The second and third levers pulled had similar results as the first, which also caused the ground to pulse abruptly upward to topple the group back to the floor. No matter how skilled or how prepared they were, it appeared there weren't any surefire ways to avoid the embarrassment of being knocked off balance. Especially since the timing of the pulsation always varied, leaving them no chance in guessing when it would happen. If anything, by the third lever, only a few managed to catch themselves by jamming their weapons into the stone ground as leverage. Unfortunately, the ranged classes did not have that luxury and were forced to flail their way down each time. Honestly, Eijun was wondering if continuing to lay on the floor until the right one was pulled would be easier. He was getting fed up with pushing himself back to his feet to only be reacquainted with the ground moments later. So much for making a decent impression for himself.

They were all taking turns choosing which lever to pull, in hopes that someone would get lucky and pick the right one. Miyuki had pulled the first, then it was Azuma, and the third was chosen by Tanba. At this point, Eijun was beginning to believe all the wrong levers had the same outcome, and clearly so did the rest as everyone remained kneeled or in crouched positions as Masuko rose to a stand for his turn. The room was silent as Masuko wandered around to inspect the levers, diligently scrutinizing each one he passed as if the correct one would appear to be different in some way. They weren't, or at least, no one noticed it yet if there was a difference. But as far as Eijun was aware, there were no distinct features to indicate which levers did what.

"Just pick one!" Azuma growled in annoyance. Though Eijun didn't think his ire was directed at Masuko, but rather towards their situation as their progress was being heavily stalled by a game of chance. They knew this going in, that the entirety of the labyrinth was all random; however, just hearing about it wasn't enough to prepare them for the frustrations and the very little control they had in its maze.

Masuko hesitated between two levers, gaze darting from one to the other in clear, panicked indecisiveness. Reluctantly, he reached out with both hands to grasp the handle of one and pushed it in the opposite direction with the sound of gears grinding together. As soon as the lever was fully flipped, Masuko dropped into a crouch in preparation for another pulsation. Eijun braced himself as well by slapping his palms onto the ground in front of himself for the extra support, though he wasn't entirely sure how effective it would be. However, after several long, and tense seconds, nothing happened. In confusion, Eijun felt his muscles relax from their strained state as he glanced around the room. Nothing visually appeared to be out of place and when he focused his ears to pick up on any distant sounds, the only thing he could hear was the howl of the wind as it blew through the hollowed-out space. Slowly, one by one, they all rose to their feet the longer they waited in anticipation while nothing seemingly happened.

"Are there duds?" Kawakami wondered out loud. Which was a good question in Eijun's opinion. It made sense that with so many levers, some ought to be fake to further camouflage the correct one. That was, however, until Eijun vaguely heard what sounded to be multiple screeches off in the distance. It was faint enough that he quickly dismissed it to be caused by the wind, though the noise soon grew louder as if it were approaching at a high velocity. The others were all cautiously turning in search for the source. It almost seemed as if the sound was surrounding them, but it was difficult to distinguish if that was truly the case or if it was an auditory illusion caused by the echoing gale. Either way, Eijun felt it to be a good time to finally summon one of his spirits. The spirit of wind seemed like a fitting choice considering the environment.

As a Summoner, Eijun could have up to five diverse summons in his arsenal, however, he can only have one out at a time. Though, it was possible for Summoners to discard spirits from their collection; though, unfortunately, with the downside that they'll never be able to return the spirit back into their stockpile. Each summon will change the effects of his skills depending on their elements or specialties. Currently, Eijun only has two. The first being the one he was randomly assigned with when he took the path of Summoner, the spirit of wind, or as he had named her, Ume. The second he was lucky to have obtained from a traveling merchant who visited his hometown. The merchant was not aware of what the stone was, and had just hoped to sell it for a little extra copper. Not that Eijun could fault the man as to the untrained eye, the rock could pass as just that; a rock, with a little extra glimmer in the right lighting. So it was safe to say that when Eijun laid eyes upon the summon stone, he was ready to throw all the coins he had to make sure the merchant would sell it to him. Thankfully, the man was keen on parting with the summon stone for a measly fifty copper, though he appeared to be confused by Eijun's enthusiasm over a rock. And thus, Eijun gained his second summons, the spirit of water that he aptly named, Aoi.

