When Acht opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in an open space that didn't exceed 2 meters in width. It was made out of normal stone with nothing there behind him.
So, he looked ahead of him. What he saw was a passage between two very big walls that seemingly exceeded to infinity from both angles. They were also made out of stone and were about 6 meters away from each other.
The first thing he noticed that was weird about these walls is that they had a huge amount of soul force embedded into them and ran through each part of the walls, seemingly like an endless stream of energy.
The second thing and it was the most important one is that they weren't motionless as all solid objects should be. They were somehow wiggling and moving at a very very slow pace. They were also barely noticeable to anyone. But, this discovery was more than enough for Acht to know something.
'These walls can change shape and form most likely to create traps. But, how is that even possible to make?' Acht wandered quietly.
A few moments later, he heard a sound. It was the shriek of a person coming from the distance in the form of an echo. Then, another shriek followed suit not long after the first one.
What ensued after that was a clusterfuck of screams and loud noises. Swords clashing, bombardments from some kind of bomb, or the attack of an awakener. It was as if chaos had befallen this place in a matter of minutes.
These were all signs that people were now fighting in the race to reach the end.
So, without further to do, Acht took a deep breath and walked inside. He had no desire to let anyone get the first place before him.
The first few moments inside the maze were very calm since he didn't find anyone. But, he didn't lower his wariness by any means. And that seemed to be the right choice as suddenly.
*Swish*
From the left wall, 7 huge spikes appeared like a flash and tried to skewer Acht completely.
? But, he was already prepared for such an outcome so he easily evaded them. His reaction speed had also evolved within the last 3 months so now, he could basically react faster and more efficiently to sneak attacks.
He then continued walking. His strategy in finding the route to the center is very easy. Since the walls have soul force running through them to keep them functioning, he could basically sense the mana around him and find the open way to move through.
It was probably something the organizers of this test had put deliberately for those who can think of this idea. So, from being a very complicated maze that will take him potentially hours or even days to complete, it became just like a walk in the park…albeit filled with dangers.
A few minutes later, he stumbled upon the first group of humans. They seemed to have been brawling like mad dogs for some time now since they were all injured and panting heavily.
But, when they saw the newcomer, they all stopped fighting and glared at him. Acht, who was casually walking with his hands in his pocket and whistling an unknown song made them feel speechless.
He didn't stop to look at them or even change direction, he just walked in between these people as if they didn't exist.
"You little bastard!" A man woke up from a daze and immediately attacked him with a hammer.
*Swish*
Acht saw the swing and just casually moved his head to the side as if he was dodging an insect.
The man looked at this with deep shock but still attacked him again. He made a large arc with his hands and smashed down, intending to squash him. But, Acht just sidestepped the hammer and continued walking.
"What the fuck is this? How can he dodge that? Hey, you fuckers, attack him!"
Three men then immediately shook their heads and growled loudly like a group of enraged gorillas.
After that, they all charged at him and tried to use their elements to attack him.
"Sigh, piss off."
Acht muttered with a cold glare before he extended his hand in their direction. In an instant, they were all sent flying at a fast speed as if they were swept away by a howling storm.
*BOOM*
They all were smashed against the near wall, which triggered the trap.
*Swish*
Before the spikes could hit them, they were teleported 20 meters away from the spike.
"...W-What was that? I didn't see anything. He has the wind element?" One of them muttered confusedly.
They couldn't see what hit them so they assumed it was some kind of wind attack. This was not a coincidence since Acht had been working on that part of his power too.
He knew that using gravity in public is a huge taboo that could potentially end up with him being a target. So, he had been practicing his gravity in order to make it look like he used the wind element instead of gravity. It didn't need any kind of flashy movements or anything of that sort. Just a simple extending of the hand and barely just changing the direction of the air around him with gravity could work wonders.
Even the audience in the stands couldn't see the difference when they looked at the screens in the arena.
'Illusions aren't that hard. I only needed to make them see a familiar site of a wind user and then I could do whatever I want. Even that Middle World fucker can't see the difference.' Acht thought to himself with a smile as he continued walking.
That's when he felt it, a very strong aura was nearby. He immediately hid himself and looked in a certain direction. What he saw a few moments later made him feel a chilling coldness in his spine.
'Isn't that Lein?!'
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