"Once again I'm surprised by this place."
With my Magic Sense skill, I was able to roughly map out the layout of the room. That's it really, just how it looks, the objects present, their colours, designs, everything that is concrete, I'm not able to sense it, I know there is something there and that's it. The moment I go through the door I'm greeted by another set of stairs, ones that go down a meter or so. They are wide but coloured in a snow-white colour, so white that it's somewhat shining thanks to the light of the sun, if there is any of course. This room is magnitudes bigger than the previous one, however it's divided in 4 parts and they are so by some random bush. Yep, with a green bush, taller than I am, I would say around 2.5 meters tall. If I descend down these stairs and walk a few meters I will hit said bush, but if I turn to my left, I'm able to keep on going. To my right if I go there, I will end up hitting a wall so that's no go. Before I descend said set of stairs, to my left at the same level of the ground where the stairs lead me to, there is a space covered in grass with patches of flowers, ones that are several different colours but extremely beautiful. While to my right there is said wall, right before it, there is a path around a meter or so from it filled with grass and flowers. Anyway, let's keep moving, while this is a sight to be seen, I still want to get out of here. Although I think this time around it will take a little longer to progress.
I descend down the stairs, walk up forward for a few meters then I turn to my left and I can see the exit further down the "room". If the previous door was big, or so I thought it was, then this one is colossal, easily double the size of the previous one. Now I'm wondering what type of monstrosity walks through this door. In this case it wouldn't make much sense as this "room" is far too "complex" for a monster of that size to move around here, but hey, nothing here makes sense so, it's a possibility. Whatever, even from way afar, I can say that, that door won't open that easily as a few meters from me there is something rather peculiar right in the middle of the path. I walk up to say "peculiar thing", to my right there is that bush and the same to my left, basically forming a corridor although there is no ceiling in this one.
"This time around, it seems for me to progress, I will have to activate this to open the door."
Yep, it's exactly as I said. There is a device right in front of me, one that is taller than I and made of concrete? I really can't tell you what it's made of but I do know that it's magical. Or it should be if it wasn't for the lack of it. I can see "lines" that go from this device up to several directions and one of them is towards the door. My guess is that, power up this device and in turn it will open the colossal door. The lines are just like the device, they have a grey colour to them, I think that once they have magic or whatever they might need, they will be lit up and once they all are lit up, everything is smooth sails from there. There are four lines, the one that goes further down to the colossal door and three ones that seem to go in "random" directions. Two of them however, seem to go to the same place. To my right and left, there are openings in the bush where I can enter. The path to the door just a few meters past this device, it seems to be a bridge as from here I can see that there is no ground on either side of the main path.
"To my left there are the magic signatures that I've talked about. I would guess that, defeat those and this line will light up. The other two however, not much I can say, so maybe just go there and activate whatever is there?"
What an excellent plan if I say it myself. Not really, but I don't have much information to lean on so this will work for now. I decide to take my right first and leave the battle for last. I walk up to my right and I'm already greeted by another decision to make. Right in front of me there is that bush but to both my left and right I can keep on going. Still surrounded by the damn bush but nonetheless I can go either way. There, the "problem" lies, the lines go on their separate ways so I have to choose one first then the other one. Just as I mentioned out loud, there are no enemies in either path so I will toss a coin to choose from me. Leave it to ol' goddess of luck, she will decide my fate. Although I don't have a coin with me so I will take the left side first. Who am I kidding? You always go right first, duh, that's like numero uno for not dying.
Yeah, that's right.
I think.
Maybe?
I don't know.
Though, do I have to keep talking to stay entertained? This damn corridor is way too long! Is this a maze!? Am I lost right now? How did this happen? A few seconds I was taking a right because that was the only way that I could go through, only to come back at the beginning! Literally, the device is right in front of me! Wait a second, are you really telling me that this is a maze and I have to activate not one, but two lines?
"If right doesn't work, then, let's try left! Maybe that one won't be a maze. I hope so."
Ah, another brilliant remark on my part, seriously, I'm a genius! Moving on, I walk up to the right side, then I take a left, walk for a few meters until I'm forced to go right. Keep on walking, then left, followed by a right turn right after that, go down the entire corridor, right at the end take another left as once again I've no other option and I'm out.
"Huh, can't say I was expecting this to be this easy, especially after my first failed attempt."
