MAZE - The Endless Quest

After the tournament Hera and the group stayed out, enjoying the festivities. More specifically, they were enjoying the stalls that were everywhere in the city. From food stands, to game stalls, to small shops selling various books, accessories and knickknacks. Every other sect was also there, each of them joined by their own groups and taking part in the grand festival. Eventually, Hera and her group decided to stop by a proper restaurant. In there Twiggy gave everyone an idea about what they could do during their own fights the next day. Her suggestion made the entire court very excited, all who quickly started to discuss plans since it was the first time they would fight one-on-one in a setting like this.

Later that evening, they went back to the Inn. Yulan and Yuwei had drank a bit too much but they should still be healthy enough to fight in the finals. There were a couple of moments during the evening where either Hera or Helena noticed a few odd things, but they agreed to discuss only once they were in a safe location. It was hard to talk about something grand if they were in the middle of a crowded area where anyone could listen. And after putting the two Orc women in bed, that time had come. They went to the adjacent room where the two of them would be sleeping. The entire court was also there as they participated in the whole festival. At first, none of them realized that something could be happening. But Viper was the first to notice and the rest soon followed.

“Ok, should I start?” Helena asked.

“I think that’s a good call. When I mentioned to you the first thing I noticed, you said you already had realized there was something going on before,” Hera nodded just as she created a soundproof bubble around them.

“Yeah, did anyone realize that there was almost no one from the Eclipse Moon Sect in the tournament?”

“What do you mean? We saw a few of them fighting,” Crimson asked.

“I said almost no one. Every other sect had at least 15 members participating in total. But the Eclipse Moon Sect only had four people. First, I thought this was just because of who they are. You know, a spy sect doesn’t want to show their hand and reveal their tricks. But there was no one in the crowd either. And that felt really odd,” Helena explained.

Hera nodded, “Yeah, that doesn’t really make sense. Knowing what the other sects are capable of should be one of the top priorities. There is absolutely no reason for them to miss an opportunity to watch the young generation fighting and possibly discover more about their abilities, unless there’s something really big going on.”

“Does anyone have any ideas about what should be going on? Their members were all over the place, but they were not participating in the festival,” Nimbus asked.

“It’s hard to tell, all that I was able to see where few sect members walking around in a hurry,” Livy sighed.

“Me too. And a few of them seem to be searching for someone,” Vulcan added.

“Viper, did you see anything?” Crimson turned to her brother

“I heard a couple of things. But only pieces of conversations. The Eclipse Moon Sect seems to be searching for something and they are having trouble communicating with someone. But all its members seem to be in a rush,” Viper had his arms crossed while looking at the teapot in the center of the room. Once the group started heading back to the Inn someone had prepared some tea for Hera and Helena. It was, frankly, incredible. How the different establishments could communicate in a way to make their guests have such a pleasant and worry free stay. Then again, this was a cultivation dungeon. If those clichés that cultivators had no problems killing people just for looking at them the wrong way were true, it made sense that society would figure out a way to keep them appeased at all times.

“Yeah, we would need something more than just stealth to be able to listen in on their conversation,” Nimbus turned to the twins, “Don’t get me wrong, you’re great at that. But in a crowd full of people, it’s easier to notice you two walking around with your skills.”

Crimson nodded, “Yeah, the whole ‘you can’t see me from my front’ is great in a fight. But if we are in a more general stealth mission, it can cause problems. Especially because we rely too much on it not to be seen.”

“I’m working on a couple of spells that could help us with that, but they’re still not already,” Viper added.

“Not to change the subject or anything, but has anyone seen Lurize?” Livy looked around.

Hera smiled as she took a sip of the tea, “Just give a couple minutes. I can feel him getting closer.”

“You sent him on a scouting mission?” Helena asked.

“Yep. Despite everything, people would be much less likely to find a bug than they would be to find Viper or Crimson. I thought about sending my snakes, but that also didn’t seem like a good idea. A bunch of snakes in the middle of a festival. If one was seen by a person, people would freak out. I can only imagine the chaos.”

