The first security wall shattered opened for Junna, as she slipped through the opening. The digital barrier had turned to a hot water for her body as she scrambled the code that was keeping it solid. It would only open ever so briefly. The buzz of activity as various students were analyzing and unlocking different sections of their own wall came to a rather sudden stop, as the sudden and sharp twist of the local grid would be obvious to even the most casual Diver. Junna wasn't waiting to see the reaction, slipping in through as the maze appeared to grow as she left the breach in the wall. Neon lights and sturdier boundaries created a sprawling maze that Junna was intended to get lost in. The semi-solid hole she'd made closed up almost as soon as she passed through it. She could faintly hear an opportunistic student trying to follow her. If they didn't back out in time, they'd be stuck there until they could bypass the security themselves.
Junna stepped out to the strange maze as she reached out to place a hand along the wall of it. She'd take her time, walking along it as her perception ran along it. There were all kinds of annoying traps and puzzles that were designed to keep her attention or divert her from the main goal. There was a large puzzle cube at the heart of the maze. Burried deep inside was an exit portal that would take them to the same place the instructor was watching them from. The entire design was extremely simple, but for a race the track didn't need to be anything too special.
Junna's avatar floated to a T-shaped bend in the maze, as she considered her options. The direct route would mean blowing through a bunch of these walls and slipping in. They weren't designed for that, so it would be noisy and obvious. Junna had to doubt the student body would take kindly to it either. She could just take a random route. So long as she didn't walk in circles, they were designed to all reach the center of the maze eventually. Her own signature's fastest route would have her going back and forth across the maze, likely designed in a way to waste time.
"I didn't expect you to be loitering, after an entrance like that." Junna's focus returned to her eyes, as she'd see Kenta approaching from one of the paths. The boy was clearly scanning her own avatar, looking for any burried secrets. Junna turned to face him without showing any concern of it.
"Decisive action is important. Determining where to act also is. You didn't waste any time either, Ritsugi. I imagine that Yukari must not be too far behind either. I should continue going." Junna's avatar would slip towards the opposite side of the T that Kenta had arrived from, as she'd find Aoishii's rabbit avatar burning down the way behind Kenta. The boy seemed to be considering interfering for a moment, but he made no action as Junna darted back, turning to move down a leftward curve that would take her deeper into the maze. Neither of these others were exactly slow. While Junna was taking her time a bit, she could detect them keeping up and even closing the gap as they neared the next barrier.
As Junna finished adjusting the code for this next barrier, she found herself trying a little harder. She hadn't expected other students to be able to keep as close a pace with her. They were ignoring the step of seeking out a path by just following Junna's trail. Absurdly risky if they couldn't complete the same puzzles. The large statue that represented the gate she was accessing opened up, as Junna stepped through. She found herself in a massive linked section to the maze. A large square field with a single trap made for those that tried to use this more direct route. A powerful anti-dive program in the shape of some kind of metal statue. For a student, this was likely a fail state. Combat diving wasn't important unless you expected having to deal with high security situations.
The avatar approached it carefully, as she scanned the golem. It was obviously designed as a defensive barrier like the other challenges. She couldn't get much more than a surface-level scan without contact. Even approaching, it wouldn't move. It responded to hostility, but the gate to take Junna to the final objective would not activate while this program survived. Destroying it would also allow the other students behind her a much easier pathway to follow. The entire room was a challenge of risk and reward. She could return, but it seemed unlikely to still be an option once she struck.
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Junna's eyes opened for a moment. The class was absorbed into their terminals. One of the instructor's was watching from the back of the lab. Aoishii had rolled up her sleeves now as well. Junna didn't want to attract too much attention, so she close her eyes again. The security in the lab was being monitored closely. If anything went wrong, Junna had time to react. It probably wouldn't be an opportune time to attack Aoishii anyways.
The task at hand then. Junna was already zipping in close. Avatars could fight in a lot os weird esoteric ways, but Junna wasn't really that creative. Closing in on the giant statue, the floating girl simply flew up to smash a fist right towards the jaw. That hurt. This program was designed towards durability, and no amount of processing power would change that. It took the blow, as the golem reeled back a moment before it's own massive body lunged forward to grab her. Junna's response was to twist in the air, foot flying to the side as she kicked at the wrist of the golem, diverting the hand. She'd move in close to bring her hands together, smashing into the upper torso. She felt a crack, but it was resounding back into herself. Hitting this thing full force reflected that force back onto the attacker. It was going to make ranged attacks ineffective, and close combat painful.
The golem moved to react, but Junna used the chest of it to quickly scale upwards. Not from the threat of the creature, but rather the blade that cut into where she was. Kenta's avatar drifted past them both, smirking as Junna narrowly avoided the slash from behind. They'd been watching for a few moments. It was the correct decision, if he was looking to place first in the class. Junna floated away, narrowly evading the grasp of the statue as she zipped back, staring at it in her own annoyance. Aoishii's rabbit avatar held a paw over her mouth, snickering a bit.
"Finally biting off a little more than you can chew, Tsurugi?"
"Not at all. If you are both willing to assist, why would I not accept that?"
"Even through Kenta considered cutting you in two?" The rabbit laughed a little, as the body would glow a bit. It wasn't an ideal combat avatar, so Aoishii was just loading another one she had saved. Seeing a rather overly sexier rendition of herself, with rabbit ears and a tail, with some sort of black bodysuit and white thigh highs and gloves. Perhaps this was the ideal, far curvier, version of Aoishii that the girl aspired to. "How do I look?"
"I believe you already are aware of your appearance. Should we be delaying?"
Kenta was doing fine as he was, the blade slashing and carefully diverting the counter attacks of the golem. It was making visible cuts, but they seemed like fairly superficial damage. Junna and Aoishii rushed forward, floating from either side. Aoishii's hand reaching forward as a thread of flame and light lanced out to wrap around the golem's right arm. She'd dive to the ground to try to brace herself, as the golem pulled at her to continue the assasult on Kenta. The boy took the opportunity to rapidly slash at a knee with his blade. Small cuts, going deeper and deeper. Junna's contribution came in the form of her kick to the lower back of the golem. She thrust all her force into it, as the three directions of attack seemed to stagger the program.
It would continue like this. The statue throwing Aoishii as it used its superior strength against her, only for more of those fiery whips to fly and bind. Kenta continued merciless strikes from the front, keeping it unable to move to much, as Junna's assault on the back slowly cracked it away. This program wasn't designed for dealing with multiple attackers, and it wasn't meant to be overly dangerous. As the metal cracked, a small glimmering red orb could be seen. Junna reached in, pulling it through as the broken edges cut into her hands, and she'd relieve the program of it's core. The Golem collapsed and opened the way for the trio to use the now active gate to the center of the maze.
Kenta would be the one to break the moment of silence, looking to the girls. "No point racing now. Can we all agree to just not sabotage one another? We'll come out of this as a group of victors."
Junna inclined her head in agreement, as Aoishii's face puffed up a bit, and she already started swapping back to her preferred avatar. "I suppose there's no benefit in fighting about it now. Especially if Tsurugi isn't going to try anything stupid."