As they continued, they felt the joints on their wooden puppet's body creak and the wooden frame groaning. They had been moving for what felt like hours, and the endless twisting and turning of the labyrinth was taking a toll on their puppet bodies.
Vale led the group once again, his sharp eyes scanning for any clues or signs that might help them find their way out. The others followed behind, their wooden footsteps echoing eerily off the walls.
The air was damp and musty, and the smell of mold and mildew filled their nostrils. They passed by several doors, some locked and others creaking open with a loud screech. They cautiously peered inside, but each room was empty and devoid of any clues.
After what felt like an eternity, they came across a room with a pedestal in the center. On the pedestal was a small glass orb, emitting a soft glow.
"Maybe this is a clue," Vale said, picking up the orb. As he did, the walls began to shake and the floor trembled beneath their wooden feet.
"We need to leave now!" Brenda shouted.
Vale quickly put the orb in his pocket and ran towards the door. But as they tried to exit, the door slammed shut, trapping them inside.
"What do we do now?" Yor asked, panic creeping into his voice.
"We have to find another way out," Vale said, scanning the room for any other exits. Suddenly, the walls began to close in on them, the space between them narrowing by the second.
As Vale led the group, he stopped suddenly and spotted a door at the end of the alley. "Look, there's a door over there!" he exclaimed.
"Great! Maybe it leads to an exit. Let's hurry!" Yor impatiently ran ahead of the others.
"Yor, wait!" Colbert shouted.
Suddenly, dozens of arrows shot out from holes in the walls on both sides of the alley. It was injuring Yor's puppet body. Although it caused no blood or pain, Yor panicked. No one knew what would happen if the wooden puppet, which housed their souls, were destroyed.
"Help me remove these arrows," Yor said to Colbert.
"You're too careless," Colbert grumbled. However, he still helped Yor pluck out the arrows, one by one.
"How can we get through this alley?" Brenda asked.
Vale pondered the question. They couldn't use magic, and the physical abilities of their puppet bodies were inferior to their real bodies, making it challenging to dodge the arrows.
Vale moved quietly and cautiously, pressing his right foot slowly onto the alley floor. He was prepared to retreat at any moment. After a few steps, he felt the floor sink inward. He quickly jumped back, and arrows shot out from the walls again.
"There's a mechanism on the floor that triggers the arrows. We need to be careful; there may be more than one mechanism. We have to try them one by one," Vale said.
Vale and Colbert took turns trying each section of the alley floor. The moment they found the trigger mechanism, they quickly jumped back and then tried it again. They continued until they successfully found all the trigger mechanisms on the floor. Brenda and Yor could then walk casually down the alley, avoiding the trigger mechanism.
"We made it!" Brenda said, relieved.
"We made it through that dangerous passage, even though it took a while," Vale added. He walked towards the door at the end of the hallway and opened it.
To their disappointment, the door led them into another maze. The only difference was the color of the hallway.
Brenda let out a sigh of frustration. "Another one? Are you kidding me?" she said.
Yor was equally disappointed. "We've been wandering in these mazes for hours. Will we ever find a way out?"
Colbert tried to stay positive. "We managed to escape the first one, so we can do it again. We just need to keep our wits about us."
Vale nodded in agreement. "He's right. We need to be careful and stay together. We'll find a way out of this maze too."
***
Meanwhile, Holman, Laura, Dinodas and Alex followed Frida's footsteps and finally reached the place where she found a black level quality magic radiation stone. They saw a cave with luminous stones dotting its walls. In the center of the cave was the black magic radiation stone. Holman was immediately drawn to it.
"That magic radiation stone is mine!" he exclaimed and ran towards it.
"Wait! Holman, it's a trap! Frida's trail disappears around that stone!" Laura shouted, stopping him.
"What should we do? If Frida's trail stops at the stone, then it means she's moved somewhere. If we want to kill her, we have to go there," Alex said.
Dinodas suggested, "Why don't we wait here? If Frida manages to get out, she may return to this cave, and we can kill her then. If she doesn't come out by the time the annual exam ends, then she's dead."
Holman objected, "But what if she survived and showed up somewhere else? To ensure her death, we need to go there too."
"Let Laura and me go in Frida's footsteps, you two wait here. I have a way to escape, and Laura can use a switch to exchange places with Dinodas," Alex proposed.
Dinodas didn't seem bothered by the possibility of sacrificing himself if Laura was in danger.
Holman and Laura considered Alex's proposal for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
"That's a good plan. Let's do it," said Holman.
Laura cautiously approached the magic radiation stone, examining it without touching it. "This stone could be the trigger for a trap. Holman and Dinodas, you should step back," she warned.
Hearing this, Holman and Dinodas quickly jumped back. After making some preparations, Laura touched the floating magic radiation stone. As a result, a magic circle appeared around the stone, and Alex also entered its range.
After a few seconds, the magic circle emitted a bright light and engulfed Alex and Laura, leaving Holman and Dinodas alone.
With Alex and Laura leaving to catch up with Frida, this would obviously put Frida in danger, especially since she still couldn't defeat the impersonator. The disciples from the royal family would face difficult challenges.