lody looked at Karrakas. "What do you an? Is it good or bad? Which is it?"
Karrakas set his hands flat on the table. "Both, depending on what happens."
He tapped the migration data. "The Spiked Turtle moving through that corridor is actually useful for us in one specific way."
"Large beasts displace smaller ones. The migration pushes the surrounding beast population away from its path, which ans the further out we go in that direction, the fewer beasts we’ll encounter." He paused. "In theory, that makes the walk easier for us. There’ll be less interruptions, which ans less chances of sothing forcing Lukas off course."
"So it’s good," Akira said.
"Unless we run into the Turtle itself." Karrakas turned to look at her. "In which case, we stop imdiately and we do not engage."
"Spiked Turtles aren’t aggressive by nature. They don’t exactly hunt. They simply move, feeding on anything within range, and ignoring anything that isn’t directly in their way."
He leaned forward. "But that’s the problem. If we’re in its way and we don’t know it’s coming until it’s already close, we don’t have ti to adjust course without Lukas breaking his line."
"And if it decides we’re a threat, the attack range on a C-rank Spiked Turtle is larger than you’d expect from sothing that moves that slowly."
"How do we spot it early enough?" Lukas asked.
Karrakas exhaled. "That’s the other problem. The shell matches the sand almost exactly. It has the sa color and texture at a distance. Most people don’t identify one until it’s already within its attack range."
He tapped the page again. "It’s not small either. The thing is enormous, but the camouflage works regardless of its size."
The table was quiet for a mont.
Then Karrakas picked up the docunt one more ti, reading through the projected path. His eyes moved slowly across the data before he set it down.
"Even with this developnt, we’re still going," he said. "The desert is vast, and the probability of our exact path crossing the Turtle’s exact path in the sa window is low. We’ll simply take this as the advantage it offers and we stay alert."
He looked around the table. "But I want everyone to understand what we’ll do if we see it. We’ll adjust our pace, create distance, and we do not engage under any circumstances."
They all nodded.
"Good. Then here’s how we move."
He pulled the hand-drawn map towards him and traced the route with his finger.
"Our main course of attack is fighting at range the entire ti. Akira and I will stay slightly ahead of Lukas, making sure he’s walking in a straight line."
"But our most important job is clearing whatever appears in front of us before it gets close." He looked at Akira. "Your [Death Bolt] should be able to hit targets at a farther distance than I, but I’ll work with my bow alongside you."
Akira nodded.
"Lukas." Karrakas looked at him directly. "[Smite] is off the table for this. The vibrations it sends through the ground will draw more beasts than we can manage while keeping you on course. You walk. That’s your job."
Lukas said nothing, but nodded. He wasn’t planning on using the skill anyways.
"lody, your job is to stay beside Lukas at all tis. I want [Hex Shield] up when anything fires at range. If sothing slips past Akira and I, I want you to finish it with your sword before it reaches Lukas."
He looked at lody. "Your priority is keeping him on his feet and on his line. Nothing else."
"Understood," lody said.
They all pushed back their chairs and stood.
Karrakas gathered the information packet into a neat stack and slid it across to Lukas, who stored it in his spatial ring without a word.
"We’re taking the southeast."
They filed out of the room, back into the corridor, and through to the smaller hall beyond.
The plan was set.
Now they just had to walk.
***
Sowhere on the First Floor.
A young man moved through a long corridor with confident strides, a serious look on his face.
He looked around nineteen, with long red hair that was tied into a ponytail and small golden earrings dangling from his ears.
He had a lean build, his body trained for speed instead of strength.
He pushed open the door at the end of the corridor and stepped inside.
The room was plain. It had no furniture or decorations, just a large mirror mounted at the far end, its fra dark and unremarkable.
His Adept aura moved around him as he walked across the room, coiling slowly like smoke. He stopped in front of the mirror and dropped to one knee, his head bowing forward.
The surface of the mirror rippled.
The reflection disappeared, replaced by a deep, complete darkness.
"I wish rcy onto you, brother."
The voice that ca from the darkness was low and deep, vibrating through the room.
"And I carry it," the young man answered, "as it should be."
"Rise, Sol."
Sol rose to his feet, but he kept his eyes down.
The darkness was quiet for a mont.
"The Fate Key ant for you has been taken," it said. "And most likely used."
Sol said nothing.
A long exhale ca from the darkness, but it wasn’t one of frustration.
"You are tri-classed," the voice continued. "One of the few existing with us. Among the Brotherhood’s Climbers, you represent one of our strongest paths to the top of the Tower."
There was a pause. "And yet your third class sits there, useless to you. A slot filled with nothing of value."
Sol’s head dropped lower.
"I don’t say this to sha you further," the darkness said. "I say it so you understand what is at stake when I give you this task."
Sol waited.
"Go to Salaria. There is a man there nad Lukas Valentine. He is the one who took your Fate Key and spent it." The darkness paused. "I have found a thod to extract a new Key from a suitable vessel. All you need to do is bring his corpse."
Sol went back to one knee imdiately.
"I am grateful," he said, his voice low, "for the grace to wipe away my sha."
The darkness didn’t respond imdiately. When it spoke again, it was quieter, almost gentle.
"Go forth, Sol."
The mirror’s surface rippled once more, and the darkness receded.
The reflection returned, showing Sol kneeling alone in an empty room, his red ponytail falling forward over his shoulder.
He stayed on his knee for a mont longer.
Then he stood, turned, and walked back through the door without looking at the mirror again.
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