SP - F3 Gift Within The Maze <<Search for the Hoya>> (Completed)

[Calrex 0]

A bright blue flash could be seen at the third floor portal for the Delilah Village settlement. After a quick second from the flash materialized a person clad in cloth outerwear. The person had blue medium length hair and fair skin as he gave a sigh.

 

"Alright, so I'm on the right floor, now I've just gotta get to where I need to go..."

 

Calrex looked around as he made his way out of the village and out into the fields surrounding the village. He adjusted the gauntlets on his arms and his sword on the back of his hip as he made his way into the nearby forest.

 

"Supposedly this particular dungeon is located in the Forest of Wavering Mist, but inside there is an item called the Hoya of Minos that would be great as a gift. I know that Xanatos and Azide currently possess them when we went on that quest, but it would make a great gift."

 

He felt his cheeks turn red as he thought of Teayre as he gave a smile, "I know that she seems to wear that necklace all the time, but I hope she at least likes this as well...if not maybe there's something else I can do to make use of it."

 

With that he gave a calming breath as he went into the tree line, swiping through his menu to equip his Grand Chariot armor, his body becoming surrounded by the deep sea blue metal. As he exhaled the helmet surrounding his face gave an echo to it.

 

"Alright, let's do this."

[Calrex 0]

As Calrex made his way into the forest he kept his fists clenched as he looked around, giving a couple of calming breaths as he looked around.

 

"This forest is certainly more eerie than the sixth floor jungles. I wonder if that's related specifically to the quest or if it's like this all over the fields on this floor. In any case I'd best be careful. All of this ambient noise can make it difficult to listen for an monsters that might be lurking about."

 

As he made his way down what appeared to be a more traveled path Calrex let his eyes relax, letting his <<Night Vision>> and <<Reveal>> abilities activate. While the skills allowed him to see fairly well through the trees the fog that seemed to be a permanent part of the environment certainly hindered his ability to make progress. However, because he could see through the trees themselves it allowed him to keep from getting ambushed.

 

"No creatures hiding in the trees so far, just more and more mist. I guess that name really is no joke."

 

As he continued to follow the path he eventually came to what appeared to be a fork in the road, splitting like a T. He couldn't proceed any further straight ahead due to the close cluster of trees that laid in his path.

 

"Great, it looks like this forest is starting to look more and more like a maze. I'd best do this carefully then. Everything is starting to seem alike."

 

He opened one of his hands into a claw, making a slash on the tree in front of him angled diagonally from the bottom left to top right.

 

"The game might try to mess with me and remove this, but if not it'll be a way for me to tell if I've been here. So right now I'll go down the right path."

[Calrex 0]

Calrex began moving down the right path as he had planned. This particular route seemed to be straight for a long distance as the trees became more and more dense as he continued on.

 

"I can't really tell if I'm even making any progre..."

 

Just before he could complete his thought the path seemed to turn a corner as it began to go around in a strangely winding route. Calrex gave a calming breath as he continued following it. While the screams of the forest were continuing their haunting cries, he seemed to have gotten used to the ambient noise.

 

"Alright, well it looks like I'm on a supposedly right path though. As long as it doesn't go winding all the way around, because then there's a chance that it might go in a circle..."

 

He passed by another fork in the road, making another mark that he had taken the left path as he continued on. The fog seemed to be getting more and more dense as he continued on, to the point that the most his <<Reveal>> ability was lending him was the ability to see through some of the fog. It seemed more and more difficult to see through the trees.

 

"I really hope I'm on the right track..."

[Calrex 0]

After some further traveling down the path he had taken Calrex gave a quick look to see if there was any way of checking his progress from where he started. Unfortunately as he looked around there was no real difference in scenery from where he started and where he was now. The heavy fog and dense foliage made it virtually impossible for someone to keep track of themselves on their own. He cursed under his breath, "Looks like the only things I'll be able to rely on are those marks I've been leaving on the oath. I hope they don't get removed."

