Despite Fang's increased speed, we were the last to arrive at the entrance to Conflict's tunnel. Vaserra and Nexxa were waiting nearby, the storm giving them room as if afraid. I know its just whatever spell Nexxa is using, but the way she and Vaserra are chatting on the back of Frost Lily, their sheer presence combined with seeing rain falling on either side…

Yep, looks like the storm’s afraid of them.

"-not many left. And those who are, well, they've been making a Fronting mess of things. A lot more mess than help," Nexxa said, shaking her head, her good mood having passed since I'd last seen her. "One village, they'd sacrificed everyone. Even the kids. Bound himself to this big white tree in the center of the village. Literally stuck his hands and feet into the bark and became one with it. Was halfway to the next village when I stopped him."

"It is likely that the bond itself drove him mad. If he did not nurture the tree from its very planting, they would not have had proper attunement. A bond is not a thing to be entered into lightly, especially with something so foreign to our own minds," Vaserra replied, shifting to look over at us, giving us a nod.

"That… well, at least I didn't make him suffer when I stopped him," Nexxa said, also giving us a nod and a wave when she noticed us.

"Once the madness is upon someone, a quick end is the most we can offer," Vaserra said, shaking her head. "But enough of this. We came to… how did you put it? Crush some bugs? Let us make way."

Before any of us could respond, Vaserra urged Frost Lily forward and they bounded down the ramp.

"Rather excited, it would seem," Calbern called back before firing off a blast of steam then following them down.

Speaking of excited, I glanced over at Bevel, who was leaning forward in her seat, practically ready to fall out as we descended.

Didn't take long before we were rolling up to Conflict. The being had a massive set of workbenches, forges and large metal casts laid out beside it, which it was slowly moving between when we arrived.

It turned towards us, and at a volume that only shook my teeth instead of causing deafness, it said, "Ah, you have brought new ingots to my Infinite Furnace."

Vaserra started shouting a greeting, but Conflict snapped its fingers, managing a perfect volume to silence her without hurting any of our ears. Considering I hadn’t gotten a boost to resilience from running through Tender's forest paths, it certainly wasn’t that.

“I am Conflict. Never shall your entrance to my halls be one of peace,” Conflict said, its chains rising up behind it. “But return to my halls, you shall. For only here, within the Fires of the Infinite Furnace, can you truly test your mettle, unrefined one. And in passing through the Fires, not only will you find yourself reforged, you shall earn my Favor.”

"That… sounds awfully like what it said the first time we came down," I noted, frowning. Calbern nodded even as he kept his hands on the controls.

“Favor I am sure you will need, in the days to come.”

"Yep," I said, drawing on my improved memory. "Definitely the same thing."

No one other than Calbern was listening to me because three rough hewn metal platforms had risen a foot into the air, each of them stamped with the face of either Bevel, Nexxa or Vaserra. Behind Conflict, an open space with a likeness of Fang was waiting.

"Remember what I told you," I said to Bevel before she could fling herself out of Fang towards the platform with her face on it.

Holding up one hand, Bevel started folding in her fingers. "This is a good time to test new ways to use my spells, playing around is the best way to learn, fighting fair is stupid," Bevel listed off, holding up her last finger, pointing it at me with a smile. "And you're proud of me."

"Damn right I am," I said, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder. "Give em hell."

With a grin, she blasted out of her seat, alighting on her platform. She stood there with nothing but her bare hands.

Nexxa and Vaserra had already taken their platforms. Calbern rolled us over to what was clearly our position as I called out encouragement to all of them.

The fact Conflict hadn't asked us who would be taking part in the trials, and just assumed they all were wasn’t a great sign. It indicated that we definitely couldn't be bringing anyone down if we didn't think they could handle the rollerbugs.

Since there were three of them, the cages that slid into place were different than ours, but Conflict still kept their fights contained.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

While neither Bevel or Nexxa had chosen to bring a weapon, Vaserra was carrying a heavy spear. She was also up on her pedestal without Frost Lily, who’d joined Calbern and I.

None of them should have trouble, and as the first fight started, that was confirmed. Nexxa didn't even cast a spell, leaping forward and running up the back of the rollerbug, her innate lightning aura causing it to short out.

Vaserra snapped forward with her spear, destroying its head, and most of its body with a single ice-empowered thrust. One that sent little shards of ice flying everywhere.

The last platform is where I had most of my attention focused. A constant wind surrounded Bevel, sending her hair flopping about in a constant upward vortex. The rollerbug in front of her stopped in place, held there for several moments before its head smacked against the ground, cracking it open.

Neither Nexxa or Vaserra chose to hold back on the second wave, both of them utterly annihilating their opponents.

It was loud and bright enough that for a second, I wasn't able to see what Bevel was doing.

