The Convergence Maze was large enough to house thousands of people at once. It had many paths to travel as well as dead ends.
In other sections of the labyrinth, there were more dangers of void creatures, mana-draining zones and dead ends. Some sections had less and were easily traversed.
Regardless, the floors of the Convergence Maze had many exits to the other higher floors; it just took some people more effort than others to reach.
And for a group that experienced less, Julia and Abigail were able to make their way through the labyrinth with relative ease.
Of course, they had to fight their way through many hordes of void creatures and shifting walls. Luckily for Abigail, Julia did most of the fighting due to her current volatile state; she was very pissed off.
And the void creatures were the ones to pay the price. The savagery she adopted when fighting the void creatures was both frightening and inspiring. Everywhere she went, she actively went after void creatures even when others were already engaging them.
Naturally, most of these students were not happy about her actions, but one glare with her cold and menacing aura shut them up. Some students were able to recognize her and wondered why she was behaving as such.
When they discovered Alex was not by her side, they understood. Abigail was reduced to nothing but an assistant who would constantly apologize on behalf of Julia for her rude remarks and arguments she engaged in.
Even though she had not known Julia for long, it was a new side of her she had never seen. Honestly, she was tired of it, but her survival hinged on her following Julia around. If she could do this by herself, she would have.
With her shooting speed and power, she could do a lot, but her efforts had to be twice as hard as melee fighters.
'Alex, please hurry and get back to your girlfriend. I can't take it anymore!' She felt like yelling to voice her complaints but knew better than to do so.
A few dead ends and void creatures later, they arrived at a large hall that served as one of the entrances to the second floor of the Convergence Maze.
"We're here…" Julia said as she looked around, hoping to spot Alex or even Ross if he was around. She found no one and her expression turned gloomy once more. The only ones around were a few lingering students preparing to ascend, some injured, others missing limbs and stuff, but that was none of her concern.
Abigail approached the girl, placed a hand on her shoulder and with a small smile said, "Don't worry too much, Julia. You know Alex and Ross are very strong, Alex more so. You'll find them or they will.
"If not here, then on the higher floors. Just hang in there and you'll be reunited with him again." This was the only thing Abigail could do; encourage her to not lose hope.
Hearing her encouraging words, Julia closed her eyes briefly and sighed. "I know… I just… I can't bear to be away from him." She muttered in a low voice, almost in tears with a downcast expression. The light in her eyes had dimmed slightly ever since they split from Alex and Ross.
"…"
Abigail could not give a reply to that. She turned her gaze to the exit that looked like a staircase upstairs, but halfway up, there appeared to be some sort of barrier that separated the floors.
The barrier served as a veil that separated the two dimensions and prevented anything from the top from coming down; anything meaning void creatures as those on higher floors were much tougher to deal with.
The ones they had fought so far were the weakest of the weakest. That was why the elite students had no trouble, but that was about to change.
The void creatures on the fourth floor were to give a chance to those who qualified in the battle royale to gather some points if they could.
Of course, most were already dead and even some of the elite students succumbed to the combined force of groups of void creatures. Others were eliminated when they failed to predict the path of the shifting walls and were flattened against the labyrinth walls.
"Come on, let's go." Abigail gestured to Julia for them to continue. She retrieved her bow from her back and got ready. They had no clue where they would end up once they went through that barrier.
"Let's wait a few minutes," Julia stated and turned to look back. As she waited and observed the incoming students, ten minutes passed with no sight of Alex. Abigail was patient the entire time as her survival depended on Julia.
Julia eventually sighed in resignation and turned to face the stairs with determined eyes. If Alex was not here, then he would be on a higher floor. With that thought in mind, she moved forward, and Abigail tagged behind her.
The duo stopped before the barrier that subtly reflected a blue sheen even though there was little to no light around. Julia turned to Abigail who returned her gaze.
"We might be split if we entered without making contact." Julia deduced and Abigail agreed. The same thing was done when they were first transported into the labyrinth. So, it stands to reason that this might be the same thing.
Abigail held her bow in her left hand and placed her right hand on Julia's shoulders. Julia turned her gaze back to the barrier and stretched her right hand towards it. A small flash was created from the contact and the two walked through the barrier.
As soon as they entered, their perception was briefly distorted and when they came to, they were standing in the middle of a large hall. It was big enough to hold hundreds of people at once and still have room for easy movement.
However, a scenario Abigail had hoped would not occur was what the two encountered.
"Shit…" She cursed their bad luck.