CHAPTER 8: A Mini Game.

Asmodeus did say that we can rest. But...what the heck is the meaning of this notification window?

"Uhm...I thought we'll have a two days rest...?" Ai asked, looking at the notification window in front of her. Even I am confused. I turned my head to the huge wall in front of us and the few entrances that is presented to us all.

[ Good morning! Are you all busy? I'm pretty sure you're not! Anyways, I did tell you that you have a two das rest, so, this mini game is not mandatory. However, at the end of this maze are the rewards that y'all can't resist. It's a 4-star weapon! ]

Seriously? Saying it's not mandatory, but also telling us that there's a reward at the end? Is this guy joking with us? He definitely want us all to enter this maze. Tsk...

[ Of course, you also have two days to conquer this maze. I give you the best of luck! ]

We all stared at the maze in front of us.

[ Mini Game : Maze Escape.

- Escape the maze and receive hefty of rewards!

 - Asmodeus ^-^ ]

I sighed and stretched my arms. Even though I slept well, I'm still exhausted. We had to schedule who will be the lookout for morning and night. Damon, Ethan, and I are scheduled to sleep during the day, and the two ladies are to sleep during the night. After all, the three of us takes turns to sleep every two hours, and since there are three of us, we have the chance to sleep for four hours every turn. 

"Alright then, shall we go?" Ethan asked. I took a deep breath. 

"I know we're all excited, but we should eat breakfast first. We can't go in there with an empty stomach. Also, don't forget to upgrade your stats," I replied. I already upgraded mine last night while we were taking our turn to watch over each other.

"Ah, right. Let's have our breakfast first," Ethan replied, while the other three just nod their head and turn around to start walking. We followed them towards the area where we spent our night sleeping, and when we got there, we quickly took out our food to eat.

Because we had no idea how long we're going to stay here, Ethan decided that the food we bring are food that are resistant to rotting and has a long expiration date. Also, water is the best drink if we're going to explore a mysterious place.

"Luck, won't the others get to the weapon first if we waste our time eating?" Damon asked. I stayed quiet for a while. 

Actually, he's right. Asmodeus only say 'weapon'. But...

"Didn't he say there's a hefty of rewards waiting for us at the end of the maze?" Blanche asked. Yeah, she's paying attention to Asmodeus' announcement. 

"But, that doesn't mean it's a 4-star weapon..." Ai replied. Well, Asmodeus did say that there is a 4-start weapon, and he didn't made it plural, so there's only one? Still, it's not like we have to rush. It's impossible that this maze is just an ordinary maze that we should escape. 

"I don't think there'll be people who can get to the end of the maze easily though. That maze probably is full of traps," Ethan spoke, which made me nod my head to agree. 

"Pretty sure Asmodeus is trying to decrease the number of players, and that's the purpose of that maze. He told us to rest, but now he's giving this mini-game? That's way too suspicious," I spoke. The four of them stayed quiet as we all continue eating. I roamed my eyes and noticed that some people stayed behind. They're all resting.

"Look. Not only us decided to postponed the maze exploration," Ethan added. Also, if we let the others go first, that means the trap would decrease as well and it will be easier to conquer that maze. 

"Well, yeah..." Ai replied, looking around and checking how many people have stayed behind. I'm sure those people figured out that there'll be traps inside the maze as well. 

"But, we'll leave right away after we're done eating," I said, causing the three of them to just agree with me. We can't postpone it for long after all, because we have no idea how wide that maze is. And who knows, maybe there'll be treasures along the way.

"Ahh, since there are already five of us, we're now a party, right?" Damon asked, all of a sudden. He's right, I think this is a party of tower adventurers. Ai nods her head repeatedly and smiled widely as if she's so excited about the idea. 

"A party of adventurers...woah, that sounds really amazing!" Blanche replied. Well, it does sounds cool. I just hope there won't be a time where we have to go against each other. 

"Wow, that really is cool! Can I join?" All of us turned to someone who spoke behind Ethan, and we saw a lady with mint green hair and emerald eyes. She smiles at us and she's bending her knees with her hands leaning on it. 

