Principal's lounge
Hunter Zol and Principal Seraph continued to watch the events unfolding in the Convergence Maze.
Their attention was mostly on the trio of Alex, Ross and Julia. And watching the fight that just happened as a result of Julia losing her cool was an eye-opener for Principal Seraph.
Seraph stealthily glanced at Hunter Zol to see his reaction, but the man was as quiet as when the whole event began.
"What is it?" He asked and turned his head to Seraph who was slightly taken aback by the question.
If she thought she could be sneaky around a Class S hunter, then she didn't really know their prowess. No one would until they were at that level themselves.
Sighing in acceptance, she asked, "I worry about your niece's actions. She might end up doing something she would regret and while this is entirely a simulation, she doesn't know that."
Hunter Zol immediately understood her concerns and returned his gaze to the screen. "You have nothing to worry about. Julia may seem irrational and unstable right now, but I can assure you, she's very much aware of her actions."
"I see…" Seraph could only nod in agreement, but that wasn't the end.
"I have a question for you myself." Zol continued.
Seraph raised her head from her pondering and looked at him, waiting for whatever was on his mind.
"Why is Alex trapped in that room?"
Naturally, he had the authority to know the ins and outs of the events, but that would be useless. Sometimes knowing everything makes things boring, and as a Class S hunter, there weren't a lot of things he didn't know.
"Oh… The Convergence Maze has a restricted section, a recent addition. Of course, this design came from my superiors and was purposely put there to test Alex."
"Hm?"
Hunter Zol raised a brow when he heard this and turned his gaze on Seraph who could only nod and continue, "Indeed. I was just as surprised when it came in. It seems someone wants to see what Alex would show or do under certain conditions."
"Certain conditions?" Zol echoed, wondering what the higher-ups were up to.
"Yes, right now he seems to be resting after eliminating those void creatures, but that is just the beginning…" Seraph stated and Zol turned to look at Alex resting in a crossed-legged position.
'I can already guess what they're trying to do and even I am curious. And if that's really the case, this could be bad…'
He furrowed his brows, not liking his train of thought very much. As curious as he was, he wouldn't stoop so low as to push a kid into a tight situation just to get a reaction.
"And how would they know that? The simulation can't mimic everything about Alex." Zol questioned again. He, more than anyone else, knew what was different about him and if they wanted to see Alex do something outside the box, then a real-world setting was the best choice.
"…" Seraph had no response to that. While the VR was advanced and could mimic reality with an almost 100% immersion experience, that was based on what it was ed.
Alex's cultivation system was different in every way, and this was the first time someone like him had appeared. Without accurate information about him, this might as well be a dud.
What's more, the energy Alex utilized was not something humans could play with. It was not in the domain of things anyone could use; whether by technology or organisms.
Hunter Zol turned his attention back to the screen, observing Alex for a moment, his thoughts only known to him.
Seraph was smart enough to understand what Hunter Zol meant, but she wasn't entirely sure. Her mind went back to the meeting she had at the beginning of the academic year where Alex's instructor tried to resonate with him and nearly ended up on the floor.
'Like void creatures, huh?'
Her curiosity about Alex was growing by the day. Whatever this was, it was bound to raise a lot of waves. And if she had heard about the strange visitor, her certainty in her guess would have been more solid.
That information was closely guarded and while some forces had already seen the being, the empire wanted to believe they knew very little about it to matter.
Now that was not to say she hadn't heard of the potential S Class void creature hunter Zol and the others fought. It took a few days, but the news reached her, and like everyone else, the news shook her to the core.
That was when she understood why Hunter Zol appeared pale at that time. A void creature capable of injuring two Class S hunters to that decree was something humanity was not ready for.
"How long would it take before his next trial?"
Seraph was brought out of his thoughts when Zol directed another question at her.
"I'm not sure… What I do know is that the algorithm will send him directly to the top floor of the labyrinth once he completes the trials."
Without another word, Zol returned to watching the event. He watched as Julia and Abigail continued their exploration. After a moment of silence, he switched to the next member of the trio who was having a much harder time than Julia and Abigail.
For the past hour, Ross had been constantly traversing the labyrinth, fighting any and all void creatures that came his way. And while he had come across a few dead ends, he was mostly uninjured.
The use of his abilities was exceptional, creative, and destructive as every action of his was designed to end the creatures before they had the chance to regenerate.
But that had its disadvantages. His mana pool was certain to run out in time. Since this was only the second floor, he was bound to use more of it as the void creatures became more powerful the more he ascended.
Hunter Zol watched as Ross approached a region that was the bane of all the students.