"What the hell," Zac gasped in amazement.
"This is exactly why I told you not to follow his stupid plan," Saya became furious. The argument between the two started all over again.
Dustin ignored their shouting. He was still thinking about the place they had just come from.
'If I remember correctly, this place was somewhat like a maze,' Dustin thought as he started analyzing the path in his head. 'It had many turns, and a few turns went directly opposite to each other. Were there any kind of markings leading the way? No. I was alert the entire time and kept my eyes on the surroundings. So where did we exactly go wrong?'
Dustin thought hard but could not find any obvious trap or magical trick. He looked at the other two who were still arguing, and then he looked at the blank stone walls of the starting room.
"Damn it, how could I have missed that?" His eyes lit up with clarity.
"Hey," Dustin raised his voice to interrupt them. "I think I finally got it."
"Got what?" Saya asked. She stopped yelling at Zac and turned around.
Zac also looked at Dustin with curiosity. "Did you find a way out?"
"Not exactly, but I think I may have a solid clue," Dustin turned to face the dark entrance they had just walked out of.
"Do you guys remember those strange patterns carved onto each of the giant doors?" Dustin asked the two.
"Yes, somewhat, but not perfectly," both of them replied in unison.
"Good. Come here," He sat down on the floor. "From what I think, the place up ahead is a massive maze. The actual path to get out of it was drawn directly on the doors before we opened them."
"What?" Saya gasped. "I did say I remember seeing them, but that does not mean I remember all the complicated patterns. I just took a quick look at it."
She looked incredibly disappointed in herself.
"So we are completely done. I also only remember it faintly," Zac said. He looked very defeated.
"It is good enough," Dustin took his eyes off the rough maze map he was drawing on the ground with his fingers and looked at the two. "This is what I remember. It is definitely not perfect. But if we combine all the little details that the three of us remember about the carvings, there is a high chance we might get the real map."
Zac and Saya looked at each other. They nodded and agreed to try since they did not have any better ideas.
"Let us be quick. Almost thirty percent of the sand is already down," Dustin said as he looked at his glowing sand clock.
The trio sat together and drew many different maps of the maze based on what they remembered. They mixed their memories, debated the turns, and finally made a completed map on the floor.
"Look here. This long arrow on the map says the exit must be straight ahead," Dustin said. He pointed at a long, straight line he had drawn in the dirt that divided the map into two parts right down the middle. "These types of arrows were also present on the other doors, but they were pointing in completely different directions."
"Yes, you might be right. But we still have three very confusing turns on the path to reach that point," Zac said. He looked at his clock. Almost forty percent of the sand had already poured down. "We only have enough time to try a maximum of two times. We are not even completely certain if this arrow is pointing toward the right exit."
"Yeah, but what else can we do? It was your master plan to pick this door after all. Now quit whining and let us go," Saya stood up and glared at the two men.
"Let us move. We do not have too much time to waste," Dustin also stood up and looked at Zac. "And if we fail and get kicked out of here, we need to run to the nearest transportation channel as soon as possible."
Zac did not reply. He already knew what Dustin was talking about. If they failed here, they had to travel to another region immediately before the other participants cleared all the dungeons.
"Let us go then," Zac said.
The trio once again moved into the darkness. Dustin pulled out his daggers to light up the path.
This time they moved much faster than before. They took many of the same turns as their first attempt, while also taking a few different ones according to their makeshift map. Eventually, they reached a turn where all three of them became very confused. They could not decide if they should go right or just keep moving straight.
Zac thought about deciding it with a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors again, but he held his tongue. That was how he used to handle tough choices in his life back on Earth. But after trying it just once here, he realized it was a terrible idea, just like his mother always used to tell him.
After discussing for a brief moment, the trio decided to keep moving straight.
They walked for quite some time. Dustin looked at his sand clock and found out more than forty percent of their total time had already passed.
They took a few right turns after that, and then a long left turn. They walked in silence for another ten minutes.
A faint glow appeared in their vision once again. But this time, they all had terrible, mixed feelings about it.
After reaching the lighted area in front of them, they were all extremely disappointed. Just like they had feared, they were once again back at the exact same starting room.
"Hell no. Not again," Zac groaned. He aggressively rubbed his hands over his face.
"Now we have half the time left. We have two different ways to follow, and taking any of those routes would consume more than seventy percent of our remaining time," Saya complained bitterly. "We have already failed the very first layer."
"Let us take any of the two paths and see if it is correct. Even if we fail, we can always go to other regions," Zac said. He tried to encourage Dustin and turned around to go back into the dark maze once again.
But Zac also knew the grim reality. They were failing on just Layer 1. Even if they traveled to other regions, there was not a high chance that they would pass those dungeons on the first try either.
Dustin sighed deeply and moved with the two without speaking.
They walked back into the dark tunnel.
"Let us go back," Dustin said out of nowhere after they had already walked for a few minutes.
"What?" Zac asked in confusion. "But why? We already do not have enough time to waste."
