CYCLEBREAKER

Reaching the end of the staircase, Siff and Ryn found themselves in yet another dark room. It was big and square-shaped but almost empty. At the end was yet another outline of a door, embedded into the mossy dark stones. Above the door were four tablets. They were all in a row near each other and each had four sides, with every side displaying a set number of lines from one to four.

Above the tablets was another stone board.

"Hmm. 'Agility and cunningness shall lead to prosperity'? What could that mean, and how is it connected to these tablets?" said Ryn while nudging and poking the stone tablets.

"Well, the tablets all have different lines on them... Try moving them. Maybe there's a combination we need to set?"

Ryn pushed the first tablet, making the current combination of lines: two, two, four, three.

"Oh wow! It actually worked, but what is the correct combination? There are no other clues here to help us!" Ryn added while inspecting the tablets closely.

Out of nowhere, a loud sound of metal screeched, rubbing against stone and dirt as if it were trying to force itself through. The whole room lit up from above, and from both sides, spikes covering the entire wall started slowly coming out, closing in on Siff and Ryn.

"Siff, what should we do!? The spikes are closing in, and we have no idea what the combination is!" Ryn shouted while pulling on Siff's robe from behind.

Siff looked around, trying to find anything that could help them because surely this couldn't just be a death trap when they were so close to the end.

As the room lit up, the floor became more visible. "Ryn! Look down there!"

There were four murals on the floor, spanning from the staircase to the blocked-off stone door. The first mural near the staircase contained a human in a golden, silky robe eating a grape. The second mural showed two humans sitting at a table and drinking. The third mural portrayed only a mere Hollow, scraping along the dark depths of the underground. The fourth and last mural, closest to them, depicted a human and Hollow sitting together on a hill, admiring a sunset.

The spikes were slowly but surely closing in on the middle. Only about four meters of free space was left.

"Wait, Ryn!" shouted Siff. "You see how each mural has a set amount of characters and those tablets have a set amount of lines? Maybe if we match the characters to the lines, it'll work!"

Ryn rushed to the tablets. "One human, two humans, one Hollow, and a human and Hollow. So one, two, one, and two!"

She spun the tablets as fast as she could.

Nothing...

The spikes were getting dangerously close to impaling both of them and leaving them trapped in their lifeless bodies until the next cycle.

With only two meters of free space, Ryn started spinning in circles, trying to form a thought, while Siff sat on the cold stone floor, readying himself for the tragedy that was about to come.

With only about ten seconds left, Ryn snapped out of her spinning with a breakthrough conclusion!

"What if... these realms count bodies and souls separately? So the combination should be: two, because of a human and its soul, four, because of two humans and two souls, one, because of the Hollow that doesn't possess a soul, and three, because of a human with a soul and a Hollow without one!"

Ryn rushed to the tablets, changing the combination to two, four, one, and three.

The door opened...

With only forty centimeters and three seconds to spare, they both jumped through without so much as a single cut.

"That was too close!" said Ryn, trying to catch her breath.

"That was amazing how you figured out that the murals were connected to souls. I would have never thought about that," said Siff with a genuine look of admiration in his eyes.

Ryn took a short look at him and smiled while still trying to catch her breath.

Now they found themselves in a small, dark room with two closed stone doors. Each door displayed a pressure plate in front of it, and a stone board hung above.

"'The calling of thy destiny shall now be decided'?" said Ryn while trying to decipher the board.

Siff walked to the right pressure plate and stepped on it. Nothing happened...

"Do you feel that? That feeling that's been dragging us this whole time is just behind these doors!"

Ryn took a long, confused look at Siff. "No, it doesn't!? It's coming from the left!"

"Wait, what?" mumbled Siff.

"Yeah! I don't know what you're feeling, but that pressure that's been dragging us this whole time is on the other side of the doors on the left!"

They both looked at each other in confusion. Without saying another word, Siff remained in place, and Ryn walked up to the left plate. The outlines of the stone doors lit up in faint blue light, and the doors opened slowly, revealing a long, glowing hallway. Both of them, without taking a last look at each other, continued walking. The light was getting brighter and brighter, taking up the whole corridor and stretching all the way to the end.

Upon arriving at the end, Siff was met with yet another chamber. Tall rocky statues hugged the walls, and in the middle of the room stood a pedestal with a sword and a stone board hanging above it. The sword was glowing with immense power, pulsating strong energy that resonated with Siff in strange yet familiar ways.

It felt as though the sword had a soul of its own, or at least a part of one. The stone board above read: "The final stride. Shall it be fated at last?"

The sword was new, forged out of fine steel. It emitted a blue aura that was slowly spilling to the ground, making the floor foggy.

Siff took the sword into his right hand...

He felt a surge of thoughts and memories filling his mind. Countless battles and slaughters, war and conquest. The sword had experienced. The sword had felt. It had memories. The sword had a soul...

Unexpectedly, four statues started crumbling, and dark fleshy beings started crawling out. They were about the size of Siff, yet thinner and without life in their eyes.

One of them lunged at Siff, yet instinctively—almost like the sword had taken over—he strafed to the right, dodging the monster. The memories of war and battle that filled Siff's mind implanted experience and knowledge into him as well.

He slashed the monster across the chest, felling it to the ground in an instant. The other monsters rushed him immediately. He blocked one of the monsters, pushing it back and slashing its head clean off in an instant. The sword was almost dancing on its own, in a beautiful yet murderous melody.

An unexpected swing from a third monster forced Siff to back off. Without any control or intent, he flung his sword, piercing the enemy's skull and impaling it into the stone wall.

Now, without a weapon and knowing the last enemy was still standing, Siff put up his fists, ready for anything that was to come.

The sword didn't respond. It was as if it wanted to test Siff's raw ability to survive and adapt.

The monster rushed, throwing its bloody claws around and aiming straight for Siff. Siff managed to evade to the side, turning around and giving it a hard kick to the back. The monster flew back, hitting the hard wall and bouncing off to the ground.

Ready to finish the fight, Siff went for a final kick to the head. When suddenly!

The monster launched itself at Siff, evading his kick and scratching him across the chest with its sharp claws.

Siff fell to the ground...

Bleeding and in pain, Siff knew that this couldn't be the end. He mustered up all his remaining strength. Siff rushed the monster, pushing it to the wall and delivering a barrage of hits to its head. Completely overwhelmed by adrenaline, he kept hitting and hitting until the monster's skull cracked and the room became painted in red.

Exhausted and shocked, he kneeled to the ground, trying to catch his breath. He stood up and went to pick up the sword, which was now pulsating with a different kind of tone.

It was accepting and acknowledging.

Siff had passed the trial and had been acknowledged by the mysterious sword. It felt as if the sword connected itself to his soul, becoming a part of him.

A hole opened in the wall, revealing a long staircase going upward with a faint ray of light at the end. Siff shook off the blood on the sword, tied it to his waist with a piece of rope that circled around his robe, and set off for the light, hoping this was the answer to setting this mad world free.