Chapter 125: An Educated Guess
Forest’s POV
We’re scraping by. That’s the only way to put it.
Besides giving us night vision, it quickly became evident that the goggles were essential to our survival in the second maze. Without wearing them, not only would we be caught walking blind in the darkness, but we could never detect the savage beasts attempting to kill us.
Our first few encounters with these beasts weren’t pretty; we were ambushed each time. We quickly adapted and managed to survive each brawl, though, with the worst injury so far being a minor scratch to Hunter’s leg. It wasn't exactly pretty, but we got the job done.
Luckily, we have my sword and Hunter’s bow, which have been a massive help, along with Ember’s natural fighting capabilities. Even though her wooden sword is far less potent than my steel one, she makes it seem just as powerful. I even got caught marveling at her dominant, aggressive fighting style amid a battle against three deer.
This singular instance where I got distracted nearly cost me my life, as a deer was charging straight toward me from my blind spot. And if it weren’t for Hunter firing that arrow… I wouldn’t be here now, all because of my ignorance on the battlefield.
Hmm, why was I so impressed by her? Wielding a sword isn’t exactly difficult in theory, and I’ve been able to carry my own weight in these scrappy fights so far. But… the way Ember moves in battle looks so fluid, as if she’s fought like this hundreds of times before. Her aggressiveness is backed up by her calculated strikes; it’s obvious each step and muscle movement is deliberate and polished, while mine feel rigid, one note, and almost clumsy. But for Ember… out here in the heat of battle… she looks free.
“Forest, are you listening?” asks Ember, snapping me out of my thoughts as I see her glancing back over her shoulder.
Acting like I’d been engaged in the conversation the entire time, I quickly recalled the last thing Ember talked about before I replied, “Yeah, I am. And I agree with Ember that you should probably start conserving your arrows, Hunter. We don’t know what beasts we’ll encounter in the future, and your arrows could be very useful against certain species. If you were to run out, we might be in trouble. You have a sword with you, too, right?”
“I do,” says Hunter, sounding a little defeated, “Now that you’ve explained your reasoning a little more, I see where you’re coming from. Damn, man, I was just getting the hang of it too.”
Asking us to stop briefly, Hunter removes his backpack and wraps the bow around his shoulder, intending to carry it on his back. Then, before putting his pack on again, he retrieves the sword poking out of the top of his bag.
“If we do need your bow, me and Forest will protect you while you switch weapons,” says Ember, turning on her watch. “Still says there are eight people, and as for time, we have a little less than twenty-two hours to complete this final test. Just under a day.”
With Hunter’s nod, we begin walking down the path again.
“So we’ve been in this second maze for about eight hours. We’ve made progress, but we have no idea if we’re going in the correct direction. What we do know, though, is that everybody who advances into this maze will all begin from the same origin point. Considering all the turns we’ve taken and how the maze has panned out up to this point, I think each route must eventually lead to the same exit point, regardless of which course you take. Also, usually, this maze’s beasts attack us in waves, giving us a lot of time without action in between,” I say.
“Huh? Why’s that?” asks Hunter.
“Think about it. We know we’re underground, and this maze is directly above the initial maze we began in. To enter the second maze, we were made to climb a staircase from the first, implying that if we want to pass this final test, our end goal should be to make it back above ground.”
“But that’s all just a hunch, right? How can you know for sure?”
“It’s an educated guess,” cuts in Ember. “Do continue with your explanation Forest.”
“Right. Anyway… Hunter, I’d like to ask you a question. How much more difficult do you find these animal-like beasts compared to the shadow from the first maze?”
“Oh, these ones are way more difficult to fight.”
“Exactly, these beasts are more or less acting as obstacles while the shadow was simply following us. Now, imagine how difficult the previous maze was in terms of navigation. There were endless choices, countless intersections, and no visual indications that you were heading the right way. But in this maze, haven’t we followed the same path for over twenty minutes without encountering an intersection?”
Looking at Hunter, I watch his face transform from confused to surprised as he processes the information I just told him.
“Hey, you’re right! We’ve only been taking left and right turns for a while now! There haven’t been any dead ends either…!”
