When the light vanished, they were now inside a maze. They looked at each other with a frown because of the sudden turn of events. The walls of it were at least five meters high and ten times thicker. They were more confused and convinced that it was not reality.
"Run!" a sudden whisper echoed in their ears followed by the rumbling and shaking of the ground. They then heard a growl from the back.
They were taken aback by what was standing behind them. It was a centaur with the upper human body that was full of muscle and it was holding an ax on its hand. It was at least seven feet tall and the centaur's feet were pounding on the ground ready to go after them anytime.
"Intruders. No intruders allowed in this area. All intruders will die!" The centaur repeated those same lines over and over again before it disappeared and appeared above the young mages with its ax that was raised in the air and ready to land on them.
Ezio and Isaiah both managed to dodge and even though they were unsure of what was happening, their instinct to survive was still greater. Since they could use magic in that place, they managed to stand a chance against the centaur. Both of them attacked but it seemed to have no effect on the centaur. It still kept on charging towards them.
"It seems that even our magic has weakened," Ezio commented when his spells got blocked by the enemy. They were in a bad position, not unless they could wake up.
Not only a centaur but a pair of ogres also appeared after they managed to outrun the half human half horse enemy. They then realized that they were actually inside a maze that was full of monsters. Their life was now in jeopardy.
"What do you think of this place? Is this the kind of place that will kill us and even our physical body?" Ezio asked after they were face to face with the ogres that were staring at them.
"I have a feeling that it is. So, we need to be careful. Let's go and try to find the exit to this place once we do that, we might get out," Isaiah suggested.
If this was a scheme from the enemy then that also means that their bodies were in danger. They were not even sure if the sentinels who were with them were still alive. They were careless, to fall into a deep sleep must be influenced by something outside. If it was magic, they should have detected it already.
Isaiah doesn't want to suspect them but at that moment it seemed to be the most plausible reason. They needed to wake up soon because if they didn't then he was afraid that the enemy would soon make his move. "Ezio, let's clear our own way."
With that in mind, Isaiah did not hold back and summoned lightning that struck the ogres. Although their magic has weakened, his lightning could still hurt and it did. The ogres were down after that one attack.
"Why do I feel like these monsters are weak or is it my imagination?" Ezio suddenly commented after the ogres disappeared.
Isaiah also narrowed his eyes but he did not answer. They made their way towards the center of the maze but on their way, the centaur appeared again. It roared and started to charge at them. Both of its hands were now holding ax and it was ready to chop them down.
The centaur swung his axes but it did not hit Ezio nor Isaiah. They deftly dodged the attacks and were jumping from side to side and sliding here and there to avoid the attacks. Isaiah mumbled a spell while he was running and a ball of electricity slowly appeared on his hand.
He threw the ball towards the centaur but he managed to deflect and redirect it using the surface of its ax. The lightning ball flew away from the enemy but it was swallowed by a dark swirl that appeared out of nowhere the it appeared again, this time the lightning ball struck the centaur on the face. Ezio actually used his gate to deliver the blow.
Even if Isaiah's attacks missed, he would make sure that those attacks won't be wasted. The rush of lightning filled the entire area which slowly numbed the enemy. The centaur finally couldn't move its limbs because of the lightning that was coursing inside its body.
Isaiah took this chance to summon a lightning spear. He saw it from Rigel during the exam and he had secretly practiced making it, now he could try it. The lightning spear gave a feeling of power and the heavy pressure it was exerting to the surroundings made Ezio's skill numb. If that thing missed, it would need his total concentration to be able to transfer it using a gate.
He steeled his heart as he prepared himself to create a gate big and sturdy enough to hold that spear. Isaiah was already sweating hard as he held up the spear. When he saw that Ezio was on standby, he could finally let it go.
The spear went down hard. The centaur used both of its axes to defend from the attack and to push it out. Isaiah saw that the centaur was about to blow away his spear so he added more mana into it to make it heavier. The centaur let out a grunt as the ground beneath it slowly cracked and gave in.
Ezio saw that the centaur wasn't going down so he made his move. Instead of using the gate to transfer the lightning spear, he chose to use it on the centaur. The enemy disappeared and the lightning spear went crashing down then the gate opened again as it threw the centaur on the ground where the lightning spear struck.
The remnants of the lightning spread through the entire maze and destroyed all of its walls. The centaur and the maze slowly disintegrated and so were they. The attack must have caused the illusion to waver as they could feel that they were about to wake up.
Earlier that night, after they've had their dinner and practiced in their rooms. They went normally to sleep without knowing that they were already trapped. Once they fell asleep, the magic would activate.
They waited for midnight to come before they made their move. They transferred their bodies to a carriage since the rain had finally stopped. Even the sentinels were carried and placed in another carriage. They were quietly moved from the inn and out of the town.
The carriage driver couldn't stop from looking around while he was driving. They were told to move the bodies into one of the vacant temples located in the forest behind the town. It was only his job to move them and yet he was feeling nervous.
This was his first time doing this because the one who usually does the job was out sick. He was even more nervous because they were people that the duke sent. He even asked their leader if it was alright to target these people but the leader became angry.
"It is what the Mighty One asked us to do. So, we should obey or else our town and families will die, do you want that? Besides, the Mighty One said that he will take care of the aftermath so all we need to do is obey," the leader answered angrily after hearing the driver's question.
At those words, the driver shut his mouth and did not question the leader's words any longer. He returned to the present as he noticed that his thoughts were wandering away. With the rain gone, they reached the temple after only an hour of ride and the people inside were yet to wake up. He was relieved because the technique of the leader was always flawless and hasn't failed even once.
