Chapter 2290: Exit
Sam marked all the mirrors with colors. After drawing the red line, he went left and then he changed the color before going right.
Only three colors of course. The middle red line, the blue on one side and green on the other.
It took him more than twenty minutes. Even though he could go faster, he believed that he might destroy a couple of mirrors in the process and end up at the starting point once again. After he marked the mirrors, Sam hovered in the air and looked at the mirrors with a sweeping glance.
He had a confused expression on his face.
Because from his observation, even though he figured that the mirrors are the way out, from what he saw the mirrors cannot be a way out.
It should be impossible.
Because based on the count, there are a total of 2480 mirrors in this room. An even number. Judging from how he entered one mirror and appeared from another, there is a good chance that all the mirrors are connected together...
Then that means, all the mirrors will still end up making him roam around in this mirrorland with no way out.
This speculation made him a bit frustrated and immediately wanted to test it out.
He targeted a different mirror. Laid down a trap formation, engaged with the reflection, captured the reflection and finally entered the mirror.
He entered a mirror on the blue side and came out of another mirror on the green side.
He is prepared this time and once again trapped the reflection that came out of that mirror before stepping back into it. He is back at the mirror on the blue side. He could see his reflection struggling hard to break out of the formation.
He ignored it and flew into the air again and tried the same with three different mirrors. All of them led to a different mirror and when he entered those mirrors, he came back. By now, he is completely sure that all of them are connected.
Which also made him sure that he cannot get out of these mirrors from this place
There are around eight to ten reflections of his struggling in different formations as he moved around thinking of a way to get out. After some thought, he got a different idea.
He started examining the formations with reflections already out. The mirror frames that are activated as gates.
Now, there are around ten mirrors activated and he drew up those formation networks all in his mind. Placing them all side by side trying to compare them.
Time pa.s.sed.
More than an hour and a twenty minutes later, Sam is still looking for the clues to get out of here.
Meanwhile the elders are finally relieved.
"I thought he would come out of this with the same insanely impractical record time. I am glad he stumbled on this one at least."
"True that. I am glad as well.
At least for his own sake. He might not know this because of the inexperience and the eccentricity of the Gambler academy. He already has a target on his back and now he just amplified it a dozen more times.
I hope that this delay at least reduces the negative impact of the first few rounds." This came from the Loki academy elder.
The Thor academy elder was a bit surprised.
"You are concerned for him?"
"Are you not?"
"Honestly, I am more concerned about the face of Thor academy and other Norse academies. Even though the illusion tower and its stages are kept a secret from the students this time, the Norse academies have trained their students for similar things before.
Our formation departments basically focus more on the illusions.
So, to see that no one showed great promise is a bit envious. So, I hoped that this guy is not so excellent with this so that the gap is not so wide."
"Hmm... Didn"t expect you to be so much on the selfish side."
"I didn"t expect you to be so much on the generous side. To think you are showing concern to him? He is the biggest suspect of the hub incident. Most still believe that he is closely connected to the mastermind and might even be that mastermind"s protégé.
In fact, I cannot think of a better explanation than that for his prowess in the formations." "Well, I don"t know if you can call me generous. I just hope that such a good sapling is not destroyed in his initial stages. He has a clear unique perspective to the formations and his basics are rock solid. His focus on the basics itself deserves some appreciation.
I want to see what he can create when he is matured completely.
Who knows, he might even create a masterpiece like the hub."
"You hold him in a high regard."
"Anyone who doesn"t is an idiot."
As they chatted, all of a sudden, they watched something change on the screen.
Sam finished a.n.a.lyzing the formations in his head and walked to one of the mirrors that was already activated as a gate. He then used one of his hands to place on the frame while the other was placed inside the gate.
His hand pa.s.sed through the mirror surface, while his other hand felt the slight buzz. He closed his eyes and started understanding the energy circulation of the formation the frame. Right now, it is completely active.
It is in the middle of transferring his hand to the other side. This is the time the mirror is most
active.
He focused mostly on the elemental energies as well as energy conversions that are happening in the frame.
After some time, he opened his eyes and there is a sparkle in his eyes.
He came to a conclusion.
There are no clear signs of what exactly is the exit condition of this room. There are specific conditions to actually clearing this room, so he believed that he can clear it on his own terms. He also believed that clearing means getting out of here, just like how it was in the previous
rounds.
So, he decided to leave the room on his own terms.
If he won, it is fine. If he didn"t, then so be it. He didn"t have many stakes placed on his
victory.
He roamed around a bit and found an empty s.p.a.ce big enough to do what he wanted to do. He then took out some metal rods and used his metal element to transform it into a metal mirror
frame.
There are several grooves on the frame, where he embedded the energy capsules. Even though he couldn"t absorb it, doesn"t mean he couldn"t use it for the formation. It is working
perfectly.
He started adding more grooves and created formations. First, it simulated the mirror surface. Showing Sam"s reflection perfectly.
Then he started adding other energy capsules. s.p.a.ce energy in particular. He is transforming the mirror into a s.p.a.ce gate and he is not even using his own energy to create it directly. After some time, the formation is ready.
He took a deep breath and walked through the mirror directly.
*SWOOSH*
With a flash, Sam felt the suction force. He could feel it, he definitely left the hall and before
he knew it, he stood in the open air auditorium. At the exact spot that he initially stood before
the compet.i.tion began.
He looked around.
Several audience members are gawking at him. Several screens are hovering showing the live proceedings of the compet.i.tion. The elder from the Loki academy hurriedly made his way to
Sam.
He wanted to say something, but he couldn"t find any words.
After some hesitation and contemplation, he let out of a sigh of resignation and said.
"You are the first. You can go now."
"Thanks."
Sam walked out of the academy with a smile. It is good to know that he is the first. He doesn"t care what the actual procedure is. He didn"t care about the commotion that he left behind. All he wanted to do is leave and relax a bit. Those formations are a headache. However, what Sam didn"t know is that the news of his progress in the test has been sent to different places in real time. In fact, the news that Sam is out of the test has already reached and the action has already been taken.