The orb of fire flew straight to the throne but turned into broken fragments, missing the target by mere seconds.
She groaned loudly, cursing her body for not generating enough aura.
In all she did, the rest just stood and watched.
"That was so cool", Derrick's voice caught her attention
She averted her eyes, "no it wasn't," she sulked, at this rate, how would she become a warrior?
"Say what you like flame princess, it was cool to me"
"You think so?" Her brows creased
"Yeah!" Gabbie answered, "that thing you did there, your body was literally glowing"
Surprised, DoHyun asked "you...don't know what it is?"
Gabbie shook her head in response.
"It's called Aura" said DoHyun
"Aura?" Eiden repeated her words and she nodded, since when has Aura been visible? He asked himself.
She went further to explain "from the books I've read, Aura is a mysterious energy that surrounds and is given off by living beings. Everyone has an Aura since it's generated by the body's natural energy.
Aura can be manipulated and influenced by mana or other magical energy and the fact that you can all see aura means that you can use it too" she explained.
Pointing to herself, Gabbie asked "Will I be able to do it too?"
"Of course!" She answered lively and walked towards Gabbie.
Gabbie assumed a position similar to DoHyun's when she tried blasting the throne.
"First, relax and focus," said DoHyun, Just as the books had taught her.
Gabbie took a deep breath and exhaled. She closed her eyes.
DoHyun continued, "good. Now, visualize your Aura and concentrate it to one spot"
Gabbie shut her eyes tight, trying hard to follow DoHyun's instructions.
"Woah! Gabbie, your hand!" Exclaimed Derrick.
Gabbie opened her eyes, her outstretched hand had a glowing translucent energy circulating only from her wrist to her finger tips.
Her mouth agape, she stared in awe.
She gasped suddenly, "w..wait, what's happening now!?" She panicked
The translucent energy turned different shades of green all of a sudden.
DoHyun stifled a laughter, "I didn't mention, your Aura takes its shape, color and intensity from your emotions, personality or physical state. Gabbie this is your color"
"My...color" Gabbie repeated In a low whisper as she stared at the glowing wonder in her hand.
Derrick raised his arm, "okay it's my turn now" he said.
In the end, through DoHyun's patient teaching they discovered how to surround themselves with their Aura energy, each of them possessing different and unique colors.
DoHyun- red and orange mix
Gabbie- green
Eiden- soft golden glow
Jadon- blue
Derrick- dark purple
Soon, it was noon and everyone was called to gather again. The man from earlier, took the podium "The first trial will as a matter of fact reduce the number of participants"
His choice of introduction threw the crowd in murmurs and questionable looks.
Never Minding them, he carried on. "The first trial, AMARANTH, will take place in the imperial maze bush. The first thirty people to finish the maze and cross the gates will be allowed in further. The use of harm on other participants or the maze bush is strictly prohibited. Once you hear the sound, the race begins".
DoHyun smiled, she was at a vantage. The night bloom garden had a maze close to the entrance, she knew how to go about mazes.
"We should stick together" said Eiden, he feared they might get separated if they stayed far from each other's reach.
They nodded at him.
Everyone gathered before a huge black gate. Impatiently, some people were already trying to get past the gate by pushing.
Their hearts raced and sweat trickled from their foreheads. Eiden couldn't count the number of times he gulped while waiting for the sound the man had spoken of.
In the next instant, it became a ground of loose animals and a loud sound was made. The gates were opened and people rushed in, pushing and trampling each other.
In a moment of confusion, Gabbie and DoHyun were separated from the rest. Their little group scattered as the crowd forcibly made their way in.
Looking around hastily, Gabbie couldn't see the rest of the team. DoHyun held onto her tightly, the crowd had swept them into the maze already.
The maze had six entrances, with the group scattered, DoHyun and Gabbie were in the second, Jason and Eiden in the sixth while Derrick alone in the fourth.
"Oh no, we got separated," said DoHyun uneasily.
"Don't worry about them, let's just hope they find their way. We have to move quickly now"
With that, Gabbie and DoHyun explored the second entrance. It was starting to feel like forever because of how vast the entire place was, no wonder they gave it the name Amaranth.
With so many left and right turns, one was sure to lose their way.
After they ran so much, they were hit by the cruel end of the second entrance.
They didn't waste any time, they left to check out the remaining.
At the sixth, Jason cursed "how did we lose them?"
"Can't find Derrick either," said Eiden.
"Let's go". They carried on. Even if they can't all make it, one of them is enough to make their wish back home….but what about DoHyun?
They ran aimlessly, checking the place out. They were just about turning right when they heard "Hey!"
They looked behind to find a rather muscular man behind them, the mole of his chin was a feature of his that stood out. He looked underworldly with a large axe resting on his shoulder.
"You're going the wrong way, that path has a dead end"
Jason scoffed, "why would we believe you?"
"Because I went through there?" He said, arching his brows.
"These mazes are easy, join me" he said he didn't bother waiting, he left them there.
Reluctantly, they joined behind him. Eiden noticed the way he walked so calmly almost like he knew the exact way.
What could have been his power? Eiden wondered.
The man led them for a while and made a right turn. They swiftly followed him but all of a sudden he was nowhere to be seen again.
Looking left and right, "where'd he go?" Asked Jason.
"Sorry kids", they looked behind