Ups, it seems my shock forced the words out of my mouth. I was expecting a maze but I simply followed the path and it led me to the end. Before I said that, the path to the colossal door seemed to be done by a bridge, right now I have confirmed that. In front of me, a few good meters, there is a railing, one that is around as tall as my waist, but one that goes all the way down to the right until it hits a wall. Since I have looked in that direction, I can also see a crystal further down and no, this time around it's a generic crystal rather than one of the same materials as the Crystal monsters. This crystal is around a meter tall while being close to 35 centimetres wide and probably the same in length, it has a transparent look to it, so you can somewhat see what's behind it. This thing is floating in the air, just a few centimetres from the ground, however right below it, there is a circle where said line goes up to it. Before I go there let me check the railing or what's past it. It's as expected, while to my left there is the same bush, one that goes to the very limit of this area, what's past the railing is basically nothing with the exception of a massive wall way up front and the place where said wall is at top. Should I call it an island? Either way, I can clearly see the path to the colossal door from this side and I will also guess that the one on the left side will be the same as this side. Enough sightseeing, time to activate the crystal.
I walk up to the crystal and once I was close enough to it, I raise my right hand towards it, from there I pour just enough magic into it to activate it. It's surprisingly easy to do so as if this crystal has some type of property that can absorb magic around it. A second or so later the crystal lights up, gaining quite the colour to it, one that is pretty but very feminine like to be honest. It gains a pink colour, a soft one at that, similar to a platinum-pink, I think. The crystal itself seems to sparkle in what seems to be in random places, however I think that it's thanks to the small shade of golden that it has throughout it. The circle right after the crystal is activated, it lights up and from there the line follows.
"One is up, two to go."
Once again, another brilliant remark on my part, to what just happened and the progress that was achieved. Before I keep on moving to the maze, I decided to go first to the main device. I need to make sure that it was partially activated. Once I got there my worries were unfounded as the device is partially activated. Just like the crystal it also has that pink colour to it. Alright, now it's time to tackle the maze once and for all. I walk up to the entrance and take a right, from there I walk for a bit until I have to take a left and that is when the maze starts. I have many choices, I can go further, to my right, my left, or if I want to, I can walk just a bit and take a left, or I can keep on walking and then take said left or and you get the idea. A complete and utterly maze but any path that I decide to take I always end up at the beginning. Something is a play here but even with my Magic Sense skill activated I cannot for the love of me find what the hell is happening.
I take a left, I'm back at the beginning.
I do the same thing but this time I go right. The beginning once again.
This time I go forward all the way down and still end up at the beginning. Wait, how? I went forward!
Alright let's think for a bit, just stop for a bit-and I'm at the damn beginning! I didn't move, how in tarnation am I at the beginning again!?
"Yep, time to burn this whole place down! Can't get lost in a place that does not exist! Definitely can't go to the beginning if there isn't a place to start! Yep, I'm not mad at all!"
Magic noises! Fire noises!
I raise up my hands a bit and from the palm of my hands I prepare two Pyro spells that could decimate an entire city, or two. Maybe three. To my right I have the spell, "Hell Blast" ready to go and on my left, I have "Inferno Blast" also ready to go. "Hell Blast" by itself could eradicate this entire place but I think I'm just a tiny bity itchy angry so I will also throw an Inferno Blast just to make sure nothing is left.
"I'm definitely not overreacting. Not at all."
And just as I was about to do it, I find something rather interesting to say the least. In one of the bushes, or in a specific part of it, one that I've missed several times now, if not hundred even, there is a small device somewhat covered by the bush. This device is close to the entrance. You start at the main device, you enter this place, go right and walk for a bit until you are forced to go left. Just a meter or so before that, this small device is placed there, to my right.
"No wonder I couldn't sense magic and figure out what was happening."
I feel just a little dumb to be honest, it never crossed my mind that the bush itself could have something on it that was causing this. Thank god I didn't overreact, this place sure was mere moments from blowing up!
Ahem, moving on.
As I said several other times, I can use my Magic Sense skill to scout ahead. What this skill allows me to do is as the name suggests, sense magic around me. Since in my case the skill is so advanced, I can sense magic in a good area around me, that's why I've been able to know if there were enemies in the next rooms. The reason I could somewhat tell the layout of the rooms is because this whole place is made of magic, literally everything. However even though I know there is something out there I don't know exactly what it is. Then how can I differentiate between a monster and a normal object? That's simple, the monster magic levels are constantly changing, in this moment they are a little higher, the next moment they drop slightly and so on. The case with an object for example, they have the exact amount of magic energy every single moment, they don't fluctuate around. All of this to excuse myself for not noticing a small device in the middle of the bushes.
