They woke up floating on white.

  Soft, endless white.

  The air was cool and thin, the world below hidden by a shifting sea of clouds.

  Leo blinked. “Where… are we?”

  Harlada sat up slowly, poking at the surface. It rippled like pudding. “On a cloud. Obviously.”

  Bert grinned. “Finally! A soft level!”

  The Maze pulsed.

  Environment initialized: Atmospheric Hazard Zone. Gravity optional. Survival uncertain.

  A glowing message shimmered in the air before them, written in neat, cheerful lettering.

  Some clouds cause rain, some clouds cause snow,

  Some cause hail—tread real slow.

  They stared at it.

  Harlada read it twice, frowning. “That’s poetic and deeply unhelpful.”

  Leo rubbed his chin. “No, it’s a hint. Movement speed. The cloud reacts to pressure. Move too fast, and we’ll—”

  He stepped forward. His foot sank slightly into the mist. “—probably fall.”

  Bert peered down through a gap in the clouds. “That’s a long drop.”

  Harlada nodded. “Good. I’ve always wanted to die of altitude instead of incompetence.”

  The Maze pulsed, delighted.

  Lesson objective: Balance and humility. Player readiness: Doubtful.

  Leo took a careful step. “Slow and steady. No running, no jumping, no—”

  Bert jogged forward a few paces. “See? Totally fine—”

  The cloud under him bulged ominously.

  Harlada sighed. “Here we go again.”

  The Maze pulsed, humming like thunder.

  Warning: Precipitation event pending.

  ***

  Bert froze mid-step as the cloud beneath him began to ripple like soft pudding.

  “Uh… Leo? This one’s jiggling.”

  Leo held up a hand. “Back. Slowly.”

  Bert inched backward, the cloud steadying beneath him.

  Harlada exhaled. “For once, you listened.”

  Leo glanced down at his own feet — the enchanted boots, faintly glowing, faintly smug. He crouched, unbuckling them.

  “Leo,” Harlada warned, “what are you doing?”

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Science,” he said, setting the boots down on the cloud.

  The Maze pulsed.

  Scientific curiosity detected. Approval withheld.

  He gave the boots a pat. “All right, boys. Run.”

  The boots twitched, then darted forward at full sprint — empty, fast, and far too confident.

  For two glorious seconds, they skimmed the cloud surface like professional athletes.

  Then they sank straight through it and vanished into the mist below.

  Bert blinked. “...Was that on purpose?”

  Leo nodded. “Better them than us.”

  Harlada stared at him. “You just sacrificed your only shoes.”

  “They were unreliable,” he said. “I prefer honesty underfoot.”

  The Maze pulsed, dryly.

  Footwear removed. Intelligence applied. Disappointment: Moderate.

  Bert scratched his head. “So… we go slow.”

  “Slow,” Leo confirmed. “Careful steps only.”

  They moved together, inch by inch, across the fragile surface.

  The clouds firmed beneath their pace — testing them, but no longer threatening to swallow them whole.

  Eventually, the mist ahead thinned, revealing three glimmering doors rising out of the silver fog like polished mirrors.

  Harlada sighed. “Of course. Three doors again. What else?”

  Bert grinned. “At least we made it here alive.”

  The Maze pulsed.

  Achievement unlocked: Minimal mortality. Reward: None.

  They stepped forward as one, ready to face whatever waited behind the clouds.

  ***

  The three doors stood waiting in the mist, glowing faintly.

  One bore a jagged lightning bolt, another a swirling wind spiral, and the third a vague tree-like thing with too many roots and not enough logic.

  Bert tilted his head. “That tree looks like it wants revenge.”

  Harlada nodded. “Probably for existing in this architecture.”

  The Maze pulsed.

  Symbol recognition: Lightning, Wind, and Questionable Botany. Accuracy: Acceptable.

  Leo stepped forward. “All right. Three doors. One of them’s guaranteed to kill us; two are probably just auditions for later.”

  Harlada tapped her chin. “Lightning I understand. Tree I’m suspicious of. But wind… wind’s weird.”

  Bert frowned. “Why? Wind sounds completely in character.”

  “Because we already had the air element,” Harlada said. “Back in the desert. Remember? Three air elementals.”

  Leo blinked. “So you’re saying wind can’t be air elementals?”

  “Exactly,” Harlada said. “Which means it’s not that. The other winds we had at the river, so I suppose it’s just a puzzle.”

  Bert looked at the door uneasily. “Fake wind?”

  “Or cursed wind,” she said.

  Leo folded his arms. “You’re overthinking this. Wind’s just wind.”

  The Maze pulsed, clearly annoyed.

  Correction: I already did air elementals? Checking...

  The wind door flickered once—then vanished completely, leaving only two.

  All three froze.

  Bert whispered, “Did it just… delete our option?”

  Harlada blinked. “It’s never done that before.”

  Leo stared at the empty space. “You argued the enemies out of existence.”

  The Maze pulsed again, smug.

  Elemental redundancy removed. Players usually do not take this long finishing the tutorial.

  Leo stroked his chin. “So if we just keep going, eventually we run out of enemies?”

  The Maze pulsed.

  Correction: Level-appropriate enemies.

  “You had to ask,” Harlada sighed, disappointed.