Summer led Oscar into a torchlit corridor. The purple-brick walls were in surprising condition. Rose bushes were organized in a small plot, surrounding 2 sets of stairs leading to a gate. And hovering amidst the roses was…

A light?

Oscar stepped toward it, and touched it. He felt a strange energy flowing through his body, which lasted for about 3 seconds before suddenly stopping.

And the voice returned.

"Ah, the Ruins. Quite imposing, isn't it? And yet, looking at it, I'm filled with… determination." he described.

"Huh. Poetic." Oscar thought.

As he emerged from the little garden, he realized Summer had been watching him. "The flowers are beautiful, aren't they?" she smiled.

"Yeah, and they smell nice too." Oscar chuckled.

"I planted them myself." she explained. "There's only one other person living here in the Ruins, so I took up gardening to pass the time."

"Sadie?" Oscar wondered.

"Not officially, no." Summer sighed. "She tends to bring more harm than good, so I try to keep her at bay, but she still pops up now and again… like you saw."

"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense." Oscar shrugged, as he trotted up the steps into the next room.

He was met with a strange puzzle. Six buttons, two of which lay on a strip of earth painted a lighter shade of purple than those around it. On the wall was a golden lever, and across from it was a sign.

Summer began to explain. "Here in the Underground, puzzles are a common form of entertainment. Some are dangerous, but I assure you that you are safe here in the Ruins. To start, I'd like you to try and solve this one."

"Alright," Oscar thought, and wandered over to the sign. It read:

No matter who you are And no matter how you dress

If you take the middle road Then you cannot progress

"Makes sense." Oscar thought, and after a small amount of deliberation, strolled back over to the buttons and stepped on all of them except the two in the middle.

The door did not open.

"Wait, but the lever…" he realized, and decided to pull it to see if that would do something.

And the door opened!

"Very good, Oscar!" Summer praised. "Let's keep going."

And so they did, and were met with another puzzle. Three more levers, another gate and another sign.

"This one will take a little more thinking. See if you can solve it." Summer instructed.

Oscar began yet again by reading the sign. The message this time was much more simple:

Stay on the path.

"Alright, geez." Oscar thought and went back to the pathway where he once stood. He walked to the first lever, and pulled it.

Nothing.

He then moved a little further and was met with two more levers. "I can't just flip both, right?" he thought. "That's too easy." He began to turn his head to the floor to concentrate, when he noticed something.

Two levers, one path.

He looked back up, and indeed, only one lever had a path leading to it. And he was told to stay on the path. So he pulled that one.

The gate opened!

"Good job!" Summer praised again. "To the next room!"

The next room was simple: a small chamber and a training dummy, humorously fashioned in the shape of a frog.

Summer explained. "In the Underground, there are people who want to kill young children such as you and take your Soul, as I'm sure you're aware. But most people can be reasoned with! For starters, try talking to this training dummy."

"Weird, but OK." Oscar thought, and approached it. "Uhhh… Hi! I'm Oscar."

Apparently, that was good for Summer. "Good! Now let's move on!" she smiled.

The next room was strange. A winding path was indicated on the ground, but why? Summer saw Oscar's confusion and clarified. "This has something to do with the puzzle in the next room. It's a little dangerous, so we can do it together."

But as they strolled through the passageway, a strange frog-like creature pounced on Oscar!

"A Beelzebufo?" Summer gasped. "How'd it bypass the puzzle?"

Oscar, too, was shocked, mostly because he didn't know how to fight! After some quick thinking, he decides to throw caution to the wind and talk to it. "Your… claws look nice." he complimented hesitantly.

And the weird thing was, it actually seemed pretty happy being complimented. That display of joy, however, turned to terror when it noticed Summer's presence. Visibly shaking, it hopped away.

"Well, that was quick." Oscar nodded, a little worried about the poor thing.

"Right." Summer concurred. Let's move on."

The next puzzle was simple, yet effective. It was a bridge of spikes. "See what I told you?" Summer smiled.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind holding your hand for this one." Oscar said nervously.

So she took his hand, and led him on a winding path across the spikes, which vanished from beneath their feet as they stepped.

"No more puzzles like this one, alright?" Summer said assuringly.

"Alright." Oscar sighed, relieved.

The next room was much longer than the rest. In fact, all it really was was a long hallway.

"This is your final test," Summer said, more seriously this time. "It's a test of independence. All you must do is walk down this hallway by yourself. Good luck." she explained, before jogging into the next room.

"Alright, here goes nothing, I guess." Oscar thought as he began to walk. It was about 2 minutes, but it felt like hours. Oscar was nervous, after all. The voice in his head knew this.

"Feeling nervous?"

"Yeah, a little. I mean, that Beelzebufo thing was scared of her, I could tell. But she's been so nice to me. I wonder what she's hiding."

"I always say it's best not to overthink things. Maybe she's just that intimidating to them."

"You're probably right. Thanks, voice."

"Anytime. My name is Ozpin, by the way."

"Huh. Didn't know you had one. Thanks, Ozpin."

And by the time they had finished, Oscar had reached the end of the hallway. Summer returned to congratulate him. "Good job! You've passed the test. One more thing, though." she began. "I have a surprise waiting at home that I need to check on, and you'll have to be alone. There are a few more puzzles up ahead, and Creatures of Grimm, like that Beelzebufo, roam these halls. So I'm going to give you this Scroll. If you're ever in trouble, call me."

"I will." Oscar nodded. "Thank you! And see you at home!"

"See you soon!" Summer called as she dashed down the hallway.

And now Oscar was alone, with only a Scroll, the voice in his head, and determination. What kind of puzzles would he face? What friends would he make? What was waiting for him at Summer's house? The only way to know was to go forward.