This small device is around 1 meter tall and a couple centimetres wide and the same can be said of its length. It seems to be made with the same materials as the main one and just like that one, I can activate or deactivate it with magic. Now, why is this device so important that it stopped my justified rampage? Quite simple, this device works in a timer, once the timer is done it resets the maze itself, everyone and everything that is inside of the maze goes back to the beginning. Why didn't I sense this happening? Why didn't I notice this happening either? Two good questions, but let's discuss them one by one. The answer for first question is because of the device itself, it has Conceal magic on it, basically every time it's activated, it first conceals itself, making extremely hard to sense any magic that it's using and, in some cases, it can make the user invisible for a short period of time, something that I think it was happening here. It was designed and specifically prepared for this case, so much so that your only way to figure this out is to physically see the device itself. This is why I couldn't understand what was happening, I just need to do something as simple as blinking and I've missed what just happened. Now that I'm talking about it, this thing is masterfully designed and crafted, colour me surprise!
"Now I'm curious as to whoever made this. However, this is not the time for such curiosity, I just need to deactivate this and I will be able to complete the maze."
It's that simple, I just need to be careful to not start the timer, but from here it won't happen. The timer will only start once I went past a certain point of the maze, in this case it was the moment I took the first left. After that, a few minutes later, can't say the exact time, the device activates and the maze is reset shortly. This is the closest to an infinite maze, fascinating! You either complete the maze in that time span or you will never be able to do so even if you know the way to complete it. Whatever, enough of my unnecessary jabbering, let's just deactivate the damn device and get this over with it.
I proceed to deactivate the device by simply removing the timer, and yes, it's that simple. The device will only be activated if the timer starts and of course ends. If the timer never starts, it can't end and therefore the device won't be activated. After clearing the obstacle that was making me definitely not go crazy at all, I get moving, turning left once I reach the end of this corridor. From there I walk forward until I hit the bush, after that I take a right. Then left after a few meters followed by a right and again another right. After getting lost for a few minutes I'm able to finally find my way out, or in, in this case. I'm met with the same scenario as before, where there is a crystal right in the middle of a small "room", one that is surrounded by the bush wall in all directions.
The crystal looks exactly the same as the previous one, below it there is the same circle and to it, the line connected to the main device. I walk up to the crystal, raise my left hand towards it and activate it. The crystal lights up with the same colour as before, the circle follows it and so does the line. With this done, time to get out of this maze. This time I took less time to walk through the maze and once I was near the main device, I quickly notice that another third of it is lit up.
"Well, only one is missing now, although I will have to fight some more enemies. From my Magic Sense skill, I can say that there are five of them, however they seem to be the Crystal Knights thanks to the level of their magic."
With this conclusion in mind, I get moving. This time I go to the left side of the main device and once I enter the place, mind you the "room" that I enter is still surrounded by the bush wall, I'm instantly greeted by those five Crystal Knights that I mentioned before and by the crystal right in the middle of the "room". The Crystal Knights are standing "menacing" waiting for their prey to enter the "room", myself in this case. However, anyone sensible enough would think to defeat the Crystal Knights first and then activate the crystal. A small problem though, the crystal is sealed with magic. There's nothing guaranteeing me that defeating the Crystal Knights will unlock the crystal but at the same time the opposite can be said. I still have to defeat them first, only then I can have a look at the crystal.
"Since you guys are waiting for me, it will be my honour to make the first move then."
I proclaim this to them, hoping to get an answer out of them. I didn't of course, I'm just making small talk. Either way, this "room" is around 80 square meters, not that small but not ideal for this situation as there are too many of them. To make things more difficult for me, said crystal is in the middle of the room. I kind of do not want to damage it so I will have to be extra careful. Thankfully they are not the Royal Crystal Knights so I don't need to use Martial Arts skills to defeat them, a simple "punch" will be enough to defeat them. You know, in that sense I will be like one punch man, where I'm a man that one punches my enemies into oblivion. Huh, where did I hear this now?
Swoosh! Bam!
It was a simple jab and I easily shattered the head of one of them. I did dash towards him first but I was too fast for him to do something about it even though he had a spear. A weapon that could easily counter my close combat with the reach that the spear gives the user. His head as I said shattered into several small pieces and with it, I defeated him. However, I did notice that he turned to magic residues rather quickly, not only that, I also noticed that the crystal seemed to absorb said magic residues. This instantly gives the impression that I really just need to defeat the Crystal Knights and the seal will disappear. Well then, that gives me extra motivation to quickly dispose of all of them. That's exactly what I will do then.
Bam! Pow! Bem! Paw!
