Chapter 21 : The Third Trial (2)
I sent Blaze in first and entered second.
The moment I stepped into the maze, a wave of heat surged up.
If the air in Lirof’s tropical rainforest had been thick with humidity, this place felt like the air itself was burning.
A vast expanse of land stretched out before us.
Here and there, the red glow of lava glimmered as if veins of molten gold ran beneath the surface.
In some spots, lava erupted with white froth, and volcanic ash drifted through the air.
Thud!
As my foot touched the ground, searing heat pierced through the soles of my shoes.
“Why is it so hot in here?”
Soler, who entered next, grumbled loudly.
The others showed similar reactions.
We had entered a lava zone.
I could even feel the layers of lava shifting beneath the ground.
In the distance, something let out a howling cry.
“Defense team, Blaze and Soler, take the front and stand by. Block anything that approaches, whether it’s a beast or otherwise.”
Soler narrowed her eyes and shot me a sharp look.
But Kiyot stepped forward first.
“…In the maze, we can speak casually. I’ve agreed to follow your orders completely.”
Soler didn’t voice any particular complaints.
It was a decision the whole team had agreed upon, and before entering the maze, Balua had pulled us aside to give us a warning.
- Your team needs to be especially careful. It’s fine to focus solely on surviving.
There had been a flicker of concern in Balua’s eyes, despite his consistently cold demeanor since the trial began.
Realizing this trial was far from ordinary, the team members were taking extra care to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
A turtle covered in lava slowly crawled toward us.
From the molten pools, vibrant-patterned serpents rose, flicking their tongues.
Soler drew her twin swords, scanning the enemies’ movements.
Blaze, too, aimed his long sword at them.
“The rest of us, as planned, start digging the ground.”
One of the golden tips for maze exploration that any seasoned player would try without fail:
─ Destroy the surrounding terrain as soon as you enter.
The full-scale maze exploration had begun.
* * *
Boom, boom!
“Argh, it’s hot!”
The sound of axes splitting the ground, the occasional gush of lava, and the screams that followed.
Excluding Soler and Blaze, the rest of the team was fully focused on destroying the terrain around the entrance.
That didn’t mean the defense team was idle, though.
Blaze, wearing his mask and regaining his natural composure, and Soler, not shedding a single drop of sweat despite the scorching lava zone.
“Crow, you take the five on the left. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Got it.”
Turtles with lava dripping from their backs, snakes emitting blistering heat, and even a group of red trolls with rugged, volcanic rock-like skin.
Soler and Blaze were holding off waves of beasts that could easily be called a full-on assault.
But despite everyone’s efforts, two hours had passed since we started breaking the terrain, and we hadn’t achieved any results.
For someone like me and Kiyot, who came from lower autonomous regions with barely decent gear, our clothes had become tattered rags, full of holes.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Yet the remaining members stubbornly continued destroying the terrain.
After smashing all the nearby rocks, we began digging into the ground.
Sweat poured from me like rain, but I didn’t complain, using the Branch of the World Tree to dig.
─ I can’t take this anymore. It really feels like there’s nothing hidden here. But it’ll show up when you least expect it, so let’s keep pushing to the end.
Everyone trusted my words.
And they wouldn’t regret it.
Once we found all the hidden pieces and perfectly cleared the maze, immense rewards would follow.
That was one of the reasons I went to the trouble of recruiting Keldric, even if it meant forcing the team composition.
My goal wasn’t just to pass the trial.
As we kept digging, the news we’d been waiting for finally came.
“…Found it!”
It was Kiyot’s voice, brimming with rare excitement.
Waaaah!
Jadin threw down his axe and rushed toward Kiyot.
Keldric, too, hurriedly scrambled to Kiyot’s side.
“But what is this…?”
Kiyot showed me a yellow mineral.
At first glance, it gleamed like a chunk of gold, and inside it was a pattern of wings.
“…It maintained its form even in the lava. This must be the artifact you mentioned, right?”
“Yes, it probably is. Let’s move on now.”
* * *
Unfortunately, even I didn’t know the exact nature of the artifact Kiyot had found.
Lirof was filled with countless naturally occurring mazes.
As a place constantly updated in the game, reality was no different.
This maze was one I had never entered before.
Even so, we continued searching for hidden pieces scattered throughout the maze.
“What’s that statue?”
“Search it thoroughly, touch every part, and if that doesn’t work, break it.”
Crack!
“Haha! There’s a golden stone embedded under its neck. It’s got a wing pattern.”
“…There’s a tree up ahead. A tree in a lava zone? It’s obviously suspicious. Should we strip all its leaves?”
“Yeah, let’s get closer and check it out.”
The team gradually grew accustomed to maze exploration.
We fended off waves of beasts, took turns resting, and methodically explored the maze.
For the first time in a while, I fully tapped into my experience and instincts as a gamer, focusing on deciphering the maze.
‘Four golden stones with wing patterns. No matter how I try to piece them together, the information isn’t clear. And we don’t even know how many more we need to find.’
If the golden stones had fit together perfectly, I might have gotten a sense of how many more we needed.
But while identifying the hidden pieces was challenging, the maze exploration itself was progressing smoothly.
