Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player



"This is amazing!" exclaimed Kaizen as he put on the ring.

"What? What does this thing do?" Linus inquired with interest.

"I don't know for sure, but it looks like it's some kind of item with the ability to guide you through the maze."

Just then, the old man reappeared, this time closing the chest. "That's right. This ring has a lot of history and was forged by a legendary blacksmith a long time ago. It is said to be able to guide even the most lost adventurer;

Kaizen looked at the ring with respect and then looked at Linus. He didn't know if the story was true or not, but there was no doubt that this was a powerful item, despite its low attributes.

The old man laughed. "I knew you would like it. Now go. Get out of here."

Kaizen and Linus left the room, feeling the excitement in their veins. They had passed the old man's test and now possessed a powerful weapon.

After they left the mysterious old man's room, the rune door closed behind them and the runes stopped glowing. They realized that they were back in the first corridor they had entered by going off the main path.

Linus thought for a moment and then suggested:

"You and the old man said that this ring can guide us through the labyrinth, right? So can it lead us to the Minotaur?"

"I can try." Kaizen said and closed his eyes, concentrating on his desire to find the Minotaur.

However, he didn't feel anything special like before, not even a chill. That being the case, he opened his eyes after a few seconds and was startled to see Linus staring at him with his dark glasses.

"Um... What are you doing?" Kaizen asked with a nonconformist expression.

"Um... Just staying close so I can grab you if you teleport." Linus replied.

"Well, that's useless. The ring didn't work." Kaizen said.

"Try talking to it."

"Talk to a ring?"

eαgles`c,om "Magic items usually listen to their users."

"All right, I'll try."

Kaizen looked at the emerald ring and said, "Ring, show me the way to the Minotaur. He waited a few seconds, but nothing happened.

Suddenly, to his surprise, the ring began to vibrate on his finger, and a greenish light emanated from it, illuminating the path before them. Instead of simply guiding him, the ring created a sort of green trail that hovered in the air, indicating the correct path for Kaizen and Linus to follow. And Psyker felt as if something was pulling him in a certain direction.

"What is it?" asked Linus, watching his companion.

"I feel something and I see something.... It feels like the ring is actually pulling me in a direction," Kaizen replied, pointing to the corridor to his left that led off the path to the right where the main corridor was. "Let's go that way."

Linus nodded, unable to argue with the idea.

The two friends began walking down the corridor, following the greenish light that only Kaizen could see. The corridors became darker and more winding, with stone walls that seemed to move as they walked. And the uneven stone floor, with moss growing in places, seemed to make their footsteps echo more and more.

They followed the path without thinking much about where they started, feeling as if the ring was really leading them to their destination.

The path meandered through the labyrinth, leading them through narrow corridors and secret passages, and along the way they encountered several occultists and mercenaries of the Eye of Hermodr who had been caught in the labyrinth's traps. Some were still alive and begging for help, while others were dead and beyond saving. Kaizen and Linus continued to follow the trail, ignoring the cries of suffering and despair around them. They had no mercy for these bastards, nor would they expend an iota of energy on those who were already doomed to die.

As they advanced, the green trail began to grow more intense, glowing with even greater power. Kaizen felt the pressure in his ears and a burning sensation on his skin. He knew he was getting closer to the Minotaur, for the labyrinth was also becoming more complex and treacherous. There were traps in every corridor, like hidden holes in the ground and walls that moved to crush whoever stood between them, and Kaizen and Linus had to be cautious and agile to avoid being killed as the ring led them without warning of danger.

In places, the path split into several corridors, each seeming to lead nowhere. But the green trail Kaizen's ring followed was the only clue he could rely on to know which way to go. Sometimes the path narrowed so much that they had to walk side by side to get through, and sometimes it opened into a large room with marble columns.

In one of these rooms, they came upon a huge sculpture of a bull, the symbol of the legendary Minotaur. The sculpture looked very realistic, with hair carved out of stone and an angry look on its face.

At times, they felt the ground shake and a deafening sound echoed through the cave, like a monstrous roar with the ability to shake the very structure of the place. Still, they continued to move forward.

Eventually, the trail led them to a large corridor that seemed as wide as the main corridor near the entrance, but it was definitely not the same, for the walls of this new corridor they found themselves in were cavernous, and at the end of it was a colossal stone door, even larger than the entrance door to the labyrinth, and this door was ajar.

Kaizen felt that the feeling of being pulled in one direction was stronger a few moments ago, only to suddenly stop. Kaizen and Linus stopped walking and faced the door at the end of the corridor, only it was strange that the greenish light had stopped, since they were still far away from what could be the Minotaur's boss room.

"How strange..." Kaizen said, trying to smooth the ring on his middle finger to see if it would work again, but to no avail. "Shit, this thing must be broken." He said.

"Let me use it." Linus said, holding out a hand with the palm facing up.

"Okay. Here you go." Kaizen pulled the ring off, but before he could hand it to Linus, they both heard a sound of breathing and then sniffling in their throats.

*Rrrrrrrr*