Chapter 77 - The Maze (Part Two)

He wanted to finish them quickly, as he had only three hours to go through this maze. He looked at the ones that were frozen, and he tried to channel the water droplets that were inside to the outside. "I did it the very first time I used it, but I was also in a state of unconsciousness. Thus, I do not remember how I managed to pull it off", he thought as he looked at the hounds above.

Lucas had now frozen four more, and he was out of Mana. The others had gone ahead and began to cut them, only to end up with more hounds around them. "They have begun to split up. If we prolong this, it will take forever for me to finish this maze. And there is the threat of death looming over us", he thought. 

"Only in the face of death, will one be able to outperform oneself", he thought as he looked at the beasts above. "If they split, we just have to make them split again. Their tiers will go down, as their sizes and their attack power has gone down noticeably", he began to analyze.

The situation was not as bad as it seemed to be. "Let me try this", he thought and was about to jump into the middle when he looked around and saw that every beast had been dealt with. "Ever since I had used Raijin's powers, I have a gotten slightly faster. And my lightning has become much stronger than before too", said Tobias.

Lucas smiled as he looked at the countdown that was running right above his head. "Alright, there is a door here. Let's see how we can open that door", he thought as he looked at it. Then he saw some pieces that were missing from the door. "What's the theme of this Wasgij?', read the words at the top of the door.

"A Wasgij? Seriously? This is one of the most confusing jigsaws out there. And I need to solve this? Alright, let me get my brain cracking for this one", he thought as he looked at the door. Some of the pieces were missing, and there was a lever next to the door. He pulled on it, and a box appeared from below the lever.

He then opened it and began to look at the puzzle. "Alright, we have seventeen missing pieces on the door, and we have almost thirty pieces here in the box. If I need to figure out the theme, I need to figure out the pieces first", he thought.

Wasgij is the reverse for Jigsaw. Wasgij was the type of puzzle, in which the pieces of the puzzle and the picture on the cover of the box, never match. Lucas always had to use his imagination and solve it, and he never knew if that was indeed what the puzzle was meant for. A Wasgij always tended to have multiple solutions. And it all depended on the person's imagination.

"And if this person is asking for a specific theme, then that means the man already had a vision, and I need to complete his vision", he thought as he began to sort the pieces out. He then looked at the pieces on the door, and the pieces on his hand. "Alright, seems like each missing piece almost has two to three solutions. But which one will be the precise one?", he thought. 

He then looked at the pieces and the puzzle on the wall. "How much time do we have left?", he asked. "We have two hours and fifty-one minutes left", said Robert as he looked at Lucas. "And how much have we completed among this maze?", he asked Valentine. "I'm afraid to say that we are only ten percent through", said Valentine.

"Crap!", he cursed out loud. "This is annoying. Wasgij's are annoying", he said as he began to place down a few pieces he thought would be the accurate one. But nothing happened. There was no Golden or Red hue that indicated that he had done something wrong. "Maybe I'm doing it right?", he thought as he began to fix it up more rapidly.

After he had fit all seventeen of the pieces in, the door began to glow a white hue, and it opened up. "Why a white hue? Maybe it was something that the creator envisioned and thought it to be a neutral grounds?", he thought as he began to run again. 

This time, the terrain changed from an open path to a closed path. There was a roof above their heads, and this was somewhat keeping Lucas on edge. "I don't know why, but I think this place is more dangerous than it seems", he thought. And just as he thought, the place rumbled.

"What's going on?", asked Tobias, He was scared of everything that was going on here, and he needed to know what was going on. "It seems like we are in some trap, and to solve this thing, we will need to do something that is required by this place", he replied to Tobias. "And what is required to stop it from crushing us into paste", he asked in a terrified voice.

"I don't know. Maybe just run away from this place?", he said in a skeptical tone. he was on the lookout for something that could stop the walls from caving in. And not just the walls, the floors, and the ceiling was caving in as well. Thus, Lucas decided to run fast. But then he felt something weird happen. "No matter how much we run, the distance seems to be the same. What do I need to solve here?", he thought. He then paused and began to look s around.

That was when he noticed something on the walls. "You find me behind the stars; or in a sixth, seventh, or third. It takes something round, a computer, and me to make a pie. I am bigger than anything you can think of. What am I?", it read.

"A riddle. Ah, now this is something I can solve quite easily", he thought as he looked at the words. He then began to think. "Just what kind of a theme are we in? The distance is stretching for miles, and it's like we are trapped here in this corridor that wants to kill us before we even solve the answer", he thought as he began to think deeply.

"The distance is uncoverable. Maybe that could be a hint to finishing this riddle. If the distance can't be covered, then this whole thing must be related to only one thing. Mathematics. The Queen of all Sciences", he smiled. He then began his breakdown.

"Alright, we have three numbers. Sixth, seventh and third. And if I change this Pie, into the term 'Pi' in Mathematics, then this right here has solidly four terms. Which means that this riddle's base is Mathematics indeed", he smiled.

Everyone was weirded out by his smile, but they knew that he was the only person smart enough to solve these riddles and puzzles. The others weren't as sharp as him in the brain's aspect and thus had to rely on him solely. "Alright, if I take the Sixth as a number, it doesn't necessarily have to be the number six. It could also be in decimal points. And if it is, then this distance and the sixes could just go on forever and have no end", he thought.

"The same could be said for the Seventh and the Third as well. Pi, well that number could also be said the same as these three. The only thing they have in common is that their numbers keep on stretching like this same thing we're facing. It's like we're running on an infinity line", he thought. He then smiled as he had figured out the answer.

"It's infinity", he thought as he looked around for a place to write the answer. But as he didn't find anything, he just bit the tip of his index finger, and he wrote the answer right beneath the question. The distance that they were trying to cover for so long, had been covered in an instant. The pathway opened up after they left, and they were panting on the floor.

"That was surely intense", chuckled Robert with his chest heaving up and down. The same could be said with everyone, except Lucas. He quickly used his technique to gather up his stamina, as he remembered that time was against them. "Just what kind of a maze is this?', he thought as he looked around.

He then got up and dusted himself off, and began to look around. "This way should be the right way", he thought. He knew it was, but he had to keep up an act as he can't tell then that he was an awakener to them. He wasn't sure as to how they would respond to him being an awakener. 

"What's the next one?", he asked Valentine as everyone had recovered enough from the rest. "I do not know. Only after you come in contact is it triggering the puzzle", he said in a confused tone. Lucas smiled. "Well, if there wasn't a challenge, I wouldn't have considered this in the first place", he smiled as he cracked his neck and his knuckles.

"Alright, we will be heading down this way. Just be aware of your surroundings, as that will help us in getting out of this maze", he said and everyone nodded their heads. Lucas then took off, and everyone followed him behind, making sure that they were close to him. 

"What will the next puzzle be? This Maze is turning out to be more interesting with each second", he smiled.. He was looking forward to the next puzzle that was going to be thrown at him.