Alexander stepped through the stone archway first, as usual, with his hand ready on the hilt of his sword. The dim, shadowy passage from Floor 6 suddenly opened up, and blinding light hit his eyes. He raised his arm to shield them, blinking rapidly as his vision adjusted.

  "Whoa," he breathed, unable to contain his surprise.

  Behind him, Elijah and Lyra emerged, followed by Riva and Valeria. Each of them stopped abruptly, taking in the dramatic change in scenery.

  After days in the fallen, broken forests of Floor 6, the ndscape before them was like stepping into another world entirely. A wide, sparkling river cut through the valley, winding in zy curves through vibrant green banks. The water caught the sunlight, breaking it into thousands of glittering fragments that danced on the surface.

  "Now this is more like it!" Riva excimed, pushing past Alexander and stepping to the edge of the riverbank. Her usual boisterous energy seemed amplified by the sight of water. "After all that ash and dust, I could use a swim."

  "Hold up," Alexander said, extending his arm to block her path. "We don't know what's in there yet."

  Lyra crouched down by the water's edge, removing a small testing vial from one of the many pockets in her modified gear. She dipped it carefully into the river, then held it up to the light, examining the contents with practiced precision.

  "Oxygen levels are good," she said after a moment, adding a drop of something from another vial. The water changed color slightly. "Some mineral content, but nothing immediately toxic. Microbial activity within normal parameters." She gnced up at Alexander. "It's not drinking water yet, but it won't hurt to touch."

  Alexander nodded, making a mental note of Lyra's efficient analysis. Her technical knowledge continued to surprise him, especially since most Unaligned territories struggled with even basic water testing. Just another puzzle piece that didn't quite fit with her background story.

  "Everyone stay alert," he said, scanning the tree line on both sides of the river. "This is a completely new environment. Different threats, different resources."

  Elijah moved a few paces away from the group, his head tilted slightly to one side in that familiar listening pose Alexander had come to recognize. His brother was hearing the whispers again.

  "What is it?" Alexander asked on their secure channel, stepping closer.

  Elijah blinked, coming back to himself. "They're... different here," he murmured. "More rhythmic. Almost like they're flowing with the water somehow." He shook his head slightly. "It's hard to expin."

  "Try," Alexander encouraged, keeping his voice low enough that the others couldn't hear.

  "It's like..." Elijah paused, searching for words. "On the other floors, they were often scattered, fragmented, except for critical moments. Here, they have a pattern. Like they're organized somehow." He frowned slightly. "And there are more of them near the water."

  Alexander nodded, filing away the information. He still wasn't entirely convinced about these whispers Elijah cimed to hear, but his brother's intuitions had proven useful too many times to dismiss.

  "Everyone, gear check," he called out, moving back to the group. "We need to inventory what we've got and what we'll need."

  The team gathered in a small circle, ying out their supplies on a ft rock by the river's edge. The Storm-Felled Ancient guardian had taken a toll on their equipment. Lyra's modified shock absorbers were completely fried, and two of Alexander's throwing knives had been warped beyond repair by lightning strikes.

  "We're low on healing supplies," Elijah reported, sorting through his pack. "I used most of the herbal compounds during the st battle."

  "Food stores are decent," Riva added, gesturing to her pack. "That dried venison from the outpost trader should st us another three days if we ration."

  Alexander noted that Valeria remained slightly apart from the group, her posture stiff. Since he'd confronted her about her secret communications with his father, she'd been careful to maintain her usefulness while keeping a low profile. Even now, she was surveying the environment with methodical precision, clearly trying to prove her value to the team.

  "There's watercraft over there," she said, pointing to a collection of crude canoes pulled up on the bank about twenty meters downstream. "Previous pyers, most likely."

  Alexander squinted against the sunlight. "Good eye," he acknowledged, keeping his tone neutral. Whatever her loyalty to his father, her skills were still an asset.

  Lyra was already moving toward the canoes, her natural curiosity evident in her quick, purposeful stride. Alexander followed, scanning the surroundings continuously. The riverbanks were lined with tall reeds in some areas, creating perfect hiding spots for potential ambushes.

  The canoes were simple hollowed-out logs with rough-hewn paddles stored inside. Three in total, enough for the team if they paired up.

  "They seem intact," Lyra said, running her hands along the inside of one canoe. "Basic, but functional." She tapped the wood with her knuckles. "This one's made from heartwood oak. It'll be stable, but heavy to maneuver."

  "You know about boats?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow.

  A brief fsh of something—caution, perhaps—crossed Lyra's face before she shrugged. "We had a water recmation project in Sector 17. Small canals. Nothing like this, but some of the principles are the same."

  He nodded, not pushing further despite his suspicion that there was more to the story. Lyra's technical knowledge frequently exceeded what should be possible given her background, but she'd proven her loyalty repeatedly. For now, that was enough.

  "Riva, you and Valeria check upstream for about hundred meters," Alexander instructed. "Elijah and I will go downstream. Lyra, can you set up some basic security perimeters here? We'll use this as our initial camp."

  As everyone moved to their assigned tasks, Alexander gestured for Elijah to follow him along the riverbank. Once they were out of earshot, he spoke in a low voice.

  "These whispers. Do they ever tell you anything useful about what's coming?"

