Labyrinth

"Ah, they're in."

Lin Xiaolu peeked out from the bushes, her head emerging and then her whole body. Her feet touched the slightly damp ground as she looked around and uttered some meaningless thoughts.

What she saw now was no longer the campus scene in the Silver Gallery, but a long walkway. The ceiling and walls of this walkway were made of shrubs and flowers, which filled the surrounding environment with a faint fragrance.

The process of entering this maze from the Silver Gallery was somewhat subtle. Lin Xiaolu and the others lined up and entered the back Garden of the Silver Gallery. Following the examinees in front of them, they walked along the only path for a while, passed the only corner, and then arrived at a "dead end" surrounded by bushes. The examiners told them to go directly through the "dead end" in front of them and crawl through the bushes to reach the maze, which Lin Xiaolu did.

Then she came in.

After she uttered that pointless exclamation, she heard rustling sounds behind her. Soon after, Mint and Bai Jingxuan entered the place in the same way.

"Oh, they're in."

Mint echoed the same sentiment, deeming the food devoid of nutritional value.

"So, what should we do next? Just start looking for an exit?"

Lin Xiaolu looked around and turned to her two teammates. "Theoretically speaking, we can go forward or backward now. Which direction is better?"

"Hmm... don't rush."

Mint looked thoughtful, then slowly walked to the wall surrounded by bushes, stretched out her hand, and placed her palm on it. "Did you feel it? In the passageways of the maze, whether it's the walls, the floor, or the ceiling, there are very faint magical fluctuations."

"I can feel it."

Lin Xiaolu said nonchalantly, "But this maze was built using Spell Formula, so it's normal to have magical fluctuations, right?"

"No."

Mint closed her eyes, as if sensing something, and after a short while, she spoke again, "Yes, I was right, let's move on."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Lin Xiaolu's eyes widened immediately.

"It's a bit troublesome to explain with words. You two, put your hands on the wall and then use your Mana Perception."

Mint waved to Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan, the gesture sounding like she was calling for a kitten or puppy, "Those with strong senses can just sense it from the spot."

"Does it really work?"

Lin Xiaolu walked to the Mint's spot with some skepticism and followed suit by placing her hand on it. Almost simultaneously, as she began to use her Mana Perception, she felt as if the area she could perceive had been suddenly torn open, and everything around her appeared in her mind in perfect detail.

It was as if her soul had left her body for a moment, allowing her to examine the maze she was in from a godlike perspective: a map of the maze with a radius of twenty meters around her current position appeared in her mind. Just as Mint had said earlier, if they had chosen to go forward, they would have encountered the first turn about fifteen meters ahead, and then, it would have been a dead end.

"Holy shit."

This was Lin Xiaolu's initial reaction.

"Amazing!"

Bai Jingxuan, standing behind her, also uttered a similar exclamation, but hers was clearly far more civilized than that of her senior.

"The Spell Formula within this labyrinth are clearly not just for maintaining its existence."

After confirming that both of them had seen the radar-like image, Mint began to explain her earlier actions, "Furthermore, I don't believe the Research Institute's Spell Formula level is that low. The Spell Formula maintaining this labyrinth could easily conceal its magical fluctuations; there's no need to make such a fuss about its existence. And considering the hints the examiner gave us before we came..."

"What hint?" Lin Xiaolu interrupted, somewhat puzzled. "I don't remember it."

She said, 'Please explore the maze diligently and get a higher score.'

Mint lowered her hand from the wall. "Don't you think that's a little weird?"

"That's weird... Is it? It's just some ordinary polite talk, isn't it?" Lin Xiaolu pondered.

"Perhaps I'm overthinking it, but I still feel that this sentence is a hint."

Mint explained, "Because, according to the 'explicit Rule's she previously announced, this assessment should just be a pure speed race. It's about how fast everyone can search the entire area and find the exit. Is it really necessary to call such a competition 'exploration'?"

"That's possible, right? Explore and find an exit or something." Lin Xiaolu herself was a little unsure.

"However, this Spell Formula now proves me right."

Mint patted the wall. "Such obvious magical fluctuations are practically telling us, 'Come check me quickly!' If this were a video game, this kind of prompt would be like a 'highlight' in the game. And this Spell Formula can expand a magical girl's senses, acting as a 'mini-map' to some extent. You could say it's telling us—there should be many things in this maze that can be used to speed up the assessment."

Lin Xiaolu stopped Mana Perception around her and looked at Mint: "So, what you mean is?"

"What I mean is, we shouldn't be in such a rush to find an exit. At this stage, we should focus on exploring what seems to be 'hidden'."

Mint continued explaining to Lin Xiaolu, but for some reason, Lin Xiaolu could sense that her gaze seemed to be glancing at Bai Jingxuan beside her.

The look in their eyes was rather strange; it wasn't exactly friendly or malicious, and there was no curiosity or inquiry in it. It was as if they had simply seen something that caught their attention, a calmness mixed with a hint of contemplation.

Meanwhile, Bai Jingxuan kept her eyes closed, sensing the "mini-map" around her, unaware of Mint's gaze.

Mint quickly turned her gaze back.

As if that brief glance was merely an illusion, she nonchalantly looked at Lin Xiaolu and continued with her theory:

"Since it's a 'maze,' it's very likely that there's also 'treasure.' Compared to the 'exit,' the treasure is definitely more tempting, isn't it?"

"... What about the grades?"

Lin Xiaolu's heart skipped a beat. The way the other person had looked at Bai Jingxuan earlier had almost made her think she had revealed something. She knew that the Aberrant Beast magic within Bai Jingxuan was a ticking time bomb; if anything were discovered during the assessment, the consequences would be unimaginable. Fortunately, the other person seemed to lose interest after only a couple of glances, allowing her to remain somewhat calm.

"If it drags on too long and the ranking gets too low, won't we get many points?"

"Ah, this? I think it should be fine."

Mint smiled with a refreshing air:

"If I'm not mistaken, at this point in time, the 'exit' doesn't exist at all."