Another group was hopelessly lost in the maze. Every turn they took just ended up being a dead end. They were beginning to get frustrated.
"How did we all end up together?!" One of them groaned. "Not a single one of us can cast a decent spell and give us a lead."
Just then a boy burst through the maze walls. He crashed into the other side of the wall and fell with the crumbles. His long black hair scattered over the floor with some strands on his face.
"Did he just get blasted through the walls?" They looked through the holes and saw a single person leaving. After him, another person appeared. This one closed his eyes for a while and then opened it. It had a white glow. He looked at the two paths and then went right.
"The more intense the fights get, the closer they are to the crystal." One of them muttered.
"He just used a spell, he most likely knows where he's going." A girl drew a conclusion judging on the boy's actions.
She left first in the direction he went. Soon after, the group of ten were on the move hoping they were taking the right path this time.
"Drat! I let my guard down." Black hair gritted, getting back up slowly. He looked at the holes his body had made and tilted his head.
"The bastard that did this should better not let me catch them."
Somewhere else in the maze, brown hair sat on the floor and shook his hair to get rid of the dust.
"For a moment there I was too invested in the fight, I completely forgot about the exams." He stretched his arms and got up.
He looked at the holes his body made and his eyebrows furrowed.
"Just when I thought I'd be a good sport and not burn this entire thing down. Tch." A fireball formed beneath his feet and started bouncing. It burnt whatever and whoever thought it wise to be in his way.
"Up, up and away! Hehehe." He bounced off in the direction he flew from. "That crystal is mine."
*********
The twins carried on walking at a very relaxed pace with the little girl leading the way and Jarett tagging along. Each one of them had different thoughts in mind.
"What do I do after this? If my guess is correct, and I pass whatever child's play this is, I'll go to that wizards academy. This means I'll be protected for four years." The little girl pondered about her situation.
"They will never set foot in a magic land, this is the best option for me. But, this could bite me in the back as well. What if I'm found out?" She placed her hands on the sides of her head, trembling a bit.
"Darn, this is boring." Kiyan sighed. "We haven't done anything really, I don't know if they're impressed enough to pick us. Since we're still in this maze, I believe no one has gotten the crystal yet."
"Some people must have gotten there already and are currently fighting over it. I wonder what their criteria for picking their students are."
"Where are the monkeys? Where are the goblins? I want to kill again." Jarett kept mumbling. He constantly looked around waiting for an ambush, but there was none.
"This entire thing feels like what father would put Kiyan and I through from time to time. But, for it to be used as a test for academy entrance seems too easy." Raten thought.
"He did build this school not just for wizards but for his kind, did he start this test? No, he would make it harder to get the best."
The four of them then got a recognizable scent of smoke. As they moved further, they could barely see nor breathe.
"What happened here?" Jarett asked while coughing. That part of the maze was burning ferociously.
Kiyan snapped his fingers and the fire vanished. Smoke still remained, so they covered their nose and mouths with parts of their clothes and walked past.
Behind them were others that just trailed along silently. They didn't even think of starting something, at least not with Jarett. They didn't know what the twins or the girl could do.
While some participants were lost in the maze, a few of them easily made their way to the centre, while the others had a few challenges.
"Oh? What is this?" Raten asked, looking at a wall in front of them.
At first, they thought they might have just turned into a dead end, but then this wall seemed to have just risen from the earth and was even taller than the maze itself.
From above them, a large fireball bounced over the wall. In that same instant someone else jumped over it.
They could hear noises from the other side of it as well. Most of them were thuds, groans, grunts and shouts of pain.
"The crystal is beyond this wall, isn't it?" Kiyan asked the girl. She still didn't say anything.
Jarett touched the wall and then scoffed. "Someone is trying to keep me from my crystal?" He made a fist and took a step back getting himself in position. He swung his arm with full force and punched the wall.
The sound of the hit reverberated through the maze and the earth shook. Everyone in the maze could feel it. Those on the other side of the wall turned and looked at it.
At first it looked like the punch did nothing. But then, a crack appeared. From one to many and it kept spreading till the wall fell into small pieces of rocks.
'After spending so much time with him, he has become more deserving of that beast title.' Kiyan thought, looking at Jarett's back as the dust fell. His lips then formed a smile.
"How nice."
The little girl was stunned for a moment, she didn't move and just stared at Jarett. Well, since she was blindfolded, she just had her head in his direction.
Once the dust fell, they could now see each other clearly. The crystal sat on a small podium shining in its beauty. Around it was an all out battle for its possession that had been paused. Those that were fighting stopped and stared at the person who just withdrew his fist after the dust settled.
"Did he punch that down with just his fist?" One of them said in shock.
Some of them were already sweating. The towering being casually made his way in stepping over the rocks he made. All attention was now on him.
"My, my, forget the crystal, I just want to fight you." Brown hair said looking at Jarett while he blocked the crystal with a wall of fire.
"Interesting." Black hair grinned at Jarett.
"Get him!" One of the other participants said.
"Garh!" They shouted and ran towards Jarett who just raised a brow. An alliance was formed to take out the one they thought to be the biggest threat present.
Kiyan and Raten moved out of the way and walked towards the crystal.
"I'm not letting anyone touch that!" A boy shouted and leapt towards Raten with his fist ready. Raten looked at him and tilted his head.
Another went to attack Kiyan who just stood watching her approach.
"I've got my eyes on you too!" She said closing in.
"Okay?" He looked at her the same way Raten looked at his opponent.
********
After hearing and feeling the aftereffect of Jarett's punch, Lecter hurriedly followed the sound of the noise.
"More noise, more fights, crystal!" He shouted running around. He was running the fastest he ever had in his life. He held his bow and arrow firmly.
As he ran, the noise got louder and louder. He was getting closer.
"I have to get there before someone gets the crystal. I have to get there before..." His jaw dropped when he saw the scene in front of him.
Jarett was standing in the midst of seventeen fallen participants all unable to get back up and Jarett didn't even try to hurt them. Kiyan and Raten stood over ten others each.
Brown hair stared at the few that were screaming as fire circled them, burning their feet and hands.
Black hair looked at his new ice sculptures.
The four of them looked at the participants disappointed and unimpressed. The twins didn't even look like they had moved a muscle since they entered the maze.
Then he saw it, the little girl was reaching for the crystal. How she managed to go past the wall of fire, they didn't know. Lecter immediately shot out his arrows repeatedly. Two landed in front of the girl. A lot more around the twins, black hair, brown hair, and Jarett.
"Hm?" They turned to look at him.
"Axzhevah… Distortion!" He said desperately and the blast went off covering the entire place. He looked away for the light that it gave off was all too bright.
It was every man.. or woman for themselves.
He just didn't expect what he saw after the dust settled, after the light dimmed, after the blast had cleared.
He stared in horror at the scene in front of him.
_____________
Join my discord server:
https://discord.com/invite/zptFHxqzuN