Chapter 146: Atmosphere Laced With Oddities

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"U-uh… Apollo, what was that strike? Even from here, it felt terrible," Nadida stammered, looking at Apollo's lax back as the scythe made of Hellfire in his hand disintegrated before her very eyes. This was the first time she had witnessed his strike as all this while he had been holding back. Needless to say, the destruction she stumbled upon was something she just couldn't wrap her mind around.

"It's my strike, but that isn't what's important right now. Do you feel a vibration from your trial identification card?" Apollo asked while pulling the card from his pocket. Unlike before, the card shimmered and showed holographic information. 

Truthfully speaking, this was a matter that shocked Apollo as well as the other teammates. They weren't aware that the technologies of the Academies were so advanced. Holographic projection, that was something out of their wildest dreams.

By utilizing Natural Essence as the screen, using a unique formation embedded in the card, one was able to display certain information. For example, right now, before everyone's eyes, three sets of information appeared.

(Current Team Ranking: [1,016th out of 30,136])

(Current Individual Ranking: [169th out of 301,318])

(Individual Points: [1,020] | Team Points: [2,140])

"Hm, isn't there some oddities about these points? They aren't consistent. I have 545 and I'm sure Nadida has more so how are there only slightly over 2,000 team points," Leone questioned, his face filled with bewilderment.

Based on his calculations, then they should at least have upwards of 4,000 points. In fact, it should be close to double what they have right now. Hence, confusion appeared amongst the multiple teams in the Dark Ruin Labyrinth. They wanted to understand just how these points were calculated.

"Hmm, well, let's see. Right now, I have 1,020 points. If we take a step back and look at what we have accomplished, then we'll realize we have only done three things," Apollo chimed in, rubbing his chin whilst his eyes remained glued to the holographic screen before him. 

"Hm? As far as I know, we've only defeated two sets of monsters," Klaus added. Other than this, he was sure they hadn't accomplished anything else.

"Incorrect. We have been here for an hour now. That should amount to something within the points. If we continue under the assumption that the first set of monsters were worth 20 points and then the second set was worth 40, we'll have a few miscellaneous points unaccounted for. That should be what we were rewarded for the duration of our survival?

"What makes you believe our survival is being monitored?" Leone asked, interested in Apollo's discoveries. While at this point they were all speculation, there was sound reasoning behind them. Thus, Leone wasn't able to immediately dismiss it as a falsity.

"Take a look at the points, or specifically the numbers between the teams and individual rankings. Moreover, while doing that, remember what that old fogey said. Every teammate's death results in a 10% decrease in points," Apollo reminded, causing realization to flash in the other's eyes.

"Ah! That means people have already died! In the beginning, there was an even number of 301,360 people. But now, there are already over 40 of them missing from the list. I see what you're saying, but wait, that doesn't tell us how individual points are calculated," Nadida blurted but became pensive after.

"Yes it does," Apollo nodded, continuing, "What if there is a contribution percentage system in place? That would determine the individuals worth in the team. Let's assume at max, a member can be rewarded 50% percent of the kill's worth. The highest contributor would claim half of that max in other words 25% while the rest is divided amongst the remainder of the team."

For several moments there was silence amid the team contemplating Apollo's words. Everything he presented so far sounded plausible, however, there was still no concrete evidence. Be that as it may, they still saw his deductive reasoning as something mind-boggling. How could he catch all this from staring at the information?

"It's possible. How about we keep moving to ascertain our assumptions? That's the only direct way to test it out, no?" Nadida responded, taking a step closer.

"That goes without saying. What, do you think we're going to stay here? We have a trial to complete. This little contemplation session has taken up enough of our time. We move now," Apollo commanded, taking a step forth without waiting for their answers.

Nevertheless, they deemed his forceful attitude as justified. Based on the strength he presented, half of the team believed he could clear this labyrinth on his own. But, that was only true if the difficulty of advancement remained the same.

As the team moved forward, their journey fell silent. Similar to earlier, upon advancing, Apollo sealed off his sight. He used the advice of Azridan and trained his other senses so that in the event they were robbed from him, he would never be compromised.