"Oh, greetings, lady," Damon greets, the four of us slowly lowered down our head to greet the person, and she chuckled. 

"Please don't be so formal with me. I'm looking for someone who can adopt me, but all of them have little numbers in their team...I don't think it'll satisfy my boredom. So, can I join your party?" She stood straight and placed her hands on her waists. We stayed quiet, because I know that those four are just waiting for me to decide. But, having too much numbers might endanger us sooner or later. Plus, we have yet to learn about this lady.

"Why don't you introduce yourself first?" I asked. She turned to me and nod. 

"So, you're the leader? Understood, leader! I am Zephyr Araceli, nice to meet all of you!" Hmm, she's also an energetic peep. 

"Do you...want to come with us to the maze?" I asked. She tilt her head and blinks for a couple of times. She looks confused, but then smiled right away as she grin confidently.

"I see...a test, huh? Then, I'll join you!" She's quite perceptive. She understood right away what I was trying to do here. Hmph, looks like she's not bad. 

"Have you eaten yet? We plan to relieve our hunger first before we set out," Blanche asked, smiling to the lady as she offer her food to her. Zephyr nods her head and giggled. 

"Thanks so much, I already took breakfast before the maze appeared. I'll just wait for y'all to finish eating," She takes a seat between Blanche and me, she pulled out something from her pocket, and boy it was a smartphone. 

"Wait, you can use phone here?" Damon asked, curiously looking at Zephyr. The lady nods her head and smiled at him. 

"Yup! There's no internet though, and the pocket wifi has no signal...even the signal bar on my phone is empty so I just play offline games. Good thing my powerbank is full...though it won't probably take long before it runs out," She replied, showing us the bar on her phone. She's right, it's empty, and did she really brought a pocket wifi here to see if it'll work? And a powerbank as well?

"You...brought a powerbank and pocket wifi with you too...?" Ai asked, I can't figure out if she's surprised, amazed, or in disbelief. We were informed that this will be a dangerous exploration, and she brought a smartphone, powerbank, and a pocket wifi...

"Yup, just to try and see if it'll work here. Unfortunately, it deemed useless..." She spoke as she sighed. She sounded really disappointed, did she think it'll actually work here? I can't believe how optimistic she is.

"Uhh...anyways," Damon drank from his water bottle and took a deep breath. I think he's planning to change the topic now. 

"We're almost done eating, should we go now?" Damon asked. Ethan shrugged his shoulders and looks at me. I stared at him as well and tilt my head. I wonder why this guy had decided to make me his team leader. Does he simply want to slack off? Maybe he saw this as a chance to finally become a normal person. Being an heir to a law firm obviously is not an easy work. 

"How about we all decide? Who wants to go right now?" I asked, subtly raising my hand. They exchanged looks for a while before turning to me again. Not reacting nor raising their hands at all. Seriously? Does this mean they didn't want to go yet?

"So you don't want to go?" I asked. Again, I received a silent respond. I took a deep breath and nod my head, I stood up before I stretch my arms. 

"We're going," I spoke. 

"What? Even though we didn't want to go at all?" Damon asked. Well, we won't get anything if we just stay here, so might as well just accept Asmodeus' challenge, and I did say earlier that we're going right away after we're done eating. 

"Yeah...let's go," I said, offering my hands to both Zephyr and Blanche who are sitting beside me. I heard them sigh in unison, and I just shook my head. 

"We just finished eating, you know?" Blanche asked, accepting my hand. Zephyr nods her head to agree. 

"True. That's why we need to take a walk, right?" I replied. Blanche sighed again and crossed her arms. Looks like she hate the idea very much that she needs to react like that. 

Ethan chuckled. 

"You have a point," He spoke. Ai giggled, while Damon just slapped his forehead. 

"...'we all decide' he said..." Damon complained. Well, we won't get rewards if we just sits around here doing nothing. 

"Time is gold, let's go," I replied as I start walking.