EXCEL -Volume 1: The Beginning-

🔹Chapter 2: Quest For The Count🔹

_25_JUL_926_

_ROYAL_EXAMINATION_DAY_1_

"A lovely day to all of us. I hope everyone is ready as our examination officially starts." Alpha stated, starting the ceremony. "I'm sure everyone had a good amount of rest yesterday but today, we are here to focus on the purpose of your invitation, the exam. The goal is to challenge each one of you to see who is suitable enough to become members of the Royal Elites. We will test not just your strength, but also your intellect. Of course, Elites are not just skilled in fighting; they must also know the basic knowledge. On our first test, we will challenge the mental and logical skills of each student through this maze that I've prepared."

The entrance next to Alpha is the starting point of the exam. Each student will enter this route one by one. They will not be colliding with one another for this route creates a new dimension every time someone enters, thus, giving them no distractions. In this challenge, the students can only collide once they've exited the maze.

"The test will start the moment you enter the maze and each student has a limit of 2 hours. After the timer stops and you are not outside, you will automatically be disqualified." The students made their way in front of the entrance, waiting for Alpha's signal to enter.

"Before I forgot, to answer the riddle combine one to the other and continue at the end's first."

Inside the dimension is dark, the only thing keeping it tactful is the torches on the walls. It was quite a long walk, taking at least a minute before you could arrive at the first chamber.

The first chamber is very wide-spaced. There are four routes including the one Ylona just entered. In the middle, it somewhat looks like a pulpit. She went closer and saw arrows that pointed out to each route, along with a number in the middle.

~5~ 

The number 5 is the placed number in the middle.

Ylona took time to analyze the number, along with carefully observing the routes in each direction. She looked closely at the arrows and started counting, clockwise starting from the next lane of the path she went in—which is the west.

Counting till 5, her eyes laid down on the last arrow—pointing out to the west.

However, the moment she stepped her foot inside, countless traps appeared including the metal door that almost sliced her foot if it weren't for her great agility. Given that the answer was wrong, she went back to rethink. How will she solve it? Going back to Alpha's advice, Ylona began counting once more and this time, the answer leads to the south route. 

She had just arrived using the south route and now she is to go back. Thinking that this might be one of Alpha's old tricks, she began to contemplate. After a while, she turned and left using the south route only to find her intuitions correct. It was indeed the correct lane to proceed.

The moment her foot stepped inside, a quick earthquake occurred. The pod in the middle began moving down and the route in front of her started closing. After a few seconds of darkness, torches began lighting up one by one, guiding Ylona to the next chamber.

"Isn't this the one she gave out to the kindergarten*?" 

Suddenly, she felt a presence following her. Ylona turned around but found nothing. Thinking it was only an imaginative sense, she proceeded to the next chamber. The next number is 24—leading her to the east lane. She went inside and like what happened a while ago, the ground shook and the route closed.

She reached the third chamber and continuously entered the routes correctly. However, the moment she entered the fifth chamber, the walls started moving and surprisingly, it began to move in rotation. After the unexplainable earthquake, Ylona continues the exam and moves to the pulpit. The numbers started counting randomly and after a few seconds, it showed the number 9.