Nothing out of this world, what I did that is. Once they saw that I easily and quickly defeated one of them, they decided to form pars, after all, once one is about to get defeated the other one just needs to take advantage of that and strike me down. Not a bad strategy, a little inhumane as they are using their "friend" as bait but oh well, not my problem. Either way, by forming pairs it makes things easier for me and quicker at the same time as I can defeat two of them back-to-back. The first pair was a simple 1-2 combo, where I just jab at each one of them. I hit them in the face just like the previous one and just like that one, I defeat them with a single hit as I'm easily able to break their heads. Another two down, just two more to go. The next two I do exactly the same so no point in going any further.
"That's all of them. Now then, the seal on the Crystal must be..."
And the damn seal is still up. Wasn't it enough magic energy? How am I supposed to-
Magic noises! Crystals noises!
Just as I was questioning myself on how I was supposed to get more magic energy to the seal, another group of five Crystal Knights spawn right near me. I'm surrounded in other words and each one of them are holding weapons that put me beyond disadvantage. They have shields, all of them, some have longswords, others have spears while a single one of them has a halberd. Weapons that can easily counter my hand-to-hand combat and I would be in danger if they were stronger. Even though I'm the Hero, I can only do so much without a weapon, there's a limit to everything after all.
"Well then, come at me! All of you at once!"
A soft smile cracks on my face as I say this to them, and let me tell you, I do sound a little cocky (I am though), but it's not like they will answer me or anything like that or even understand me. Although, they do respond to my request as each one of them jumps towards me, ready to strike me down. They are trying to remove any possible chance at dodging as each one is covering a possible way for me to dodge. In fact, if I don't move a muscle one of them will hit me of course, but that is only one of them, the rest will miss. These things keep on surprising me, just how much can they grow? The way that they adapt to their opponents, the tide of the battle, everything about them screams natural born fighter's. Thanks to all the gods that exist, these things don't get literally stronger as oh boy, just how strong they would be if that was the case.
Woosh! Woosh! Bam!
I decide to stay still as they come crashing down towards me, making four of them miss their swings while the last one I narrowly dodged the blade of the spear. I did so by dashing slightly forward towards said Crystal Knight. Once I was close enough, with a simple punch, I hit right dead on the centre of his face, shattering everything with the hit. By doing this I'm just a bit further than the other Knights, which means, they have their backs to me, just the same way as I do to them. A good opportunity to counter attack as I'm far too quick for them to even react. The one to my left he's a little too close to me, in other words close enough for me to elbow him, hitting him at the back of his head and contrary to the previous punches my elbow keeps on going with the momentum as the head of the Knight was not sturdy enough to stop said momentum. Not that it will destabilize me or anything like that, in fact, I was expecting this and from here I can switch into a jump to cover some distance towards the other Knight that is a little to my left and at the same time a bit backwards. I use the momentum of the elbow to transition into a jump, one where I also spin mid-air, rather than being side to side like a normal spin instead, I do it from the ground up to the air and back to the ground. With this I have a clean chance to hit the other one, while mid-air I hit him in the back of the head, this time with my foot or in this case, the heel of it.
Kapow!
As anyone can expect the impact is violent, I had so much force behind the back kick that not only I crushed his head, I also went right through his upper body, shattering the entirety of the body in the process. Well then, I might be getting just a tad bit too excited. Right as I recover from my way to overkill movement, I quickly dash towards the other two, doing once again another 1-2 combo at them. How long did this take? Less than 10 seconds I would say, none of them had a chance to react properly, the first one was a given, while the other two I took advantage of that they had their backs to me, and the last two I was too fast for them to do anything, to block or counter me. But with this another five are down and the seal is still up. Great!
Magic noises! Crystals noises!
Luckily, I don't have to wait for too long as in less than 5 seconds later, another group of five spawn and this time around, they do have ranged weapons. One of them in this specific case, he has a bow, a Crystal one of course, but nonetheless a ranged weapon. The other four have switched to "normal" weapons rather than long range weapons. It seems to them that having long range won't help much as they are considerably slower with them than with "normal" weapons. I could see how the ranged Knight will fare against me in this situation but my blood is just a tad bit for the hot side so I will dispose of him first. With this solid plan in mind, I quickly dash to him and just like before, everything goes smoothly, however there was something that caught my interest but at the same time, it sent a chill down my spine.
They were waiting for this.
They were expecting me to go at the ranged one first.
They planned this is what I'm trying to say.
