Die. Respawn. Repeat.

Guard takes point as he leads us down the stairwell of the building, his metal feet clanking against the concrete. It's the only sound in the otherwise eerily silent Empty City, and the way it echoes along the stairs is... admittedly a little unnerving. It doesn't help that the colorless nature of our surroundings makes everything unnaturally dim. Guard's core is the only real source of light, but its prismatic colors don't make a difference in the gloomy, corrupted corridors we find ourselves in.

Even with that source of light, I find myself having to channel Firmament into my eyes to make things out more clearly. Just me, though: apparently, both Guard and Ahkelios can see in the dark just fine. It's a good thing I picked this trick up from Tarin, or I'd be doing a lot more stumbling through the dark right now.

At least I have that Interface notice to distract me. I glance at it again, trying to figure out what it means. Ritual stages, and five of them in total...

More than that, there's something about this that's different from most of the notifications the Interface has given me. For one thing, it's rare for me to even get a hint about the rewards I might receive from an Interface event. I'm pretty sure this is the first time it's directly mentioned a reward for completing something, and even then, it's being frustratingly vague about it.

Ritual stages may reveal more about your connection with your Firmament.

Most Interface rewards come in the form of Inspirations, credits, or skills. I can't decide if the offer to just reveal something is tantalizing or worrying, and more to the point, there's something about the timing of this notification that bothers me.

Or maybe it's the way it's set up. It feels convenient, but more than that, it feels... familiar.

"Ritual stages, huh?" Ahkelios says. He's been silent for a while, hopping along the stairwell to try to scout out anything that might lie ahead, but now he's joined me on my shoulder once more.

I glance at him. "You know something about them?"

"I think so." Ahkelios leans in to get a closer look. "I got them once or twice. They usually show up if a dungeon has something important you need to do. Sort of like a list of tasks."

"A list of tasks..." My voice trails off as I read through the notice again.. "It's not exactly telling me what it wants me to do."

"Yeah, the Interface is kinda weird about that." Ahkelios grimaces a bit. "A Ritual only triggers if a dungeon has different... states of being, I guess? Basically, when you complete a Ritual stage, the whole dungeon evolves in some way. Sometimes that evolution is minor, sometimes the whole place changes. I'd call it interesting, but it usually just means the dungeon gets way more dangerous."

Well, I can't say that's something I didn't expect. I sigh. "And the Interface isn't going to tell me how to complete the Ritual stage, I take it."

"Not directly. At least not at first." Ahkelios hesitates for a moment. "It tells you more the further along you are, but the first stage is usually just something like an initiation process. It's always something big and obvious, close to the point where you get a notification about the Ritual."

"Which means the notification is location based," I mutter. I wonder if that's why the portal opened to a different spot. Specifically, I'm wondering if Kauku has something to do with this. He'd mentioned helping me get through the Empty City more quickly, and even though he'd been talking about the sewers underneath at the time, I wouldn't be surprised if this Ritual thing has something to do with him.

Or maybe something to do with that memory he wants me to retrieve. It's not like he's told me anything about it. An oversight, on my part—I should have asked for clarification—but it's too late now, and I have a nagging feeling he wouldn't have told me much anyway.

No, he seems like the type to try to lead me there indirectly. Given the limitations he's told me he's operating under, I'm assuming he's trying to minimize the amount of direct help he gives me.

A small voice whispers to me: what could possibly make something like him operate under any limitation at all? I brush off the thought; it's certainly worrying, but it's not something I can act on at the moment. I'll just have to keep it in mind.

If this is Kauku guiding me, it explains all the changes—the way the dungeon manifested as a key instead of a simple portal, the movement of the items I've stored in here, and the change in starting position. And if this is Kauku guiding me, then the next question would be...

"Can you fail a Ritual?"

My words echo in the concrete. There's a brief silence from Ahkelios, and I can feel a flicker of emotion trickling down through our bond—a sudden, deep sadness. When he speaks, there's a tremble in his voice.

"Yes." He doesn't elaborate for a moment, and there's something small about his words, about the way he carries himself. "The loop resets the stages, though. So failure usually isn't permanent."

"I see." I observe Ahkelios for a moment—he's clearly trying to shake whatever mood he's in off. I reach out for him, and after a moment, he climbs onto my hand and sighs.

"I feel like I'm remembering something," he says quietly. "I didn't remember until you asked about a Ritual failing. I'm really sad. I don't know why."

"It's important, isn't it?" I keep my words gentle, and I keep him held in my hands. Guard remains quiet, seeming to sense the importance of this conversation.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Yes." The little mantis takes a deep breath. He doesn't need to breathe, but the move seems to help him relax. "The Ritual stages are tied to... something. It's some kind of Integrator trap. I'm trying to remember."

I can tell, from the way he's drawing more Firmament from me. The process is clearly painful for him, and I lend him support the best I can, strengthening the link between our minds and cupping my hands so he can lean against my palm. Ahkelios staggers, his artificial breathing growing deeper; he almost seems like he's panting. His chest rises and falls rapidly, his hands clench, he squeezes his eyes shut...