“When did you send him? I can’t remember which point in the night he vanished,” Vulcan asked.

“It was around the time Yulan started to sing,” Hera replied, “He mentioned he saw a few people going inside the Eclipse Moon building and figured he could sneak inside without triggering any alarms,” she glanced outside, “Speaking of which.”

A small orange beetle appeared in the window. It had a golden symbol on its back of a skull with two bones forming an X. Once he passed through the soundproof bubble, the beetle changed shapes taking back the titled form of Lurize.

“Hera,” he nodded.

“Did you find anything?” the Sentinel asked.

“I did. Apparently, they’re in trouble. I overheard a few older folk talking. They can’t reach a good number of their buildingz outzide. Even the equipment they employ to communicate in critical momentz failed. The final update they got warned of a threat, but there were no additional detailz. Whoever gave that warning met their end before they could explain further.”

“Was that all? Did you get any sense if that danger is coming now or is something that will happen after the tournament?” Daskka asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t know. ut they looked frightened. From what I can tell, the danger iz conziderable,” Lurize added.

Hera glanced at Helena, “Let’s face it. Whatever danger this is will probably reach us. It’s a hard mode and just participating in the tournament is too easy. Even if you have to win it.”

“I agree. The hard mode is always complicated and since it told us to reach the ending of the tournament, I’m guessing it meant ‘survive until the end,’” the mage sighed in agreement.

“This is probably because of the demon cult, right?” Livy asked.

“What?” Hera turned to the Leviathan

“What?!” Vulcan snarled, quickly standing up.

“Calm down, I’m not saying Daemon cult, I’m saying demon cult. This is a cultivation dungeon. Facing the demon cult is kind of a staple of that genre,” Livy explained.

“Shit,” Hera and Helena said at the same time.

“I know it’s bad, but I was kind of enjoying having a break from the war,” the mage slumped back.

“Me too. Like it’s bad. I know that. People are suffering and we shouldn’t be off on vacation. But going back to dungeons just exploring and having some fun felt so relaxing,” Hera added, getting some nods from almost all of her court. With one exception.

“I’m sorry you’re not going to be able to enjoy as much as you would like. But the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can continue fighting and the sooner the war is over,” Forge spat out in a half growl.

“Vulcan, I didn’t mean it like that. I want to help too. It’s just… A lot. This break was welcomed, but I wasn’t going to go out of my way to be stuck somewhere just so I can avoid fighting and avoid helping the Strength Spirits,” Hera turned to Forge, using their connection so he would understand her intention.

“I know, I know. I just… I’m glad this helped you relax. But I can’t do that, not until I know that all my brothers and sisters are safe or at least no longer suffering,” Vulcan groaned, “I’ll be in the palace. Call me when it is my turn to fight or when we have to deal with whatever is going to come here.”

Before her I could say anything, Forge went back into the Legacy.

After that interaction, everybody was left with a sour taste in their mouths. They understood where Forge was coming from, but they also had to consider their own side. Everyone was stuck here one way or another, and it was up to them to decide if they would let all the stress fester and grow or if they would let themselves relax for just a few days and renew their energies.

Despite the situation, everybody went to bed knowing that in the morning they would have a lot to do. Thankfully, this part of the dungeon wasn’t a time skip or something like it. It seemed that the MAZE would allow them to rest before, wherever was about to happen, happened. Hera and Helena were woken up by the smell of fresh dumplings and noodles. Yulan and Yuwei were feeling much better and not even slightly hungover after the previous day. This time, their meal was quick since the finals would happen in the morning while the competition between the Masters would be taking place in the afternoon.

In total, there were going to be four fights. The two junior brackets and two senior brackets. However, the organizers shifted the scheduling to make it so the duels that look to be the most exciting happened later. Strangely enough, this meant that the finals would start with one Junior bracket where Yulan would face a member of the Azure Cloud Pavilion. Followed by the two senior brackets, And Yuwei, would be the closing act. The main reason for that was her opponent. It was Xue Lianhua, another member of the Serene Lotus Temple. Since both belong to the same sect, people were excited to see what was the difference between someone who followed their tradition and cultivation and someone who had to take a different path while maintaining the values and methods created by the temple.

