With a more immediate challenge presenting itself, Li did his best to push his more existential fear and hope for the future of mankind to the back of his mind. He needed to calm himself and prepare to take on the coming danger. Thankfully Li’s particular spell set was well suited to analyzing something like this and he decided to allow the entrance to pass him by once or twice instead of immediately attempting to enter. The passive form of his Perfect Force Understanding was already telling him a lot about the obstacle ahead of him, but he started spending mana to enhance both it and his Motion Sense. A moment later he was glad he had taken the additional time and energy.
His closer inspection showed that the entrance was not one gear, but a large series that created something closer to a short hallway then a doorway. Each gear was situated a bit ahead of the gear following it, creating a slope in the hall. This made entering the dungeon significantly easier than exiting as it would extend the amount of time he had to get in, but shorten how long he had to get out. Based off what he saw and the speed of the gears, he would have about a four second window of time to enter the dungeon between when the passageway’s beginning would be too high for him to get through and the end would fully disappear into the ground. A short timeline for something so dangerous.
He could do it, but he couldn’t trip or second guess himself. This was slightly complicated by the floor of the passageway. Based on the setup of the gears, he’d be essentially running on something similar to storm sewer grating. Observation of the gears first pass had revealed wide, separated bars making up the ground between the gears. These gaps were meant to allow the approximately inch wide gears through, but nothing larger. Running on the bars wouldn’t be that dangerous, but it was one more hazard he would have to look out for.
The real danger had revealed itself in the timing. At maybe thirty-five feet in length, his senses told him that, with his comparatively unimpressive physique, if he ran at full speed it would take him something like two seconds to get through the hallway. A much closer thing then he preferred. He would have to start while the “floor” of the hole in the gear was still about a foot off the ground. Any higher than that and it wasn’t worth the additional risk of the angle of the floor tripping him or making him roll his ankle. Any lower and he would be losing valuable time that could potentially make the difference. Deciding that the one pass of the gear had given him all the information he would be able to glean, he wanted to make his attempt during the next pass. It would be a little while before the large gear was in position, so he made preparations.
He tied his shoes. He zipped up his jacket so it wouldn’t be flapping behind him like a cape and potentially get caught in the gears. He made sure his handful of personal possessions were secured and not likely to fall. He had been brought to the new universe with his travel bag, which had been sitting next to the bed he had fallen asleep in for his last night in the old reality. Inside wasn’t much. A few changes of clothes, personal hygiene items, the book he’d been working on, his wallet, his phone, a solar charger his mom had gotten him for his birthday three years ago to take on his camping trips, a notebook, and some pencils. And the letters. Upon finding those, he had folded them back up carefully and put them between the pages of the book to keep safe. Then he zipped up the bag, tightened the straps, and snapped together the buckle that went across his pecs. He was ready as he’d ever be. This, of course, was when the nerves and doubts set in. Did he actually want to enter Archimedes’ Labyrinth?
He didn’t have to. He could still try to go through the forest. As he’d already noted, going into the dungeon would be significantly easier than getting out. This was likely a one-way trip, with no going back if he changed his mind. That said, not much had changed for him since he last decided between the dungeon and the Labyrinth. He hadn’t noted any branching paths he could have taken on the way down. The only place he knew there would be water was inside the maze. And honestly not even that far in. There had been a lot of ponds throughout the maze and the first was barely past the entrance from what he could tell. He also still didn’t have an easy way through the fast-growing vegetation.
As for food, he hadn’t seen many animals on his way down into the valley. Those he had seen had only been thanks to expanded his motion sense. Mostly birds and squirrels high in the tree tops. Maybe, maybe he could rely on them for a food source. At the same time though, as he had waited, he had noted birds flying into the dungeon and landing on trees on the other side. He was willing to bet other animals waited over there too. Or at least as many as could be found out here. The trees may have been sparser on that side, but there was still plenty of vegetation.
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Above all, he kept coming back to what the system had told him. He could find power in Archimedes’ Labyrinth if he had the skills to claim it. Power was what he needed. Power to keep himself alive. To protect those he cared about when the rest of humanity was subjected to this universal update. To do what he wanted. To avoid being a nobody like he had been in the old reality. Some of his motivations may be selfish, but he never claimed to be a hero. So yes, he would challenge this dungeon. He would make sure that when his family and friends came across, they would have a safe space. And he would make sure he was remembered. It was a decision he had already made when he read the name of the place if he was being honest with himself. A promise that he would challenge this place and succeed. He prepared himself to meet that challenge as the entrance to the dungeon approached.
Then it was time. As he began running, he screamed “RELEASE!” In response, the streams of light on his armor reversed, sending flashes from his chest to his muscles as they activated. The color deepened and he felt himself strengthen. Each step became more like skating, each one launching him forward in an unexpected burst. Thankfully, his Perfect Force Understanding ability meant he was able to almost automatically adjust his movements to the change. Surprised by how much of a boost the armor was giving him after being charged for so little time, a small part of himself realized that his fear meant he was burning mana as well as his stored energy. He could feel his thoughts becoming ever so slightly more sluggish each second as the mental strain accumulated, the slight flow in his mana veins as they moved through the proper configuration. This emotional loss of control was not enough to worry about, at least not in the short term, but something to be careful of in the future lest he overwork himself.
He jumped up into the hallway and launched himself forward again, his Motion Sense making him aware of every inch of progress. The inside of the tunnel was well lit as the sunlight found its way through the gaps between gears. In fact, it seemed as though the gears were comprised of some kind of highly polished bronze and were constantly reflecting the light back into the eyes of any individual trying to run through the entrance. The blinding light seemed to be meant to cause hesitation, a potentially deadly pause given how little time there was to get through this tunnel. Li ignored it though, instead focusing more on his Motion Sense and keeping his eyes down to note the placement of the bars and escape the glare.
His lack of reliance on his eyesight was what saved his life. As he exited out the other side of the tunnel, just breaking through the last big flash of light across his face, he felt something ahead of him. An arrow flying quickly toward his lower stomach, launched from some sort of trap in the wall opposite the exit from the gears. With a final flair which burned the last of the light on his chest, and a decent amount of the mana in his veins, he threw himself into a somersault across the ground. He felt the arrow pass by him and enter the tunnel, only to be crushed into splinters by the turning gears a moment later.
He had just made it into the Labyrinth, and already without his new abilities he would likely be dead. Reduced to paste after being brought to a halt by an arrow to the gut. It even looked like the aim of the arrow had been specially designed to interact with the gear entrance. If the individual running through took too long, forced to more of a crouch as the roof closed down on them, the arrow would be at roughly head height. If the roof was low enough to force them to crawl, they were probably going to be unable to make it out anyway. And if they had made it through with some time to spare, as he had, it would be crippling strike that would halt their momentum, likely leaving them unable to escape in time.
Entering this place might not have been the best decision, even if it was seemingly his only decision if he wanted to accomplish his goals. Then again, perhaps this trap was a good thing. It was good to be reminded of his mortality. He had been subconsciously riding high on his new, incredible powers. Even while telling himself to stay cautious, he had thought he had time to re-read notifications and daydream as he moved. To let his mind wander. Something about having superhuman powers had left him feeling invulnerable on some level. This dispelled that. He had to take this seriously. Or he’d die again, probably permanently this time.