章 83: Second test
Once Bai Yun climbed to the top of the tree, he found that he was quite close to the bridge. He was at most half a kilometer from the bridge. Bai Yun quickly climbed down and continued on his way to the bridge. For a while, he thought of heading over on the canopy instead of the forest floor, but if there was an avian threat then he would be in deep trouble.
It did not take Bai Yun too long to reach the bridge. He was not too surprised to learn that he was the first person there. He decided to wait there for a while before heading up. If the rest of the group arrived and he alone had gone up, it could create problems later.
Bai Yun patiently waited for the rest. Thankfully after half an hour, shadow ten appeared.
When shadow ten appeared Bai Yun almost did not recognize him. His robes were completely destroyed up to his knees and there were many claw marks on his feet. But other than that he seemed to be fine.
They two of them just nodded to each other. After this they sat down and waited for the rest to arrive. Shadow ten also tried to use this time to recover from his injuries.
As time passed the rest of the group also started to appear one after another. Soon all of them except for shadow sixteen had arrived within an hour after shadow ten.
"Should we wait for him." Bai Yun asked. Since Shadow sixteen was a member of blood moon, he did not feel like it was his place to act.
The rest of them all looked at shadow one. He waited for a few moments before speaking. "Let us wait for another half an hour. If he still does not appear, we must leave."
They all nodded their acceptance. Bai Yun had nothing to say to this. He was sure that if it was him who had failed to turn up, they would have long left him here.
But even after another half an hour, shadow sixteen did not turn up. Without any other choice, the group decided to head on up. They left a message for shadow sixteen in case he did show up. But by now most of the people were not confident that he was still alive.
Shadow one took the lead and stepped onto the bridge first, followed by the rest of blood moon. Bai Yun was the final one to step on to the bridge, bringing up the rear. Soon after him, the bridge started to collapse behind them.
Soon the group had left the canopy and reached a much higher level. From here they could see two other bridges that were raising to the skies and disappearing into the clouds like this one. Since only two bridges were left, it meant that they were the third group to have reached a bridge.
"I bet that if we didn't have to wait for that idiot, we would have been much faster." Shadow one hundred and ten murmured. The rest of them seemed to agree with his sentiment.
"Hush." SHadow one reprimanded him. "It could be just bad luck. There is no need to demean him."
Once he said so all the others quickly quieted down. Bai Yun took a long hard look at Shadow one. He seemed to have the natural demeanor of a leader. Even though he was still filled with inexperience and naivety, those could easily be fixed with time.
The group passed the lands with silence. From the distance they maintained with Bai Yun, he figured that the silence was due to the fact that he was with them. Else they might be chattering on and on by now. After all, there were no dangers on the bridge.
After a while, the bridge finally entered the clouds. Then, just like the first bridge they were on, it started to twist around and around. Finally, they rose above the second layer of clouds and turned to see a land up ahead.
Unlike the first land beneath, this place seemed to be a dry mountainous landmass. They could see vast rock columns rising from the ground, like fists raised in defiance of the heavens. They also saw many trees and grass interspersed with the rock. But much of their sights were on huge columns and slabs of rock. From afar, they seemed to be looking at an ancient fortress that had fallen into disrepair.
And from the middle of the giant colosseum like structure, rose a single bridge that rose to the skies and disappeared into the clouds.
When they stepped off the bridge and on to the landmass, the first thing that greeted their eyes was a small plaque.
"Hello, all. Welcome and congratulations on reaching the second test. In the second test, there are no dangers. The only thing there is is the test itself. As you can see, in front of you is a maze. And at the very center of it is the only bridge to the third and final test. This bridge will only accept a maximum of ten people and will start to collapse at most a minute after the first person has stepped on it. Thus the challenge of this level is simple. Get to the center as fast as you can. Also, once the bridge is destroyed, a beast far beyond your limits will be released to kill all who stays behind. Good luck."
When they read the plaque, the color drained from everyone's eyes. They were already the third team to get here. Who knows how much time the other teams have had to search for the bridge.
