From Player To Npc

Chapter 194: The Maze challenge

Shingi was familiar with those kinds of puzzles, and even without boosting his INT, he could solve them in time.

But he didn't.

He had put all put the last piece together and then left the time pass.

The reason was simple. The number of stones increased the less time he had, as also the maze was changing size depending on the time and people in it. So more people meant a bigger maze, and less time meant a smaller maze.

Of course, having less time had its drawbacks, but since he was by himself, finding a teleportation stone was possible, especially since the maze would be quite smaller. He could fly using his special boots to take a better look and find nearby chests from above.

When the duration of the test ended, he teleported back to the maze, and Shingi enabled his boots right away. The layout and size of the maze had some changes, as size-wise was close to eighty percent to what it was before.

Shingi started his way but didn't use HASTE, as it was still too early. Since his first test was a puzzle, this meant that all his tests would be a puzzle, but the difficulty would increase.

Most of the chests he found were either mimic or trapped. He actually found two with teleportation stones in them, but he didn't use them. They weren't trapped ones, as he got a closer look at them, but the reason he didn't use them was that he planned to fail.

Since the maze didn't have a Boss, this meant that there wasn't a real 'clear' the floor like the rest to earn extra exps for. But there was a condition that could allow you to get some extra exps.

The condition was for one to complete the maze at the last possible run. The first try lasted one hour. If he failed the test, the second try would be thirty minutes, then fifty minutes, then seven, three, and finally one minute. This meant that he had to fail five tests.

It was also a good chance to train the limits of his AGI and his new PICK LOCKET Skill, which he unlocked with the help of Hineko. It was currently at Base Rank and was increasing slowly since he had a Mage-based class, as this skill was mostly for Rogue-based classes. But nothing prevented him from learning it; just it was slower to increase its Rank.

Some skills were Class-Based that he couldn't learn, so one couldn't do everything. However, Shingi was heading in that direction, if not counting the lack of STR. His STR was still 12, which was the same as most beginners Warriors had, but he covered it with his high AGI and his Spells.

Increasing his STR after unlocking his class was even harder than before, as Mage didn't need to have a high STR, so the inner potential for that one to increase through training was less than before.

Shingi continued grinding his new Skill and his MANA MANIPULATION Skill by making balls of Fire with his Fire Element Mana and having them following him.

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SPELL LEARNED

The spell TORCH LIGHT(ungraded) has been learned.

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Even after learning the spell, he didn't use it but kept manipulating the mana to keep forming those moving fire torches. He also kept using ECHOLOCATION but not using his Earth Mana since he had it disabled on purpose this time.

He had noticed that his control of the Element he disabled from his Mana Pool was quite lower than it should be, which meant that it provided him with another hardship to surpass. Another tool for him to use for training himself.

If he increased his control using each Element to be at the same level, he had them now when they weren't part of his Mana Pool with when they were, he might even get closer to have over three non-Spirit Elements active.

Thirty minutes passed, and he teleported to the same room with the desk and the puzzle, only this time there were close to 150 pieces.

He worked on solving the puzzle but used his MANA DOUBLES and his MANA HANDS to move the pieces. He once more left the last piece on the desk and waited for the time to end.

This time he had 15 minutes, and the maze wasn't too significantly smaller than the previous round. It was close to seventy-five percent of the size of the first maze.

He once more started looking for the chests, and before the time was over, he had found no stones this time.

This time seemed not to have more pieces, but each one had a different color, as they were made of different materials. There were gold, silver, and copper puzzle pieces. Instead of one puzzle, he had to solve three, one for each of the materials.

For the test to count as a success, he had to finish them all in time, which meant he could finish two of them and left the last one unfinished. He didn't like letting the puzzles unfinished, but at least he had solved them. He just didn't put the last piece in place even if he knew where he should place it, meaning he had solved it, which helped a bit.

But only a bit.

He solved the golden and silver one, which had the most pieces, and was the most challenging, while he left the copper one unfinished with one piece unplaced.

Time started once more, even if there wasn't a countdown. But Shingi knew he had seven minutes. He was unlucky once more, and no chests that he opened had any Teleportation Rocks in them.

The test was once more three puzzles of the same materials, but the number of pieces and challenges had increased.

Shingi kept using his MANA DOUBLES and MANA HANDS to train on them, and actually, this time, he didn't make it to solve even one of them. However, he didn't mind it as he would fail either way and if he tried to solve them using his hands, he was confident he could do it in time.

This was the one before the last one and the last chance for Shingi to stop what others would call a suicidal goal.

He could use the extra exp for both him and Dark Shadow, who still would get some even if he wasn't with Shingi the whole time in the maze. But if he failed, that would literally cost his life.

He didn't know if he got the ability to respawn from his Player Side, but there was only one way to find out, and he didn't plan to try it. The way was for him to die, which meant that if he couldn't respawn, then he would be gone forever.

He probably could use his Spirit SPECTATOR MODE body, but that one had limitations, like the inability to level up and get stronger. He was one of the highest level Players with that body, but that was a long time ago, and more people should have reached that level now, especially in the Dark Guild. So being Ameanum was useless against them.

He also didn't want to go back to his old self's body unless needed. It technically wasn't his old body, as his actual body had turned worm food some years ago, but it was closer to his past body and self. He had changed from what he used to be, and even if sometimes he didn't realize it for the first time in his life, he enjoyed being around people.

He wasn't shy like Little Phoenix, but he spent no unnecessary time or had small talk with other Players. He had these kinds of talks with NPCs, but mostly for him to learn their research, Skills, or other types of knowledge they had.

A little before the three minutes were over, he opened a chest and found a teleportation stone. This was the last chance he had to stop from taking the enormous risk of the next round.

But he didn't take it and let the three minutes pass.

He didn't even try to solve the puzzles this time, but he started making MAJOR ILLUSIONS of the maze he went through. The mazes were generated randomly, but every generator had a key to make them, so if one found it, he could design the possible next maze.

He focused on making Illusions of all the mazes and finding their similarities and differences. But, unfortunately, he couldn't boost his INT as the effect was still in the cool down, so he had to do it all by himself.

When they were close to the tenth minute of the test, Shingi cast HASTE on himself. He had made an Illusion of a maze that he had designed with his research of the previous maze. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to fly up, so this was his only chance.

He had even found a pattern about placing the mimic chests and the trapped ones, leaving him with the positions of the chests that were either empty or had a teleportation rock.

He also found the pattern of choosing where he would start with, meaning he knew the potential routes he could take, and there were two chests that he could make and unlock in time.

The tenth minute was over, and he was back to the maze.

He started moving right away, and the route seemed to be like the one he had designed. Finally, he reached the chest at the exact point he had calculated it to be, and he started picking the lock.

His PICK LOCKET Skill had increased in power, but it was till Base Rank, unfortunately. He opened the chest in the twentieth second, and it proved to be an empty one, so he started his way to the next one.

He started going around avoiding traps without dispelling them, as he could pass through most of them fast enough not to hit him with his current speed.

He made the last turn and found the chest, and so he started using his Skill to unlock it.

He had 5 seconds left when he opened the chest.

The chest was empty.