Micro rubbed his head and looked up to see the five shocked faces of Kel’s comrades looking down at him. Den’s was particularly alarming.

  “What is the meaning of this?!” Den demanded. “Where is the young master?”

  “How were you able to leave before Kel?” Tae shouted at Micro with tears streaming down her face.

  “Something is different about the boy…” another man commented. “His aura has matured drastically in such—”

  “Tell me where Kel is, now!” Tae reached out and grabbed Micro by the shoulders.

  “He’s in there,” Micro replied quietly, pointing behind him. After an audible crack was heard from one of his shoulders, Den placed his hand on her wrist and she released him, but her glare remained intense.

  “I didn’t mean to leave without them…” Micro frowned, and rose to a sitting position. “The turtle said I passed, so I couldn’t stay…”

  “What of Kel?!” Tae’s voice trembled.

  “The turtle said he would probably fail.” Micro replied, his frown deepening.

  “It can’t be…” Den fell backward against the wall of the tunnel, his hand rising to his heart.

  “No…” The rest of the cultivators became like puppets with cut strings, limply falling back in despair, their mournful sighs echoing in the cave like an eerie wind. But Tae’s aura only became more fierce.

  “You…” she seethed as she took a step toward Micro. “You said he would probably fail… Those were the dungeon guardian’s words, correct?”

  “Yes, that’s what the turtle said,” Micro confirmed, nodding solemnly.

  “Then, he’s still alive, right?” Her reddened eyes narrowed. “Answer me!”

  “He is,” Micro replied as he stood up and stretched out his sore shoulder. “He was just sleeping, I think.”

  “Kel…” Tae’s face contorted as she looked spitefully at the glowing dungeon gate, its light still illuminating every crevice and corner of the tunnel, and casting dark shadows on the mourning faces of the cultivators. “Oh, Kel…”

  Micro the turned to walk back to the gate, clearly about to enter it. However, this time Den was quick enough to grab him by the arms.

  “What are you doing, boy?!” Den shouted. “You would court death not once, but twice in a single hour? I don’t know what trick of fate brought you luck enough to escape, but even we dare not enter!”

  “The ancient keeper of the Jade Fire Turtle Art Dungeon may have spared you once out of pity,” Tae added bitterly. “But you would not be so lucky a second time.”

  “You weren’t going to head inside?” Micro asked. “The door is wide open…”

  “Though we may be Kel’s escorts and guards, we have not received the specialized training to which the heir is entitled,” Den explained with a look of shame. “It is the heir’s fate to walk the path of this art, both in life and in—”

  “It’s not that—” Micro began.

  “You were lucky to escape once,” Den interrupted him.

  “I didn’t escape,” Micro corrected her. “He kicked me out after I passed the practical exam.”

  “Cruel lies!” Den shouted, but when he looked to Tae for confirmation, he saw her face pale with shock. “He’s lying, isn’t he? There’s no way he—”

  “It’s the truth…” she whispered. “But how…?”

  “I pushed a rock down a hallway.” Micro slipped out of their grip after the shock of his announcement had settled in. “It took a long time, but it was simple enough… I hope all dungeons are like that, actually. You know, I think I’d rather be a bulldozer than a human. I wonder what treads feel—”

  “How long…?” Tae cut him off. “Time is not the same there. How long did it take?”

  “Hmm…” Micro’s eyes darkened slightly as he recalled the trial. “I don’t know…”

  “What do you mean?” Tae snapped. “A day? A year? More?”

  “A lot more,” Micro replied. “A whole lot more.”

  “This doesn’t make sense…” Tae trembled as she sighed, bringing her hands to her face. Den and the others wore solemn expressions, ignoring Tae’s despaired cries. Den released his grip on Micro and turned away, shaking his head, and Micro waited awkwardly to see if any more questions would be directed at him.

  “So—” Micro began to speak, but he was startled when Tae suddenly pushed him out of the way and walked past him toward the gate.

  “Do not follow me,” she said coldly, and she vanished into the green light. The others tried to catch her, but she was gone. Micro was about to walk in after her, but Den grabbed him again and spoke with a strained voice.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  “They’re gone, boy…” he mumbled as he began to sob. “They will not return… Tae hasn’t received the same training as Kel… If he can’t do it… I don’t know how you escaped, but we must accept what fate has wrought. This is our path.”

  “Some dungeons are merciful, but many have perished in this dungeon,” one of the other attendants commented as Den continued to weep. “I should not have heard this rumour, but it is said that this dungeon takes a toll on one’s mind. It renders you unable to leave by your own will, even when allowed.”

  “So the light is green, but the engine is dead…?” Micro asked.

  “I don’t know,” the man replied. “But even if the way home is clear, one may lose oneself along the way.”

  “Okay…?” Micro began to feel awkward as the man’s tears fell to his arm, but he remained determined to leave. Micro shook his head, increasingly confused by their reactions. “Well, I know the way, and my passenger is still in there.”

  “What?” Several voices rang out, but Micro was too quick this time.