 

As he walked further there appeared to be a small change in scenery as he continued. The forest seemed to shift from the dark green of the trees to a different texture. Stone. the maze-like structures shifted from being like a forest to more like a constructed maze. "A change in scenery. That's usually a good sign that I'm making progress..."

 

Unfortunately it appeared that this path came to an end at a concrete wall. Calrex sighed as he inspected it, seeing if there was possibly a hidden lever of latch that would trick the less traveled player, but none was to be found. With that he turned back around, heading back into the forest. He glanced back, seeing that in the stone-like part of the maze the fog seemed to be less dense. As he looked further up he saw that the wall that he had encountered was actually a part of what looked to be a larger structure, the back wall of the larger structure to be exact.

 

"Alright, that's a good indicator that I need to take a path that leads me around to the front side of this thing. For all I know that might be my destination."

[Calrex 0]

After backtracking for some time Calrex came back to the second fork in the road he had encountered previously, "Well, I've already gone to the left. Might as well try the right now."

 

Making another mark to indicate his new direction he made his way down the second path, making sure to keep his steps light. The mist continued to fill the entirety of the forest as Calrex made his way down the new path, looking left and right to make sure that no hidden passageways opened up. He could feel the coldness of the forest began to seep its way under his armor as he gave his arms a quick swing before returning them back to their normal walking positions.

 

"I guess they weren't kidding when it was said this forest served as a maze. At the least it doesn't seem too difficult just yet..."

 

He let his <<Reveal>> skill activate once again as he tried to see through the immediate area. The wall-like parts that served to lock him on his path became transparent as he began to look around.

 

"Hm...there doesn't appear to be any paths that run adjacent to this route, so that must mean that this particular road serves as an edge for whatever maze has been devised. Alright then, I'll continue down this one, but it if hits another dead end then I'll only have one more path to take. Hopefully it doesn't end up being more complex than this one."

[Calrex 0]

"Alright, this is looking more promising than the last route. It seems to be winding around like its making its way around to the front side of that structure..."

 

Calrex suspicions seemed to prove correct as the path he traveled down seemed to arc away from the pyramid-like building he spied in the distance before it curved back and began making its way back around. This time though, it seemed like the fog wasn't dispersing as his path changed from forest to stone once again. Instead, it was getting heavier and denser. It eventually got to the point that the fog seemed dense enough that Calrex could cut through it with a knife. He waved in front of him to try and disperse some of it, but even his Reveal skill proved to be ineffective against this fog.

 

"Wow, even with this ability. It's like the game is scripted so that this area would be hard to navigate, even for those with improved detection abilities. Well I guess that's one way to level the playing field..."

 

He gave a calming breath as all of a sudden he saw the path diverge once again, similar to his very first crossroads. However, instead of being at the base of the T this time, he was on the right side heading towards the middle. It was as if someone had rotated the T clockwise so that the paths were straight ahead of left.

 

"Hm..."

 

"I'm almost getting a feeling that if I were to go straight the path would come back around the place me back where I first started. The left path seems to move closer to the structure, so I'd best play it safe and take that one."

 

With that he made another mark and headed left.

[Calrex 0]

As Calrex continued to make his way down the path he had picked the stone surroundings seemed to open up into what appeared to be some sort of small clearing. The area itself seemed oddly like a Mayan ruin, with stones set into the ground to create a stable floor. The area itself seemed to be a square with four torches, one set into each corner of the area. On one side of the area, opposite of where Calrex entered, was what appeared to be the large structure he had seen previously. From this side it revealed a large staircase which what appears to be two minotaur statues, one on each side of the entrance to the staircase.

 

"Alright, this looks to be where I needed to go. Supposedly the Hoya is inside of that temple-like building. Although...those two minotaur statues seem to be fairly odd. I remember that Xanatos and Azide may have mentioned fighting a minotaur when they took this quest. I'd best be careful..."

