Chapter 244 Thousand Miles Bridge
Over the next several days, Leo and his team would descend all the way to the 19th floor. Even though it only took them a couple of hours to reach the 15th floor, each floor after the 15th floor required much longer to clear, mostly because Leo's team decided to take their time, taking a long break after every floor.
By the time they cleared the 19th floor, a week had already passed in the Ancient Labyrinth.
"The 21st floor will be a lot different from what we've experienced thus far." Helia said to Leo after they cleared the 20th floor.
"How different?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Starting from the 21st floor to the 25th floor, it will all be connected, and we will be seeing the other students. I will explain more once we enter the 21st floor since it will make things easier to explain."
"Alright. We'll take a brief break before we enter the 21st floor then."
Several hours later, Leo's team entered the portal to the 21st floor.
Upon exiting the portal, they were greeted by a massive bridge that stretched all the way to the horizon, and the surrounding was filled with mist, making it impossible to see anything that was not the bridge.
The bridge itself was incredibly wide, enough to allow a hundred people to tread while standing side by side and with plenty of room to spare.
"What is this place?" Leo mumbled with a look of awe on his face.
"Thousand Miles Bridge. As the name implies, this bridge is a thousand miles long. The goal is simple. We must reach the other side while defeating monsters that will periodically spawn." Helia explained.
"A thousand miles…? Are you serious?" Leo was baffled.
"I'm afraid so." Helia nodded.
"And since this is the 21st floor, we will also have to deal with B-Rank monsters. This is where most students give up."
"A thousand miles… how long will it take to traverse this bridge?" Leo then asked.
"It really depends. Most people require three to four to reach the end, but with our team, we can probably rush through it within two weeks. What do you want to do?"
Leo pondered for a moment before speaking, "Wait. What if we use our hoverboards? It won't take more than a few days then."
Helia shook her head, "Unfortunately, hoverboards do not work in this place, so we will have to walk the whole way."
"No way…" Leo sighed.
Sometime later, he said, "I think we should rush through it. What do you guys think?"
He looked at the others.
"I will do whatever you decide." Lia calmly said.
"M-Me too…" Celeste nodded in a bashful manner.
"Alright, then it's decided. Let's go."
"Wait." Celeste suddenly stopped them.
"Please allow me to buff you all first."
"Sure." Leo nodded.
Celeste proceeded to take the next several moments to buff the team with enhanced movement speed and improved energy, allowing them to move quicker and consume less stamina.
Once they were fully prepared, they began running on the bridge, speeding through it.
And for the first time since entering the Ancient Labyrinth, Leo encountered other students from the other teams.
However, he would only give them a glance before running past them.
"Huh? Wasn't that Leo Magnus just now?"
"Are you sure? They should be floors ahead of everyone else with their ridiculous team."
"Right? There's no way they'd just enter the 21st floor."
"I know what I saw."
"I didn't see Leo's face, but I saw Lia Scarlet."
"So it really was Leo's team. Why are they so slow?"
"Who knows."
Leo's team would surprise more people as they passed more teams, as his team was in an unexpected position, and it was not a good one, especially considering how stacked his team was.
About ten minutes after Leo's team entered the Thousand Miles Bridge, they were forced to stop for the first time when a group of monsters suddenly spawned before them like ghosts.
However, Leo would react quickly by brandishing the Vampire Vanquisher almost instantly after the monsters spawned, cutting down the monsters before they could even react.
"I wonder how many teams cheat by assisting each other on this bridge." Leo suddenly mumbled out loud.
"Believe it or not, not many people are willing to cheat, even though we control what we want to record and what we ignore." Helia said.
"And this is all because of the Observation Team, 'students' here whose only job is to observe the other students. However, they won't try to stop you and will only report it at the end of the examination, and if you're caught, your results will be nullified."
"So they sent spies to watch over us, huh? Why am I not surprised?" Leo smiled.
"It's more effective than having teachers down here since they're easily recognizable." Helia said.
"Makes sense."
Leo's team would spend the next 24 hours running on the bridge with barely any breaks in between, only stopping to deal with the monsters, use the bathroom, and to reapply the buffs.
"Do you guys want to take a short break?" Leo asked them at the 28th hour mark.
"We'll have to limit our tents to one so we won't block the path for the others." Helia said.
"That's fine. I don't mind sharing a tent." Leo said.
"What about you?" He turned to look at Celeste, who was clearly nervous and hesitant about the idea of sharing a tent.
"I-I don't mind…" She eventually agreed.
"Great. Then let's take a break here."
Leo proceeded to set up his tent on the left side of the bridge like he saw many other teams doing.
He entered the tent with Lia and Helia shortly after.
'I'm going to share a tent with him…' Celeste took a moment to mentally prepare herself outside before entering the tent.
A moment later, her body shivered uncontrollably when she took her first breath inside the tent.
'Ahhh… His smell here is so strong that I can die here and be at peace…' She sighed inwardly.