I am making things really easy, but that's only because I'm the Hero, an average joe would get murdered in this situation and the same can be said about your average adventurer, hell, even for an average knight from the army. If an army of these Crystal Knights marches down into a city, then I'm inclined to believe that, the city won't survive, the human army won't be able to defend the city itself, the citizens and even themselves. Ah, just thinking about it is making me shiver. However, I can think about this later on, I still have to defeat the rest of them and unlock the damn crystal.
Woosh! Bom! Woosh! Pow!
Two of them were waiting for me behind the ranged Knight, not only that, they were mid-motion so I had to dodge them as they would hit me if I didn't do so. Right after that, I was supposed to defeat those two, however another Knight spawned right behind me, that sneaky little bastard. Anyway, as you can guess that small unforeseen event made me quickly change tactics as I have to defeat the one behind me first so that he does not hit me instead, and let me tell, he spawned while mid-motion so, I really have to be quick. But no worries, nothing that an elbow won't resolve. The same happens, just I defeat the one behind me with said elbow, another one spawns and I'm currently surrounded by five of them. Hmm, not a good situation as this time around they are taking turns at attacking me rather than going all at once. I'm basically dancing around as I dodge their swings and while they are not fast at all, they are not giving me any openings at all to counter attack.
"I might have to step it up! Won't say that I'm not surprised though."
I do mean this and I really will have to take this to a higher level as otherwise we won't get anywhere. Now, what do I mean by this? A more aggressive set of tactics and moves, still no magic or Martial Arts at least for now, although I'm itching to use magic. For some reason. Can't explain it. Moving on!
Bam! Pow! Paw!
Rather than dodging the swings I instead parry them and from there I'm able to get a clean shot at them. Although, it did not go as I planned. Seriously, not only do they quickly notice what I intend to do, they also quickly figure out a way to prevent it. In other words, the moment that I parry one of them, another takes a swing at me, forcing me to dodge it and therefore lose the chance to take out one of them. This is amazing and terrifying at the same time, the way they can adapt to all of this is frightening. However, I simply have to do one simple thing, parry anything and everything that comes at me. If I parry one and another one comes at me, I will parry that one and so on. After a few back and forths I'm finally able to take advantage of one of the parries and with it, another one is defeated. I have a feeling that another Knight will spawn. Before that happens, as fast as I possibly can, I take out two of them, the moment the second one crumbled into nothing, another Knight spawns and right after that, two others follow it. Right now, I have five Knights in front of me, all of them in a somewhat line, you know, in that good position to get hit by spell at point blank range… Not only that, the crystal is right behind me, far away from any possible spell blast radius for example. Heh, couldn't ask for better.
"Burn everything to ashes! Flamethrower!"
And I couldn't contain my excitement. I had to do it! They were begging for it! I raise my right hand towards them, a few centimetres from it, a red magic circle is formed, one that indicates that a Pyro spell is about to be unleashed at them. I might be way too excited however, my judgment is still sane, the strength of this Pyro spell will be stronger than the Knight of course but nothing more than B+. To be exact, it will be in the lower B+, but still far too much for them. The magic circle itself is around the same size as my torso, but since it is a circle it has the same size in all directions, making it wider than my torso itself.
Swish! Fire noises!
What came out of the magic circle was nothing more than something akin to the Flames of Hell. With a vibrant red colour to it, a sea of flames comes out of the magic circle, swallowing anything that is unfortunate enough to come in contact with it. At first the magic circle seemed to be absorbing everything as it prepared to unleash its terror. The "absorption" was so strong that it created a "Swish" sound to it as the air itself was being pulled towards the magic circle, creating said sound in the process. Then a fraction of a second later, a jet of flames comes out of it, one that transforms into a wave of flames mere moments later as it loses its initial speed and consistency. They didn't have a chance to dodge it and if they did block it, it was for nothing. They really couldn't do anything to protect themselves against the wave of Hell. The flames were close to 875 degrees, hot enough to consume the Knights by whole, melting them mere seconds later and leaving nothing behind at the same time. The spell lasted only for 3 seconds, but it was more than enough to accomplish what it was meant to do.
"Well then, is this it or do I have to keep going?"
No one answers me of course, but since no other Knight has spawn, that means that I have cleared this place. I look towards the crystal that still is behind me, and not to my surprise the seal is gone, it seems I had to defeat twenty of them to unlock the seal. I might have gone overkill with this spell but the magic consumption was nothing special so I'm way above the green if the Whale decides to have a go at me. Moving on, I walk up to the crystal and the same process happens. After that I walk to the main device and as anyone can expect, it's fully lit, ready to be activated by yours truly.