Without wasting any time, the entire group turned and ran towards the maze. They were definitely in a hurry.
Once the group entered the rock maze, they found themselves lost. Calling it a maze was not correct. It felt more like a large rock city rather than a maze. There were trees and flowers on the road, and the distance between the two walls were very wide. There were even some hill like structures visible.
"See if we can climb the walls." Shadow one asked. Bai Yun simply shook his head. Even with his poor eyesight, he could see restrictive inscriptions which forbid people from climbing higher than a certain height. But even if he told them, they would still test it out themselves.
And just as he expected, shadow forty-four, who went to check, was unable to advance once he climbed to six meters. Once they checked this they decided to walk directly towards the bridge as fast as they could.
Unfortunately, the path forward was often blocked. Even though they had a general idea of the bridge's location, they could not reach it no matter how hard they tried. By their own estimate, they found that they must have drifted off course by a huge lot by the time two hours had passed.
Once they found that out, they decided to stop and plan ahead. Each member planned the route they took in their own head and tried to see where they were in relation to the bridge. After all of them had that, they sat down and compared notes to see if they had any idea of where they were.
Once they did so, they realized almost all of them were in agreement. But it also looked as if the direct route towards the bridge lead them directly towards a hill.
"There's no way to climb the hill. We need to go around it." Shadow one said.
Suddenly Shadow ten exclaimed. "There are caves in the hill."
"So." The rest of them looked at him quizzically.
"I am saying what if they are not caves. What if they are tunnels." Shadow ten explained.
For a while, they only looked at each other. "Can't hurt to check it out." Bai Yun said.
Once they decided on the plan of action, they headed straight for the hill. It was only when they reached it that they realized that it was bigger and farther than they imagined. And the tunnels were extremely wide, enough for three people to walk abreast of each other with no problem.
As the headed down the tunnels,the realized that the tunnels were part of a complex network of tunnels that went through the hill. They quickly realized the direction they need to head in and set off. Thankfully the network of tunnels was not much like a maze, thus it did not make them lose their way.
As they were walking through the tunnels, Bai Yun gently ran his hands over the walls of the tunnels. It felt rough and unnatural to him.
"These tunnels aren't natural or manmade." Bai Yun said. "They seem to have been made by a beast or some other race. But I can sense some very strange minerals in here. There must be precious gems deep in the walls of the hill."
"It doesn't matter what made these tunnels or why as long as we can get to the other side." One of them muttered.
Bai Yun nodded his agreement and the group hurried along the direction of the bridge. But even as he walked, he felt that there was something about these tunnels that reminded him of something. But he just couldn't put his finger down on what exactly it was. Thinking that it wouldn't matter in a few minutes, he decided to head on in faster.
In less than a quarter of an hour, they had left the tunnels and arrived at the other side of the hill. In front of them was a vast plains. They could see a lot of trees and rocks outcrops from there. And from where they stood they finally had another look at the bridge. The bridge was closer than ever before and seemed to be taunting them.
The group sighed at the sight of the bridge. They were about to run in the direction of the bridge when a small voice ran all around the land.
"Ding-dong. Times up. The first team has already reached the bridge, and the bridge has started to collapse. So thanks to the rest for playing, but the game is over. I hope that you guys can survive until the first group finishes the test."
The moment the voice ran out over the plain, the entire land rumbled. For a moment nothing but silence seemed to reign over the landmass. The entire group just stood there waiting for something to happen. But the wait was even more terrifying than anything out there.
Slowly a roar sounded out. It slowly echoed over to where the group stood. As they heard the mighty sound, each and every one of felt a terror they had never felt before shaking them to their bones.
"I have heard this sound before." Bai Yun muttered. A memory deep inside him was struggling to come out.
And then it hit them. A long distance from them a giant elephant head attached to a long neck slowly rose. The beast was so far from them that they could only get a vague look, but that was enough for them to understand its strength. And that realization left them breathless.
"Grootslang." Bai Yun said as he looked at the far away creature.
"Oh. We are so dead." Shadow forty four muttered.
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