Ruby successfully solved the puzzle.

"That's a lot simpler than I thought," Ruby said. "I feel stupid that I needed so much time to find out."

Aurora smiled. "That's just how puzzles are."

"Nah, you're good," Lumi said. "I don't think I could have solved it no matter how much time I spent on it."

"Congratulations," the dwarf guard said. "You can enter now."

The dwarves guards opened the door.

"But just a warning," one of them said. "Unlike the labyrinth between layer one and two, starting from here, you might encounter monsters inside. That means you might get hurt or even die."

"What?" Lumi said, worried. "Isn't that bad?"

"Don't worry," Aurora said. "We can handle it."

"But..." Lumi still looked worried.

"Come on, it's just a monster," Ruby said. "Not a big deal."

"But it's called a monster for a reason, right?" Lumi said with concern.

Rita stepped forward and patted Lumi's shoulder. "Relax, I will protect you," she promised.

"Um, thank you, but..." Lumi hesitated.

"That's right," Ruby said, with a playful smile. "We have our own monster, so everything's fine."

Rita let out a sigh. "Miss, please don't call me that."

Ruby chuckled. "Okay, okay," she said, as they passed through the door.

After passing through the giant door, the group entered a new layer of the labyrinth. The walls were made of stone, and the air was thick with the smell of damp earth. The path ahead was dimly lit, and they could hear the sound of something moving in the distance.

"That's... Not a monster, right?" Lumi said, scared.

"Do you want to check it out?" Ruby said playfully. "It seems like the path ahead is split in two--"

"Please don't joke around," Lumi interrupted. "I don't know how strong you are, but I think taking things lightly is a bad idea!"

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Aurora poked Ruby. "She's right. Don't bully her too much."

"Okay, okay, sorry," Ruby said, pouting. "But it's fine, right? We could go down the path with that sound."

"No, let's take the other one," Rita said.

"Why?" Ruby said, diasapointed.

"Rita was right." Aurora pushed Ruby towards the safer path. "Let's not make reckless decisions like that. The safe path is always better."

"Fine," Ruby said, although she looked disappointed, while Lumi sighed in relief.

They got deeper into the labyrinth, with more paths to choose from. Another weird sound came from one of the paths.

"Let's check it out," Ruby suggested.

"No," Aurora said firmly.

"Why?" Ruby said. "There's no way you're scared, right?"

Aurora sighed and leaned in close to Ruby. "Someone's following us," she whispered.

"What?" Ruby said, her eyes widening in surprise.

"If they saw how strong Rita is, they might be running away," Aurora continued whispering. "So it's a bad idea to let her fight a monster now."

Ruby gulped.

Aurora smiled gently. "So what's wrong with being scared?"

"N-nothing's wrong, ehehe," Ruby said, finally understanding. "I'm just joking."

They continued to get deeper, picking paths that looked safe. While walking, Ruby reflexively looked behind her.

"Don't do that, don't try to locate them," Aurora whispered.

"Sorry..." Ruby said.

Ruby still had the urge to look behind her, but she heeded Aurora's warning and kept her eyes forward. At the next intersection, they chose the left path. But it turned out to be a bad decision because at the end of the path stood a huge monster.

They saw a huge troll wielding a club with deadly intent. Its eyes locked onto the group, and it let out a roar that shook the very ground beneath their feet.

"Everyone get back!" Rita said as she pulled out her sword. Ruby gulped in panic, while Lumi was so scared her leg gave up and she fell to the ground. Even though a monster was right in front of them, Rita glanced back, worried.

Aurora picked up her knife. "Just focus on fighting with that," she said. "I will deal with the watchers."

Rita nodded and summoned her wind magic, making wind spin around her.

"LightSpeed," Aurora whispered.

At the same time as Rita jumped to attack, Aurora ran toward the path they had just passed, looking for someone following them.

Rita slashed the troll's hand that was holding the club, easily cutting it off. The monster growled in pain.

Aurora found two dwarves watching behind a wall. Before they could react, she put her knife to one of their necks.

"Don't move," she warned them. "Or I will cut you up."

"Wait!" they hurriedly put their hands up. "We're not enemies! Don't hurt us!"

Aurora's eyes narrowed as she considered their words. "I will judge your words later," she said, her voice firm. "Now put your hands to your back."

The dwarves did as they were told, and Aurora quickly bound them tightly with rope she had taken from Serena's bag.

The time Aurora needed to capture both of the dwarves was enough for Rita to end her fight.

After the troll hand got cut off, the troll entered a raging mode. The troll roared and charged at Rita, swinging its remaining arm wildly.

Rita dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the troll's massive fist. She rolled out of the way and jumped back, keeping a safe distance from the raging creature.

The troll continued to attack, lashing out with its hand in every direction. Rita watched carefully, waiting for her chance to strike.

As the troll swung again, Rita saw her opening. She gathered her wind magic to her sword, channeling all of her strength into the blade. With a quick slash, she severed the troll's head from its body. Beheading him completely.

The troll fall to the ground. Rita sighed, sheathed back her sword.

"She... She just cut off that monster's head like it was nothing," Lumi said in disbelief.

Ruby beside her smiled. "You see now?"

Lumi looked at Ruby. "So that's why you were not worried at all."

Ruby nodded and offered her hand. Lumi grabbed it and stood up.

"Nice work," Aurora said as she pushed the dwarves toward them.

"You too, Miss Aurora," Rita said with a smile.

Lumi's eyes stared at Aurora and unknown dwarves she had caught. She blinked, couldn't help but wonder what actually happened.

"They had been following us for a while now," Rita explained, stepping closer to the group.

Lumi's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I didn't notice at all."

"You should be more wary about your surroundings," Ruby said.

"You wouldn't have noticed either if Aurora hadn't told you, miss," Rita said.

"Oh, you don't need to say that!" Ruby pouted.

Aurora couldn't help but smile as she watched her friends bantering.

The playful mood quickly changed as the tall girl began glaring fiercely at two dwarves. "Who were you? What did you want from us?" Rita asked. "You guys better answer truthfully before I pull out my sword again."

The dwarves cowered in fear.

"We get it! Please don't hurt us!" one of the dwarves said. "We will tell you everything!"

"Okay," Aurora said. "Start talking then."

***