Tower of God: The Flower of Earth (Slow Updates)

Chapter Fifty-Three

I walked through the doorway, and blinked to clear my eyesight from the suddenly bright light. I looked around, trying to figure out if I was in the maze I had seen before.

When I was finally able to see, I could tell I was indeed inside the maze and the test.

The maze walls loomed up above me, lit by the candles that flickered as they hung from lanterns.

'You must escape this maze, but you must face a series of trials to do so.' Harmony appeared before me again. 'It is never easy. Especially to one who is not who they think they are.'

"What do you mean?"

'You will see, Jigu Kkoch. You will see.' Harmony vanished with a gust of wind, swirling as if they were a whirlpool of water, before their light was gone.

I looked at the two paths that the maze gave. Right and left. I had a feeling that if I went the wrong way, bad things would happen.

I had to follow my gut in this one, my pockets and lighthouses gone. I walked up and looked both ways. They seemed identical, mirrored from each other. Except for the positions of the candles.

"I wonder..." I grabbed my staff that was hanging off the back of my backpack, and tried to move a candle on one side in order to line it up with the one on the other side.

It flickered and glowed a bit brighter as I lined it up, then worked on the rest, before the two doorways closed and a new one down the middle opened.

"Ok. So it is a big puzzle. So If I can just solve all the problems... I will make it out. Right?" I took a breath and walked through the new passageway. The white light blinded me, much brighter than the candles that lit the dark world, but did not seem to illuminate anything else.

I looked around after my eyes adjusted, and saw I was in a familiar place.

"The floor of tests? This is where I met Kal and Mercy." I walked to a nearby landmark, seeing the spot where Kal tried to attack us. Racing over to where I met them, I saw a figure in the small clearing surrounded by the tall yellow wheat fields. But it wasn't us. Around them were dozens of dead bodies, as they hadn't received the 200 kill limit yet, to be partnered with others.

There was some sort of ominous energy around them, as I watched their pale yellow hair flitter in the breeze, their flail swaying as blood dripped off it.

"Who is that?" I wondered, and slowly got closer, not sure if this was an illusion or not, as I could touch the wheat, but could not pick up rocks to throw.

As if the figure heard me, they turned around to face me, the golden honey eyes boring straight into mine as I snapped out of whatever trance I was in, as I reappeared in the maze.

I held my head, hearing a ringing noise that caused a throbbing headache to come on. "Ow... What was that?..."

I half expected Harmony to come and explain, but the flaming test administrator was nowhere in sight. I looked around and realized there were three paths in front of me, with the way I came now closed behind me.

I couldn't see any visible hints, and gave a sigh. Now what? Just choose one and go?

Choosing one, I walked down it carefully, keeping my eyes peeled for any signs of traps or any type of trouble. Up ahead, I spotted another hallway that had light, and gave a soft sigh of relief. Maybe that was a way out?

I started running ahead, before hearing a hiss. Quickly turning, I saw darts coming out of small holes in the wall, and swung the Dreamwriter up in order to block the sharp tips from stabbing me. More started being fired out, shooting from both sides, as I quickly slid to the floor to avoid being hit.

Ok. Clearly walked into a trap. Now, how to turn it off or escape it?

I looked around, and realized I could not see the colosseum outside of the dome. It was just a midnight sky, starless and moonless.

I hoped that if the others were in this test, they were doing alright.

I army crawled on the ground, staring straight ahead at the doorway in front of me.

"Don't get up too soon, don't get up too soon, don't get up too soon, don't get up too soon," I mumbled repeatedly, trying to keep my head down as I resisted the urge on getting up and being hit by the physical objects.

I hurried and managed to get free of the darts, and scrambled to my feet, as I hurried towards the doorway.

The Dreamwriter in my hands seemed to vibrate, as if trying to escape my grasp or lead me away from the doorway.

I hesitated, looking down at it. I had never seen the piece of wood do anything quite like that.

I looked at it, wondering what was going on with it. Shaking it, trying to stop it, I walked through the light, only to be blinded by the bright light again.

The scene changed once again, as I looked around confused. I did not recognize where I was. Clearly, I have never been here before. It was some sort of city scene, somewhat quaint, but well developed. I made my way through the crowds of people, walking through them as if they were a hologram, before seeing the figure I had seen in the other light. He and his mace were cleaned, as he was clearly older. , as I walked around him, looking at the figure, before seeing a small necklace around his neck. The pendant looked similar to the one that I had seen before, but could not figure out where from.

"Who are you? Why do I keep seeing you?"

I did not hear a sound, nor see the other figures' faces, but I did notice one thing in prominent, clear detail.

He had the Dreamwriter strapped onto his back.