."
"And to our new healer."
He gave Karina a slight nod.
Everyone raised their mugs.
Karina looked a little embarrassed.
"Thank you…"
Oscar finally relaxed, leaning back in his chair.
Scarlett ate neatly, as calm and focused as ever.
Rilay had already eaten half her plate.
Orpheus looked at her.
"Are you even going to chew?"
"No time."
"I need to restore my mana by eating."
Karina blinked.
"Mana is restored by eating?"
Rilay thought for a moment.
"No."
"But have you heard anything about self-suggestion?"
Orpheus covered his face with his hand.
"Gods, why do I have to deal with this…"
Scarlett said calmly:
"You joined this team yourself."
"You had a choice," I pointed out.
"It's too late," Orpheus replied.
Rilay smiled.
"Welcome to Ash Storm."
Karina laughed softly.
Then she looked at everyone a little more seriously.
"So…"
"What are your plans?"
Oscar looked at Scarlett.
Scarlett looked at him.
Then she said:
"We want to get stronger."
Karina nodded.
"That makes sense."
"Everyone wants that."
Rilay added:
"But we have a secret goal."
She leaned forward.
"We want to find a way out of the Spire."
Karina froze.
She slowly put down her fork.
"Are you… serious?"
Orpheus said quietly:
"Very."
Karina sighed.
"I've heard of people like that."
"Usually they…"
She fell silent.
Rilay smiled.
"Die?"
Karina nodded.
"Yes."
Scarlett said calmly:
"We know."
She looked at Oscar.
"But we have a lead."
Oscar said quietly:
"The Hall of Wind Trials."
Karina frowned.
"Um, where is that?"
Oscar said.
"Yeah. Actually, I haven't told anyone else here yet. It's pretty far from here, and that's our destination. According to the map, it's a couple thousand kilometers from the Citadel, across the wilderness."
Karina thought for a moment.
"That's really far."
"And really dangerous."
Orpheus smirked.
"After today, that sounds like a typical Tuesday."
Rilay raised her hand.
"I'm in."
"If there's an ancient hall of trials there, that means there might be something really cool."
Karina looked at her.
"Do you make decisions based on what's 'cool'?"
"Mostly."
Orpheus sighed.
"I'm surrounded by idiots."
Scarlett said calmly:
"Aren't you the same, since you joined us?"
Orpheus thought for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Honestly?"
"Yes."
Karina smiled quietly.
She looked at everyone.
"But why would you risk your lives to find a way out, even though you don't even know for sure if there is one?"
Everyone looked at her thoughtfully, especially Orpheus.
"I think each of us has our own reasons for this," Scarlett said sadly.
I thought about it for a moment. Indeed, until then, I had tried not to ask myself that question, simply assuming that I needed to find a way out to keep myself safe, but no matter how you look at it, it would be much safer to stay in the citadel and live a pretty good life, maybe even start a family…
"I think we have to find a way out to survive. People are living peacefully now, but how long will that last?"
I paused.
"The construct guards the Citadel, but no one knows its true power. What if the Emperor comes here? Will everyone really be safe?"
"I saw a creature that doesn't seem any weaker than him, and it's just wandering calmly through the White Wastelands. What's stopping it from coming here and destroying this city?"
I looked seriously at everyone on the team.
"I want to find a way for people to retreat, and at the same time, become stronger. After all, the only chance to deal with monsters-which are walking disasters-is to become a disaster myself. So I just want to protect myself and my loved ones, if I have any. And also find my family, if they're still alive…"
I was about to entrust my life to these people, so I decided to speak my mind honestly.
Everyone looked at me with understanding. Although, to be honest, I thought the others would say something too…
Rilay raised her mug.
"Then it's settled!"
"We're heading to some ancient hall of trials that's bound to try to kill us!"
Orpheus raised his mug too.
"Great plan."
Scarlett smiled slightly.
Karina looked at them all.
And said quietly:
"You know…"
"Maybe I've joined a very strange team after all."
Rilay chuckled.
"No."
She raised a finger.
"A legendary one."
From then on, we started working as a team.
To be honest, at some point, the days started to blend together.
At first, every mission felt like a separate adventure.
We'd return to the Citadel, discuss the battle, argue, laugh, tend to our wounds, and then take on a new contract.
But gradually, everything became… a routine.
Work.
Training.
Work again.
Our first assignments were straightforward.
The guild rarely entrusts newcomers with anything serious. So we were given routine contracts:
clearing out small monster lairs,
escorting workers and resource gatherers,
searching for rare ingredients for alchemists,
and occasionally scouting nearby territories.
Nothing heroic.
But it's precisely these kinds of missions that build a team.
We began to get used to each other's roles.
Orpheus almost always led the way.
His golden armor and ability to draw enemies' aggression made him a true living shield.
Scarlett fought alongside him or slightly ahead.
Her rapier moved quickly and precisely, as if an extension of her will.
