The entrance to the Sea Serpent Maze yawned before them, an imposing, cavernous mouth that seemed to swallow all light in the vicinity.
According to the idle gossip and whispers Nereus was able to pick up on, four hundred years ago, the Sea Serpent's Maze was created by the second-to-last sect master of the Vorteesi sect, Kano Vorteesi's late grandfather.
And if the rumors' were to be believed the maze was not just an intricate labyrinth but a formidable prison designed to seal away a vicious sea serpent that had been terrorizing the sect.
Apparently tin the past, the sea serpent's relentless attacks had decimated most of the sect's defenses, and in a desperate bid to protect his people, the sect master used a powerful Rank V Sea Art to craft the maze and trap the beast within its depths.
Over the centuries, the Sea Serpent's Maze had become shrouded in mystery and fear as almost all who have ventured into its depths have never returned, and those few who emerged spoke of treacherous puzzles and deadly traps but had peculiarly never seen the sea serpent itself.
After a string of particularly brutal killings of burgeoning Inner Core disciples within the last century however the maze was subsequently sealed up for safety reasons.
But with the passage of time and those who had first hand knowledge, no one knew for certain if the sea serpent still lived, with the maze now unsealed the sea serpent's possible presence was once again a ghostly shadow over the maze and now a new terror and test for the sect's most promising Outer Core disciples.
As all 15 participants entered along with the members of their respective parties, each of their faces became set with a look of fierce determination.
Once inside, the dim light from the entrance quickly faded, and was replaced by an eerie, bioluminescent glow emanating from the walls.
The water felt heavier here, almost as if it were saturated with an ancient energy that seemed to press in on them from all sides.
Within their various groups, the participants murmured amongst themselves, the tension in the water palpable.
"Woah can you feel the change in the sea essence in the surrounding water here?! This place would be the perfect location to cultivate in!"
"Yeah I feel it too! No doubt a Sealocke would get double the effects with half the effort from cultivating here, too bad its so dangerous though!" Several participants couldn't help but exclaim.
Hearing the discussions of the other students at the sea essence rich environment around them, Nereus couldn't help but lightly chuckle and add his own two cents in.
"Although it may be too dangerous here to stop and enter a deep cultivation state, there's nothing stopping idle cultivation while swimming as well as harvesting some of the sea essence of larger sea beasts encountered here. That's assuming you're able to I mean..."
"..."
There was a small stretch of silence as everyone thought on what Nereus had said and realized that he was right.
Although like he mentioned toward the end, both suggested methods would require some expertise but as prospective Inner Core disciples most of them were capable of both methods.
Realizing this and the potential benefits that could be gained the other participants couldn't help but feel grateful towards Nereus for revealing as much.
Up until now they'd had preconceived notions of him based on sect gossip and his performance during the Selections but now they were starting to see there was more to him than what met the eye.
"Th-Thanks Argent! That's right I'd almost forgotten both of those methods could be options!" said Ruth and Rave's third teammate Maris, much to the twins' chagrin.
Nereus nodded as the other participants besides Devran and the twins gave their appreciation at his tip but in truth he had only spoken up because he didn't consider anyone here a threat let alone his opponent.
As such providing them a bit of help in their cultivating was inconsequential in his eyes.
'Judging by the heavy aura I can sense emanating from deep within this maze that sea serpent must really be more than just a tale...And it looks like I'm the only one who can feel it... Hmph this challenge is a good as completed' he thought to himself while still traveling with his trio down the maze's stale corridors.
After a few minutes more of careful navigation, they reached a point in the twisting and turning path that branched off into numerous tunnels.
"Well things just got a bit more interesting..." exclaimed one of the participating Mer with a scratch of his head at the scene before them.
Looking at the 6 possible tunnel like paths before them each group of participants began to discuss their options within their respective groups.
Some wanted to choose the left most path, others the right most, and even more still were split between the middle path and just being downright unsure.
As the talks wore on many began to wear looks of trepidation and worry as it seemed splitting up and finishing the maze competitively as intended was the only option .
"Ugh enough of this debating, the middle path is obviously the correct choice and if it isn't who cares! We're better off being all together down the right path instead of splitting and facing what could go wrong separately!" Rave said rallying the other participants.
The groups of Mer knew this but had wanted to avoid this fact for as long possible.
Their thinking was straightforward, although they would become enemies toward the end of the maze when it came time to grab the crystal and escape, but up until that moment they would try to enjoy the safety in numbers.
"My group and I are heading down the middle path and you all are welcome to and should join, who's with us?!"
Just as agreeing nods and the shuffle of the participants over to Rave's side had begun.
Suddenly Nereus paused as his Leviathanic senses picked up the sea essence signatures from several large sources within the middle tunnel.
"Wait, I can feel several large sea essence signatures down that middle tunnel" Nereus decided to warn, "and I am almost certain they are coming from dangerous sea beasts within. "
"Oh shut up Argent" Ruth exclaimed in annoyance.
"Yeah you're just a second rate Sealocke who has been lucky so far" Rave joined in, "How could a lowly Wave Ruler rank like you already be able to pick up on sea essence signatures haha?! You're such an idiot!"
At that moment the underwater cavern filled with the exaggerated laughter from Ruth, Rave, and the other participants at Nereus's warning.
As they pointed and jeered at Nereus in schadenfreude and incredulity, he simply smiled to himself and said nothing in his defense even though he knew was right.
In truth even though he had long since reached the Reef Master level Nereus had been able to pick up sea essence signatures as early as the Wave Adept rank. Thanks to his ancient Leviathanic heritage such a skill was as simple as breathing to him and in ancient times it was one of the first skills a young Leviathan learned.
"We're sticking with Argent," Jonny declared firmly. "He's been right every swim of the way."
Triton nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'll pass on the middle tunnel as well."
Nereus gave a slight smile gratefully, unlike the other participants he could tell Jonny and Triton trusted him implicitly. " Let's take the leftmost path then. I'm certain it will be less dangerous, and could give us an advantage."
Without further debate, the trio swam towards the leftmost tunnel, leaving the others to their fate.
Ruth, Rave, and the rest of the participants threw a few more jeers and taunts at the retreating trio's backs before ignoring Nereus's warning and plunging into the middle tunnel, confident in their numbers and respective fates.