Dancer

As she passed through the door, the heat that had been radiating from it before was even more intense, enveloping her in a wave of hot air that seemed to have no end. Although it had previously been a comforting heat, making her feel safe and protected, it now seemed to be a scorching inferno, threatening to consume her completely.

However, despite the intense heat she felt, she didn't feel unwell, she only felt a great discomfort due to the heat, as if her body was being subjected to a resistance test. Ninsun noticed that even Arachne felt the same discomfort, frowning and passing her hand over her forehead, as if trying to push away the oppressive heat. And the same thing with Kairos, who walked beside them with firm steps, but with a look that revealed a slight discomfort.

She then understood that this was a characteristic of the floor, a test they needed to overcome to advance. Some floors have certain specifications that affect everyone, like the fifth floor, where the impact of an individual fall had no effect, and now, on the 6th, where the heat affected everyone individually, as if each of them was being tested in a unique way. Even if someone had a parchment that allowed them to transfer the bad consequences from one body to another, the massive heat would not be transferred.

As she looked around, she couldn't see anything but a few isolated trees. But Kairos began to walk south, and Arachne followed, and, obviously, Ninsun did the same. They spent hours walking, but even so, they didn't find anything.

And so the days went by, day after day, following the same path in one direction, and along the way, the same repetitive landscape continued. On the 13th day on the 6th floor, Arachne already seemed tired of walking so much. In contrast, Kairos seemed quite calm since they entered the 6th floor. On the night of that day, while Arachne slept, Kairos and Ninsun were eating. For all the days they spent together, she hadn't talked much with Kairos, thinking it was better that way. But, just like Arachne, she was already tired of the repetitive days.

- Kairos, we've been walking for a long time. How much longer will we keep walking? Kairos finished his meal and stood up to store the things they wouldn't need for that night.

- I don't know either. The 6th floor is designed so that there's no specific thing to pass through it. The last time I was here, my task was just to kill a certain number of animals.

- So it's something random? So we just have to wait? Ninsun replied as she stood up to help him.

- Not exactly. We have to walk until we reach the test location. The distance can change. Maybe we're already in the test area or we'll still have to walk for a few more days.

- So the 6th floor isn't that dangerous after all. There are only easy-to-hunt animals, and we don't even need to worry about water since you provide it with magic.

- You're wrong. The 6th floor is indeed a dangerous place. Of course, this only applies to people of low rank, like you. Because the weaker a person is, the greater the danger of the test. And since we're in a group, the floor recognizes this, and it will choose your weakness to give us a strong enemy. I'll go to sleep now. Thank you for your help. Kairos then walked to his tent and entered it.

Ninsun became very thoughtful about what Kairos had said. The fact that her weakness would determine the level of the enemy left her worried. After a while, Arachne and Kairos were already asleep. Ninsun gazed at the sky of that place, and no matter how many times she saw it every night, she was still enchanted by its appearance. A sky where the stars formed an image of her thoughts. She imagined birds, and the stars made them. She remembered things, and the sky reproduced the image of her thoughts.

Tired of playing with the stars, she went to her tent. But before entering, in the distance, she saw the silhouette of a woman dancing. It didn't seem like any specific dance, she was just making simple and random movements. Ninsun slowly approached Kairos' tent while watching the woman in the distance.

Ninsun, for some reason, couldn't speak; her voice wouldn't come out. She knew it wasn't because of fear, despite being weak, she was with strong people. Instinctively, she knew that the woman wasn't a person. Ninsun, upon arriving in front of the tent, saw that the woman who had been dancing calmly earlier was now dancing with inhuman movements; her arms contorted, her head spun.

Ninsun watched her closely, as she could only see her silhouette by the moonlight. But, unfortunately for Ninsun, a cloud passed across the sky, hiding the moonlight.

Ninsun heard footsteps approaching, so she ran towards Kairos' tent and jumped towards it. The clouds, which had previously hindered her, passed, and when she looked back, she saw a monster with eyes all over its head; its face had several mouths sewn shut, its left arm, which had previously seemed normal, was a gigantic arm where, instead of hands, there was a mouth. When Ninsun had jumped as she arrived at Kairos' tent, it was a short span of time before Ninsun would fall. She grabbed her dagger and threw it in the direction of the monster's head, hoping to hit an eye. But in the blink of an eye, the darkness of that night, which was illuminated by the moon, was lit up by a warm and bright color.