Light and Night: Across Two Worlds

Chapter 20: Labyrinth

At the moment, Prince White followed Aya's training in the labyrinth. The rules were simple. White and Aya raced to reach the finish line in the shortest possible time. The labyrinth road could change at any time, and there were many enemies in the form of drones and robots that blocking the way. White and Aya used a special armor suit that protects their bodies from head to toe. The armor suit was strong, elastic, and bulletproof. There were guns, daggers, and shuriken that they carried as weapons.

To stop the enemy movement, White and Aya needed to press the X button on the enemy's body. The total overall time set for that moment was 15 minutes. If Aya or White hasn't reached the finish line before 15 minutes, then they lose. Enemies were set to block the way in the labyrinth. Besides, the enemies would attack the X marks on Aya and White's armor suit. If the enemy was successfully attacked X mark in armor suit three times, then Aya or White failed to finish the game and counted as game over.

White had never had combat training like this. Usually, he just practiced the movements or aimed at the unmoved target. Training like this was very interesting for him. This was Prince White's first experience. The difficulty level in the labyrinth was arranged at the medium level. At first, Aya set for an easy level, but White felt confident to try at the medium level.

"Ready?" Aya asked.

Prince White nodded enthusiastically.

"See you at the finish line," Aya said.

Labyrinth constructed a new path for the game this time. Aya and White did not know the labyrinth route that had just formed. The monitor screen showed a countdown, and once the horn sounded, the door of the labyrinth opened. Aya dashed in, followed by White. The labyrinth door closed and locked a few seconds after they entered the game.

White tried to catch Aya's back. With high agility, Aya jumped to avoid the attack, as well as strike back. Aya's strength, speed, and agility were excellent above-average abilities. White tried to be as close as possible to Aya, but Aya's figure quickly disappeared. White tried to avoid the attack of robots and drones. It turned out to be a very challenging situation for White. It was not easy to avoid attacks from several directions at once. Also, White had to attack the enemies to open the way. The labyrinth route sometimes was confusing and misleading. It was not easy to determine the right route. White has faced a dead-end several times. He must return to the previous route. Completing the labyrinth route to the finish line in 15 minutes seemed impossible for White at this time.

There was a siren sound. The floating monitor screen, above the labyrinth, showed that Aya had arrived at the finish line with an X mark that was still intact, untouched. Aya successfully finished the game in 3 minutes. Very fast! Even though Aya was younger and a girl, she could trounce White. White has never lost a physical match with his peers. This made him angry, and tried to speed up his pace. A drone floated and attacked him from the left. White took a double-stick from his waist and attacked the drone. A severe attack hit on that drone. The drone fell on the robot that blocked the road. The robot moved sideways to open the way.

The next side of the maze was more challenging. Many beams were sticking out from the walls of the labyrinth alternately. It needed perfect timing to cross the area without being attacked. White took a deep breath and ran as fast as he could. Just when White managed to reach the end of the beam area, a drone suddenly appeared and shot him. White tried to jump and rolling to another side to avoid the drone bullets. But unfortunately, it was too late. One of the drone bullets succeeded in getting an X on his armor suit. One chance was gone.

White cursed softly, then continued his journey inside the labyrinth. The situation that was waiting for him next was the labyrinth floor that was moving backward. Many bulges resembled the texture of rocks on the labyrinth wall, and above his head was a rope attached. It seemed like White has three choices. One, running on the rolling floor faster than the speed of the floor. Two tried to crawl by holding on to the bulges on the wall. Three used the hanging rope to cross the side of the labyrinth.

White tried the first choice. The labyrinth floor seemed to move backward slowly. White tried to run as fast as possible. When he had made the half-way, the floor movement was faster. White tried to run faster, but finally, he slipped, fell, and dragged to the labyrinth floor back to its starting point. Damn it! The plan didn't go well.

