"…Too easy."
The words echoed in my mind.
But I didn't trust them.
I frowned slightly.
The first trial had been harder than this.
Much harder.
Even now, I couldn't confidently say I could clear that first stage with ease.
Yes—
I had grown stronger.
My body had been transformed.
My control had improved.
My instincts were sharper.
My mental fortitude was stronger than before.
But none of that was a reason to become arrogant.
If anything—
It was a reason to become more cautious.
I slowly lowered my hand.
Then looked around.
The battlefield was a mess.
Cracked ground.
Burning rocks.
Molten rivers.
The remains of Lithovar had already disappeared.
Yet—
Something felt wrong.
I waited.
One second.
Two.
Ten.
Nothing.
I narrowed my eyes.
Another few seconds passed.
Still—
No Tower notification.
No confirmation.
No reward.
Nothing.
My expression gradually became serious.
That was strange.
The moment Lithovar's core had been destroyed, I had expected the Tower to announce the completion.
It hadn't.
Why?
I slowly turned my head.
The volcanic domain was silent.
Too silent.
Then—
A faint sensation brushed against my instincts.
My body tensed.
Danger.
A quiet warning appeared inside my mind.
Not loud.
Not urgent.
But clear.
Danger.
I stopped moving.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
My gaze shifted toward the magma flowing through the battlefield.
At first glance—
Nothing unusual.
The rivers continued flowing.
Slowly.
Naturally.
But now that I was paying attention—
I could feel it.
A faint fluctuation.
Barely noticeable.
Almost nonexistent.
My pupils narrowed.
"…Energy?"
That shouldn't be possible.
The magma was part of the environment.
It didn't possess intent.
It didn't observe.
It didn't think.
Yet—
This did.
I remained completely still.
My blue pupils brightened.
My senses expanded.
Everything around me became clearer.
Every ripple.
Every sound.
Every movement of heat.
Every fluctuation in the surrounding energy.
I listened.
Observed.
Analyzed.
Nothing moved.
Except the magma.
But—
That was exactly the problem.
The magma was moving differently.
Not enough for an ordinary person to notice.
But enough for me.
My eyes narrowed further.
"…So that's it."
I understood.
The battle wasn't over.
Lithovar hadn't been the entire trial.
I closed my eyes.
My awareness spread outward.
Carefully.
Slowly.
I didn't search the surface.
I searched beneath it.
The volcanic ground.
The magma.
The energy flowing through the domain.
Deeper.
Deeper.
Deeper.
There.
A faint fluctuation.
Then it disappeared.
I opened my eyes.
Nothing.
I waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Then—
There.
The same fluctuation.
This time from another direction.
My expression became serious.
It wasn't moving randomly.
It was watching me.
Testing me.
Waiting.
I took a slow breath.
Then spoke.
"Come out…"
My voice echoed across the burning landscape.
"…wherever you are."
No response.
The magma continued flowing.
The volcanic mountain remained silent.
I waited.
Ten seconds.
Still nothing.
A faint smile appeared.
"So that's how you want to play?"
I lowered my stance.
Then—
There.
My senses caught it again.
Behind me.
My eyes snapped open.
Lightning flickered faintly around my body.
Controlled.
Focused.
"Found you."
BOOM!!!
I moved instantly.
My body shot forward.
In the next moment, I appeared above a section of magma.
The fluctuation was directly beneath me.
I was about to dive—
Then my instincts screamed.
STOP.
I immediately changed direction.
BOOM!!!
Compressed energy erupted beneath me.
I blasted myself backward.
A split second later—
BOOOOOOM!!!
The magma beneath where I had been standing exploded upward.
A massive column of molten energy shot into the sky.
I hovered several meters above it.
My eyes narrowed.
"…Too close."
That wasn't an attack.
It was a trap.
The disturbance I had detected—
Had been bait.
I stared at the magma below.
It slowly settled.
Then—
I raised one hand.
Energy gathered in my palm.
Dense.
Compact.
Precise.
I aimed at the surface.
Then fired.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The blast tore into the magma.
Molten rock exploded outward.
But—
It didn't behave naturally.
The magma resisted the impact.
Then moved.
My eyes sharpened.
The entire surface began shifting.
Spiraling inward.
Collapsing.
Condensing.
Forming.
"…So you finally decided to show yourself."
The magma rose.
Not like a wave.
Not like an eruption.
It rose like a body.
A massive form emerged from the molten river.
Far larger than Lithovar.
But unlike Lithovar—
Its body wasn't solid.
It was constantly moving.
Constantly flowing.
Molten.
Unstable.
Its shape changed every second.
One moment it resembled a beast.
The next—
A humanoid figure.
Then something completely different.
My eyes narrowed.
Multiple burning eyes formed across its body.