I stayed between them and the rear guard, reacting to what was happening around us. Sometimes with wind magic, sometimes with fire, sometimes just with my blade.
Rilay almost always found high ground or a vantage point.
And then the battle turned into a strange mixture of chaos and flashes of pure energy.
And Karina…
Karina turned out to be the one who literally saved our lives several times.
She was the most experienced among us.
Seven years in Spire is no joke.
Her Essence allowed her to heal wounds, but that was only part of her power.
Karina was a master of wind and light magic.
And she didn't use it just for support.
Gales of wind sliced through the air, knocking powerful monsters off their feet and tearing weaker ones to pieces.
Flashes of light blinded enemies or burned through them like spears of pure energy.
Sometimes she fought alongside Scarlett.
Sometimes she stayed a little further back. And her remarkable mobility was partly due to another ability of her essence. It allowed her to become invisible.
That's why she was particularly skilled with daggers and could, in some cases, be the first to initiate combat. Although invisibility wasn't a panacea against monsters, most even minions possessed enough instinct to detect approaching danger. But only if she was alone; in the heat of battle, only a truly powerful opponent would be able to spot Karina.
And at the same time, if any of us were wounded…
her hands would instantly begin to glow with a soft blue light, and the wind would sweep across the battlefield, healing our wounds.
Another reason she was so effective was her mana reserve.
Karina told us that an Awakened's mana core develops gradually.
The levels were known to all the Awakened in Spire.
Spark.
Flame.
Heart.
Star.
Abyss.
Karina had already reached the "Flame" level.
This meant her mana pool was significantly larger than ours.
And it showed.
Sometimes we'd be completely exhausted after a tough fight, but she could still easily cast a couple more spells.
Once, after training, she explained the core truth of the Spire to us.
"If you want to get stronger," she said, sitting on the edge of the training ground, "you need to train your mana core."
I asked:
"And how do you do that?"
Karina replied without much drama:
"There are two ways."
The first one was already familiar to me.
You have to consume monster cores.
After every hunt, we collected them-small crystalline formations that remained after the creatures died.
And yes.
You have to eat them. But they didn't drop from every creature. Usually, Newborn Minions didn't leave cores behind.
Rilay stared at the core for a long time for the first time.
Then she shrugged.
"Fine. I knew all this anyway."
"It's just that usually the monsters I killed didn't leave cores."
And she swallowed it.
Scarlett still insists that this was one of the strangest moments of his life.
The second method turned out to be even simpler.
And even more exhausting.
"Just spend your mana," Karina said.
"Until you're completely drained."
"Then restore it."
"And spend it again."
I asked:
"Is it that simple?"
She nodded.
"Your body adapts."
"Gradually, your mana reserves increase."
So training became a part of our lives.
We fought each other.
Sometimes against other Awakened ones.
Sometimes we just trained until we collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
I was getting better and better at the Ash Step.
Every time I used it, the sensation was the same.
As if, for a split second, you turn into smoke.
Scarlett was getting faster and faster.
Sometimes it seemed to me that her rapier simply vanished between strikes.
Orpheus began to control water and light better.
His defenses grew stronger and stronger.
Rilay experimented with her shots.
Sometimes quiet and quick.
Sometimes so powerful that half the training ground was covered in soot afterward.
Karina, on the other hand, just… watched.
Sometimes she intervened.
Sometimes she healed us after someone got a little too carried away.
At some point, announcements began appearing on the city streets.
Flags.
Posters.
Heralds in the squares.
Rilay was the first to notice one of the posters.
She stopped in front of the bulletin board.
"Oh."
"That's interesting."
We moved closer.
Written in large letters on the sheet was:
Citadel Regular Team Tournament.
Scarlett read aloud:
"Awakened teams can participate in a combat entertainment tournament…"
"Winners receive rare resources, guild recognition, and the right to choose high-level expedition contracts."
Orpheus whistled softly.
"Not bad. In previous years, the rewards were limited to rare resources-usually artifacts."
Karina folded her arms.
"It's also the city's main entertainment."
"People place bets."
"They come to watch the fights."
"Strong teams gain a reputation."
Rilay was already beaming.
"So…"
She turned to us.
"It's literally a fighting arena in front of the whole city."
I sighed.
"Of course you like this…"
She pointed at the announcement.
"We're participating."
Orpheus looked at Scarlett.
"Commander?"
Scarlett was silent for a moment.
Then she said calmly:
"Yes."
She looked at us.
"It's a good challenge."
Karina raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Are you sure?"
"The old teams will be there."
"Some of them have been together for years."
Scarlett replied simply:
"Then we'll have something to learn."
Rilay raised her fist.
"Ash Storm is entering the arena!"
Orpheus muttered:
"I hope we don't at least make fools of ourselves."
I looked at the announcement.
And only then did I realize one simple thing.
While we were completing missions, training, and getting used to each other…
three months had already passed since the day our team first left the Citadel together.