By the time the lightning and ice had died down, Bevel had managed to impale one of the rollerbugs with the other. Neither was completely busted, but it was a near thing. One of the impalee's free arms rose up and shot forward, shooting right through the impaler's head. Not done, Bevel then used that same limb, which had torn free during the attack, to stab the impalee through its own head.

She was playing 'you're hitting yourself' with the rollerbugs.

I chuckled, cheering them on once more.

"A rather impressive display," Calbern said as the next wave rolled out. "I must admit to some degree of relief at lady Bevel's performance, despite your assurances."

"Knew my girl had it in her," I said, despite having had those very same worries. Even if I'd believed in her, that nagging worry didn't really listen to reason.

They continued to clear the waves. Neither Nexxa or Vaserra had any problems, though neither went as all out after the second wave.

Meanwhile, Bevel continued to experiment. Her next one caused Calbern and I both to lean forward as she used herself as a projectile. She blew right through the first rollerbug's head, emerging on the far side with a wordless shout that managed to reach us despite the racket the others were creating.

It was hard to be certain but I was pretty sure Bevel had managed to use her magic to form a solid wedge of air. That heavily implied her magic was at least equivalent to a weak second Order spell. A lot stronger than it'd been before our little walk through Tender's forest.

Either that, or she'd really upped her control.

Really needed to get on setting up a proper scanner so I could get details for everyone who wasn't a Magus.

It didn't take long for them to finish up the next wave, and then it was time for the trial itself.

"You know, I know you said it was easy, but I've had tougher meals this week," Nexxa said as she hopped down.

"Papa! Did you see me? Did you see me, Papa?" Bevel asked as she ran over, waving back in the direction of the wrecked rollerbugs that were already being hauled away by the cranes above.

"Yeah, I saw. You did great," I said, ruffling her hair. “Crushing with style.”

I looked towards Nexxa, about to respond when Vaserra beat me to it.

"Sufficient to whet the blade, yet little more," she agreed with a stoic nod towards my sister.

Hearing her words, Bevel, who'd been smiling and lifting her arm towards the other women, sagged a little, the smile crumbling. Clearly it hadn’t felt so easy to her.

"Hey, don't listen to them. You did better than I did when I first fought them," I said, ruffling her hair again. "And I had the advantage of lightning."

"I 'spose," Bevel muttered, kicking the ground as we moved towards the stairs leading down.

Comparison truly was the thief of joy.

"Could any of your new friends have done it?" I asked, hoping to at least shift her comparisons to someone a little more realistic. Comparing oneself to either of the woman ahead would be disheartening, even for me.

"None of them even have magic," Bevel said with a huff as we started down the long metal stairs.

"Nor could they stand so bravely in the face of such a foe," Calbern said from Bevel's other side, having finished moving Fang back towards the entrance. "You shall have many new stories to tell them, the next time you meet."

"He's right. Assuming they even recognize you. Bet you could pretend you were your own older sister, if you wanted."

Bevel chuckled at that, shaking her head. Then her mouth dropped open slightly upon seeing the doors that awaited us.

It wasn't a surprise that it wasn't my door that caught her attention but Calbern's. I'd mentioned that the doors shifted to take on the appearance of what we'd done inside, but I hadn't gone so far as to mention what his looked like.

Precisely cause I was hoping for a reaction exactly like she’d had.

When she stepped towards it, the image shifted back to the image we’d first seen, of a woman using a forge, sweat dripping down her face on the left and her wielding her sword on the right, facing the metal devil. Only this time, it was Bevel’s face on the door.

There were only four doors, and we hadn't been sure if Keeper would let us use them after the first person went through, so Calbern had offered to return the next day if that turned out to be the case.

Despite myself, I found myself hanging back as the other three stepped towards their doors. Vaserra and Nexxa were both completely at ease, having been briefed on what to expect on the other side, along with my theories about what sort of actions might affect which enhancements.

Nexxa was actually going to attempt to get something similar to my own focus, though she was hoping for more Pattern Recognition and less mind spell speed. Or Neural Dynamics, if going by the actual label.

Considering Vaserra had no use for mind spell speed enhancement, she was hoping to push up everything else. Which she figured would involve creating more tools and weapons, while fighting the kaiju thing Calbern had found outside.

Bevel… well, Bevel hadn't said what she wanted out of the trial. I wasn't sure she knew. If I was going to pick for her, I'd probably want reaction times and pattern recognition. Just cause those would be the most likely to keep her safe.

After I'd explained my theories, she'd gone into thought, pulling out one of the journals I’d given her writing down notes, nodding seriously as she wrote.

The moment the three of them froze, I realized I was delaying my own trial for no reason. I'd see them in a week or so after completing even more designs. A few more seconds weren't going to matter.

I placed my hand on my door which still showed the distant peaks.

It was only as I stepped through that I happened to notice the kaiju's form between two columns of stone.