Just like on the first day, Yulan’s fight was incredibly boring. Her opponent tried to fight against her teleportation ability. But eventually, the Orc woman simply tossed the man from the Azure Cloud Pavilion down the mountain. Being a junior member of that sect, he wasn’t able to fly just yet, but he managed to glide his way down. Which was unfortunate as it took him almost a full hour to reach the Heaven’s Edge Summit once more, and by then Yulan had been declared the winner.

The two senior fights were equally uninteresting. Aside from a couple of flashy attacks there was no real substance to the combat and all four warriors ended up spending a good 5 minutes on long speeches about how they were more powerful because of a secret technique or another that they promised not to use until the moment was right. Hera couldn’t help but think that if people truly stop to monologue before fights, it will be just so easy to finish them off before they could even move. But eventually came the main event. Or at least, the main event of the morning show.

Yu Yuwei versus Xue Lianhua. The two women exchanged a few blows, but it quickly became evident that on a martial level, they were evenly matched. After all, both of them had been taught the exact same movements for pure combat. The only difference would be their Qi infused attacks.

After a couple of minutes, Xue Lianhua stepped back and shouted so the entire arena could hear, “Yu Yuwei! Let us not waste time on meaningless exchanges. I challenge you to deliver your most powerful blow and I shall answer in kind. Let us confirm once and for all who is stronger. You and your Heaven blessed constitution, or me and all my years of effort and training.”

Yuwei thought for a moment before nodding, “If this is what you want, Xue Lianhua, then this Yu Yuwei, is happy to accept the challenge.”

The two faced each other from opposite sides of the arena, mana swirling around their bodies as both condensed energy in order to attack. Xue Lianhua guided the magic to her sword, making it become colder and colder until you reached the point where it looked, on the outside, just like the glaive used by Master Yu. Unfortunately, it was clear to both Hera and Helena that this attack only focused on the outer layer of ice. It didn’t have the same substance, the same primordial frost that Master Yu’s glaive possessed. In fact, Eira was able to tell the ice sword was merely an imitation that was unable to understand the real power of the permafrost, focusing only on its appearance.

On the other side, Yuwei prepared for the first time a mana infused ability. Light energy started to swirl around her fists, but he wasn’t the same light that Helena used. It had a yellowish golden shine that moved almost like a part of the wind itself. The speed at which the energy gathered did not change, but it got denser and denser until it looked as if Yuwei was holding strands of light in her bare hands. But unlike what anyone was expecting, the Orc woman jumped high in the sky, getting to the same level as the third floor of the arena in a single leap. She raised her right leg up, almost touching her forehead, and wrapped the strings of light around her shin in a swift motion. Only to then come back down like a meteor, a burning star falling from the heavens towards Xue Lianhua. The other member of the Serene Lotus Temple Face that attack head on. Without lifting one foot off the ground, she aimed her sword at Yuwei’s feet and trusted forward, the two attacks colliding with a massive impact that sent Sun Mana flying out all over the arena.

For a brief moment, no one was able to see anything due to the intense light, but when they recovered their senses, a mixture of cheers and gasps echoed through the arena. Xue Lianhua was on her knees, her sword shattered to her side. Yu Yuwei was standing in front of her with a single cut going from the side of her leg all the way to her tight. It wasn’t a deep wound, but there was blood streaming out of it. However, the main reason for concern was between them. The unblemished and unbroken stage of the arena had a single scratch pointing from the north to the south.

Before anyone could check what that meant or what had happened, screams echoed from below the mountain as loud bells started ringing, bells that were only used when Heaven’s Edge was under attack.

A member of the eclipse moon set rushed to the arena and shouted, “The demon cult is attacking!”

Hera turned to Livy who had a smug smile on her face, “Called it.”

“I’m never going to hear the end of this,” Hera rolled her eyes as, together with Helena and her court, rushed down to help fend off the so-called demon cult.