"I just thought of a new way. It might just work if we are lucky," Dustin replied with a serious glint in his eyes.
"Why do you two always leave things up to luck?" Saya asked. She could not hold herself back and spoke in a highly frustrated manner.
"Zac, could you please punch this wall?" Dustin requested. He ignored her and pointed his glowing dagger at the solid stone tunnel wall. "Use your full strength."
Bam.
Zac followed the strange order just as Dustin asked him to do. He activated one of his combat skills and punched the rock. The thick wall crumbled instantly, sending dust into the air and making a brand new opening for them to move through.
"Just like I had thought. We do not have enough time to go through all the confusing pathways. We can just smash right through the walls and walk in a perfectly straight line," Dustin said. He started moving back to the starting room. "Let's go."
"But we can just do that from right here, can we not?" Saya asked while running behind him.
"Well, yes we can do that. But we cannot be certain about our direction from this spot. There could be some kind of magic that can also mislead us," Dustin replied over his shoulder. "And what is your class? I mean, can you do something that can break these walls? Because I certainly cannot do it with these short daggers."
"Yeah, I do have a skill for that. And I am an Archer," Saya said. She quickened her pace behind Dustin and Zac.
They once again reached the starting room and stood right at the doorway.
"This should be the exact direction that the arrow was pointing," Dustin pointed toward a specific angle on the tunnel wall where the path normally turned away. "Break it."
Bam. Bam. Bam.
The walls kept falling one after another. The attacks of Zac and Saya kept landing with explosive force. Dustin simply walked right behind them, holding his daggers high to light the dusty place for a better view.
"How many more walls are left? I am already so exhausted," Zac sighed. He wiped a layer of sweat from his forehead.
The skill Zac was using provided him with explosive strength, but it was also incredibly stamina-consuming. He was completely exhausted now. But he had no other choice. He had to keep going, so he forced his arms to swing.
On the other hand, Saya seemed much less tired compared to Zac. Since she was an Archer, her specific skills required less raw stamina to execute.
"Let us keep going. I think we should be right there. We only have ten or so walls left to go," Dustin cheered Zac up.
"That is very easy for someone who is just holding a torch to say," Zac grumbled. He slammed his fist into another wall and brought it down.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
The walls kept falling as they carved their own path through the maze. Finally, the last wall fell forward. The settling dust revealed a faint glimmer of light in front of them.
This time, they had mixed feelings as they approached the light. But as they got closer, that feeling quickly started changing into joy. The giant gate in front of them was clearly not the same as the starting door. This one had two statues situated right next to the entrance. The door's carved design also looked slightly different.
The trio finally let out a long sigh of relief. They had reached the end of the maze.
Dustin quickly took out his sand clock and checked the time. They still had roughly twenty percent of their total time remaining.
"Good job, Dustin. If we had taken the normal path, then who knows when we would have reached here. We probably would not have reached it at all. Haha," Zac praised Dustin. He slapped Dustin heavily on the shoulder.
Creak. Creak. Creak.
A horrible grinding sound echoed through the room. Dozens of terrifying creatures started crawling out from the two statues.
These creatures looked very similar to the statues themselves. They had small and thin bodies, long sharp noses. They had round, bulging eyes, razor-sharp claws, and jagged teeth. They walked low to the ground on all four limbs.
"What the hell?" Dustin shouted. "What are these things?"
He quickly backed away with the other two.
DING.
[ Congratulations, you have cleared the maze. ]
[ To reach Layer 2 of the dungeon, you must clear the hurdle in front of you within the time limit. ]
[ The rewards of Layer 1 will be given to you once you successfully reach Layer 2. ]
"Damn it, the numbers are not stopping," Dustin cursed inwardly. He watched the shadows multiplying. "They are just pouring out like heavy rain."
Swoosh. Bam. Slash.
Dustin and Saya attacked the rushing creatures. They moved fast and killed many of them instantly.
"They are not very strong," Dustin said loudly. He quickly analyzed the situation in front of him. "They are probably Level 15 or a maximum of Level 20. But the numbers are just too much. We cannot hold them back for too long."
"From what the message told us, we must get rid of the hurdle itself. That means we have to destroy the source. Shoot down the statues with your arrows!" Dustin yelled to Saya.
"I already tried!" Saya yelled back as she kicked a creature away. "But they have gathered around the statues and completely covered them. There is no clear way for me to shoot them down!"
Dustin spun around and frowned at Zac.
"What are you doing?" Dustin shouted. Zac was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily.
"Let me rest a bit," Zac panted. "After using my explosive skill for too much wall breaking, my stamina has completely drained. I cannot even move forward."
"Quit whining and just drink a damn healing potion!" Dustin's frown grew deeper as the number of creatures kept increasing and swarming toward them.
"Healing potions do not give me any stamina back," Zac explained in frustration. "It is a severe flaw of my specific skill. Potions cure my injuries, but I must recover my burnt stamina naturally. Do not worry. I will be ready to fight in just a few minutes. Just keep holding them back until then!"