White tried the second choice. Crawling by holding on to wall bulges seemed safe but took a long time. Just when White had managed to crawl the two-thirds length of the wall, the wall's bulge began to vibrate and move outward, throwing White's body onto the rolling floor and dragged him to the starting point again.

This really made no sense. White tried the third alternative. He took a swing, then jumped, and hanged on the rope. It took a lot of energy in his hand to hold on to the rope tightly. White arms suddenly felt in pain. All of his muscles were injured, and his hands get weakened. When he made it halfway, the rope became slippery and difficult to hold. He struggled to tighten his grip on the rope. But unfortunately, White fell again and dragged back to the starting point.

This area was challenging! How did Aya pass this part of the labyrinth easily? Sweat poured down the inside of White's armor suit. His breath panted. He was exhausted.

"Have you given up?" Aya's voice suddenly appeared. He looked from the other side of the labyrinth. Aya has returned to the labyrinth to look at White's condition.

"There is still time. Come on, try again," said Aya encouragingly.

White tried to answer, but his voice did not come out, and he coughed.

"Relax. Take a deep breath. Oxygen will provide energy. Think about previous experiences, and observe which areas might be possible and not possible to pass. Then focus on combining the route," Aya said, giving instructions.

"Should I combine the route?" White asked thoughtfully. He saw three alternative routes carefully. White found the new route that had not been thought in his mind. He rose excitedly and began to try.

At first, White hung on the rope halfway. When the rope started to feel slippery, White swung his body and then jumped and landed on one of the bulges on the wall. He continued his journey by crawling on the wall, up to two-thirds of the trip. The labyrinth floor was still rolling slowly. It looked like the floor was moving faster when moving objects along the floor from the start. White exerted his strength to jump to the labyrinth floor as close as possible to the edge in which he was going, then ran as fast as possible. The labyrinth floor moved faster, but White managed to reach the safe point before the labyrinth floor's speed made him fall.

Aya smiled while clapping her hands. "Great, you managed to find out how from my little clue. Excellent! You are true, smart!"

White just smiled while panting, unable to speak. Suddenly there was a siren as a signal of the game over because of the time limit. White failed to finish the game to the finish line. He ran out the time.

"Wow, it's over. I think it's enough for today. The labyrinth entrance is open now. We can get out from there. It's near to our location right now," Aya said, pointing toward the direction.

"Wait ... I'm still curious. Show the way you pass this part quickly," White asked.

Aya stopped and turned around. "Do you mean… Do you want to see me through the labyrinth area with this rolling floor from here to there?"

White nodded.

"Okay, I'll show you. I will activate the labyrinth again for a moment," Aya said.

Aya instructed Poo to turn on the labyrinth area with the rolling floor to demonstrate for White. The labyrinth floor was activated for Aya. White set the stopwatch to calculate the time Aya needed to cross. White nodded his head as a sign for Aya to start.

Aya easily jumped to grab the rope and swing her body forward. Aya's feet grabbed the rope swiftly, then she let go of her hand and swung her body in a circle. Then, her hand grabbed the rope again, and she threw herself up. With one jump, Aya was standing on the rope and jumped one point to another like a ballerina. Aya made a big leap, jumped to the wall, and ran along the wall by stepping on bulges. After two-thirds of the way, Aya threw herself and floated on the rolling floor with one big jump. Aya just tipped her toes three times on the floor and did an airwalk before setting her foot on the safe side of the labyrinth, where White stood and waited for her.

The stopwatch showed that the whole process was completed in 10 seconds. White's mouth opened wide, showing an expression of extraordinary surprise. He was speechless. If White didn’t see it by himself, maybe he would think Aya was cheating. With her highly trained physical abilities, it was no wonder if Aya could easily finish the game. White's face was pale. If Aya was his enemy, maybe he was killed in the palace easily.

"Okay, you had defeated me!" said White acknowledging his loss. Aya grinned wide.

"Take it easy. You can do it, White. It’s a piece of cake. You only need to practice more," Aya answered casually.