Sweat poured down Seth's face as he concentrated on the twisting, growing limb in front of him. Therus' arm had been missing from the elbow down when he found him earlier today. Seth was still working on regrowing the limb.

  The last two weeks had passed by in a blur of research and training, preparing for the final stretch of these trials. It had taken him about a week to figure out how to make his regeneration spell work on others. Once he figured that out, he started trading healing for pointers on areas he could improve. Even Aaron had taken advantage once.

  "Have I told you...you're stupidly fast at picking stuff like this up?" Pain clouded Therus' normal smile. As quickly as Seth picked up new skills, he hasn't quite had time to master the art of minimizing pain during healing. Or the art of making healing take less than an hour.

  "Too many times. And you give me too much credit. I'm sure you'd pick it up quickly if you had been in that trial?"

  "The one that tried to kill you over and over again to teach you to heal yourself?"

  "Yeah, that one."

  "Yeah, I'd probably have just died."

  "Don't be so down—"

  "I'm not. If I had plenty of time to learn, sure, I'd eventually survive a situation like that. But going from knowing how to heal minor injuries to regrowing limbs while being tortured... it's something else."

  "It's not so hard when you can compare it to something you know fairly well."

  "What would you know fairly well that has any parallel to this?"

  "Electrical engineering."

  "... I shouldn't even ask what that is, should I?"

  "Probably not."

  They both sat in silence as Seth healed his friend. Things had been awkward lately, and Seth suspected he knew why.

  "If you manage to get the inheritance instead of me, I won't hold it against you."

  "Now Seth—"

  "With that said, I'm not giving up. I definitely want to win, as I suspect it's probably my best shot at dealing with my... issue. What I'm saying is I won't hold it against you."

  "I don't—"

  "Unless you kill me. In which case, I'm haunting you for a thousand years."

  Therus looked at Seth with a slack-jawed expression, then started chuckling despite the pain. Seth joined in a second later.

  "Thanks. And for what it's worth, if you get it, I won't hold it against you either."

  "Happy to hear you won't complain too loudly when I win."

  "You sound confident," said Therus. The glow from the healing faded as Seth wrapped up the healing.

  "Well, after you spent so much time talking me up..."

  "Why do I... nevermind. Bring it on."

  They walked out together to look at the leaderboard. As always, it was up to date.

  Seth - Fifth peak - first successor candidate

  Aaron - Fifth peak -second successor candidate

  Therus - Fifth peak - third successor candidate

  Matrim - Fifth peak - fourth successor candidate

  Looking down at the clock. There were five flames, and some hours left until the next trial would begin. He had expected to see Jalon there. I wonder what happened. After scanning the list, he saw why.

  Failed

  Xiyuan - Deceased

  Jethar - Deceased

  Malcom - Deceased

  Jalon - Deceased

  When had that happened? He felt a small pang of sadness. Followed by a larger wave of guilt that he wasn't more sad. He hadn't known the man, but they had fought together, and now...

  Shaking his head, he went to the library. He still had plenty to do, and only a few hours left to do so.

  Several hours later, Seth was standing in the altar area. With him were Aaron, Therus, Matrim, and Xiaobo. He was pleasantly surprised to see Xiaobo, as he hadn't conquered the fifth peak when he last checked, but... yep, that was his name on the leaderboard.

  As they waited, a river of spirits flowed in through the ceiling. The old man who had spoken to them the first time also floated out and down to the top of the altar. Once he arrived, he hung there for thirty seconds or so, letting the river of spirits fill the room. The moans, wails, and shrieks were still unnerving, but Seth had grown used to them.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "Well done, candidates, in getting this far. We may have a successor this cycle after all, in spite of your... inauspicious start."

  The spirit turned his head to look each of them in the eyes. When the spirit reached Seth, he felt his body go cold and numb. All the colors seemed to wash away, leaving him frozen in a monochrome world. The spirit's eyes were searching for something, and he was powerless. Before long, colors returned, and the sensations faded.

  "All of you are indeed qualified to be here. The next trial is simple. You will be dropped into a labyrinth. The first three to leave will conquer the sixth peak. The remaining two will be ineligible to continue."

  Seth blinked, and he was in a gray stone hallway that was wide enough for three people to walk across and about twenty feet high. Dimly glowing orbs set into the wall at six-foot intervals provided enough light to see, but not much else. Behind him was a solid wall. Not wanting to waste time, Seth crept forward, checking before each step for traps.

  Twenty feet down the hall, a feeling of imminent doom washed over Seth, freezing his foot. The floor where he was about to step was a different color. His back sweated profusely as his heart lurched. The discoloration was only two feet across. A simple hop, really. Instead, Seth brought out his flying sword, sat on it, and flew over the trapped floor. Why hadn't I done this from the start?