 

Calrex gave a calming breath as he began to approach the staircase, looking to his left and right to keep track of the two statues should they all of a sudden come alive. As he reached the foot of the staircase he looked up as he began to make his way up. However, something immediately sent his sense on alert as he quickly backflipped, kicking off the staircase and landing a few feet away from its base. A loud crash echoed out as Calrex leapt, and for a good reason.

 

One of the minotaurs had awakened, trying to take a swipe at Calrex with the double-sided axe that was in its hand. Calrex's timely dodge force the attack to crash into the staircase as the minotaur silently turned to face Calrex.

 

He gave a calming breath as he straightened himself up, clenching his fists as he went into his fighting stance, "Guess I was right. Alright then, let's take you out..."

[Calrex 0]

ID: 14053

Battle Dice: 1 (Accuracy +1) = 2

Mob Dice: 9 (Evasion +1) (+1 Damage)

 

As Calrex readied himself to fight he rushed forward, his fists up and at the ready as he went in for a strike. "If this minotaur is of the size I'm guessing, that might mean it'll move slower, although maybe not as slow as the golem I fought before."

 

"Tch..." Calrex gritted his teeth as the chain-like aura formed around his forearms as he rushed in for a strike. Unfortunately, his assumption proved false as he tried to attack from the minotaur's blind side. As he went in to punch he looked to see one edge of the minotaur's double-bladed axe come flying at him. The strike was quick enough that he barely had time to put his arms to guard. The rapidly spinning blue chains of his skill activation seemed to shatter as the axe crashed into Calrex's gauntlets, sending him reeling across the ground before he slammed into the wall behind him.

 

A few rocks fell and bounced off of his armor, the small clinks and clanks resounding as Calrex got to his feet. Even though his eyes had squinted in pain from the blow, the Grand Chariot armor's helmet continued to give him the stoic white slanted appearance where his eyes were.

 

"Okay that smarted. So even for it's large size this particular monster moves at a normal speed. I'll need to be careful then. It seems like it might be also more aware of its environment. That strike had way to much windup to have been a reactive attack."

 

Calrex gave a few calming breaths before settling into his fighting stance, the blue aura chains forming once again around his forearms, "Let's see how it like a little payback..."

 

HP List

Calrex: 30/32 (+3 Damage Mitigation)

 

Enemies:

Minotaur: 23/23

[Calrex 0]

ID: 14085

Battle Dice: 3 (Accuracy +1) = 4

Mob Dice: 7 (Evasion +1) = 6

 

As Calrex rushed in for another strike he crouched low as he got into striking range of the minotaur as he leapt up, bringing his fist back, "Let's see how it handles this..."

 

He thrust his fist forward, attempting a quick straight punch at the minotaur's head. His chain-like aura shot forward like a shotgun blast as his fist closed in, coming just within range...before all of a sudden Calrex felt something make contact with him, knocking him out of the air.

 

The minotaur had brought the arm holding the lower end of its axe around, slamming the butt end of its weapon into Calrex in order to stop the attack. It wasn't as strong as its previous strike, but still enough to keep Calrex's own blow from connecting. As the minotaur's attack connected on Calrex's back the Grand Chariot armor's Thorn effect activated. The light blue aura chains appeared and wrapped around the breastplate as the minotaur's strike slammed into them, causing them to shatter, the shards creating small cuts along the monster's hand.

 

Before he hit the ground Calrex flipped upright, kicking back to gain some distance between him and the minotaur, "Alright, this thing certainly seems to have a more intelligent AI than the golem's. No surprise there I guess. I'll probably need to speed up my tactics then..."