  With a sigh of relief, Micro jumped back through the portal. The weightlessness he experienced while being transported from the cave to the dungeon’s entrance was more enjoyable the second time, and he was ready for the ground this time. As the portal closed behind him, the first thing he noticed was Tae, running down the hall to where the great Turtle was located. He followed after her, once again admiring the even surfaces he was walking on, until he arrived before the giant, stone-like creature. He saw Blue in the same place she’d been when he left, still snoring peacefully.

  “Kel… Wake up…!” Tae cried, kneeling beside the motionless Kel. “You trained so long for this, young master! Don’t give up!”

  Kel’s breathing was shallow and his face was cold, but he was still alive as far as Micro could tell. Micro waved to the giant turtle as before, and this time it immediately took note of him.

  “Excuse me!” Micro called out. “I don’t want to leave them here.”

  “Young one,” the giant turtle growled. “This is a place where fate manifests… A place where cultivators risk their lives to transcend their weaknesses… You may not come and go as you wish…”

  “The door was unlocked.” Micro frowned and tried to pick up Blue, but a spark appeared between her body and his hand that sent him flying a fair distance across the room. He rolled to a stop, then sat up and looked back at the turtle, not sure what to say.

  “Sacred guardian!” Tae suddenly cried out, her aura exploding out of her. “Let me trade my life for his! I’ll take his test!”

  “You came here with resolve…” The turtle turned its head slowly to face Tae. “You will face a trial.”

  “Thank you, I will—”

  “You will face your own trial,” the turtle clarified, leaving Tae speechless. “The young man before you came with the same resolve… This is no place to dishonour him with such words…”

  “But—But—” Tae stuttered. “That boy… You let him go, didn’t you?!”

  “He overcame this trial in its entirety…” The turtle shook its head slowly despite Tae’s desperate pleas. “Your behaviour is unfortunate…”

  “You must have given him an easier test!” Tae shouted furiously, directing a wrathful aura toward the turtle. “He said he just had to move a stone! Show Kel the same mercy!”

  “The boy’s trial…” the turtle patiently replied. “I have surely tested his resolve…”

  “Not patience?!” Tae gasped angrily.

  “You are misguided… However…” It growled intensely, then looked over to Micro, its eyes glowing more than before. “His was a test of diligence, a close friend of patience… He was meant to accept the passage of time and focus only on his destination…”

  “So how long did it take him?” Tae snapped back.

  “He passed the test quickly…” the turtle growled. “Unfortunately, the avatar I sent to evaluate his test fell into a deep sleep… atop the very rock the boy was moving…”

  “But I never reached the destination,” Micro interjected, confused to hear he’d passed the test much quicker than he'd realized. “Did you not hear that from the little turtle?”

  “Enough… Join him, if you desire…” The turtle’s eyes glowed, and Tae collapsed to the floor.

  “Oh, so she has to push a rock now?” Micro asked the turtle, but it wasn’t interested in his question.

  “You hold the key required to leave this place…” the turtle grumbled. “Your will cannot be fully measured by this dungeon… Why have you returned…?”

  “I came back for them.” Micro pointed at the pixie and the two cultivators. “Didn’t you say Blue would be fine?”

  “The old one is…” The turtle blinked for the first time since Micro had first met it. “She is simply resting…”

  “I see…” Micro shrugged.

  “Is my dungeon so easily mistaken for an inn…?” The turtle heaved a sigh. “Such disrespect…”

  “And Kel?” Micro asked. “And what about Tae?”

  “They will fail… Despite their resolve…” the turtle replied coldly. “They trap themselves in their arrogance…”

  “How do you know?” Micro asked.

  “They are cultivators…” The turtle seemed to shrug, its air of disappointment becoming one of disinterest. “Perhaps they meant to outrun fate, but they have only closed their eyes to it… They were not ready…”

  “I can’t leave them,” Micro argued again.

  “Your fate is not theirs…”

  “Let me help them push the rock, then!”

  “I see…” the turtle growled with an air of impatience. It paused for a while and looked intently at Micro, then nodded its giant head. “As consolation for rewarding you insufficiently in your own trial… You may share in their fate… Join them in their trial, if you would choose to witness their fate with your own eyes…”

  As the turtle lamented Micro’s decision, the familiar sensation of falling into another world overcame Micro. He drifted through a dreamlike world of swirling shapes and colours until a new world began to form around him. Sand appeared beneath his feet, grain by grain, extending endlessly in every destination. When the dust and sand settled, he noticed an endless desert to his left, and a shimmering blue horizon to his right, along with the silhouettes of two familiar people.

  “Hello, there!” Micro greeted Kel and Tae from a distance. He walked quickly over to join them near the water, and noticed the hot sun on his skin for the first time. It was uncomfortable at first, but it felt relaxing after he got used to it. However, no greetings were returned. As he approached the pair of cultivators, he realized they were kneeling at the shore of a beautiful blue ocean, free of waves or any imperfection at all, its surface like a mirror that reflected the cloudless sky. Beside them was a small turtle, resting peacefully on a pile of sand.

  “The old man always loved the beach!” Micro continued as he approached them. “The salty air wasn’t ideal though…”

  “Impossible…” Kel whimpered, apparently unaware of Micro’s presence. “It’s impossible…”

  “It’s okay…” Tae comforted him, her own face filled with sadness and resignation. “I’m here… We’ll be together… At the end…”