(Author: Hello! Miss me? I was writing for the triple chapter release! Enjoy chapter 13 to 15. As I'm sure you noticed, this story's chapters are significantly longer than my other stories. Thus, it takes longer to write. The selection trials continue. The competition only gets fiercer as another few hundred are expected to fail. Enjoy the chapter.)

-----------Chapter 13: The Maze Realm--------------

"Congratulations to all who passed. It only gets harder from here," Julio warned. "The second trial is simple. Beneath the clearing is the entrance to an underground maze. It contains various magical beasts that will try to kill you as well as a few traps. All you have to do is get to the center of the maze and enter the teleportation array to comeback here. Naturally, the entrance to the maze will close once you enter. The maze changes with every one hundred people tested and everyone will face different dangers and traps. The competition who are not participating in the maze will be watching. Be careful how much of your potential you show and any weakness you might possess."

"Ah, and I must remind you. After the first thirty minutes, a rank 6 magical beast that recently broke through to the fourth stage of Spirit Shaman cultivation will enter the maze, from a different entrance, on the other side of the maze. Ranks only display the innate potential in cultivation and not the actual strength. Of course, the higher the rank, the more likely it has divine abilities. If you are stuck in the beginning of the maze after thirty minutes start, you will be the first to be eaten by the magical beast," Julio laughed. "Oh, by the way, the maze can't be done in thirty minutes. Unless your spiritual sense and abilities are above par, you'll still be in the maze when the magical beast comes. Good luck."

"What is this?" one cried.

"Most of us are rank 1 Spirit Shamans!" another complained.

"You're asking us to suicide!" another roared.

"The trials this year are ten times harder than last year!" another moaned.

"Quit your bitching and come up. There are fourteen different colors of talismans. Each talisman number up to one hundred. Each one will measure your strength and the maze intended to be your trial. When your color is chosen, you will enter the maze. When the talisman glows dimly, that means the magical beast has entered the maze. If the talisman shines, that means it is on your path. The maze shifts every five minutes. If you survive for five minutes, you might get lucky and not end up in its path," Julio said.

"The maze ends after fifty people die, fifty people pass, or a mix of both. You see, there are fourteen hundred slips, but seventeen hundred and fifty of you. Three hundred and fifty won't even get a talisman. If you are not randomly assigned a talisman, you already failed. Each color is randomly assigned. You see, that's why I said 'Good luck'. Sometimes, luck affects your chances of survival. In the end, seven hundred people will pass," Julio roared with laughter.

He stared at the angry and terrified spectators and asked, "Will you be one of those who fails before it even begins? WIll you be the one to die in the maze or will you hope fifty to die if you can't make it to the center? Luck's what life is all about. Luck, determination, skill, experience, wisdom, resources, connections, and power. That is how one survives in the real world as a Practitioner. Last thing, the darker the color, the more dangerous the maze. Good luck. You're gonna need it."

Agemo sighed with relief as he had been chosen to get a talisman. The color of his talisman was a steel grey. Agemo and the others watched as each maze was different than the first. Each maze had a theme based on the color. If Agemo was chosen to participate in the first maze with the crimson and orange talisman, he would have joined ninety nine others in a maze full of burning corridors, flame magical beasts and geysers of lava. Julio had called that maze: The Lava Maze.

"The last maze has been decided. The one hundred who own the steel grey talisman will now proceed to the clearing. Those who haven't got a talisman have now failed. The maze you will be participating in is called The Steel Maze," Julio said. "Within are various traps of steel arrows and pikes. There are also various magical beasts with skin, fur, or scales as strong as steel. My personal disaster, compliments to my dear sister, is the ever-dangerous presence of golems. Steel swords shatter upon them, so I do hope you all have Practitioner weapons if you come across them. If you defeat one, you may take possession of them as well as the magical beasts; just like all the other mazes. Good luck and try to stay alive and reach the center. So far, the mazes have only ended with a mix of fifty people dying and a rare few entering the center of the maze. So far, six hundred and fifty have passed. Only fifty spots remain. You may now proceed to take the second trial!"

"Golems? This wasn't part of the trials last year," one cried.

"Let's go! We only have thirty minutes before that magical beast enters the maze!" another boy in a similar colored robe said.

The one hundred rushed toward the maze as a large, star formation barrier appeared in the center of the clearing. Each of the one hundred vanished into the maze upon setting foot on the formation. Agemo drew Rain Slayer as he felt a rush of spirit energy rush over his body as he vanished. The one hundred stared around as they appeared in front of a large, steel gate. High above them, the ceiling was illuminated with glowing crystals, like stars in the night sky from the countryside.

Agemo stared to his right and saw that twenty of the people were actually part of the same sect. However, they were all of the first stage. The twenty of them started laughing as they felt reassured with their numbers and rushed in. A group of thirty two also rushed past the steel gates. They were all citizens of the Kasara Kingdom and all but one were of the first stage while the leader was of the second stage. Slowly, all the ninety participants entered the maze. Only Agemo and three others stayed close to the steel gate after rushing in.