 

HP List

Calrex: 29/32 (+3 Damage Mitigation)

 

Enemies:

Minotaur: 22/23 (-1 Damage from Thorn)

[Calrex 0]

ID: 14088

Battle Dice: 4 (Accuracy +1) = 5

Mob Dice: 6 (Evasion +1) = 5

 

"Let's see...it appears that when I take the offensive its reaction speed is more than enough to fend off my attacks. So let's see how it does when I go on defense."

 

"Alright...come at me..."

 

Calrex gave a calming breath as he brought both arms up in an X-block, giving the illusion he was preparing to endure an attack. The minotaur stepped forward as it brought its axe back to its left, making a large swing as it tried to sweep across the ground where Calrex was standing. Calrex's eyes keenly followed the path across the ground the axe was making, seeing it come towards his position. As it got into striking range he quickly leapt up, planting his feet on the axe face itselt, riding it as the weapon completed its path on the opposite site of the minotaur.

 

As the momentum of the swing died out Calrex kicked off the face of the axe, rushing for the minotaur's head. As he drew close he quickly did a front flip to bring his feet in front as the light blue aura chains appeared around his legs. Unfortunately, as he was about to strike the minotaur moved its head to the side, with Calrex drop kicking straight into the ground past it. Calrex gave a sigh as he stepped out from the small crater that was left from the impact as he looked back at the monster.

 

"Alright, I'll need to react even faster then..."

 

HP List

Calrex: 29/32

 

Enemies:

Minotaur: 22/23

[Calrex 0]

ID: 14093

Battle Dice: 7 (Accuracy +1) = 8

Mob Dice: 10 (Evasion +1) = 9 (+2 Damage)

 

"NONE SHALL PASS!"

 

"Oh...so this thing actually can talk..."

 

Calrex gave a couple of calming breaths as he brought his arms up, this time more like the way a boxer would assume their stance. His hands were closed into fists as he brought his elbows in line with them so that his arms were perpendicular to the ground. He kept his thumbs towards his face as he looked through the opening between them. His eyes watched as the minotaur brought its arms back for another swing, preparing to time it once again so that he could go for another strike at it's head.

 

However, the stance created a blind spot in Calrex's field of view, right in front of his arm. As he kept an eye on the axe all of a sudden Calrex felt a slamming impact hit him in the gut. The minotaur's hoof had come up from Calrex's blind spot and connected straight into his stomach.

 

"Guu..."

 

The impact knocked him off the ground as the minotaur brought its axe over, slamming it into him like a baseball bat, sending Calrex into another wall. This time the strike was enough to temporarily pin Calrex to the wall, leaving an impact crater in the wall where he was.

 

"Darn it...that was a pretty hard hit...good thing the Grand Chariot armor seems to be taking most of the blow..."

 

Calrex removed himself from the wall as he dropped back to the ground. Beneath his helmet his eyes dimmed for a split second as he gave a calming breath once again, but he quickly shook his head and regained his senses as he looked back up at the minotaur.

 

"I can still take this thing down. I've just got to connect a strike."

 

Due to the newly increased distance between the two the AI appeared to have the minotaur execute a charge at Calrex, it's head tilted down to expose its horns as it charged forward.

 

"Switching tactics. No more dodging around. This thing want to play strongman, let's play along for now..."

 

Calrex planted his stance, slamming his feet into the ground with enough force that his feet partially sunk into the stone as he gave a calming breath, not much unlike a martial artist would do to center their ki. He brought his right arm back as he watched the minotaur get closer and closer. At about halfway on terms of the total distance Calrex clenched his right fist, the light blue aura chains appearing around his forearm as they began to spin rapidly, almost like some strange cross between a snake, a drill, and a chainsaw. At about one third distance left he brought his right arm further back to almost maximum extension, tensing his shoulder muscles in preparation like one would pull back a slingshot or readying to shoot an arrow.

 

As the minotaur got into striking range Calrex let out a sharp exhale as he sent his right fist forward. As his fist connected with the minotaur's forehead the aura chains dispersed like an umbrella before shattering into crystals. The force of the impact stopped the minotaur in its tracks, the attack connecting successfully. With that Calrex quickly withdrew and side flipped to get some distance once again. The minotaur seemed dumbfounded for a second before it straightened up as it grasped its forehead in pain.