  Seth turned left at the first intersection he came across. For now, he'd act like he had his left hand against a wall. It may not be the fastest, but it would prevent him from wasting time. You don't need to be first. You just need to be faster than two people. As long as you win in the end. He repeated those words as a mantra. They kept him calm and focused as he proceeded through the maze.

  After a few more left-hand turns, he came up to a room. He pulled out some ritual chalk and marked the door before entering. Inside, it reminded Seth of a large, empty gymnasium. Except for the truck-sized boar in the middle of the room that charged at Seth. He flew his sword up to the ceiling and started raining ice shards down on the boar. The boar leaped at Seth, but he was nimble enough on the blade to dodge the bulky boar. In short order, blood flowed freely from the boar as it slowed down.

  It took less than five minutes for the boar to fall to the side, shudder, and breathe its last. Now that the fight was over, he properly inventoried the room. It was mostly empty, except for a small iron chest under where the boar was hiding. He opened the plain chest and found five small spirit-binding gems and an emerald disc that spanned from the tip of his middle finger almost to his wrist. There was a one-inch diameter hole carved into the middle. Three dragons were carved on one side in enough detail that Seth half expected them to spring to life.

  After tucking it into his inventory, he found his marked door and took the first one to the left.

  Seth wandered for two more hours. During that time, he had come across dead ends and locked doors. After the first locked door, he brought out the blank book and started sketching a map. The first locked door had a slot that looked like it would fit a disc like the one he had. He tried the one he had, but it didn't work. After making a quick rubbing of the slot, he left it behind.

  Now, he was before another room to deal with. He marked the entrance with chalk and stepped inside. There were no other entrances or exits to the room that was only as wide as the hallway was tall. Seth tried to look at the ceiling, but if it was there, it was far, far above him. He took another step and was suddenly falling toward the wall. A quick twist of the body let him break his fall with no issues. The door he had come through was now above him, and the ceiling was now to his left.

  This is a 3D maze? Fuck...

  With a sigh and a shake of the head, he mounted his sword and started flying again. I'm not lost yet. It'll be fine...

  Not even an hour later, Seth was flying down the hall at a cautious rate of speed. Even in the air, there had been some traps for him. Nothing he couldn't handle. Overall, it was starting to get boring.

  A green wall rushed out to greet Seth, who slammed into it face-first. Ice-cold anger welled up. It wasn't the embarrassment of face-planting into a wall. It wasn't the pain. Compared to what he had been through, this didn't even count as pain. Instead, it was the complete unfairness of the teleportation trap. No sound, no signal, just an abrupt transition from a clear hallway to a solid wall faster than he could blink.

  Behind him was another wall. The hallway stretched out on either side. He went left. The left-hand strategy probably no longer worked, but it kept him from analysis paralysis. He floated on his sword and started a new map.

  Thirty minutes later, he was standing before another room. He marked it out of habit and looked in before entering.

  The hallway he was in entered halfway up the wall of a perfectly cubical room. Each wall was about two-hundred feet from side to side. The walls in the room were a translucent azure. He moved forward, and a sense of weightlessness descended on him. If I weren't on a flying sword, and I just stepped forward, would I be... no, I'm sure I'd figure something out. Just glad I don't have to.

  The room had nothing in it, just five other exits, each a different color. They were beige, red, blue, purple, gray, and the green he came from. He turned back and entered the green hallway. If he were right, he'd find a door that this would unlock.

  Another two hours and two rooms passed. He stood before a large jade door set in a wall of green. Upon inserting the disc into a circular recession, it slid open, revealing a pitch-black portal that refused to reveal what was on the other side. Two deep breaths later, Seth stepped through the darkness.

  On the other side was a jade throne room. Majestic green pillars rose from the ground, supporting the ceiling several hundred feet above their heads. In the middle of the pillars was a seven-stepped dais leading up to a shimmering green throne. Upon the throne sat a specter of a woman who was mesmerizing, even in death. Her eyes were so vibrant and alive, lips pulled up in a playful smile, twirling a strand of translucent green hair in her fingers.

  "So, you've come for me, boy." She laughed as she said it. There was no malice in her words.

  Seth wasn't sure what to say, so he looked her in the eye and held her gaze. She didn't seem aggressive, but held his gaze back with a smirk.

  "Not really for you, as charming as you are... I suspect you won't exactly tell me the way out though, will you?"

  "Well, you are adorable, but..." Six-inch claws grew out of her nails, and the spectral teeth in her mouth sharpened to points. "I'm not in the mood to die just yet. How about you join me here? Forever."

  Seth threw himself out of the way as her spectral form screamed toward him. He couldn't get out of the way in time, and one claw dug into his shoulder.

  His arm went numb with the icy cold pain that shot up and down the limb. He tried flexing it. It wouldn't move.