With merely a thought, Eijun's spirit orb responded to his desire to summon Ume. The pearlescent sphere, slightly bigger than the leather balls Eijun and his former guildmates used to toss around as children, began to rotate at a high speed, and the faster it spun, the brighter a green-tinted light emitted off of it. Once it reached max velocity and brightness, the spirit orb began to expand in size before it morphed its shape as if it was a molten glob of glass. Until finally, the light abruptly vanished to reveal Ume and all her golden feathered glory in replacement of his orb.

"Nice chicken." Miyuki snorted from behind Eijun. Immediately, Eijun bristled at the comment and spun around to confront the bastard.

"She's not a chicken!" Eijun responded automatically, "She is a regal, and majestic wind spirit!" Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time someone called Ume a chicken.

"Regal and majestic, huh?" Miyuki repeated snidely as a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. And okay, so maybe Ume was a little on the derpy side, but most spirits were! Ume had a round, plump body that she tucked her stubby legs into so they were out of sight and out of the way. Three feathers extended from the back of her in what were to be her tail feathers, and a single long feather stuck straight up from between her beady eyes on what was supposed to be her head. But as her entire body was oblong shaped, there was no discernable anatomy, and if it weren't for the tail and her small beak, Eijun would have a difficult time figuring out what the right end of her was. It didn't help that her wings were too tiny for her body size and every now and then, she would lose balance from her position floating by Eijun's head. Which would then cause her to furiously flap her wings a mile a minute in great effort to right herself. But her appearance had nothing to do with her strength, dammit!

"You can't judge a book by its cover, Miyuki!" Eijun fumed. His reaction only seemed to cause Miyuki to laugh, which in turn, fueled Eijun's own irritation. However, Eijun wasn't given another opportunity to defend Ume's honor as the source of the screeching finally revealed itself. Or themselves as the case may be. Instantly, everyone had their weapons at the ready as dozens of winged creatures darted in from the large gaps in the walls. Eijun raised his left hand to gather a sphere of condensed wind in his palm, building it up until it was tougher than a stone; though a stone that contained a whirling storm. Ume chirped aggressively next to him, or as aggressive as she could muster, with her feathers standing on end as she sensed the hostility in the atmosphere. It wasn't until some of the creatures began to dive-bomb that Eijun caught a close enough glimpse of what they were. He watched as an arrow sailed through the air to impact heavily into the chest of one of the flying monkeys. The imp screeched as the momentum carried it over the wall from whence it came, only for more to dash in to replace their impaled companion.

"Alright!" Eijun cheered. Finally, there was some action and in this situation, ranged classes greatly outshined the melee as they had to wait for the imps to get close enough for their weapons to land clean blows. Or, so he thought. It sure didn't help that the monkeys were slippery little shits, as they easily maneuvered their way around blades to cling onto arms or legs. The room was quickly filled with the sounds of swears and yells of irritation as the imps continuously avoided his seniors' attacks to pull at hair or nibble exposed flesh. Eijun's earlier elation at the prospect of combat quickly wavered as he stood awkwardly by, unable to safely get an attack of his own in. With Ume summoned, most of his skills were AOE-based, and he didn't want to risk the friendly fire. Each time he saw an opportunity and was about to take it, someone would move in his way or the imps would fly too close to another member for Eijun's comfort. Leaving the ball of wind to whirl uselessly in his hand.

A screech overhead drew Eijun's attention to the sky, where a sole monkey was hovering as it appeared to watch the carnage its brethren were causing with glee. Eijun smirked as he reeled his arm back and raised his opposite leg up; all in the same fluid motion, his leg came down and he snapped his arm forward to finally release the orb at the imp. The ball shot straight for it, and before the monkey even took notice, the sphere smacked it directly in the face, causing the built-up gale to be released instantaneously. Strong winds surrounded it, blowing in every direction at once to tear the imps' wings apart in a flurry of feathers. Its shriek was lost amidst the howling cyclone as it fought to escape the confines of the air currents with no luck. When the blast faded out, it released the tattered imp's body to allow it to plummet towards the ground in a plume of feathers and fur, though its corpse began to burn and turn to ash before it even made contact with the stone floor.

