Chapter 322 Dead End
"No need to rush right," Leon said, walking toward the two.
Alten turned to face him.
"Like Lyrian implied, rushing isn't going to help us in this situation. The unknown must always be approached with caution, not with impatience."
Alten nodded, and then replied, "Hah! Since when did you become so smart!"
Leon seemed to get slightly ticked off by this, as his expression remained the same, but his eyebrow twitched.
After a few seconds, he said, "Are you trying to say I'm not smart or something?" In a low tone.
"Woah woah! Calm down there. Don't unleash your anger on me." Alten put his hands up.
"But, I suppose you're right," He looked around at the other students.
Most were already exiting the main room, having the idea that rushing was the best.
"It's not like we are competing to see who can get to the final room the fastest. This isn't a race, but an exam."
After Alten said this, Lyrian retorted, "Exactly. But the circumstances make it feel like a race, huh?"
He walked back to them as he continued, "This is a graveyard, one that holds a treasure. Be it an inheritance, or a pile of gold left behind by some pirate. It's still valuable,"
He paused, as the other two listened intently,
"Whenever there is anything valuable involved, you have to assume that there is a risk also involved with it. Life isn't so easy that things like that come to you for free, just because you rush to them. This applies to nature, and it sure as hell applies to the intelligent mind."
Alten was slightly taken aback by how much Lyrian's words made sense.
"God damn... alright then. I'm listening to you, man." He laughed.
"Alright... let's go now," Lyrian said, walking toward one of the pathways.
He saw that a few students still stayed in the center for some reason.
As he and the other two made their way to a path, they looked at these students.
"Are they planning to just stay there?" Alten muttered, looking at the students slowly surveying each and every inch of the room.
Without batting an eye, Lyrian moved forward while saying, "Now, those are the students that are a bit too patient. They are the ones who won't get anywhere in life because they take everything to the extreme, but in the opposite direction."
"Hah! Good one!" A voice suddenly sounded from behind the three, as Geld joined them from afar.
The three turned to look at him as he politely asked, "Oh, is it alright if I join you three? I don't have a team of my own."
Lyrian was quick to answer, "Sure! We will need a bit of an encyclopedia on our team."
Geld laughed as he heard this. Just then, another set of footsteps walked forward behind him.
"Looks like it was a good call to not say our departing words back then huh? Almost all of us have met up so soon in the exam. Oh, mind if I join you guys?"
Alten smirked to hear this, as Lyrian retorted, "No problem."
Finally, another voice also sounded, this time from behind Jackson.
"I'll be going this way." Spoke Jalern, the red-headed noble.
With his two friends, he made his way behind Lyrian and his group.
"Huh? Are you sure? There are at least 15 other paths you can go in." Geld replied on hearing Jalern.
Masvidal and his goons didn't move as they got behind Lyrian's group, "Yeah, no. I said I'm going this way, so don't question my decision."
"Jeez... alright fine." Geld turned around, not willing to deal with the rude attitude any longer.
"If you're going to be behind us, don't slow us down," Lyrian exclaimed out of nowhere.
Jalern furrowed his brows at that moment, as one of his two goons donned a confused expression.
"Huh? What does that even mean? How can we even slow them down from behind?"
The other acquaintance of Jalerns replied, "I don't know... I think he's just trying to insult us."
In truth, even Alten had no clue what Lyrian meant.
'Huh? What does that mean? Slow down from behind?' He mused inwardly, 'Well, whatever it means, I better keep my mouth shut.'
Jalern seemed to clench his teeth in anger but then calmed down after a slightly long breath.
"Just walk." He retorted quietly, surprising Lyrian--who thought the noble was going to burst out into a fiery rage.
"Huh... alright. So be it."
He turned around, beginning to walk into the path. This corridor was about 15 feet high and wide enough to house several people--about 20 feet in width.
It was lit up mostly by amber crystals but occasionally showed a few Manathryll ores here and there.
Of course, all of these were swiftly snatched up by Lyrian. He wasn't going to waste an opportunity to make some free money.
Especially not with the colorful, high-grade stuff that he was seeing currently in this labyrinth or whatever it was.
It was a bit awkward walking with Jalern and his two friends right behind them, but Lyrian's group got used to it after a short while.
Before long, they came to what seemed like a dead end.
A wall that looked just like the other three walls covered the path.
After that, there was nothing. The students were left slightly bewildered, as Lyrian stepped forward and observed the wall closely.
"There is clearly nothing to look at..." One of Jalern's companions--who had his hair slicked to the side--said, walking up right next to Lyrian and looking at the wall as well.
Lyrian didn't reply, as all the others began also looking at the wall for a few seconds.
Finally, the second companion of Jalern, a slightly chubbier boy, took a step back.
"This is retarded! Stop gazing at a blank wall, damn it!" He said to Lyrian, who was the first to do so.
"Just admit you made the wrong decision to take us down this path."
At that moment, Lyrian turned around, "Shut up, fatty."
"Wh-what?" Jalern's friend was flabbergasted, and Alten nearly burst out into a loud laugh--but managed to contain himself.
"Look at the amber crystals. They come up right to the edge of this wall blocking the path. If it really was a dead end, then the crystals wouldn't come so close, as there would be nothing to light up."
The fatty didn't know what to say, speechless from what he heard a second ago.
"On top of that, this wall has a slightly lighter tint than the other walls." Lyrian turned to face the wall blocking the path.
"It's almost as though it hasn't had as much time out in the air like this, so it isn't as dirty. On top of even that,
He paused, placing the side of his head against this wall as he peered at the edges of it--where it connected to the other wall.
"It doesn't mold into the other wall at all. There is a very short gap in between. That means that it is moveable and that something is behind it."
The fatty was taken aback by all of this. Neither he, Jalern, nor the other kid apart of his team could utter a word.
"My... what keen observations. You are completely right, Lord Lyrian. I admire your ability to recognize such small details." Geld exclaimed in amazement.
(AUTHOR NOTE: Got a lotta crap going on rn so chapter posting schedule might be a little wobbly in terms of time for the following days. Don't worry though, chapters will still be posted, even if not at reset.
On a side note, this Deployment Exam won't be stretched out.)
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