“Precisely. And with that much, I’ve deduced that while the first maze was more or less a test of our mental endurance, this maze is testing our physical endurance. In other words, this maze tests how capable we are as fighters. Now, while the mental and physical aspects aren’t entirely separate, I believe both mazes target different attributes of what makes up a human being. That being said, this maze isn’t particularly difficult to get through; it’s the beasts that are testing us. And considering that the beasts are obstacles, I guess we’re following a relatively straightforward path to the exit, the beasts acting as roadblocks attempting to kill us. Of course, we’ve encountered a few dead ends and intersections here and there, but those points are far more scarce than in the first maze.”
“Hmph, as perceptive as ever, Forest,” says Ember. “I can’t exactly attest that I was thinking about this as deeply as you were, but I did have my suspicions. I still don’t know if we are even supposed to work together to try and solve these mazes. Still, nothing terrible has happened yet, so I assume we haven’t broken any rules. We were also given tools like the map model, beacons, and radio transceivers, all of which are more or less supposed to help us communicate with one another.”
“And yet, nobody has attempted to speak over the radio since we did so in the first maze. We picked up some distorted sounds at one point, but nothing followed. My guess is that everybody is more focused on keeping an eye out for these beasts than attempting to meet up,” I say.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Hm, I disagree. I think nobody wants to risk giving away their location to Scar, Code, or potentially Ace,” says Ember.
“That too. Either way, we have no reason to contact the others. We’re doing fine on our own.”
“Agreed. There is something else bothering me, though. Where is Zeris?”
“Zeris? Who cares where Zeris is! We’re better off with these beasts than Zeris!”
“Well… yeah, obviously that’s true, Hunter. But that’s not the point I’m making. Why is Zeris not doing anything? He’s the one who claimed he was running this trial; he’s been watching us ever since day one and even killed a couple of us, but now he’s nowhere to be found? Maybe I’m jumping too far ahead in assuming he hasn’t done anything; it’s not like we’ve heard anything from the others. But there are still eight people left; nobody has died for nearly a day, and as far as we know, Zeris didn’t cause the death of the other two, at least not Faith. This leads me to believe that Zeris is stepping back and letting us take on this final test ourselves.”
“I see where you’re coming from, but remember, Zeris is the one who put us down in these underground mazes. He’s probably watching and listening to us as we speak,” I say. “Time is ticking down, and we don’t know how deep we are underground and how many mazes we have left before we pass this final test. He could be camping out in one as an obstacle or just waiting to see who passes the test before time runs out. We have no idea.”
Rounding a left turn, Ember says, “It’s another educated guess. Moreover, I think–”
Suddenly, Ember silently lashes out both arms to stop us before she quickly scurries over and hugs the wall to our left, crouching behind the corner. Without making a sound, Hunter and I do the same as well, as the three of us come to a complete stop once more, filed one by one against the wall.
Peeking out at the other side, Ember says, “Snakes. There are dozens, no, hundreds ahead. They aren’t on this path, but a fork in the road is ahead. The snakes are lying in wait on both the left and right turns.”
“So we turn back? Right?” asks Hunter.
“No, the opposite. We push onward,” I answer.
“Wha-?”
“He’s right. This is a sign we’re going the right way. Until now, the beasts have only shown themselves and attacked once they were right on top of us. If the snakes are already out in the open…”
I finished her sentence, “Then somebody must be ahead of us.”
“Bingo. And along with hearing the snakes, I picked up the faintest sound of footsteps beyond them.”
“Footsteps? How could you possibly-?” begins Hunter, but I cut him off.
“If this person got past the snakes, it must have been either Scar or Ace.”
Ember nods, “Yes, they are the only two with powers capable of doing so.”
“And if my theory is correct that all paths lead to the same exit… then that means we’re getting closer to the exit!”
Agitated, Hunter pipes up, “But how are we supposed to get past them? Do you guys forget that we don’t have any fancy superpowers like them?”
Locking eyes with Ember, I could instantly tell that we were both thinking of a solution along similar lines. Nodding back and forth, we nonverbally communicate our independent thoughts.
