With a quiet grunt of exertion, Neveah climbed out of the mud pit, digging her claws into the ground to hold her weight and keep from slipping back into the pit.

From Neveah’s waist down to her feet was completely covered in mud and some of the mud had gotten into her hair from the crawl out and even stained her face.

When Neveah was fully out, she laid down on her back and stared up at nothing, breathing slowly.

Getting out of the mud pit had been strenuous, the mud was thick and difficult to get through even when Neveah had a hand hold.

But Neveah’s endurance had already been trained, even when her arms and muscles ached badly, she easily overlooked it.

Neveah took only a few breaths before she got up to her feet once again, unlatching the makeshift rope she made from her waist.

Neveah discarded of her outer robe, the fabric was caked with mud and torn in parts, it was of no use to her anymore.

Neveah was only left in form fitting breeches and a sleeveless form fitting shirt that left her midriff bare.

So far, that was all that was left of Neveah’s rider’s suit and she hoped she would not have to discard anymore of it till she was out of this cave.

Neveah retrieved the belt made from silver rings and her dagger, both of which could still proof useful at some point.

Once Neveah had stored them away, she headed over to the wooden double doors built into the wall that would lead into yet another cavern.

Neveah pushed on the door, but it would not budge. Sighing quietly, Neveah took a step back and kicked out.

The doors swung open, a few wooden splinters dislodged from their place due to the force of Neveah’s hit.

Neveah stepped into the next cavern, glancing around slightly. She had gone through the arrows, the stone doors and the mud pit and Neveah had to wonder how much farther till the heart of the Ever-burn cave.

This cavern appeared to be just an empty hall, but Neveah knew that was only because she was yet to trigger the trap for this cavern.

Neveah also knew there was no way she could get beyond this cavern without overcoming the traps, that was the point of the trial.

Across the cavern, there was a stairwell leading up, it was built into the left wall and that was the only exit which meant that was where Neveah would have to go.

Neveah pulled out her dagger and tossed it out into the cavern while she still stood at the door.

She watched the dagger clatter to the ground some distance into the cavern and then waited.

A moment passed and nothing happened, Neveah narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Just when Neveah was about to step forward, a groaning sound interrupted the quiet atmosphere of the cavern and Neveah glanced up to see a large bed of spiked dropping down into the cavern.

The large bed of spikes was almost large enough to cover the entire cavern, there was a strong chain that held it up to the ceiling and that chain currently lowered it down.

Neveah had not even noticed it before, both the top side of the bed connected with the chain and underneath where lined with sharp metal spikes.

The bed dropped low until it was almost to the ground and then stopped suddenly, just a short distance from the ground.

Neveah could already tell there was just one way out but she still tossed her chain belt out to the spiked bed just to make certain that there was nothing else that would happen.

Neveah waited again and when then she could hear the chains moving as the spiked bed was drawn upwards again.

Neveah studied it’s movement, it went up as far as a little above her height in a flash and Neveah counted from then.

In just a few heartbeats, the spiked bed was lowered back to it’s starting point in a flash.

"It moves up in a second and stays that way for about a half minute before it’s lowered and stays that way for also a half minute." Neveah murmured to herself.

Taking note of the movement pattern, Neveah lowered herself down to lay flat on the ground, there was just enough space for her to crawl underneath the spiked bed.

Taking a breath in, Neveah moved forward on her elbows, crawling beneath the spiked bed.

The spikes were sharp and some were longer than the others. Neveah had already anticipated this and so she gritted her teeth against the pain as one of the longer spikes slashed her back.

Neveah crawled on, counting down the seconds in her head.

One... two...three... four... Neveah counted on till it was half a minute and the moment the spiked bed was pulled up, Neveah was up on her feet and broke into a swift dash.

Again, Neveah mentally counted and once the time was up, she dropped down again just as the spiked bed was lowered and Neveah continued forwards with a crawl.

Alternatingly between crawling and running, Neveah covered the expanse of the cavern in no time, arriving to the other side but she was not completely unscathed.

Neveah could feel the blood dripping down her back, on multiple occasions, a longer spike had slashed her back or pierced in.

Neveah ignored the pain as she climbed up the stairwell, leaving behind the spiked bed and its cavern.

On reaching the top of the stairwell, Neveah stepped into another cavern and this time, she was not even surprised when the stone door slammed shut behind her, leaving the cavern in pitch darkness.

The darkness only lingered for a short while, soon, a dim glow materialized from somewhere in the cavern.

Neveah slowly headed in the direction of that glow, but it seemed she did not need to.

The dim glow also approached Neveah and as it got closer, it lit up the path and Neveah could finally see that she had arrived at what Lord Skiren had called the heart of the Ever-burn cave.

All along the walls were small vents, each housing a small glowing strand of what Neveah knew were flames even if they appeared more like glowing strands of magic energy.

There were dozens and dozens of them for as far as Neveah’s eyes could see down the hall and as high as she could see up to the high roof of the cavern.

The glow from all the vents were so much more dim than the one that approached, so much so that they could go unnoticed yet the scorching aura they exuded made the atmosphere comparable to a volcano.

The temperature in the cavern was on a steady rise to the point that it already felt scorching and perspiration beaded on Neveah’s forehead and back.

Out of hundreds of flames, Neveah knew it was impossible for her to tell which belonged to Menarx or even hope to find it by herself in anything less than a decade.

But Lord Skiren had told Neveah that Menarx’s flame strand was still linked to him, it understood his heart and would find her first so long as she made it to the heart of the cave.

"Then... the dim glow that approaches... must be it..." Neveah realized.

But before Neveah could fully comprehend what she was seeing, a silhouette stepped into her line of sight and Neveah’s gaze moved to settle on Lord Skiren.

"Have you... always been somewhere around all along?" Neveah asked with a raised brow.

"More or less." Lord Skiren replied directly.

"This is the heart of the Ever-burn cave." Neveah pointed out the obvious.

"So it is. You have come far in so little time, you will face your true trial now." Lord Skiren said, his jade green orbs glinting in the darkness.

"If all of that was not the trial... then what is?" Neveah asked uncertainly.

"What do you know of the trials?" Lord Skiren asked as he took a step closer to Neveah.

"There are... five of them?" Neveah replied uncertainly.

"And what else?" Lord Skiren asked again.

"Only when all five is overcome can one be recognized as a true rider?" Neveah replied again, unsure as to what answer Lord Skiren was seeking to hear.

"Would you say five trials is all it takes to become a rider?" Lord Skiren asked again.

"This is the way of the academy, as I was told." Neveah replied with a raised brow.

"Indeed, five trials proves one is eligible to be a rider but what truly makes one a rider is not the trials itself but what comes after." Lord Skiren said, taking another step forward.

"What is it that comes after?" Neveah asked warily, her right hand slowly moving to her dagger which she had secured back to its sheath at her waist.