Aboveground, Maya was currently in battle with a Tree Ent somewhere in the maze. After the group got seperated, she tried to break the wall to get to Aria but couldn't get through. Soon after, the wall behind her opened up revealing a new path.
She followed the path a ways down before hearing a large monster approach. The thud sounds from its heavy steps could be heard from a fair distance away. When the beast came into view, Maya calmly sprung into action. She threw multiple windblades towards the Tree Ent, chopping its wood appendages with ease.
She could see the Ent was already regenerating its body. Maya sent out an attack like a wind slash, but this time it was in a grid like shape. The attack sliced through the Ent with ease and the Ent was reduced to firewood. There is a limit to the Ents regeneration, and Maya found it.
Maya continued forward without any further encounters. Before long she heard the beeping noise from the suit, indicating that their 30 minutes were over. Maya quickly realized something was wrong when Mr. Karasu didn't show up. I have to find my teammates quick, and wait till help arrives.
Maya traveled further before turning around a corner and encountered a large open area in the maze. Multiple Tree Ents were in the area, guarding something behind them.
Maya wasted no time as she defeated them one by one, shredding them apart with ease. Chunks of wood were flying all over the place and wood shavings covered the ground. If they weren't made of wood, someone might think a massacre just ensued.
Toppling the last of the Ents, Maya saw what they were protecting so carefully. A portal crystal was wrapped within a few vines on the ground. Maya recalled seeing another crystal outside the portal, and she put the pieces together. So this is a misranked portal that also has multiple crystals. Only B-rank portals and above have multiple crystals.
"Well guess I gotta destroy this crystal and hunt for anymore, so the portal can close." Maya threw a wind slash at the crystal, slicing it in two.
...
Back underground, Aria was in a pickle. She only had one more chance to make the same attack, so she needed the Ents to be close together to wipe them all out at the same time. That was easier said than done unfortunately.
Aria used her advantage of speed to gain some distance from the incoming attackers. The Ents slowly made their way closer to Aria from different directions.
[ Skill Aetheric Flash Activated ]
Aria's speed increased exponentially as she ran into the middle area of all three Tree Ents. Using herself as bait, Aria let the Ents come close to her. The first one swung its massive wood arm at Aria. She dodged by ducking underneath it. The wind from the weight of the blow was concerning, but she continued dodging as the Ents got closer together.
When the furthest Ent was within reach of Aria, she activated her plan. Aria ran between the legs of the last Ent while she began to create her large light sphere. Building the sphere to the same magnitude as before, she turned around to face the three Ents that were now in a small cluster.
Aria's light sphere had become as large as possible, so she threw it towards the group of Ents. The first Ent the sphere came into contact with, burst into flames as it fell back into the other two Ents behind it. The sphere dispersed but the flames remained, catching the other two Ents on fire as well. Soon three large flames combine into one large one, as the Ents were burnt to a crisp.
Aria felt incredibly weak after that attack, her AP was almost gone and her stamina was bottoming out. Unfortunately for her, she had a Yggdravine to defeat still. The vines surrounding the massive tree had once again come to life, thrashing around. It was not happy that its protectors had been eliminated. The large vines whipped around, one of them struck Aria across her stomach sending her flying back.
[ HP: 300/300 -> 247/300 ]
Aria crashed into a large rock a little further back, cracking it with her impact. Blood dripped from Aria's mouth as her internal organs had been slightly damaged from the blow. Feeling her fatigue beginning to take over, Aria was struggling to stand back up.
Close to the Yggdravine, a shadow crept up. From the shadow, a dark figure emerged. The Yggdravine lost in its fury wasn't aware of the entity that managed to sneak up on it. A hand covered in a layer of black cloudy mist, pierced through the exterior of the Yggdravine. The hand pulled out a red looking fruit that pulsed as though it was alive, and crushed it.
Aria who's vision was beginning to blur, saw the Yggdravine start to shrivel away. It was wilting away at a fast rate. From behind the trunk, a familiar person poked out and made their way towards Aria.
"Miss F-rank Flicker, what would you do without me?" An arrogant tone accompanied the voice as Aria saw her teammate Eric come up to her. "What are you doing here?" Aria asked as her consciousness began to fade. A notification arrived just before she drifted off.
[ User has expended all stamina and will be unconscious until energy levels have recovered. ]
Eric standing over Aria, saw her fall asleep. "She must have worn herself out from the battle. You have a lot to explain to me when you wake up Aria." Eric sat down on the ground next to Aria, waiting for help to arrive or for her to regain consciousness.
.....
Some time had passed since Maya destroyed the first crystal she found. She was now standing before another group of Ents, guarding a portal crystal behind them.
Maya quickly defeated the group, using her overwhelming wind slashes that overpowered the Ents regeneration abilities. Sending a final slash at the crystal, she found herself transported to the entrance of the portal with a bunch of other students. Aria too had been transported, but was laying on the ground with Eric beside her. Maya immediately approached them. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah she is fine, just overexerted herself." Eric replied. Eric looked around the room, trying to get a read on the situation. What went wrong when we entered the portal?