And then he lets out a breath. His hands unclench. His breathing slows until he returns to the signature stillness of a creature made out of Firmament instead of flesh.

He opens his eyes.

"I really didn't want to remember that," he says quietly. "I think that's part of it. Sometimes a part of me fights remembering, and those memories are harder to access than others."

"Thank you," I say. It seems more appropriate than I'm sorry. Ahkelios shakes his head, but I see the appreciation in his eyes.

"Rituals and dungeons in general seem like an aspect of the Interface that the Integrators don't really want you messing with," he explains. Considering what I suspect about dungeons, it's not exactly surprising. "They can't stop you from doing them—it's a part of the Interface they clearly don't have control over—but they can make sure that trying to complete them is more trouble than it's worth. I think they have a problem with Rituals in particular."

"Of course they do." It's not exactly a surprise, but everything I learn about the Integrators mostly just pisses me off more. "I take it something happens when you fail a Ritual stage?"

"It might be different for you," Ahkelios says. "The Integrators are cut off from Hestia right now. But you remember what I said, right? About dungeons being loop-independent?"

"Unless Ritual stages are involved, apparently," I say, glancing at the notification again. Ahkelios nods.

"Dungeons are exempt from the barrier around the planet. They aren't part of the loop, and they aren't exclusive to you. To us."

I catch the implications of this immediately. "You're saying other humans might be in this dungeon?"

Ahkelios grimaces. "Don't count on it," he says, sounding a little guilty. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that. You unlocked one of the rarest dungeons possible. I doubt anyone else has access to it. The problem is, failing a Ritual stage creates backlash, and that backlash isn't just going to hit you. It can tear open holes to other people's Trials, put them in danger..."

He trails off, and I watch him for a moment. It's not hard to figure out what happened. "You lost someone."

Ahkelios nods. I can feel an immense sadness radiating down through our bond—he feels things so strongly sometimes. It's at odds with how he's usually the more ruthless of the two of us; sometimes, I wonder how much the Trials really changed him.

"I can't even remember who," he says with a sigh. "I think I knew her before the Trials, though. And I think we were... close."

"I'm sorry for what you lost," I say. Ahkelios forces himself to shrug.

"It's nothing we can change now." He looks away for a moment, recomposing himself. By the time he looks back, he's not exactly smiling, but that sense of immense sadness echoing down through our bond has largely faded. "We should focus on the future. Make sure it doesn't happen again."

"We will." I lock eyes with Ahkelios, and after a moment, he nods.

"Failing a Ritual stage is different from dying, by the way," he says, almost like he's trying to change the subject. "You can die as much as you want; it'll just reset both the loop and the stage. But there every Ritual stage has something like... conditions. If you complete it without all those conditions being met, it's counted as a failure, and sometimes the Integrators get tricky about it."

"Got it." The fact that a death doesn't count as a failure and still resets the stage is strange, although it's also useful. It means I can forcibly reset a stage if I have to. I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but it's better than the blowback Ahkelios is talking about.

Probably.

A thought occurs to me.

If these Rituals can blow back into other Trials, then there's a good chance that whatever boundary separates me from those other Trials is weaker here. The fact that it's even possible for other Trialgoers to enter the same dungeon implies that this is an intended feature: in a normal Trial, a Trialgoer might be able to use the chat function to team up with others and complete a dungeon.

My Trial, of course, is anything but normal. The temporal barrier that extends around Hestia might not reach into the dungeons, but—I check the chat feature just to be sure, and it remains disconnected—it's clearly still enough to interfere with my ability to interact with other people from Earth.

And yet...

Those barriers are still weaker here. Which means that I might be able to do something. If a failed Ritual stage can backfire to the point where it affects other Trials and other Trialgoers—if Trialgoers can all enter the same dungeon together—then, much like the Intermediaries, they connect different, distinct spaces together.

The normal approach to reach other planets, as I understand it, is by using gateways that fundamentally utilize the Intermediaries. I've never seen any of them, because they aren't open during a Trial.

But maybe they aren't the only way. If I can push Phaseslip farther, if I can figure out what connection the dungeons have to the Integrators and the Interface as a whole...

Then I might not be stuck on Hestia much longer. I might not be isolated from the other Trials much longer. And if that's true, then the Integrators are going to have a whole lot more to worry about than just one Trial gone awry.

"I can feel you planning again," Ahkelios remarks. "You make a scary face when you do that, you know."

"What? I do not." I'm a little thrown out of my train of thought by Ahkelios's remark, but he does make me grin. Truth is, of course, that I have no idea what I look like when I'm planning. It's just the principle of the matter.

"You do." Guard sounds amused.

I feign an exasperated scoff. "I don't need both of you harassing me about my plans."

"We're not!" Ahkelios says. "We love your plans. They're good plans."

Guard waits for a bit, then adds, "Mostly."

I roll my eyes, but a smirk tugs at my mouth. "Let's not get too distracted here. We're still in a dungeon, remember?"

Beneath us, a blue glow slowly grows. We're getting closer to the first flower, presumably to what will initiate the Ritual, and to uncovering what's really going on with this dungeon.

I think I'm looking forward to it.