Mira pressed her hand to the barrier’s surface, feeling invisible threads of mana tremble beneath her palm. The ruined archway loomed ahead, half-choked by shadow and tangled roots. Behind her, Frieren stepped forward without a word, pale eyes flickering over the glyphs Mira had traced. Fern hovered at the flank, staff angled low, while Uebel’s grin gleamed in the gloom. Wirbel signaled a halt, voice low and clipped.
“Movement ahead, two constructs, one real, one illusory. Can you read which?”
Mira narrowed her eyes, sketching a sigil in midair, letting analysis magic fan out in silent ripples. Mana signatures tangled, one blaringly obvious and the other a ghostly double. The trap was almost elegant. She adjusted her focus, catching Frieren’s unreadable gaze flicker to Uebel, who hummed under her breath as if savoring the tension. The exam’s first trap was not the constructs. It was how five strangers would move together, or not, when every step could give the game away. Mira let the barrier pulse, her voice steady.
“The left is real. The right’s an overlay. Don’t hit it unless you want to wake up the whole ruin.”