 

"Talk about thick headed...alright one shot connected. I've just gotta keep this up."

 

HP List

Calrex: 26/32 (+3 Mitigation)

 

Enemies:

Minotaur: 17/23

[Calrex 0]

ID: 14100

Battle Dice: 8 (Accuracy +1) = 9

Mod Dice: 1 (Evasion +1) = 0

 

Since the minotaur was still reeling from Calrex's last strike it gave him enough of an opening as he decided to rush in from the minotaur's new blind spot: The side whose eye was being covered by the the creature's hand. He lowered his arms as he used his <<Sprint>> ability to quickly circle around behind the monster's back, quickly leaping up onto a curve in its back, kicking off of that so that he could land on the back of the minotaur's neck.

 

As he landed Calrex quickly brought his right hand back as his left grasped onto the fur on the back of the monster's head, not much unlike one would hold the back of a horse's mane when riding without a saddle. As he held on his right forearm as the light blue aura chains spiraled around at a rapid pace. Once they reached a critical point he thrust his first forward, slamming it into what Calrex figured was a gap between the vertebrae in the creature's neck. The chains dispersed like before as his fist connected.

 

The minotaur lowered its hand as the new pain came from behind. It reached the arm holding its axe up, trying to grasp Calrex. Fortunately, the additional weight slowed its movement down enough that Calrex could leap clear. In a funnier note, the hand rotated, bringing the handle around and smacking the minotaur in the muzzle. With that the creature dropped the axe as it used both hands to enclose its muzzle as it tried to recover from the accidental self-inflicted pain. The axe fell and landed against the ground with a resounding clang.

 

Calrex leapt back a few more paces as he slid to a stop in the dead center of the area, keeping his eyes trained on the stunned minotaur.

 

"Alright, finally a decent hit. Let's keep this up. Going from what I know the main differences currently between this monster and the golem is that it doesn't have the invulnerability the golem had, but makes up for it with speedier movements. I guess that might be a common difference between an organic monster and a construct."

 

HP List

Calrex: 26/32

 

Enemies:

Minotaur: 12/23

[Calrex 0]

ID: 14103

Battle Dice: 9 (Accuracy +1) = 10 (+1 Damage)

Mob DIce: 10 (Evasion +1) = 9 (+2 Damage)

 

As the minotaur continued to massage its muzzle while recovering from Calrex's recent attack Calrex rushed in once again, attempting to exploit the distraction. He lowered his arms so that his fists were fingers up, positioned by the bottom lining of his breastplate, "Let's see if the Hekatonkiers part of the flavor text was accurate..." The light blue aura chains appeared as they began to cycle rapidly around his forearms like they were being accelerated by some kind of acceleration spell. Calrex rounded to the front of the minotaur, priming his legs for a straight up jump as he got just out of striking range.

 

At the same time as this the minotaur fully recovered from its stunned state, seeing Calrex move in front the front. It initially began to reach for its fallen axe, but then as Calrex got into striking range it switched strategies and brought up its arms, ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat. As Calrex got into striking range it brought its arm.

 

Calrex pushed off of the ground, leaping straight up. He kept his body parallel to the minotaur's as he began to unleash a barrage of punches as he traveled up the minotaurs, striking the creature's middle line. His fists became a blur as his strikes slammed into the minotaur's body, the aura chains crashing into the creature's body before dissipating into lights. As Calrex reached the head of the minotaur he brought his right arm back with a finishing strike, but right then the minotaur's right arm came forward, its hand opening as it grabbed Calrex out of the air. Following its momentum the minotaur pivoted 180 degrees, bringing its arm up and around, throwing Calrex into the ground.

 

"Gwah!"

