Chapter 654: Among Us
Time went by as I waited, trying to scan the area yielded no results. The whole thing was reflecting everything I threw on it. Nothing but light could penetrate through the dome around the small pentagonal platform I was sitting on. And when it did, it reflected and refracted so many times it would make a mortal go blind. I"m in a ma.s.sive mirror chamber that is constantly reflecting anything in it.
I guess it"s the location of this next trial. But since I couldn"t get out I had to wait. Other cultivators would usually just recuperate as they were waiting for the time to tick down. However, I didn"t use my energy at all during the entirety of the compet.i.tion so I was still at peak form.
But instead of just wasting time just waiting aimlessly, I pulled out several crystals and gla.s.s shards from my holding bag. Then began working on something that I will be needing soon.
The tool I was making would be very helpful, after all I used something like this back on earth when I went fis.h.i.+ng.
Polarized sungla.s.ses. Well, these are different actually.
The original use for polarized sungla.s.ses was to reduce sun glare and eyestrain. Here, in this cave with these many reflections, it will be a pain in the a.s.s to use light and move. And since I can"t even use divine sense because that is also being reflected, relying on eyesight becomes imperative.
Now, using normal sight will definitely bite me in the a.s.s, especially since my eyes are far more improved and evolved than a normal mortal"s eyes, the damage they"ll take is more significant. So, I"m making these gla.s.ses with a few inscriptions on them.
Once I shaped the shards with my carving tool and placed them in a metallic frame.
The gla.s.s part was doubled up, one, crystal clear for sight and the other a dark brown. I inscribed the edge of the brown gla.s.s with a few inscriptions that would help refract the light and reduce it without hindering visibility.
I also began adding more inscriptions on the frame. The goal of these inscription was simple, to aid in funneling Qi from a piece of heavenly Qi that will be powering the inscriptions on the gla.s.ses and also to power a small light at the side of the sungla.s.ses.
This was nothing more than a small project that I was making to pa.s.s the time.
Not long after I finished and tried the sungla.s.ses the bracelet in my arm began s.h.i.+ning.
"CHALLENGERS! Congratulation on pa.s.sing the second trial of Ice. Many have failed and perished and several had given up and were taken out of the compet.i.tion. However, we still have a lot of cultivators who manages to clear the trials and are still strong and steady! Now then! Your next task isn"t as oppressive as the former, but it is not easier either.
Your goal in this maze is simply to find the exit!"
You could hear the audience cheering from the bracelet as they saw the next stage.
"Now, this trial is a bit different as you may have guessed. The Maze you"re in isn"t simple enough that you can navigate it by following the left path! No, this one is multidimensional! It has as many exits as there are cultivators! But that is also part of this trial! All those who had cleared the former trial have obtained a piece of a map.
The piece you obtained is where the exit that you need to go to, however, to reach the exit, you will need the rest of the map to navigate yourself there! Your goal in this trial is simple. Find teammates who can help you finish your and their map! And make sure that you all help each other in leaving this maze!" he said.
Sounds rather simple, but I doubt it will be this simple.
A wide grin on the commentator"s face suddenly flashed as he said, "HOWEVER!" he shouted.
"That would be far too easy now, wouldn"t it?!" the commentator added. "There gotta be a twist now! Shouldn"t it!"
The audience waited patiently for the twist as the commentator added.
"There isn"t one maze though, it would be a little too absurd to have you all in the same maze. There are multiple ones. Meaning that the entire group that is partic.i.p.ating is split over hundreds of thousands of mazes with a capacity of a hundred cultivator each," the commentator said.
No one understood the reason why this division happened, but the commentator soon addressed it, "Now, usually, this would make this part rather easy, as the cultivators can just group up and find their exits. But not here, since there will be an impostor among you. A few among you will have a different role. Their goal is to sabotage your progress and they will have the tools for it.
And that is not all, you will be facing dwellers of the maze that you will have to deal with too, it isn"t a walk in the park and you must prove yourself and your intuition!"
The audience seemed to like the premise of this "game" as they all began cheering and talking among themselves on how we can solve this issue.
"Now, to make this simple, each cultivator will receive a message at the start of this trial. You will either be a.s.signed the role of Pathfinder or Betrayer! You will have a list of goals to achieve. And do know, that Betrayers can locate each other, while Pathfinders have no clue on who is who!"
***
The feedback from the bracelet soon ended and a message appeared on my bracelet.
"You have been designed as a Pathfinder."
"… I see, no wonder he said there was a twist… and I"m a pathfinder… I guess I"ll have to be more careful about people around me." I said as I stood up and looked around. It was dark as s.h.i.+t.
The only light was the light coming from the small dome and it began reflecting all over making the path almost invisible.
The dome soon came down, and I wore the gla.s.ses and immediately the pathway through the hall was far clearer than using regular sight. I began moving forward through the corridors, paying close attention to see if I could meet anyone, friend or foe.