Labyrinths ca in different shapes and sizes. The oldest was said to have been built in Egypt and so complicated that no one at the ti could complete it without the key. Dallion had completed a lot of labyrinth puzzles as a child. It was his passion earning him several rewards, including second place at the regionals Labyrinth Solving tournant.
This labyrinth was different from any Dallion had seen in a number of ways. For starters, its shape was highly irregularthere were no set straight lines, but also no defined curves either. It was as if the labyrinth varied between the two based on its own free will. Several tis the boy would start down a straight corridor only to have it twist and curve the mont he backtracked. Others, hed spend minutes walking in zig-zag fashion only to find he had made five steps from the starting point.
All that wasnt the most confusing elent, though. Unlike what the floating rectangle had said, his goal wasnt to reach the center of the labyrinth, at least not the only one; he also had to repair it as he wanted. Repairing, as he also found out, ca in different forms as well. There were the standard cracked walls with pieces missing and scattered elsewhere in the labyrinththose could be repaired by placing the piece in place. The real trick, however, was fixing the overall shape. As it turned out, walking along a corridor not only got him from point A to point B, it also allowed him to stretch, straighten, curve, or squeeze the path he was walking on.
Like trying to make a wall out of jelly bricks, Dallion thought.
The concept was simple, executing it took so skill, a bit of luck, and a whole lot of persistence. Each ti Dallion would repair a wall or lock a path in place, the sa rectangle would appear.
Labyrinth section nded!
Overall completion 96%
The first ti Dallion had returned a bone brick to its spot, his completion was thirty-seven percent. He had painstakingly achieved a lot since then. Even so, or maybe because of it, the missing four percent infuriated him. In theory, nothing stopped him from stepping through the archway at the labyrinths center. The completionist in him, though, kept nagging him to keep on searching.
Where are you? Dallion grumbled.
The first thing hed improve given the chance was his Perception. Maybe then hed be able to see hints that would help him nd things better. Now he understood why his grandfather had been so tired after nding the table.
Its not the walls, the boy said out loud, in the hopes that doing so would give him an idea. It has to be the paths.
He had spent what felt like hours walking up and down, checking if any corridor could be changed. All of them appeared firm. Just to be sure, Dallion went through the labyrinth again, carefully looking for minuscule cracks or holes in the white surface. Yet again, there were none.
Okay. He closed his eyes. If it isnt the walls, and its not the paths, is there anything that
He suddenly stopped as a bout of inspiration hit him harder than a revolving door.
Im an idiot! Dallion rushed towards the center of the labyrinth.
There was one elent he hadnt checked, sothing so obvious that hed gone past it dozens of tis and without paying attentionthe archway. Upon reaching it, everything fell into place. Looking at it now, the deformation was obvious. The keystone was so low, that only a child could pass under it without hitting their head. Taking a step forward, Dallion pushed it up. The top of the archway gave in, as if made of putty, before finally locking in place.
Labyrinth fully nded!
The HAIRPIN is now flawless.
Dallion could almost hear victory music in his head. A reward would have been nice, but at least he had the knowledge he had repaired the item to a hundred percent. Beaming with joy, the boy stepped through.
Instantly, the walls of the labyrinth sunk into the floor, creating a round hall.
COMBAT INITIATED!
The familiar red rectangle appeared, followed by his new opponent.
HAIRPIN GUARDIAN
Species: BLADE SPIDER
Class: IVORY
Statistics: UNKNOWN
Skills: UNKNOWN
Weak Spots: UNKNOWN
This was very different from the guardian hed faced before. There was nothing human in the creature, rather it was a mix between a Boston Dynamics robot and an avant-garde statue. The spider, for lack of a better term, was entirely white, as if made of plastic, the size of a desk, with eight blade-tipped legs, six eyes the size of golf balls, and a roundish body.
I didnt know that hairpins look like that on the inside, Dallion thought.
Before he could say or do a thing, green strings filled the air, starting at the creatures legs and ending all over the boys body. A split second later, green footprints and shield markers appeared.
Damn it! Dallion started running.
The spider leapt forward. Faster and far more aggressive than the Colossus, it attacked the boy with a series of jabs while simultaneously jumping around him.
Deep in his heart, Dallion knew that his mother wouldnt give him a challenge he couldnt beat, he also rembers her words that it wasnt about achieving victory, but learning what he knew. Right now, though, his only thought was how to get as far away from the bladed nace.
Follow the steps, the boy said to himself, twisting as if he were walking on a tightrope. Follow the steps and itll be okay.
Two of the spiders legs hit Dallion in the thigh. The pain was far less than the boy expectedthe annoying sensation of a pinprick or an ant bite hed get as younger. To Dallions relief, the attacks didnt cause any noticeable damage, though they were still sothing he preferred to avoid.
Follow the steps, he focused on matching a set of eight footprints and two shield positions. As soon as he did, ti went to a crawl.
Now its my turn. Dallion grinned.
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