"Hey there," A freckled boy grinned as he waved at Agemo and the two others. "You're not rushing in like the others?"

"There's no point. The maze shifts every five minutes. My concern is the safety of Princess Juliet," a youth weaing shiny silver and crimson armor stated as he stood beside a girl.

"I don't need your protection. I'm of the third stage. You're the one who needs protection, Marcus," the girl laughed. "What about you?"

"Me? I watched the last mazes. The first five minutes always has the most deaths and dangers. The name's Eric," the freckled boy grinned and stared at Agemo. "What about you?"

"I just did not want to travel among the others. I came to the tournament to test my training. They would only hinder my growth," Agemo said as the maze began to shake.

The walls began to part, showing new paths, as  the gate disappeared behind a new wall of steel. The other three began racing to the new path on the right while Agemo headed to the left. As he ran, his foot sank as he stepped on a lever. The walls shifted and small barrels appearing, spewing a hail of arrows. Agemo just kept running forward, chuckling as the arrows rebounded of his body with clanging sounds.

He ran left. Then right. Then left again. A magical beast bat appeared out of a corner, but Agemo caught it and smashed its head against the wall. Agemo kept running into dead ends as the maze shifted four times. The floor beneath him shook as the maze shifted for a fifth time. Then, the talisman in his pocket began to glow dimly. The magical beast had arrived.

"Well. that's new. It flies," Agemo snarled as he looked above.

What he saw a purple scaled dragon with two heads and golden horns. The dragon headed to the right and the floor shook as it landed above a steel wall. Agemo could hear screams as he heard flames bellowing from the dragon. He grit his teeth and ran forward. The walls were about to finish shifting and there was a small gap which was slowly closing. There was a rectangular gap between the floor and the top of the wall. Agemo ran and lunged forward. His leg banged on the wall as he didn't lunge all the way through flopped on the other side while his leg numbed from the impact.

"Ugh. Not doing that again," Agemo cursed and stood up.

"HAHAHAHA! Look who it is. All alone. The sooner we kill the others, the sooner we get out of here!"

"Beat him up!"

"Surround him!"

Agemo narrowed his eyes as the group of twenty he saw before had surrounded him and pointed their steel swords at him. Agemo pulled back his hood and brandished Rain Slayer. He pushed them back with his spirit force as he let his spirit energy flow throughout his body. Wisps of baleful aura wrapped itself around Rain Slayer, instilling fear into the people closest to him.

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"You came at the right time. I didn't get to kill any magical beasts. Well, there was a bat but I smashed his head into a wall. I forgot to take his demonic core, but your storage bags will be enough compensation," Agemo said.

They cried in alarm as Agemo turned into a black shadow and sped out of their encirclement. Now all twenty of him were one side while they had their backs to a dead end. He had used his dark spirit technique, Phantasmal Sky, and people at the first stage could not hope to react in time.

"Be glad that I have to spare your life. I would kill you, but I might not be able to proceed to the center of the maze. Be grateful for that. I don't kill because I like to. Circumstances draw my hands," Agemo said.

The twenty members of the sect cried out in pain as Agemo swung at them with the side of his blade. His tyrannical strength made them crash into the steel wall. Some had large bruises while others had their bones fragmented. He stomped on their heads to knock them out as they rolled in pain. He took almost everything in their storage bags and laid them against the wall in the maze. He left all demonic cores, or regular armor and weapons, in the storage bag as he did not need them.

"Hmm?" Agemo frowned as he sorted through the scrolls he took after he walked about a mile away and rested while the maze began to shift. "A scroll on how to make a golem? Meh. That's a mage thing. An encyclopedia on alchemical plants and materials with ten volumes in total. I don't need it, but I will be able to identify materials and use them to trade like demonic cores. Diamond Body Technique: enables the Practitioner to obtain a body as hard as diamonds....I have the Eclipse Indestructible Body Technique. I could sell this one in an auction for spirit pills."

Agemo smiled as he saw the thirty two people from Kasara that he saw before. If he beat them up and took their storage bags, he would have more items and not worry about the maze ending early. Why? If he beat them and added the count to the twenty he beat, they would number fifty two. So long as two or more didn't die, he could take his time sorting his loot while heading to the center. The two-headed dragon would be distracted by the other participants. Especially, the princess as she was at the third stage while that freckled boy and her guard were at the peak of the second stage.

"So far so good. We finally reunited our members."

"I know. I was so worried the dragon would kill me."

"Right? But our numbers scared the dragon. We're safe."

"AGH! Help me!"

"Agh!"

"What is tha-!"

The rest of the Kasara group stared as they saw one of their own flying and smash into the steel wall. They looked at the direction the body flew from and saw a black trail of shadows travel left and right, sending people flying and unconscious before they even hit the walls. They all thought it was a demon and desperately tried to run away. They only incited the shadow to move even faster and it appeared in front of them in a flash, sending a wave of bodies back as it smashed into the front group.

