"Why that face?" asked the fox on top of his head.
"The labyrinth... It changed earlier than I expected."
Sinmara shook her head, observing the room enclosed by the patterned gray walls. Tryg, grumbling, did the same, until his thoughtful eyes stopped on the locked doors. Assuming the labyrinth's changes had some logic behind them, it was natural to conclude that something had triggered the alterations earlier than expected. But what?
Tryg had done nothing different from the first time — he had followed the corridors and chambers, marking them, avoiding the traps, and defeating every monster that stood in his path. Besides, he had also redoubled his attention while walking through the complex. If something even slightly different had happened, he liked to think he would have noticed.
Raising his gaze, Tryg asked, "Did you notice anything worth our attention?"
She took a while, thinking, but then shook her head. "Not that I remember."
"Um..." He continued observing the room, feeling the floor tremble with the thunderous sounds of the labyrinth being rearranged, but he did not find anything there that drew his attention either.
He sighed, giving up. For now, there was nothing he could do, other than wait and investigate the results. And that was what he did, as soon as the labyrinth stopped and the corridor doors reopened. Tryg returned through the passage that would theoretically take him back to the initial chamber. However, as soon as he laid eyes on its walls, he immediately realized he was lost once again. After all, the mark he had left there had disappeared, and the trap of enormous crushing metal blocks had been replaced by one of bladed spikes.
Even so, he crossed the corridor, avoiding the traps, and returned to the previous room. Or rather, the new room, since the stone he had left there had also vanished.
Tryg sighed, discouraged. "Great..."
"Careful, enemies," warned the queen.
Indeed, transparent, gray shadows sprouted from the grass — the future images of the enemies that would emerge moments later. But...
"What...?" he asked, widening his eyes at the monsters.
"They are Vikens."
"Yeah, but..."
Two warriors who, like the Shadows, also had skin furrowed by cracks that glowed with an ancient, corrupted green magic. However, these were stockier, taller, and carried a kind of two-handed mace that could, without a doubt, easily turn Tryg's skull into pulp. But they were not the most dangerous beasts there. The two greenish Nightmares accompanying them, on the other hand...
As the two warriors slowly approached, the two floating creatures suddenly began to glow and emanate a worrying green smoke. Then both flew toward the Vikens, one for each of them... and entered their backs, as if possessing them. The undead's eyes ignited with a threatening green aura, as did the fissures covering their gray bodies. They had become stronger, more resistant, and more unpredictable.
But there was no problem. Although he had only discovered their name now, Tryg had also dealt with similar enemies during his first time in the labyrinth. Except...
He frowned, raising his guard as the monsters approached. "These things..."
"Yes?" Sinmara asked. "Do not tell me you are afraid of them."
"That's not it." He shook his head, jostling the fox. "It's just that... they shouldn't have appeared now, not in the sixth chamber. The first time I faced one of these guys was in the eighth, and one possessed by a Nightmare, on top of that, in the eleventh."
"Um..."
His eyes widened. "Wait... Maybe..." A mischievous smile. "What a wicked labyrinth you are..."
"What?"
"I'll explain later."
First, Tryg took a moment to analyze the floor, the walls, the boundaries — anything that could hinder or help him in the fight. Shortly after, the first Viken attacked with a roar, swinging its mace forcefully at him. But Tryg, now strengthened by his second divine awakening, easily avoided the blow with a simple half-turn.
The other attacked next, but its movements were so slow, so easy to predict, that, if Tryg had a better sword, he would have cut off the undead's arms. Instead, he only retreated, taking care not to trip over a root he had seen behind him moments earlier. Soon after, he advanced and kicked one of the Vikens in the chest, sending it away from its companion.
The one still nearby swung its mace again. Tryg jumped to the side and then swept its legs, making it fall to the ground. Then he dropped the sword, climbed on top of the undead, and began punching it without stopping.
When Vikens were possessed by Nightmares, their healing factor was strengthened and kept active indefinitely, basically making them immortal. The only way to defeat them, therefore, was to expel the Nightmare from the possessed body, and for that to happen, Tryg needed to stun it enough, until it nearly lost consciousness.
So he continued to punch and punch, even while seeing how quickly the corrupted magic healed the wounds he caused. Grunting in pain, the Viken fought back a few times, trying to hit Tryg's face, but he saw the shadows of the blows and dodged. Even with his improved strength, it took a while, but eventually the Nightmare was finally expelled, dazed, its single iris spinning back and forth.
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Tryg wasted no time. Instead of finishing the Viken first, he focused on grabbing and crushing the tentacled creature; it would be annoying to let it possess the undead again. The eye burst in his hand with a scream, scattering dark blood.
The other Viken, still possessed, reached Tryg. He took advantage of the fact that its companion was still dazed on the ground to get rid of the other Nightmare as well, the same way he had with the first. Then he took one of the maces and finished the stunned undead, crushing their skulls and staining the snow around them.
He took a deep breath and dropped the mace.
"Try using the sword next time," Sinmara pointed out. "I want to have a better idea of your progress."
Tryg nodded. "Right," he answered, then recovered the sword he had dropped and stared at the battered blade. "The bad thing is that I won't be able to practice much with such a bad sword..."
"Just take another." The fox leapt from his head, sat in the snow and, staring at him, changed the subject. "You noticed something during the fight. What was it?"
He smiled again. Indeed, he had reached a conclusion.
At first, in the previous room, Tryg had believed that nothing had changed in his journey compared to the first one, and he had found the labyrinth's early reorganization strange. He had been wrong. Two things had changed, only they had nothing to do with the complex of corridors and chambers... but with its challengers.