 

As Calrex hit the ground the impact was enough to create a crater and have him bounce off of the stones like a trampoline. At the same time the minotaur brought its other arm back, as if it knew Calrex would come back into the air. The fist came low like a body blow, the entirety of the fist slamming into Calrex as it sent him flying away. He rolled about fifteen paces before stopping. The shock was enough that he wasn't able to recover in mid-roll, looking like a ragdoll as he rolled across the ground. After about ten seconds Calrex regained his senses as he got back to his feet. He gave an eerily calming breath as he pushed himself to his feet.

 

Underneath his helmet his eyes became dimmer for a second as he returned his gaze to the minotaur. He looked as the minotaur's HP bar dropped into the red zone.

 

"Creature's health at critical levels...Focused engagement not deemed necessary...continuing use of improvised tactics"

 

"Gh..."

 

The light in Calrex's eyes returned as he shook his head. "That sensation again..."

 

He looked back at the sword on the back of his hip, the Grand Blade that Oikawa had forged. He remembered that gazing at it's dark blade reminded him of the tranquility of the ocean, as if it forced some kind of overwhelming composure over him. His right hand slowly began to reach for its hilt.

 

"It might be useful in this fight, but that state...no...there's no need to use it now. I can take this thing down without that strength..."

 

He moved back into a fighting stance as he prepared to engage the minotaur once again.

 

HP List

Calrex: 23/32 (+3 Mitigation)

 

Enemies:

Minotaur: 6/23

[Calrex 0]

ID: 14106

Battle Dice: 10 (Accuracy +1) = 11 (+2 Damage)

Mob Dice: 7 (Evasion +1) = 6

Loot Dice: 12 (Search and Detect +1) = 13 (Mob HP * 5)

 

As the minotaur gave another roar Calrex gave a calming breath, the white slits of his eyes that showed through the helmet of his armor closing and reopening as he centered himself, "Let's try this one more time..."

 

He lowered his stance, as if preparing to brace for something. As if he knew what would happen the minotaur readied itself for another charge, kicking the ground with one of its hooves as it began to try and get a good planting position to push off from. It seemed that when the minotaur reached critical levels the Ai decided to give a Hail Mary attack. As it continued to kick against the ground its right arm reached over and retrieved its axe, holding it with both hands. It seemed that the minotaur was going to reinforce its charge with the axe held out in front.

 

"Focus...this is nothing in the face of your current strength. You've taken the strongest of its hits. Push past that and a clear opening will be there for you to exploit..."

 

Remembering a cutscene from a particular game he had played Calrex lowered his position even further, his front leg now bent at about a 100 degree angle as he planted himself against the ground. His back leg began to apply pressure forward, readying for the impact force of the charge.

 

The minotaur charged forward, moving even faster than before. However, instead of its charge from before that used only its horns as a weapon it began to swing its axe rapidly in a downward X pattern, picking up speed as it drew closer to Calrex. Calrex's eyes continued to watch the axe as it moved around in space.

 

"Closer...closer...now!'
 

As the axe came back down Calrex stepped in, the head of the axe moving behind him as the pole part came towards him. He raised his arm to take the blow. As it did the Grand Chariot armor's Thorn ability activated once again as the aura chains surrounded his forearm like a series of snakes. As the wooden pole hit the chains burst into shards, the pieces cutting into the pole, actually breaking the handle from the axe head. As the same time minotaur brought its head down and forward as it tried to gore Calrex with a horn.

 

Calrex pushed forward, his other arm coming around, aura chains already spiraling in a frenzy. He gave a low yell as he ran forward, the minotaur's charge forcing him from moving forward. His fists flew forward in a rapid barrage of strikes, his fists becoming an even faster blur than before. The chains, now instead of dispersing upon each strike, seemed to pierce through the minotaur's head like a shotgun blast. Finally after almost twenty rapid strikes Calrex drew his right arm back for a few seconds longer, rotating his body away from his arm to build up tension in his shoulder muscle as he hurled it forward in a strange strike that looked in between a straight punch and a haymaker. As the final strike connected the minotaur bust instantly into a series of crystals, floating a few feet into the air before disappearing.