Furthermore, disabling his sight surprisingly allowed him to form a more complete mental image of the areas they were approaching as well as whence they came. 

Disturbingly enough, even after advancing for over 2 hours, walking on a straight path; they had yet to come in contact with any other enemies. Additionally, there were no breaks in the path either. Obviously, all this felt weird to Apollo.

From the outside, each of the paths on the labyrinth was filled with twists and turns. As such, they should have already approached one. Regardless of their conservation of energy, they were still moving with haste. 

Thus, Apollo came to two assumptions, 'Either the distortion of space has obscured how large we thought this labyrinth to be or...we're in an illusion. The first one is easy to deal with, however, if it's the second… how do we deal with that?'

Without sufficient evidence, Apollo didn't bring up his speculations with the others. Contrarily, he moved forward, hoping to dispel his worries. Unfortunately, even after increasing his pace further, no changes in the path appeared. It was like a stretch of neverending straightness.

Finally, another issue gave rise to his suspicions. Albeit faint, he heard the sound of continuous dripping. It wasn't evident at first but now that he had focused on his other sense, he found some discrepancies.

"Halt," Apollo said, holding up his fist. After doing so, he bent down and grabbed a handful of the decrepit dirt. To confirm his suspicions, he threw it. But, contrary to what everyone expected, the moment he threw it up, it dropped almost instantly.

"There's… no environment here," Apollo muttered, narrowing his eyes. Now that his worries had been confirmed, he looked for anything out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, his teammates didn't understand what had him on edge.

"Is there something wrong? What do you mean this place has no environment?" Nadida questioned, walking up to his side. Before she received an answer, Apollo first looked down then over at the walls he had been dragging his hand across.

Instead of replying in a straightforward manner, Apollo asked a question, "This place lacks an atmosphere. Think back to when we first entered this place, what did you feel?"

"When we entered here, it was like we came through a spatial storm. After that, the winds here were viol-. Wait… what happened to the winds? Why is the atmosphere so tranquil?" Nadida widened her eyes, realizing what they had all overlooked.

"I believe we are trapped in an illusion. In fact, I even think it's safe to say we haven't moved from our initial position after our battle with those pythons. That was a blunder on my part, I should have recognized the abnormality of the environment. Perhaps those snakes weren't what we should've been on the lookout for," Apollo stated with a grim expression.

"If so, aren't our bodies in danger? If our conscience is trapped in an illusion, how do we get out of it?" Nadida asked, trying to conceal her trembling palms. Not only was she scared of heights, but she was also terribly afraid of the thought of failing. Hence, when she heard her body could be in possible danger, her reaction was great.

"Calm down, think rationally. I don't think our bodies are in danger," Apollo said, raising his hand towards her.

"Huh? What makes you think that?" Leone stepped forth, peering in the direction Apollo currently gazed in. 

"That's simple. If the body is in grave danger, even if in an illusion, the defensive response should be enough to shock us awake. Therefore, I don't think this is an illusion to endanger us but rather hamper our advance. I...don't think this is an illusion made by beasts," Apollo uttered.

Upon saying that, he closed his eyes, relaxing his body. 'What was that feeling earlier? I need to recount that. I need to reclaim the same sensation that happened during my clash with Nadida and in front of the Elemental Resonance Stele. If I can grasp that feeling, maybe I can spur a reaction from my eyes again.'

On the other hand, the others became tense. They couldn't judge whether or not they were truly trapped in an illusion. It felt all too real; the control they had over their bodies, their surroundings. For this to be an illusion, the caster would need to be well-versed in it.

'I have an open Soul Temple, an illusion shouldn't affect me unless..' Nadida raised her head looking at Apollo whose eyes were opening. Unlike before, they seemed to swallow her.

"H-huh? Apollo..?" Nadida murmured, somehow enraptured by his gaze.

"So that's how it was done. I understand now," Apollo answered. Calmly, he walked closer to his members behind him, his hand covered in the abominable Hellfire.