  Elijah's brow furrowed slightly. "It doesn't work like that. They're not... giving me instructions or warnings, exactly. It's more like overhearing fragments of conversations. Sometimes I can piece something together, but most of it is just noise."

  Alexander nodded, considering this. "But they changed when we entered this floor?"

  "Yeah," Elijah confirmed. "They feel more... connected here. Like they're part of the river somehow." He paused, looking uncomfortable. "I know it sounds crazy."

  "After everything we've seen?" Alexander gave a short ugh. "Honestly, hearing voices is probably one of the more normal things at this point."

  As they walked, Alexander spotted something partially hidden in the reeds—a body. He signaled to Elijah to approach cautiously, drawing his sword.

  The corpse was several days old, a pyer who hadn't survived whatever challenges Floor 7 had presented. Alexander knelt beside it, careful to check for any signs of traps or ambush. The dead pyer wore gear marking them as Worker-css, with several nasty gashes across the chest that looked like cw marks.

  "River predators," Alexander murmured, examining the wounds.

  Elijah said nothing, but Alexander knew his brother well enough to recognize the slight tightening around his eyes. Despite everything they'd been through, Elijah still felt each death they encountered.

  Alexander methodically searched the body, finding a folded piece of waterproof material in one of the pockets. He opened it to reveal a hand-drawn map of what appeared to be the surrounding river system.

  "Looks like our friend here was mapping the area," he said, studying the crude but effective chart. "This could be useful."

  By the time they returned to camp, Lyra had set up a perimeter of thin wire strung with small tin pieces salvaged from their supplies—a simple but effective arm system. She was now examining one of the canoes more carefully, making adjustments to the crude seat with materials from her pack.

  "We should get everyone familiar with these before attempting any serious river navigation," Alexander said, gesturing to the canoes. "Riva, have you used watercraft before?"

  "Some fishing boats back home," she said with a confident grin. "I can handle a paddle just fine."

  Valeria nodded as well. "Basic training included water navigation."

  "I've never been in anything that floats," Lyra admitted. "Sector 17 had water shortages, not surpluses."

  "I'll pair with Lyra, then," Alexander decided. "Elijah with Riva. Valeria, you're comfortable solo?"

  She nodded curtly.

  As the sun began to descend toward the horizon, Alexander organized a test run with the canoes in a calm section of the river. He showed Lyra the basic paddling technique, correcting her form as needed. She learned quickly, her natural technical aptitude making up for her ck of experience.

  "Keep your strokes even," he instructed, steadying the canoe as Lyra adjusted her grip on the paddle. "That's it. The river's doing most of the work—you just need to guide it."

  After an hour of practice, they returned to shore and set up camp for the night. The sound of the flowing river created a constant background melody, strangely soothing after the eerie silence of Floor 6's devastated ndscape.

  As darkness fell, they gathered around a small fire, keeping it low to avoid attracting attention. Alexander spread out the map they'd found, using small stones to weigh down the corners.

  "Based on this and what we could see from the higher ground," he said, tracing the river's path with his finger, "the main channel splits into three about half a day's journey downstream. We don't know which branch we need to follow yet, but there seems to be some kind of marker here." He pointed to a crudely drawn symbol at the confluence.

  "I noticed something during our practice run," Lyra said, leaning forward to study the map. "The current has patterns to it—little eddies and flows that repeat. I think they might be designed, not natural."

  "What do you mean?" Riva asked, frowning.

  "Natural rivers have random variations," Lyra expined. "These patterns were too regur. Like they're part of a system."

  Alexander considered this. "The byrinth challenge for this floor?"

  "Possibly," Lyra nodded. "If we need to navigate specific current patterns to reach certain areas, it would fit the pattern of previous floors."

  "The Confluence Conundrum," Elijah said suddenly, looking up from the map.

  "What's that?" Riva asked.

  "Something I keep hearing in the whispers," Elijah replied, his voice distant. "Over and over. 'Navigate the Confluence Conundrum.' I think it's referring to where the rivers meet."

  Alexander met his brother's eyes across the fire. The whispers had proven accurate before.

  "Then that's where we head tomorrow," he decided. "Everyone get some rest. I'll take first watch."

  As the others prepared their sleeping gear, Alexander moved to a rock overlooking the river, his mind already working through their next steps. The flowing water caught moonlight in rippling patterns, beautiful but alien after so many floors of forest environments.

  Every floor brought new challenges, new adaptations required. But as he gnced back at his team settling around the fire, he felt a subtle shift in his perspective. They were no longer just a tactical unit or an assigned team—they were becoming something more cohesive, more effective.

  Even Lyra, the Unaligned addition his father had ordered him to abandon, had become indispensable. Her technical skills were unlike anything he'd seen from Worker or even Servicer css pyers, and her loyalty—once questionable—had been proven repeatedly.

  Alexander turned his attention back to the river, listening to its constant motion. Unlike the static environments of previous floors, this pce was in perpetual change, always moving, always flowing. Something about that felt significant, though he couldn't quite articute why.

  Tomorrow they would begin navigating this new challenge properly. Tonight, they would rest and prepare—and Alexander would keep watch, alert for whatever dangers Floor 7 might bring with the darkness.