 

Calrex remained in his final stance for a few seconds before giving a few slow calming breaths as he relaxed his position, giving his arms a forceful shake backwards as if to remove any "crystal dust" from them."Alright...that's done... now what is next?"

 

Loot List:

1 Material

115 col (Mob HP: 23 * 5)

 

HP List

Calrex: 22/32 (+3 Mitigation)

 

Enemies:

Minotaur: -2/23 (-1 Damage from Thorn)

[Calrex 0]

After the battle with the minotaur had been completed Calrex rested against the wall for some time to make sure no other traps had sprung. After giving a few minutes to make sure he pushed off and stood on both of his feet, heading back towards the building as he eyes the other minotaur statue that stood on the other side of the staircase, "Aright, this one isn't gonna come to life all of a sudden as well is it?"

 

He approached the statue and looked and down it before giving it a couple of punches to the legs. Since the statue didn't respond he figured that the battle portion was over as he gave a sigh of relief, "Alright then, all that leaves is to find this Hoya of Minos."

 

While making sure to keep his eyes on the other minotaur statue Calrex made his way up the staircase. After what seemed to be an almost unnecessary long flight of steps he looked as he came to the entrance of the tomb. The double doors were closed, with a torch on each side. There appeared to be an inscription above the doors in a language that Calrex didn't recognize.

 

"Well, best get a move on..."

 

He went over to the doors and prepared to push them open. However, to his surprise the doors didn't even come close to budging, "Great, that's an obvious sign that there's possibly a puzzle I need to solve. Better start looking around."

[Calrex 0]

Calrex began to inspect each part of the entranceway to see if there was a hint towards a possible solution to the puzzle of unlocking the door, "Hm...usually from what I remember there are multiple ways that puzzles contribute to a door opening solution."

 

"There's always the usual one of clearing out all the monsters in a room, but that normally applied to situations where you were already in the dungeon itself. In terms of entering a building there were puzzles where you had to find a missing piece, or moving some kind of mechanism so that the lock on the doors would release. The question is which one might the creators of SAO have used for this particular puzzle."

 

As Calrex continued to observe he passed by a panel that he had breezed over previously. He stopped this time and close inspected it. From a distance the panel appeared to have been another message in a unreadable language, but as one got closer the characters actually revealed to what looked to be a map.

 

"Don't tell me...This definitely looks to be a map of the maze I had just gone though. Looks like the path I took to get here was the very far left route, while that road connecting to this area appeared to be the far right route. Hm..."

 

Calrex looked closer to see that there were certain dead ends on the map that seemed to have special markings on them. There were three on the map, each one seeming to have a different stroke marking each one. He stepped back, looking around the area once again.

 

"Those marks seem to be a part of a character. I think if I activate those in the order of making the character it might activate the door."

[Calrex 0]

"Alright...so it looks like I might need to got in this order, going what I know of character strokes. So...it looks like I'll need to head down the path I didn't take from here, then take a right and...there...got it..."

 

Calrex backed up from the panel as he tried to make sure he had dedicated the routes to memory before he turned back around, heading back down the staircase. After reaching the bottom he had sure once again that the second minotaur wasn't moving before taking off out of the square and back into the maze. Once he hit the first intersection he took off down the path he did not take, rounding corner after corner as he made his way through the maze as he came to the first dead end. There appeared to be a pedestal with a push panel on it. On a panel above it was the character stroke that Calrex made note of previously. He quickly pushed down the plate before heading off. Right after he did a noise was heard, as if a resounding timer began to count down.

 

"Shoot, there must be a timer related to this maze. I need to hurry!"

