As it turned out a combination of luck and skill quickly lead Green to her next discovery. The pathway had small flecks of dirt on and around it. This might seem mundane, as every path has some amount of debris on it, but Green had already noted just how clean the environment was and in her slightly tired state these small details grated slightly on her mind.
*This trail must be left behind by Clive. This makes it pretty easy to avoid the areas he has tread.* Following the path until it reached an intersection Green started to explore the untrodden paths. There were a few dead ends, but it only took Green five minutes to find something intriguing. An iron door was set into the wall. It had studded iron strips reinforcing it and a small handle relative to the doors size.
Green strained herself to open the door. It didn't just look like iron, it felt like it too. *I bet this is wood though… Then again at this point does it even matter? It might as well be whatever Thyme wants it to be. *
Eventually struggling to get the door open Green found an orb in a glass case with a note on a pedestal in front of it. A single light shone down on the note making it clearly visible with just the faint glow of the orb to reveal its presence. Green carefully walked up to the pedestal keeping alert for any traps.
And while the path to the note seemed clear it was the orb that gave her true pause. An unbelievable number of runic sigils had been engraved onto the base and while she didn't understand all of it, she did know that it was several layers of traps.
Green poured mana into her eyes, trying to be as generous as possible as she looked towards the pedestal with the note. She was going to abuse that extra mana regeneration and she needed to be absolutely certain that it wasn't trapped in any way especially after seeing the horror show that was the insane number of traps just on the orb alone.
And yet the pedestal was clean. In fact the rest of the room seemed to be clean as well. Green inched towards the note. *This feels wrong. My instincts are screaming at me that this isn't the correct decision. But there isn't anything there. I can't make my vision any better, I have no enchantments to further boost it… I have to go for it.*
Green approached the pedestal, and nothing happened. When she stood directly in front of the note, nothing happened. And when she started reading it, nothing happened. The note explained a lot of things though.
"Welcome to the time out box. This box has an orb in it but if you pick it up you will be trapped here for an hour without the ability to leave. Any attempt at leaving will render the challenger unconscious for two hours starting from the time of the attempt. A bed will be provided to help pass the time. You are free to leave at any point as long as the orb is not picked up."
*So that's why my instincts were screaming at me. There are other wards in this room but none of them will activate until the primary ones on the pedestal are triggered. They must involve defences against leaving. I could sense them all but they aren't active and they are hidden well.*
*So the question is then. Do I pick up the orb? Green glanced around the room. No actually I don't think I do. It says the timer starts after I pick it up right? So can't I just make this my last orb and come back after I've found something else. *
Green swiftly turned and left the room. She was unimpeded and walked out of the door calmly. Stopping to shut the hulking thing, Green left it open just a crack. Walking to the end of the hallway Green went back to studying the paths that Clive had and hadn't taken. Her decision had already payed off because Clive had ignored at least one orb, who was to say that he'd forsaken a second one.
*Wait does that mean I've actually been pretty lucky? I've found 3 orbs in total not counting the one 'given' to me in the starting room. And I only need one more if we count the one in the waiting room. I guess I can only look for one more then. Though, now that I've noticed the dirt left behind by Clive. I'd rather use my mana to obscure my traces of passing then speed up.*
Leaving the door behind Green started to explore more of the passages that Clive hadn't been down. Most ended swiftly in dead ends. A few ended shortly in dead ends, and two continued for quite a while before looping back to the intersection… which shouldn't really have been possible by Green estimation.
*Thyme must have special enchantments hidden somewhere. If I didn't have this marker of Clive's passing, I'd just think that I'm in a new section of maze but that isn't truly the case.* Green was certain that these intersections were the same. It may have only been a few flecks of dirt, but it was enough for Green.
After forty-five minutes of wandering though Green was starting to get nervous. *I've already travelled so far since the door. Maybe I should have taken the hour time loss… no that's a loser's attitude. The fact we haven't been teleported from the maze implies that the game isn't over just yet.*
Another thirty minutes had passed. Green wasn't actually that far away from the door with all the backtracking she had done but at full sprint it would still take ten minutes using her enchantments and staying stealthy would likely eat up around half an hour. Just when Green was seriously considering exploring a different section of the maze, she rounded a corner and was speechless at the sight.
In front of her was a large elegant building. This wasn't even close to the same level as the temple of riddles she had previously seen. The building in front of her was extravagant in every single way.
It stretched into the sky towering over the mage itself. *Wait, shouldn't I have been able to see this building from… well anywhere?* And it wasn't just the height. The roof was supported by massive marble pillars inlayed with detailed carvings filled in with gold stretching the length of the structure. The pillars themselves were easily a metre in diameter.
At the front of the building was a large staircase that lead towards an equally imposing door. It may have been opened but the solid wood doors, also innately inlaid with gold seemed to give off the impression that those that were unworthy should not enter.
The grounds surrounding the was a flat sheet of marble with a number of various sculptures instead of trees that seemed to sprout from the surroundings. At first glance Green thought them to be of random individual's but after noticing one on the side with spread wings and a kimono it dawned on Green.
*These are all statues of the contestants?* Looking closer though that wasn't quite right. They were all caricatures of themselves. The statue of Kat had manicured nails and a pout on her lips. The kimono Green had always seen her wear was down past her shoulders and threatened to expose her chest at a moment's notice. Her tail was tipped with a heart.
The statue that was supposed to be of Gareth was even more lacking, or at least Green thought so. His smile looked painted on, not the easy smile he had when looking at her or the polite smile he gave to colleagues. Not even the strained smile he sometimes aimed at Kress
The statue of Nixilei sent shivers down Green's spine. Her robes had additional runes carved into them, though the statues had no mana. Her face was covered by a mask that left only her eyes which seemed to burn into Green as she stared at them.
Green had no desire to look at the rest of the statues, though she spared a quick glance at the ones resembling Grace and her team. They all looked identical except for their various expressions on their faces. She didn't know them well enough to guess who was who, though. She also, made a point of avoiding the area her statue must have been.
Green climbed the mountainous steps in a few steps. More trickery she supposed, because a mere instant was not enough to climb the hundreds it appeared to be.
Entering the building Green was met with a bizarre sight. There were four copies of Thyme present in various clothing. Three were bound and kneeling and a fourth stood ominously behind them.
The one in the back spoke up "Welcome, to the glorious hall of judges.. You must decide the fate of these three. Murders must be sentenced to death"