{ Tower Colosseum – Final Trial }
The silence hit first.
Over a hundred thousand voices fell mute as a wave of mana suppression swept through the Colosseum stands. The air itself seemed to hold its breath, thick with anticipation and raw power.
Stone trembled beneath the spectators' feet. Ancient lights dimmed to a ritualistic glow, and high above, the Tower's sigil blazed to life—a symbol that had witnessed countless trials, countless champions, countless failures.
DJ Vox's voice cut through the tension like a blade through silk, his words carrying the weight of ceremony and the promise of blood.
"Ten Zones. One final trial."
The crowd leaned forward as one.
"Welcome... to the Jungle of Trials!"
Thunder cracked across the sky—not natural lightning, but Tower-wrought fireworks that painted the heavens in gold and crimson. The roar that followed wasn't just sound; it was hunger, anticipation, and the collective breath of an empire watching its future unfold.
---
## { The Awakening Arena }
The Colosseum floor split.
Not cracked—split, as if the stone itself had been waiting for this moment. Massive slabs parted with the precision of divine clockwork, revealing the mechanical heart beating beneath.
Gears the size of buildings groaned to life. Steam hissed from hidden vents. The sound was primal—metal and magic working in harmony to birth something magnificent and terrible.
From the depths rose a world within a world.
Trees burst through shattered stone, their roots already thick with age and mystery. Fog rolled between trunks like ghostly serpents, and vines stretched across cliffs that shouldn't exist, connecting impossible heights with deadly grace.
This wasn't illusion. This wasn't projection.
This was real earth, real water, real danger—a living biome torn from the Tower's hidden layers and thrust into the light.
The jungle sprawled across multiple elevations: dense canopies that blocked the sky, slippery rock faces that promised broken bones, rivers that whispered of hidden depths, and mudslides that could swallow a man whole.
It was beautiful.
It was brutal.
It was perfect.
---
## { The Architects' Pride }
High in the viewing platforms, the Bragundel Clan watched their masterpiece with the satisfaction of craftsmen who had exceeded even their own expectations.
Grumgar Bragundel, lead architect and family elder, stroked his braided beard with barely contained pride. His weathered hands had shaped empires, but this—this was art.
"Two hours," he rumbled to his gathered kin. "They asked for a new final trial. We gave them a jungle."
Beside him, young Torkil—barely ten but already wise in the ways of stone and steel—snorted with dwarven pragmatism. "That pretty boy won't last an hour. Too much show off, not enough backbone."
Another cousin pointed toward the competitors' platform. "Now that one—the quiet one with the mask. He looks like he could survive anything."
The dwarves chattered among themselves, placing bets with the casual air of those who had seen too many Tower trials to be impressed by noble titles or family names. Here, in the crucible they had built, only one thing mattered: survival.
---
## { The Rules of Blood }
Vox's voice boomed across the arena, each word carrying the weight of absolute law.
"Here are your rules, climbers!"
The competitors stood on illuminated platforms, spotlights casting their faces across broadcast crystals that would carry their images to every corner of the empire.
"Each Zone has sent their finest. Over fifty participants per Zone. You will be randomly scattered across the jungle biome."
The cameras panned across faces painted with determination, fear, and cold calculation.
Trial is 4 hours long.
"Each begins with ten tokens. Your objective: collect the most tokens within four hours."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Simple rules often hid the deepest complexity.
"Elimination is final. Drop to zero tokens—eliminated. Drop below ten percent health—auto-teleported to safety, but your tokens transfer to your killer."
Vox paused, letting the weight of those words settle.
"You may ally. You may betray. You may trust—or not. But remember: in the end, only raw strength, sharp instincts, and the will to survive matter."
The jungle seemed to pulse with agreement.
"Whoever claims the most tokens becomes the Champion of Trials."
---
## { Monsters in the Shadows }
"But you are not alone."
The words carried a promise of violence that made even the hardened spectators lean forward.
"The jungle lives. And it hungers."
Images flickered across the viewing crystals—creatures bred in the Tower's deepest laboratories, shaped by magic and malice.
"Jungle Wolves hunt in coordinated packs. One token per kill, but they never hunt alone."
A howl echoed from the depths, long and mournful and hungry.
"Alpha Wolves lead the hunt. Give tokens each, but they're twice as fast and three times as smart."
"Savage Tower Beasts prowl the undergrowth—boar-beasts with tusks like spears, jungle cats with fangs like daggers, apes with claws that can rend steel. Five tokens each, if you can survive their fury."
"Lesser Golems guard the deeper paths. Ten tokens per kill, but their defence is thick and their weak points well-hidden."
Vox's voice dropped to a whisper that somehow reached every corner of the Colosseum.
"And deep in the jungle's heart waits the Jungle Devourer—a serpent the size of legends. One thousand tokens to whoever claims its life."
He smiled, though none could see it.
"Or instant victory, should you prefer the direct approach."
"Oh, and one last thing…" Vox grins.
> "This jungle? It won't last forever."
> The Trial zone is a jungle arena divided into rings (Outer, Mid, Inner).
> "Every hour, the terrain will begin to collapse inward — trees fall, cliffs crumble, the outer edge becomes unstable. Anyone outside the safe zones when the collapse finishes? Auto-teleported and eliminated."
> "So if you want to survive — and earn more tokens — you'll need to keep moving. Toward the center. That's where the final battle waits."
---
## { Final Moments }
The ten champions stood on their platforms, each representing the best their Zone could offer.
Dante Dragunov cracked his neck, arms crossed, confidence radiating from every line of his body. The cameras loved him—he was the warrior they expected, the champion they wanted.
Lucien Arkwright stood wrapped in frost-touched air, his noble bearing untouched by the jungle's humid breath. Ice magic flickered around his fingers like tame lightning.
Elina Vel positioned herself like a general surveying a battlefield, her tactical mind already mapping escape routes and ambush points through the canopy above.
Zayna Malik smirked at the cameras, knuckles tapping against her waist where her weapons waited. She looked like violence wrapped in silk.
And Ryu Jin-Seok...
Ryu stood still as carved stone, his mask hiding thoughts that ran deeper than the jungle's roots. When others glanced his way, they looked away just as quickly—something in his stillness promised consequences for those who stared too long.
---
## { Into the Unknown }
The center of the Colosseum blazed with teleportation energy. Runes older than empires carved themselves into the air, each one a doorway to survival or death.
Portals bloomed across the jungle like deadly flowers, random destinations that would scatter the competitors like seeds on the wind.
Vox raised both arms to the sky, his voice carrying the ceremony of ages.
"All cameras live. All channels synced. All eyes watching."
The competitors tensed.
The jungle held its breath.
The empire watched.
"LET THE SHOW BEGIN!"
Light exploded across the arena. In the space between one heartbeat and the next, over five hundred competitors vanished into the green depths.
Somewhere in the distance, something howled
.
The trees trembled.
And the Jungle of Trials claimed its first breath of what would become a legend.
---
*The blood had yet to flow, but the jungle was already hungry.*
----------
And so it begins…
The strongest scattered across a jungle that lives, breathes, and hungers.
Some seek glory. Others, survival. But one walks with silence, not ambition.
While they chase fame and legacy…
he moves with purpose they can't see.
Ryu Jin-Seok doesn't fight for recognition.
He fights to rewrite fate.
And this time…
the jungle won't devour him.
He'll devour the jungle.
_________________________________________________
{An Original Series by Celestial Raven}