Continuing through the maze, the group of three had defeated another six Serpenvines. They still had around 12 minutes left of their allotted half hour.
Aria was still wary of the walls around them. Something isn't right about this maze. They said the boss was taken care of already, but why do I feel like something bad is about to happen?
After taking a few turns, the group ended up at a dead end. As they were about to turn back around, Aria saw the walls shift. Taking a closer look at the dead end wall in front of her, it was still again. Am I losing my mind?
As the three were about to leave, the way they came had dissappeared. Another vine like wall stood where they had just entered through. "Yup, we're screwed," Aria said realizing they were trapped in a box made of thick vines.
From beneath them, more vines sprouted between the three of them. The vines quickly grew, weaving themselves together. Within a second, all three members of the group were seperated from each other by the vine walls.
Surrounded by vines, Aria didn't know what to do. "Guys can you hear me!" She shouted trying to get a response.
With no other sound coming from the wall, Aria feared what may have happened. She tried ripping at the wall that stood between her and Maya. Maya on the opposite side was unaware of Aria calling out. Maya was sending out slashes of air towards the vines. Only slight nicks were created by the attack that previously killed a monster instantly.
Aria was focused on the wall when suddenly the wall behind her that was once a dead end, opened up.
"I shouldn't go through there, my instincts are screaming," she groaned, but she wasn't left with much option at the moment.
She felt vibrations come from the ground. A rhythmic thump sound could be heard from down the path in front of her. The sound got louder and the vibrations became stronger. "I have the worst luck," Aria said as she braced for what was to come.
Around the corner ahead of Aria, a creature came into view. A being made entirely of wood and branches. It was a humanoid shape with tree trunks for legs, winding roots made up its body and arms. Branches twisted together and made fingers, and sprouted from the beast in odd directions. A misshapen head made of wood was at the top, with green glowing eyes in what looked like hollow eye sockets.
"Ah, f*ck," Aria said with frustration. That's a Tree Ent, a D-rank boss monster. They defeated the boss, my ass.
[ Emergency Quest Received - Defeat the Tree Ent or escape to safety. Reward: 200 Exp, and 3 free stat points. ]
Aria was cursing while the Ent drew closer. She didn't want to reveal her skills in front of the camera she wore, but at this point she had no choice. She summoned her trusty Star Piercer and threw it towards the Ent. A hole about a foot wide was created through the Ents body. The Ent looked down at the hole in it's body. The tree roots were regenerating as they grew and filled the gap that Aria had just created. Once healed, it continued its slow pursuit.
"Double f*ck," Aria said as panic started to creep in. My best skill is useless with a regeneration speed like that!
The Ent was closing in on her. With not many attack options for such a heavy tank with regeneration, Aria took a gamble on a skill. Her new skill from defeating the Adolescent Spider Queen.
[ Seismic Pulse Level 1 (Active) - Using Titan bloodline, user can activate skill by stomping on the ground. Vibrations are sent through the earth that cause the ground to shake and cracks to form. As skill levels up, the intensity of the vibrations will increase. Costs 5 AP to use.]
[ Skill Seismic Pulse Activated ]
Aria stomped onto the ground in front of her. From where her foot met the earth, cracks formed and spread. One of the cracks, went towards the Ent in a crooked line, and continued past it. The Ent looked down at the ground before stepping forward again. As its stump like leg hit the ground, the crack beneath it broke open. The Ent was swallowed by the hole forming from the crack.
The crack in the earth continued to widen and Aria had also been caught within. She fell into the darkness below screaming as she fell.
Outside of the portal where the rest of the students and the academy staff waited, technical difficulties had struck the monitoring equipment. As soon as Aria's group were seperated by the vine walls, the camera feed had completely stopped. The academy instructors were scrambling to get the equipment to work again.
"What happened?! Why did the cameras and suit detectors stop?" Daniel Karasu questioned the staff with urgency. He needed the cameras to teleport to the students in order to take them out of the portal.
"We don't know why the technology is malfunctioning. The portal assessment device is also showing an error! It is now classifying the portal as a B-rank!" A staff member yelled to the rest.
Daniel Karasu's eyes went wide, "what is going on here?"
He looked towards the crystal they collected from the boss monster they defeated before the students arrived. The crystal was guarded by a D-rank boss called a Tree Ent which they took care of already. He walked to the crystal and picked it up. He gripped it and shattered it within his hands. He waited, expecting the students within the portal to be sent to the entrance before the portal closed. After a few seconds, nothing happened. The portal still stood and no students arrived.
He looked over the situation before issuing emergency orders. "Get the equipment working again ASAP, and assemble a team of high level awakened to go into the portal for a rescue mission when I give the order. We have a multi crystal B-rank portal on our hands. The excursion is canceled immediately!"