They opened one after another.
Watching me.
No roar.
No declaration.
No warning.
It simply stared.
I studied it carefully.
"…A mimic?"
The creature's body shifted.
Its arms became longer.
Its shape adjusted.
I frowned.
"Or something worse."
An evolution.
The creature suddenly moved.
Fast.
A massive arm of magma surged toward me.
I vanished.
SWISH!!!
The arm passed through empty air.
I reappeared to the side.
But—
The attack changed direction.
The arm split apart.
One stream became three.
Three became six.
All of them turned toward me.
My eyes widened slightly.
"…Adaptive."
I twisted in midair.
SWISH!!!
One stream passed beside my face.
Another brushed my shoulder.
A third passed beneath my feet.
I landed—
But didn't remain there.
SWISH!!!
The ground beneath me erupted.
Magma spears shot upward.
I jumped.
Another wave followed.
Then another.
The entire battlefield began changing.
The creature wasn't simply attacking me.
It was controlling the environment.
Every magma river became a weapon.
Every open space became a trap.
Every movement I made was being restricted.
I narrowed my eyes.
It wasn't trying to overpower me.
It was trying to control where I could move.
Force me into a mistake.
Smart.
Very smart.
I exhaled slowly.
My stance changed.
Lower.
Sharper.
Focused.
No panic.
No wasted movement.
If the body itself wasn't stable—
Then attacking the body was meaningless.
I remembered Lithovar.
Its body could regenerate.
Its core was the true weakness.
This thing was different.
The body was magma.
The outer form wasn't real.
Which meant—
The core had to be hidden.
Somewhere deeper.
I closed my eyes.
The magma surged around me.
I ignored it.
I didn't need to see.
I needed to feel.
Energy.
Flow.
Movement.
Origin.
I traced the creature's energy.
Surface.
Nothing.
Deeper.
Still nothing.
Deeper.
The energy became denser.
My senses followed it.
Further.
Further.
Then—
There.
My eyes opened.
A faint smile appeared.
"…Got you."
The true core was buried deep beneath the surface.
Not within the creature's visible body.
It was hidden beneath layers of molten defense.
Protected.
Concealed.
Waiting for me to attack the wrong target.
Clever.
But not clever enough.
Energy began gathering throughout my body.
Not explosive.
Not reckless.
Condensed.
Focused.
I bent my knees slightly.
Then—
BOOM!!!
My body shot downward.
Like a spear.
The magma reacted instantly.
The entire battlefield surged upward.
Massive waves rose to intercept me.
I didn't slow down.
I twisted through the molten currents.
One passed beside my shoulder.
Another closed behind me.
I shifted.
Another attack appeared ahead.
I changed direction.
The magma adapted.
So did I.
Every movement became a calculation.
Read.
React.
Adapt.
Predict.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until—
The distance disappeared.
The core was directly beneath me.
I extended my hand.
Energy compressed around my palm.
Tighter.
Denser.
Smaller.
Until all the force had been concentrated into a single point.
The magma surged upward.
Too late.
My palm pierced through the molten layers.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!
The strike reached the core.
For one brief moment—
Everything stopped.
The magma froze.
The creature's countless eyes flickered.
Then—
CRACK.
A fracture appeared within the core.
Another.
Then—
CRAAAAACK!!!
The entire structure shattered.
The molten body lost its shape instantly.
The massive creature collapsed.
Its countless eyes disappeared.
The magma fell lifelessly back into the rivers.
The pressure vanished.
The heat dropped.
Everything—
Went still.
I landed lightly.
My feet touched the ground.
I slowly straightened.
The battlefield was silent.
I looked around.
No creature.
No movement.
Nothing.
Then—
DING.
The red Tower interface appeared.
This time, there was no delay.
«[Second Stage Cleared]»
I stared at the notification.
A faint smile appeared.
This time—
I accepted it.
The second stage wasn't Lithovar.
Lithovar had only been the guardian standing between me and the real challenge.
The true test had been recognizing that the battle wasn't over.
I looked toward the magma rivers.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
The Tower had hidden a threat beneath the obvious one.
And I had found it.
I turned away.
But before I could take another step—
The Tower interface flickered.
For only a fraction of a second.
I stopped.
My eyes narrowed.
There was no notification.
No reward.
Nothing.
Just—
A brief distortion.
Then it vanished.
I stared at the empty space.
The same feeling returned.
Someone was watching.
I didn't know who.
I didn't know why.
But now—
I was certain.
The Tower wasn't merely testing my strength.
Something within it was paying attention to me.
I slowly clenched my fist.
A faint blue glow appeared in my eyes.
"…Interesting."
Then I turned toward the path ahead.
Whatever waited beyond the second stage—
I would face it.
One step at a time.