"Stay together! We must stick together!" the leader, a boy of the second stage, cried. "Don't run!"

"My sword! It broke! That's impossible! That is-!" a girl cried but was silenced as she was also sent flying.

Agemo punched left and right, slightly rotating his fist to increase the power. He didn't care if they were a girl or boy, but didn't strike a girl in the face. He knew spectators were watching and he would feel bad later on if he saw a bruise on a girl's face caused by his actions. He smirked as the leader tried to rally the others.

First he had targeted the weakest and punched them at enough strength not to kill them. Seeing their friends smashed into the steel walls so easily would instill fear and create a panic. Then he would easily find isolated people to knock out. The leader had tried to rally, but he targeted anyone who so much as looked back at the leader. This would cause them to ignore the leader and run for their lives. Thus, he defeated any chance of being challenged with overwhelming numbers.

"What are you? What are you?" the leader cried as he tried swinging his Practitioner sword, but kept hitting empty air.

In the end, Agemo just scared the leader. The leader would curse and chase him, helplessly, as Agemo took the bodies and piled them on those beat up before. When the last person was taken, he ran around the leader, creating a small tornado of shadows. He chuckled, chilling the boy, as he lightly pushed the boy into the direction where he would find the others.

"They're, they're alive!" the leader cried and turned back to the shadow to say something.

"Make sure they don't get killed by the dragon," Agemo said as he stopped his technique, materializing before the leader before knocking him out.

"Not a bad haul today. Not bad at all," Agemo nodded as he looted their storage bags and left them in the maze. "I'll just take their Loser's fee and leave them with the items I don't need."

Just like the twenty others, he only took magical artifacts, scrolls, books, and spirit pills. Whatever else, they got to keep. Money? He could practically buy a decent sized kingdom already. Demonic cores? Meng Ce warned him that it would impede his progress the third stage onwards. Weapons and armor? He had his dark purple cloak with sand colored clouds and Rain Slayer. Why bother with stuff you didn't need? Unless he could sell it for a high price in an auction, he didn't bother.

"And here we are," Agemo smiled as he entered the center of the maze after he walked through a barrier.

"We did it! We made it. Oh gods, I thought were going to be eaten for a second there," Eric gasped as he walked through the barrier and collapsed on his knees.

"Are you alright, princess?" Marcus gasped as he and Juliet burst through.

"Yes. That was tough. Who knew uncle would bring a variant species of a dragon?" Juliet gasped and saw Agemo practically unaffected by the maze. "Huh? We're not the first?"

"What the fuck? It's you! You made it!" Eric grinned and his eyes widened as he inspected him. "Huh? You don't look harmed in the slightest."

"The dragon didn't go in my direction," Agemo shrugged.

"You must have been on the same path as the two large groups. Did you see them?" Juliet asked.

"Yeah. You can say that," Agemo nodded.

"Did you kill them?" Marcus asked as he drew his sword and stood in front of Juliet.

"Hey there! Easy. If I wanted to kill them, I would have. They're just unconscious and should be waking up bruised and battered soon. But there is one thing I'm gonna do. I don't kill because I want to. However, you pointed your sword at me. That makes me uneasy. When I'm uneasy, I get anxious. And when I get anxious," Agemo said and turned into a trail of shadows.

He appeared faster than Marcus could move and did a high kick on Marcus's left side of his face. Marcus went flying to his right, but Agemo appeared next to him in a flash and did an axe kick to smash him into the ground. He kicked Marcus's weapon away as he flipped Marcus onto his back with a kick. Marcus groaned and coughed as Agemo stomped his foot on his chest and slowly grinded it.

"I do that," Agemo said as his body materialized into view. "I don't particularly enjoy violence, but I have the strength to even kill a man with my fist. I don't like being threatened and I don't want to die again."

"Again?" Juliet asked as Agemo grit his teeth.

"Ah, it's nothing really. Slip of the tongue," Agemo shrugged. "Either way, no hard feelings? You pointed your sword at me and I retaliated. You made the first move. I made sure there would be no further ones."

"Thanks and sorry about that," Marcus said as Agemo helped him to his feet.

Agemo grunted as his head began to ache. He saw images of his former self: a Japanese scientist working in a lab. He could see a large tank with a strange green and blue liquid of some sort. The scientist was lightly caressing the tank as he looked upon what lay within. Agemo unconsciously screamed as he returned to reality.

"Whoa! You alright?" Eric asked as he ran over to him as he saw Agemo sweat and lean against the wall, panting.

"Just had a flashback. My memories just come back to me randomly," Agemo said. "Sorry for scaring you all. We better head through the teleportation array to pass before someone gets killed."

"Sorry about earlier. Good day," Marcus said as he led Juliet into the array.

Eric nodded and waved at Agemo before walking into the array. Agemo waited until his breath returned to normal. Just what was he seeing? What was in the tank? Was it that alien life form that old scientist mention before in the dream? Why the hell was he caressing the tank? Did it mean something to him? Why did he scream? Agemo scratched his had in annoyance and shook his head before entering the teleportation array.