“Hey, what are you two doing? Why are you nodding like that? Was that a stupid question? Hey! Hello! Is anybody gonna fill me in on what’s happening here?”
Cracking a smile and nearing laughing, I quickly clear my throat and put Hunter’s queries at ease, “Relax, we’ll get past ‘em. But for now, we all need some rest. I’ll take the first shift.”
***
Standing at the exit to the second maze, Scar stares up the staircase in front of him. Some light is peeking through from the top of the stairs, and no traps are detected.
While annoying, this maze was far easier to solve than the last. But could this really be the end of the final test? … It very well could be. So far, neither maze was created to test people with iris, as they’ve been a walk in a park. But for people without iris, this maze especially will probably pose a challenge. That said, I don’t see why I shouldn’t go up these stairs…
Scar activates rift flow and surveys the area at the top of the stairwell to be safe. He reappeared at the top only once he was satisfied it was safe. Now standing on a granite floor, cramped cobblestone walls filled in on either side of him and a low cobblestone ceiling. Torches were lit along each wall, leading to a wooden doorway at the end of the hall.
Only one straightforward path… I need to be ready. Zeris is probably waiting for me on the other side.
Materializing a mirror beside him, Scar lightly taps on its surface with his knuckles as if he were knocking on a door, and the mirror shatters. Seizing two shards and conjuring them into his trademark daggers, Scar is armed and ready with one blade in each hand as he approaches the wooden door. But as he draws close to the door, Scar notices something odd about the door's handle.
It’s the same crest that was on the crates at camp. An upside-down sword with the number ‘6’ engraved on it. Could this really be it? If I walk through this doorway… will I have passed this final test?
Wrapping his fingers around both handles, Scar attempts to pull the door toward him, only for it not to budge. Switching up his grip, he tries to push the door open, and after a slight budge, the doors slowly open up with a long series of creaking noises.
Stepping back and exhaling, Scar detected no major differences between the hallway before him and the one he was standing in now. Nonetheless, that wasn’t enough to make Scar lower his guard, and he entered through the doorway with his daggers primed and ready to strike.
Passing through the doorway, Scar carefully observed everything before him as if waiting for something to attack.
“No surprise seeing you here… Armaros.”
Spinning around on a dime, Scar immediately notices a camera and speaker side by side just above the doorway.
“Zeris… I take you’re speaking to me from the other side?” says Scar, remaining calm.
“Yeah, but that was a pointless question. You already knew that.”
“What do you want?”
“Wasting no time, are ya? Lemme tell ya something… I don’t want anything.”
“Then why speak up to begin with? You've been watching me and everybody else this whole time, right?"
“Woah woah, slow down on the interrogation man. I get you're an assassin but loosen your shoulders. You should’ve already figured out by now that I’m not anywhere near you.”
“That much is obvious, so I’ll repeat my question. What do you want? You didn’t say my name to me now without a purpose.”
“Actually, I did. I forgot to turn off the microphone for this speaker, and I was just making an observation as you entered through the doorway, nothing more.”
“Hmph,” Scar narrows his eyes. “Humor me for a moment then. Did I pass this stupid test of yours?”
“Not yet, but I wouldn’t say the term ‘pass’ suits how you’ve done so far. You’ve kinda just bulldozed through anything in your way with your powers. Don’t get me wrong, I’d do the same, but you can at least try and play along, you know?”
“How much more is there?”
“I don’t know. There could be one more maze, ten more, a hundred more. I honestly forget; it’s been a while since I’ve been down there myself.”
"Yeah, as if you'd forget if you were down here. This is pointless… you're just wasting my time. If you wanna stop me..."
Scar begins to circulate iris throughout his entire body as both his eyes kindle a shattered silver glimmer.
"Come and try," taunts Scar, a waft of silver iris left behind as Scar turns away and continues down the hall, preparing to use rift flow again.
***
Watching Armaros slowly walk out of sight on the monitor, Zeris flips to a different camera.
A pointless interaction indeed, but I was able to stall you for a little bit.
Displayed on the large monitor now is Alex, who is nearing the same stairwell that Scar had just climbed.
This is your fight, and you’ll catch up to him soon enough… Alex.