The ruins loomed before them, cracked stone pillars jutting from the earth like the skeletal remains of a forgotten civilization. Alex gripped his weapon, scanning the shifting mist as the guttural growls grew louder.
"Positions!" Nyssa commanded, drawing her twin daggers. The operatives formed a defensive circle, their eyes darting between the crumbling structures.
From the shadows, they emerged.
The creatures were unlike anything Alex had ever seen—hulking beasts with glistening obsidian skin, their glowing crimson eyes locked onto the intruders. Their movements were unnatural, almost distorted, as if reality itself twisted around them.
One lunged forward.
Alex reacted on instinct. A surge of mana coursed through him, igniting his blade in crackling energy. He sidestepped the beast's strike and drove his sword deep into its hide. The creature screeched, its body convulsing as it disintegrated into dark mist.
The battle erupted around him.
Nyssa weaved between two of the monsters, her daggers finding the gaps in their shifting forms. Soren unleashed a torrent of fire, engulfing a cluster of them in flames. The operatives fought fiercely, but the creatures kept coming.
Alex's heart pounded. He felt something—an ancient presence watching them. A test. A challenge.
A deep, resonant voice echoed in his mind.
"Prove your worth."
The ground beneath them trembled, and a massive figure emerged from the ruins. A beast unlike the others—larger, its form draped in ethereal chains that pulsed with ancient power. Its eyes locked onto Alex.
The first trial had truly begun.