The first difference was that Tryg had not entered alone this time, beside the queen of Niflheim — a powerful and ancient giantess, who held dominion over the entire realm of cold and mist. And the second difference... was him.
Tryg himself had changed — his strength, his resistance, his senses, everything in him had been improved. He had become much more powerful than he was when he entered the labyrinth for the first time. And, if he was right and the alterations had some logic behind them... then they probably occurred based on the strength of their challengers.
Or, to be more precise, on the speed with which they passed the combat challenges of each chamber. Time had to be what was measured and used as data to cause the readjustments. That was why, when the challenges became easier for Tryg during his first attempt, the paths altered to lead him to more difficult trials... like the Revenant. That was why, when he defeated the monsters in the first, second, and fourth chambers in record time that day, the labyrinth adapted as soon as he accessed the fifth, giving him a trial that, in the past, would have been presented only after the tenth room.
The labyrinth was not a defense system to prevent invaders from reaching Ivaldi's Workshop... But one to ensure that those who did were worthy of reaching it.
"What do you think?" he asked, after telling Sinmara his idea. "Is it possible?"
With one paw over her mouth, she thought for a moment, then nodded. "I think so. The first version of the labyrinth also did something similar, but in a much simpler way."
"How?"
"The Workshop remained open and visible the entire time. However, the invader needed to travel through the labyrinth, avoid the traps, defeat enemies, and collect some kind of... substance that would allow them to access Ivaldi's treasures."
He narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me that when I entered here for the first time?"
She shrugged. "I did not trust you yet."
Tryg raised an eyebrow. "And now you do?"
"No." He exhaled, defeated, and the fox continued, "But now I have fewer reasons not to help you."
"Sure..." He stared at the open corridors, their walls lined with traps. "I was also thinking that if the labyrinth is measuring my strength and forcing me to overcome harder challenges... doesn't that mean..."
"That the only way to reach the workshop is by overcoming each one of them, until you reach its end."
Tryg nodded, clenching his fists. "And I suspect the Revenant that will come won't be anywhere near the most dangerous enemy I'll find..."
"Probably not."
He remained there for a moment, observing and imagining how much he would need to fight to accomplish his goal, and how long and painful the path ahead would be. Not only that, but even though he had not yet used any of the flasks of Idun Juice, they were still limited, and neither Tryg nor Sinmara could return to the tree to make more. The queen had already stated that the mist around the Workshop prevented her from transporting herself anywhere afflicted by it.
The pressure he felt, the oppression of time and unknown dangers... all of that was a little discouraging, he had to admit. Even so, he took a deep breath and took a step forward. The fox followed him closely, this time preferring the floor to his hair.
They crossed the fast, sharp spinning saws side by side and reached the next chamber, where a new group of enemies, more numerous and more deadly, appeared. Sinmara moved a little away, her gaze attentive to him. Tryg raised his guard, carefully analyzed the enemies and the battlefield, and, at last, attacked.
***
It took longer to advance now. The labyrinth decided that increasing the number of enemies would be enough to expel its invader. It was not, but it was enough to delay him. Tryg took an entire day to reach the eleventh chamber, sweaty and, for the first time, breathless.
The many fights exhausted him, and not only physically. Since the number of monsters was much greater, Tryg had to push his mind to the limit to analyze, memorize, and consider each of the enemies' shadows during the battles, as well as the enemies themselves. Keeping an eye on four or five of them at the same time was not so complicated, but keeping track of the location and actions of fourteen of them was, at the very least, exhausting, especially for five fights in a row.
Along with his labored breathing and soaked body, Tryg also had a tremendous headache when he stopped to rest at sunset, in the eleventh room. He collapsed onto his back in the soft snow, thinking while staring at the crimson sky: And to think that outside, only a few minutes have passed...
The snout of a pure-white fox shadowed his face, her brow furrowed. "Why are you lying down? Get up, you still have to train. I want two thousand repetitions today."
Tryg exhaled. "Please, have mercy, milady... Let me do only a thousand today."
Her wrinkles deepened. "If you want me to continue teaching you, obey."
"Aah, all right..."
And so he did, but not before preparing a fire for light and to roast some of the meat he had collected from the Tatzelwurms he had killed. After repeating the same simple movement Sinmara had taught him many times — and after several reprimands from her, of course — Tryg felt completely spent, and it did not take long for him to have dinner, quench his thirst, and fade into sleep in the snow beside the flames.
The next day, the young god and the queen of Niflheim made their way through the next trapped corridor, which led them to a new, smaller chamber, where the doors once again closed violently. Tryg turned to the sealed exits and frowned. Was it his imagination, or was there a hint of irritation in the brutal way the passages had been closed and the complex reorganized itself?
...No, he thought, relaxing. He did not need to be apprehensive. After all, the faster the alterations happened, the stronger his enemies would become — but the sooner he would reach the end.
That said, as soon as the passages opened again, Tryg went to the next room and waited until the next group of enemies emerged. Two of them were Tatzelwurms, who sprouted from the ground — felines with parts that resembled serpents and protruding fangs, both snarling and summoning electric magic that slithered across their bodies. And besides them...
Tryg felt a pang of worry when he saw her. But his excitement was greater. His will was greater. Gripping the hilt of the sword, ready, he walked slowly toward the woman with the trembling body, ragged clothes, and bone mask, her branch-like staff emanating a familiar green and poisonous aura...
A Revenant.
Tryg smiled. "Miss me?"