 

He quickly made his way, remembering the location of the next pedestal in his mind as he quickly drew a path from the routes he memorized. As he made his way around the corners he broke into sprints down each of the straight ways that he encountered. The second panel quickly came into view as Calrex slammed his hand on it, taking off back down and towards the next panel.

 

After hitting the final panel Calrex stopped as he heard the timer stop, the sound of stones moving.

 

"Guess the mechanism activated. Alright, that's good to hear. I'm not sure how much longer I can be in this forest before those screams get stuck in my head."

[Calrex 0]

After some time making his way back to the square where the tomb was located Calrex reached his destination, approaching the base of the stairs. He gave a few deep breaths to recover from the marathon of sprinting he had to do just a minute or two ago in order to activate the mechanism of the entrance. He slowly made his way back up the staircase, taking maybe a minute per every ten steps until he finally caught his breath, picking up his face to about 15 steps per minute.

 

After reaching the top of the staircase once again he saw the familiar scene. The torch on each side lit up the entryway to the tomb, with a panel above the doorway in some kind of unreadable language created by the designers of SAO. However, there appeared to be a new puzzle awaiting him. Like a relief there appeared to be a new pattern on the front face of the double doors, right where the locking mechanism would be for modern day doors.

 

"Great a new puzzle. Alright, best see what it is. I really hope this is the last one I need to solve."

 

He walked forward and approached the puzzle panel, looking at it from all sides before settling on facing it head on.

 

"Hm...this one seems to be a sliding panel puzzle, where I need to move the squares to their correct positions. There's one missing panel so that you can move the panels adjacent into its space...this is going to take some time..."

[Calrex 0]

"Alright, move that there so that this can open up...move that there then this goes there...that goes in the corner and...done!"

 

As the final panel slid into place the puzzle itself seemed to sink into the doors as the latch that was holding them together resoundingly unlocked itself. Calrex gave a sigh of relief as he placed his hands on the doors and pushed, seeing the two easily slid back and opened inwards, revealing the darkened passageway inside. There didn't appear to be any torches within the tomb, but with his <<Night Vision>> active this proved to not be a hindrance at all.

 

"Should be just about done. I just hop there's no more traps or puzzles within the tomb. Of course there is the tendency for things to happen in threes...and I've only completed two puzzles unless you include the maze itself. Best be prepared in any case."

 

He kept his arms at the ready as he slowly made his way into the hallway, looking left and right, "Nothing so far, that's a good sign for now..."

[Calrex 0]

After traveling down the passageway for quiet some all of a sudden the hallway opened into a single small room with fairly plain decorations.

 

"Wow, for all the trouble this quest supposedly causes, this room seems fairly ordinary. It almost seems like another trap room before the actual room."

 

He entered into the room cautiously as he kept his right hand clenched into a fist, "Alright, best start looking around..."

 

The room had two stand out objects within it. One was what appeared to be a coffin of sorts that was built into the ground. The second item was what looked like a third minotaur statue, much like the one outside at the base of the staircase. However, this one was in a different pose from the other. It had its arm extended, as it pointed to the lower right corner of the room.

 

"That could be an obvious clue. Let's see what it might be pointing at..."

 

Calrex turned and looked in the direction of the finger. It didn't seem to be pointing at the exact corner of the room, but about five inched short. He tried to look in the area where it pointed, but nothing really stood out.

 

"Alright, nothing there. Let's see what else I could find out..."

 

After checking that spot Calrex got back to his feet, deciding to inspect the tomb next. But it seemed that the tomb was not able to be moved or budged.

 

"Alright think. Maybe this relates to the entirety of the building itself. Think outside of the room. What could that minotaur statue be pointing to outside of the room..."

 

Calrex crossed his arms as he thought quickly about the area. Eventually something clicked in his head as he slammed his right fist down onto his left hand, "I wonder if it's referring to the outer minotaur statue..."

 

With that he promptly left the room and began to make his way back out.