Proud, Eijun whipped his gaze to the others in hopes that someone had witnessed his excellence, only to see that no one was paying any attention. Eijun's shoulders slumped in disappointment momentarily, before he quickly reminded himself that they were all preoccupied with the multiple imps that were continuously diving at faces; claws out. There was no time for discouragement, and besides, there were still ample opportunities for him to show off. So, with that thought in mind, Eijun prepared another spiraling orb of wind in his palm as he scanned around the room for another monkey to aim for. He had just spotted an imp that dodged a ball of flame courtesy of Furuya when Eijun heard a loud crack of stone followed by an echoing roar. Heart racing, Eijun spun to look for the source and found Miyuki standing in the center of the room where the ground at his feet was now crumbled and cracked. A ruby hue emanated off of Miyuki's frame that instantly attracted the attention of all the imps swarming the room, with the same shade of red glowing in their eyes. Eijun saw Miyuki drive his sword into the floor, further damaging the stone before he was completely encompassed by the dozens of winged monkeys.

"Unleash all of your AOE on Miyuki!" Yuuki ordered as every single imp gathered around Miyuki. Eijun only had a split second to hesitate about discharging his attacks on Miyuki, when a hail of arrows rained down on the mass accompanied by thin, black spikes that jutted out of the ground where Miyuki stood, impaling the imps that clung around his legs. A blast of fire ignited around the mobs, signifying that Furuya had joined in the fray. Eijun cursed quietly to himself before he jerked his hand out to Ume, and let her land into his waiting palm. He wound his arm back and quickly snapped it forward, lobbing a chirping Ume into the air. She impacted at Miyuki's feet and exploded into a spiraling tornado that surrounded the entirety of the screeching pile. Imps were ripped from their hold and thrown into flames, the spikes, or into the path of an arrow. A few were even flung out and to the ground where the melee was quick to finish them off with a clean swipe of a blade.

With the monkeys gathered, it was quick work to finish them all off to reveal an unharmed Miyuki. Ume ambled back to Eijun while Miyuki pulled his sword from the ground to rest it over his shoulder, gaze fixed to the gap in the wall. There was no time for celebration as the second wave of imps flew in, though now they were armed with blow darts and remained high in the air and out of range of Miyuki's skill to pull aggro.

"To me!" Eijun shouted as he dashed towards Miyuki. Without question, the others turned to follow as small, poisoned darts rained down towards them. Upon reaching Miyuki, Eijun threw his arms out wide to erect a barrier of wind around the raid unit to repel all ranged attacks targeted at them. Every dart aimed at the group was easily blown back to land ineffectively into the walls, leaving toxic green bubbles to ooze out from the entry points. Thankfully, the imps weren't smart enough to switch to physical attacks as Eijun's barrier didn't protect from melee, though they still had Miyuki for if anything made the switch and charged.

Again, it was all up to the ranged classes to whittle the monkeys down from the safety of the wind that Eijun had to reactivate a couple of times when their cover died down. Eventually, the second round of imps was eradicated, and fortunately, that appeared to be the last of them, as well. Afterward, they returned to gambling with the levers in a manner that felt distinctly lackluster compared to the small battle they just went through. The sudden change was enough for them to forget one of the outcomes from the wrong lever being pulled, sending them all sprawling to the ground once more. Three times they had to brace themselves from essentially being attacked by the room itself, and twice they had real duds pulled, though they still remained cautious and eyed the walls for more ambushes.

Then finally, it was Eijun's turn to choose a lever. Without hesitation, he jogged over to the first one his gaze fell upon. Even at the slight angle the switch was at, it still was tall enough to reach Eijun's hip and thick enough that his hands barely wrapped around its width. With both hands gripped tightly on the lever, Eijun pulled. The lever barely moved. The others made it look easy when they tugged at theirs, and Eijun was not expecting the amount of effort that was apparently required to move the thing. After a few experimental yanks, Eijun realized he was going to have to throw his entire body weight at it in hopes that that would be enough. He readjusted his grip and pulled back, dropping his weight completely with the action. The lever didn't budge immediately, but with a grunt and another sharp tug, it abruptly flipped and dropped Eijun ass first to the stone floor.

Embarrassed, Eijun pushed himself to his feet while rubbing his abused tailbone. He barely had a chance to laugh it off when the room began to shake and shudder with the familiar sound of grating rock as the door slid open.