The two young girls stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Absorbed in the magical atmosphere of the ancient ruins, they failed to notice they were already caught in a maze-like path.
"I think we should head back to the entrance. From there, we can directly see where these paths lead and decide which one to take," Hilia suggested.
Elina shook her head: "Based on my experience exploring puzzle-like ancient ruins, we might not be able to return to the entrance before leaving this maze."
She looked in the direction of the maze entrance, "See, the entrance is already unclear; going there now could either an we’re treading in place or stepping onto another path."
Hilia, lacking relevant exploration experience, asked, "So what should we do now?"
Elina’s face was full of confidence: "Go forward, record every path we take until we find a way out."
Hilia: "...This thod sounds kind of silly, walking every path; in a typical maze, you certainly can leave, but here..."
Hilia looked up at the aerial pathways, feeling that this three-dinsional maze couldn’t allow easy escape by exhaustive walking.
"This is the simplest and safest puzzle; as long as we keep going left, return when we hit a dead end, and continue keeping left, we’ll definitely get out," Elina assured with confidence.
"But what if...the maze is dynamic? Like it automatically adjusts paths, connecting roads we’ve traveled back in front of us?" Hilia pondered.
Elina fell silent.
After a while, she said: "Hilia, you shouldn’t always think of demoralizing things. A dynamic maze...is this man-made? Besides, regardless of the ruins, there will never be dead ends, rest assured; although I don’t know why, indeed there won’t be dead ends."
Rose laughed: "Elina’s right, there can’t be dead ends, it’s a law from the world. Even a dynamic maze cannot set dead ends; being tenacious, no matter how dynamic, it will certainly leave you and a way out. Of course... whether surprises await during this is unknown."
At the ntion of ’surprises’, Hilia understood.
"Just like those demons in the lighthouse, they might jump out from unexpected places?"
Rose remained silent, only smiling.
Hilia speculated to herself: "But Elina ntioned puzzle-like ruins lack demons, only traps; such traps might be in surprising locations."
Rose nodded, "Half correct."
Hilia didn’t worry about the other half, knowing Rose would say what she ant to.
She shared her speculation with Elina, who agreed: "Your guess is correct, so..."
A light green glow emanated from Elina, applying blessing spells to herself and Hilia’s magic puppets.
Elina said: "Although everyone is now using magic puppets, many elf spells change the effect when used by puppets instead of us, so the blessing spells are better used by ourselves."
Under Elina’s blessing spells, Hilia felt that her puppet’s physical strength and magic power seed increased by at least 20%.
This 20% boost, though seemingly small, is quite significant for Hilia’s spell laser gun.
Like Elina, the girl’s confidence grew abundantly.
The two began their journey.
As they advanced, the entire three-dinsional space seed to be slightly rotating.
So subtle, one wouldn’t notice without careful observation.
Upon setting out, Hilia used Mage’s Hand, learning from Rose, to perform a radar sweep, imdiately spotting this nuanced change.
But it was unclear what this change would lead to.
After briefly ntioning it to Elina, the two continued forward.
Soon, they arrived at a crossroad.
Three paths twisted upwards, disappearing into void, making it impossible to judge which path was correct.
"First crossing, adhering to the left principle, we’ll go left first," Elina stated.
Hilia nodded, "Let’s leave so mark at the crossroad, in case we end up in a loop making us wander endlessly."
"Alright."
Elina, experienced, took out a copper coin, activated a simple rune on it with magic power, and threw it into the center of the crossroad.
"Copper Coins can carry so magic power, they’re the best marker."
Elina smiled slightly.
With a mark left, they continued forward.
Soon, they reached the end of the path.
A golden treasure chest awaited them at the path’s end.
Behind the chest lay endless void, with countless paths floating atop the void.
"A treasure chest, so lucky?" Elina exclaid, running with excitent.
Hilia hurriedly said: "It might be a trap, don’t run so fast."
"I know!" Elina ran, scroll in hand, ready to tear it open, then directed the puppet to open the chest.
No incident occurred.
The puppet retrieved an item from the chest.
The two stared wide-eyed.
"Pure Magic Crystal?!"
Before them was a dazzling translucent Pure Magic Crystal!
Far purer than the one on Hilia’s Magic Staff!
"This..."
The two exchanged glances, montarily too fearful to have the puppet fetch the crystal.
If the chest contained a low-level or interdiate magic crystal, even an advanced magic crystal, they wouldn’t have been so afraid.
But a Pure Magic Crystal, especially upon just entering the ruins without encountering dangerous traps, discovering what could be the ultimate ruin’s treasure...
It just doesn’t feel right!
"Should we?" Elina asked Hilia.
Hilia opened the door, Elina rely followed Hilia’s lead, respecting Hilia’s decisions.
"Let think." Hilia carefully deliberated.
She couldn’t help but glance at Rose, hesitant to speak.
Rose calmly said: "If you rely on to make every decision, how will you strengthen yourself? How will you learn to discern independently?"
But Rose didn’t actually lack opinions.
He just wanted to see Hilia’s choice.
Instead of making every decision himself, like controlling a ga character, Rose preferred observing Hilia’s choices from a spectator’s standpoint.
That’s more intriguing.
Of course, occasionally helping choose to see what changes might occur isn’t bad either.
anwhile, Rose also avoided deciphering everything about the ruins to savor any surprises.
Without Rose’s suggestions, Hilia repeatedly used Mage’s Hand and other ans to verify the crystal’s authenticity and potential traps.
But found nothing.
It seed to be a plain Pure Magic Crystal.
After much deliberation, Hilia gritted her teeth: "Take it! What’s there to be scared of? Even if it’s a trap, at least let’s see what kind before dispensing it; better than cowardly tossing it aside!"
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