Ross looked at the students sternly, already predicting what they were thinking when he saw the hopeful look in their eyes as soon as they recognized Alex.
The group of four exchanged glances as they thought of tagging along with Alex and his group. Their lives were on the line, and there was no room for pride. One of them turned to face Alex and was about to speak when…
"No. you can't follow us. You'll only slow us down." Ross interjected before the words could even come out. He had no time to entertain others and put his life on the line defending them. They were hunters, not heroes, at least not in that sense of the word.
It was one thing when Alex invited someone to join their team, and it was another for them to pick up strays.
"But..." The student in front wanted to explain how they would be useful with numbers, but Ross did not have any of it.
"No buts…" He stated coldly and looked towards Alex who only observed the interaction within so much as a word. He was of the same opinion as Ross. They only helped because their path led through here, nothing more, nothing less.
"I agree with him." Julia chipped in. They already had one person too many and were not interested in taking four more.
"And we've already spent too much time here. Let's move before the walls of more void creatures arrive. Also, this is a rite of passage, not a charity event." She replied angrily before moving towards Alex, ready to move on to his word.
"…"
The students were speechless and there was nothing they could say to defend their case. They watched as Alex bade them good luck and disappeared with his group.
"What do we do now?" One of them said, already eager to run after them.
"I say we follow behind them. After all, we're all moving in the same direction. We just have to play it smart and keep a reasonable distance from them."
The leading student thought of the words of his colleagues and nodded in agreement. "Come on then, let's go." He muttered and ran after Alex's group, with his friends close behind.
.....
"You do know they will follow us, right? After all, we're all heading in the same direction." Abigail stated the obvious. It was easy to understand their actions as she would have done something similar if she were in their situation.
She realized how having close friends was beneficial in situations like this. If she had qualified on her own and got here, she might have been traversing the Convergence Maze alone. The thought sent cold shivers down her spine.
"I know… But there is nothing we can do. We focus on our path and whatever happens behind us is for them to handle." Alex replied.
The group was already back in their formation with Alex in the rear. Their speed was not as insane as when they initially fought the void creatures because of Abigail, and this also continued as they moved through the labyrinth.
Making sharp turns once in a while, they had covered several hundred metres of running distance since they resumed their ran and because only a few minutes had passed since the beginning of the event, they had not been subjected to any chances of walls shifting.
But that thought came too soon. The maze had no obligation to explain to them when and how it was going to initiate its shifting walls.
Every student in the labyrinth, from those traversing the paths, those fighting void creatures and those already trapped in mana-draining zones felt the whole labyrinth shake slightly.
Though slightly, it was felt by every student present, and they instantly knew what was about to happen. This made some double their speed to cover more ground in a short period.
The annoying thing about the shifting maze walls was that, in some regions, the walls moved slowly, and in other areas, they moved just as quickly as the moving students and if one were caught in their path, they could only be turned into pancakes.
Additionally, if they were unfortunate, they could be put on long winding paths where they would have to traverse multiple curves before covering the same distance as others. Worse of all, they could be temporarily trapped in a room where they had to wait for the next shift before moving again.
And if they were trapped with void creatures… It went without saying, and if they were trapped in a mana-draining zone along with void creatures….
There were many such dangers in the Convergence Maze.
"Close the gaps, maintain the pace and keep an eye on the walls…" Alex instructed as he moved closer to the group. Their vigilance had gone up a notch, and their eyes dashed left and right for the unexpected.
He changed his spear into a short-staff and stuck it to the magnetic holder on his back. What was about to happen would require speed, agility and quick thinking. He needed all the freedom of movement he could get.
Alex also turned to look behind and could see the group of four students far in the distance, attempting to be close but not too close.
'The distance Between our groups is too wide. They would definitely be split from us.' His words weren't entirely baseless and the floor they moved on had clear marks that showed evidence of shifts. The only thing he didn't know was how fast or slow the walls would move.
'We can only hope we ourselves are not separated.' He thought to himself while glancing at Julia. He was worried about how this crazy girl of his would react if they were separated.
A few seconds later, the intensity of the rumbling increased signaling the start of the shift. Ross sensed the shift in the ground and looked at the walls to his left and right and saw a demarcation a few metres away that hinted at a possible wall shift.
They wouldn't make it across at the speed they were moving, and they couldn't leave Abigail behind. The only option was….
"Stop!"
Ross exclaimed and immediately came to a halt, prompting the group to do the same.