Reincarnated into a Snow Griffin-Chapter 155

I am stunned for a moment but both do not seem to notice anything over my owl face as they move to get in and away from the cutting cold wind of the mountain, but one can imagine my surprise when, against all odds, I meet a known face out here in the middle of nowhere.

That clean shaved baby face, short hair, white porcelain face and smooth way of speaking are still very clear in my mind from the moment I saw him for the first time, years back, when I was still starting my life in the cultivation world, settling down and all, and found him being coy around another boy, so much so as myself now I supposed, and he is, or was, one from the Enlightened Sun Bearers cultivators too, and the other from the Stunning Golden Tiger like Ethan, now both shinning in my eyes with new light as I find myself in a situation much like themselves, although I do not see the other one, the red fiery one, and that worries me.

What brought them here, if they are both around at all?

"What is your name? I am Alexis Turner, I am, well, I was a cultivator from the Enlightened Sun Bearers and I can tell by your red vest underneath and the way you walk that you belong to the Stunning Golden Tiger sect, am I right?"

He must have known as well as I the way of the Martial Arts Sects just by looking at his stance at this point.

"Yes, my name is Ethan, and this is Seraph, we are looking for someone and we think he might be in here."

"Oh, is that so, and do you know where this is?"

"Well... not the details, no."

"But what do you know?" He insists as we walk down a cavern path, twisting and turning so much that I start getting worried about an escape route, this maze could get us killed as much as an axe to the head, the only thing is that I double down by not having a sense of direction for the lack of my Guiding Stone.

Not only that worries me, however, as I am kept in the dark about why and how he left the sect behind, and what were his circumstances, but I rather play the simple animal façade then reveal myself just yet, it may come in handy later.

At one moment, however, as we keep walking thought rocky corridors, with a torch in our guide hands, a thunderous sound resonates right behind us and, as we look, we see the rock slide unnaturally smooth as it slides back in place, not only blocking our path out but bringing complete darkness by enclosing us in.

I share a look with Ethan.

"So... what is this all about? This maze, that is..."

"Security measures of course." He says without explaining any further.

"For what? I mean, I just saw it move and..."

"And it would not be much of a security measure if I went explaining how it works to every stranger that ventures here now would it?"

True, but not so nice for the strangers in question.

And yet it comes to a point where curiosity and surprise takes the best of me and I am left in awe as I watch the last door roll out of the way to reveal what lay beyond the borders, the center of the maze, and it is... fascinating, so much so that I almost out myself by asking about the runes and magic at work here. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Instead I am left to watch in silence, and deep into the smallest details I did.

The central area is empty at most, a round scooped hole with two stone bridges at opposite sides connecting at the contraption in the center, a barrier of sorts with a transparent white glass aura around with big to small runes running along its surface, some together, forming lines of paragraph upwards, others alone floating around, resembling a book page if their words and content moved about around the page.

We keep walking, Alexis not paying attention nor hesitating as we finally reach its borders, blurred images making themselves scarcely known across the barrier that seemed to be rotation as well, moving the maze along with it in a complex incantation that took my breath away thinking of the possibilities and knowledge that such mages carried.

And yet we pass it without any resistance, but it is like getting out of a tunnel, the sudden pressure gone from the ears to give place to the loud outside, voices and people coming to view as they come and go, corridors of stone and houses twisting and turning around, coming to shape and hidden with the barrier, ignoring the lack of support underneath the floating stone set in between the rock bridges, but it is not a smooth stone with one floor but actually a complex of path and houses snaking around in the sky, forming a small yet complex settlement that could house more than a dozen.

Our guide stops walking and we stay put for a while, not advancing inwards as we wait for the responsible for the place to meet us, limping his way towards us as he drags his left leg around, a metal contraption keeping it in place and straight all the time, but even with that the old man seems to take care of himself, full of worked out muscles, and is a wonder how he keeps that up when not only he is half paralyzed but has that side of the body all burned up too, from toe to the top of the head if I can tell, half bald, blind from that eye, all pink wrinkled skin.

"Now now what do we have here?" He says, his analytical eye staying far too long on me, asserting. "I am Major Benedict, the one responsible for thigs around here, and who might you be?"

"I am Ethan, and this is Seraph, a pleasure." I do not react, asserting him back and looking at his battle rattled body.

This guy had experience, his muscles were forged in battle, and his scars too.

And that appearance is already an indication of what is to come, not only here, but in the next months of our lives.