[Max's POV]
Once again, I found myself surrounded by wooden structures; however, there were some different feelings, like I was being actively watched as soon as I appeared. The walls, floor, and ceiling—everything was made up of the thickest roots possible.
This place was mostly dark, and the only source of light was the glow in the tree roots, likely because of sap. This emerald light was supported by small bioluminescent spores flying around. As I took a step, it felt like the floor was stretching beneath me.
The silence was also thickening and heavy, all in all one of the creepiest places. Just as I took a few steps, the system panel appeared with information about the new round.
[Round 2 – ROOTBOUND LABYRINTH]
[Participants – 500]
[Advancement Slots – 50]
[Duration – 60 minutes]
[Each player is placed in one of the 5 Rootbound Labyrinths]
[Scoring Parameters – Claim one of 10 Heart Seeds]
[Once a player activates a heart seed, they will be immediately advanced]
[There are no retries; once dead in the Labyrinth, players will be spawned on their respective floor]
[Round 2 begins....]
I guess we are in final phases now, I muttered while darting my eyes around for anything suspicious. The next moment, the root walls separated, giving an exit from this place.
I stepped outside, to be greeted by multiple paths, ornate with branches and leaves. I was floating ahead with average speed and had my OGS active. I could observe a faint line connecting all of the roots moving towards a single point.
I followed this point to see if it provided any clue to the position of heart seeds. Suddenly, my senses caught on to something coming at me.
In a few seconds, 5 monsters appeared in front of me, and the system panel popped up with information.
[Thornmaw Stalkers]
[Rank – B+]
[Veinlash Creepers]
[Rank – B+]
As soon as they laid eyes on me, they attacked. Multiple roots appeared around me trying to ensnare me. I dodged them mid-air.
The quadrupedal monsters, Thornmaw Stalkers, lunged at me with their jaws open. However, they found their mouth stuffed with hot plasma as it burned them from the inside.
The Veinlash creepers were cut in pieces by my plasma rays. I refrained from using Aethercut Plasma because of its ability to produce sound afterwards of the attack.
I journeyed ahead, dispatching some monsters ahead. I was feeling slightly repetitive and planning to rest for a day or two after this tournament.
Clearing floors was not this boring, but as the tournament neared its end. My sole focus now was to win this tournament and spend some time with Revanya; she always loved to hear how I killed monsters on the planet.
As the memories of her calling me 'Big brother Max, you are so strong to be able to kill those monsters, but don't worry, when I enter the tour, I will earn many Myth Coins so that we can enjoy them freely.' An inexplicable smile formed on my face.
Her words were always full of hope and love for me. I didn't know why, but recently I had started having more memories of Revanya in these last 2 days, probably because I am getting bored, I thought.
As I followed the faint trace lines, they started getting thicker and thicker. I encountered a few more beasts, but they didn't cause any delay.
I encountered a group of 4 players ganging up on 2 other players. It had only been around 10 minutes, so I stopped to see how things played out while spreading my mana to see how far these faint glowing lines connected.
The leader of the 4-player group with a warrior attire and shield in his hands spoke with a grin of his, "You guys could have joined us, but you had to oppose me when we found each other."
The player opposite to him, who looked bruised and bleeding down to several cuts on his body, spoke with a strained voice, "Why do you need to eliminate people when the objective of this round is to activate heart seeds? We 6 could have themed together, so why do you choose this?"
The leader and his three lackeys laughed wickedly. "You still don't get it. In these 60 minutes, we may never find this 'Heart seed,' but if we eliminate anyone we see, doesn't that increase our chances? Even if we don't complete the objective, what would the system do if there are less than 10 players left?"
Hearing the reasoning of that leader, I laughed loudly despite knowing that I would be found out. I mean, this reason looked logical and everything, but it becomes idiotic when they think they can con the system.
The one who manages knows how many people, and these dumb idiots think they can outshine the system. My laughter reached their ears, and they started searching for the source.
I stepped out in front of them; the leader looked mad and spoke furiously, "What are you laughing for? Do you think we are joking here?"
I looked straight in his eyes, controlling my laugh, and replied, "Yes."
"So you are the cocky type. I have seen many of those in Tower; in the end they kneel before me." The leader sneered and gave one of his lackeys a look.
The lackey moved forward with his sword blazing and swinging towards me at full speed, shouting, Infernal Slash.
Before he could show off his skills effect, his head melted under the plasma ray.
I spoke nonchalantly, "It's funny because you chumps seem to think you can bypass system words and think of yourselves as smart. Even I don't live in that illusion."
This was the last thing they heard before they met the same fate as the previous one.
I looked at two players and addressed them, "You have around 40 minutes; good luck," and took off as I pinpointed the clutter where these lines seemed to be connecting.
The more I neared the pointed direction, the more monsters appeared, but at this point they were just one shot away from melting. Plasma was the best—silent, deadly, and destructive; it's everything you could ask for in the best offense.
The narrow walls started widening as I reached my destination; there I saw another humanoid monster. The system quickly appeared as a panel with information.
[Seed Guardian – Bloomwarden Myrmidon]
[Rank – A -]
[Abilities – Adaptive Armament, Judgement Growth, Rootbind Sentence, Bloom Reversal, Verdant Finality]
"One more humanoid monster, huh? I hope she is better than the previous one," I commented, ready to claim the Heart Seed.