“Fourteen hours left. Still haven’t cracked the maze’s secrets?”
“No, not yet. Let’s first look for a place where the maze’s master might be.”
“Sounds good.”
We’d been pushing through with only brief naps for 58 hours.
Unlike when we first entered, the number of beasts attacking us had significantly decreased.
“The area with the maze’s master should appear soon. We won’t challenge it right away, so let’s approach carefully.”
“Got it, Captain! Defense team, let’s switch.”
Thankfully, Keldric followed my orders without complaint.
But deep down, I felt a creeping unease.
This maze was undoubtedly a dangerous environment, and the beasts were formidable.
But it didn’t feel as difficult as Balua’s warning—“focus solely on surviving”—had implied.
The fact that things were going so smoothly made me uneasy.
A ridiculously powerful boss could be waiting for us.
But as I looked at my teammates, the rising anxiety began to subside.
With a team like this, we might just pull it off.
Blaze, masked as a Crow, used his extensive experience to target each beast’s weaknesses.
Jadin and Kiyot, the heavy-hitting duo, were experts at cracking beast skulls.
Soler needed no explanation, and then there was Keldric.
‘Keldric, that guy’s a real monster.’
I’d wondered how Keldric had surpassed Soler to take second place in the second trial, but his performance in the maze was nothing short of overwhelming.
He was putting on a true “performance,” obliterating beasts.
Without any notable weapon, he simply swung his fists.
Each time his fists connected with a beast, a deafening boom rang out, and the beast exploded.
He didn’t seem to be using any specific Tune abilities.
Keldric was overpowering the beasts with raw strength alone.
A haze shimmered around Keldric’s body.
The mana he emitted was affecting the surrounding air.
Keldric had already reached the Third-Rank, capable of projecting mana outside his body.
After defeating the latest wave of beasts, a moment of rest arrived.
Keldric, who had chased a beast far off, returned with a bright smile.
“Captain! I found it. It’s a gate.”
* * *
In the center of the maze stood a cliff.
At its heart was a massive golden gate, easily over 10 meters tall.
“About twelve hours left. Should we go in now?”
“No, let’s get at least six hours of sleep first.”
“…Good idea.”
No one said it out loud, but we were all at our limits.
“Should we take watch in pairs? I’ll go first. I want to check out the gate, too.”
I glanced around at the team.
“I’ll join you.”
Surprisingly, Soler volunteered.
Compared to the others, who were visibly exhausted, Soler still looked full of energy.
“Then, sorry it’s uncomfortable, but get some rest. If anything dangerous happens, we’ll wake you.”
“…I’m counting on you.”
“Same here.”
“Alright, Captain. We’re sleeping.”
Kiyot, Jadin, Blaze, and Keldric set the next watch order and collapsed as if fainting.
They fell asleep instantly, snoring loudly despite lying on the bare ground without even a simple cot.
Their bodies were covered in soot, but exhaustion won out.
I stepped over them and approached the golden gate.
Then Soler spoke softly.
“Can you handle it alone for a bit? I’m going to wash up. I’ll check the surroundings, too.”
I nodded.
There were no beasts near the boss room anyway, and examining the gate was my priority.
“I’ll be back.”
“Alright, be careful.”
The massive gate set into the cliff was engraved with images.
I moved closer to decipher their meaning.
‘There’s a giant feathered creature, like a primordial bird, and it looks like a lot of people went hunting for it… and failed.’
Interpreting the images wasn’t difficult.
They were drawn in chronological order, like ancient murals.
I instinctively knew they were related to the boss.
There were no meaningless images in a maze.
If the images were accurate, the maze’s boss was likely a winged, flying monster.
The problem was that none of our team had ranged attack capabilities.
A ground-based creature would have been easier to deal with… But I decided to focus on what I could do.
‘This is hardly even a variable.’
I carefully ran my hands over the gate, ensuring it wouldn’t open accidentally.
I searched for hidden compartments but found nothing unusual.
Time for the next approach.
I placed my hand on the center of the gate and began gathering mana at my fingertips.
It would have been better if I could channel it directly, but that was still beyond me.
I kept recalling the sensation from my fight with Pinnon, but it remained just out of reach.
I hadn’t had time to train properly, constantly being thrown into the Coming-of-Age Ceremony trials.
But if this was the right method, there should be a reaction.
I spun my Dragon Heart even harder.
A blue aura spread from my palm, gradually enveloping the gate.
And then, the engraved images began to shift.
“This is it.”
I was utterly exhausted, but I couldn’t hide my joy.
I’d found a clue to the maze’s secrets.
Then I sensed Soler’s presence behind me.
I’d been focused on controlling mana, but to think I hadn’t noticed her approaching this close.
‘That’s why I didn’t sense her at the stone mountain until she spoke.’
It hadn’t been long, but it felt like ages ago.
Without turning, I spoke to Soler, who stood silently behind me.
“You’re back? You must’ve gone far. Did you find anything…?”
But I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Cold metal touched my neck.
Glancing back, I saw a sharp blade drawing a bead of blood at my throat.
Soler was still hard to make out clearly.
Her silver hair swayed faintly in the breeze, but her expression was unreadable.
In a voice colder than the blade, Soler asked me,
“Who are you, really?”