Chapter 10

The Spire

"All who wish to pass through my spire must first have special knowledge." The transparent image of an old man with a blue robe stood before the entrance.

Mia pulled out the book she had retrieved from Kyle's room in Nanza. "Knowledge is . . ."

"Just a second, Mia," Steve interrupted. "Since the both of you have been through the trials before, would you mind if I answered the questions?"

Mia was a bit taken back, but decided that she would humor him. She passed him the book, but instead he started to speak.

"Knowledge is the ultimate strength, and wisdom the ultimate power. I love that line."

"You now have the cornerstone. Now you must build upon it." The vision of the Keeper of Knowledge dissipated as the large wooden doors spread apart. The trio walked in.

Several people walked around the large rooms. Steve turned to Nash. "You said you could lead me through here. Go to it."

"Come on," Nash said with a cocky grin.

Nash led them through the maze of rooms. Finally they were led to a small staircase. The image of Damon stood before the stairs.

"Magic," Steve called, as he approached.

"I'm sorry?" asked the old man.

"The answer to the question. About what created this world," he replied.

"I didn't ask it yet."

"I'm sorry. You can ask it now if you want."

"No, that's all right," said the old man, disappointed. The image disappeared to let the travelers pass.

Nash stopped Steve before they entered the next floor. "Now Steve, I hope you have a way to get past the third floor, because we are about to enter the second."

"You two worry about the monsters on this floor, and let me worry about the third floor."

The three ascended the staircase to a room much like all the rest.

"Remember," Mia said, at the top. "The monsters can only be affected by magic. Ahhh!" She dove out of the way as, what looked like a giant bat with a knight's helmet on, flew toward them.

Nash side stepped the monster, but it kept going.

"Flame Dome!" A dome of red fire surrounded Steve, and incinerated the monster. The flames dissipated, and Steve turned to Nash. "I thought I asked you to take care of these guys, man."

Nash went over to help Mia to her feet, and the three continued on. They ran into a few more monsters, but were made quick work due to Nash's thunder, and Mia's fire and ice. Finally the door was in sight.

"Are you going to let me ask the question this time?" Damon stood at the door with his arms crossed.

"If you want," Steve replied.

Damon sighed. "Those who live by force, shall die by force. But those who can control force, can avoid it all together. What controls force?"

"Skill," Steve replied.

Damon disappeared.

"This is it, Steve," said Mia. "You said that you would take care of these monsters."

Steve cocked a grin. "I know." They proceeded to the third floor. The room they had entered was like almost all of the others. They walked a few paces in.

A loud growl came from the other side of the room. A massive, purple skinned, brute stood before them. It looked as if it were about to attack any second.

"Here we go." Steve tossed his sword into the air. It flipped end over end twice before coming to a stop in mid air. "Blade Barrage!" he shouted. Daggers of pure energy appeared between each of his fingers.

He threw one hand of the energy blades at a large arc. About to release the other set, Steve's sword fell into his free hand. The second set of daggers was released on a straight line. A split second after he let go, Steve was teleported behind the beast. The monster turned. Steve slashed his sword just as both sets of daggers found their mark.

The creature slumped to the ground, dead, and Steve was once again beside his friends.

"I told you guys I'd take care of it."

"Where did you learn that?" Nash asked, looking shocked.

"Just kinda came to me a few weeks ago," he replied. "But I think that we should avoid as many battles here as possible. I may have the move, but I don't have a whole lot of endurance with it."

"That's fine," said Nash. "If I remember correctly, and I usually do, the exit is close on this floor."

The group proceeded. Evading the monsters was easy. They only got into one more battle with the same outcome as the first. After a short time they reached the stairs.

A man lay on the ground near the door, clutching his stomach. Steve approached the man while clearing his voice.

"Oh, no. Are you all right sir?" he asked as if reading from a cheesy script. Here have a healing nut." Steve handed the man a nut

With a bright flash, the man was gone and Damon stood before the door. "You know all of my trials, don't you?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"So on the next floor . . . "

"You ask us to give up our weakest member, but we all made it here together, so none of us is the weakest."

Damon sighed. "You're really taking all of the fun out of this." Mia giggled as the vision vanished.

Steve turned to group. "Well, I'm having fun."

The trio traveled through the maze of walls. The monsters here were no match for the magic of the heroes of Lunar, and skill and magic of the hero of Earth. They passed from room to room with relative ease. Coming to the stairs they all stopped, thinking that maybe Damon had a different test for them. After a few moments they all shrugged and kept going.

This is it. The final trial. Nash led them through the silent floor. There were no monsters here. The group was led into a room with a large lump of clay in the middle.

Damon stood on the side. "I suppose that you already know to sculpt something to impress me."

Steve nodded and turned to the others.

"What are we going to make?" asked Nash.

"We could sculpt Luna again," Mia suggested. "It worked for Alex."

"No." Steve held up his hand. "I have something in mind."