Taking into consideration the intensity of the auras that enveloped the platforms around them, Liam quickly sussed out a preliminary path for them. He was not sure if this was going to work but it was something to start with.
The group immediately prepared to move. No one doubted Liam's judgment and seconds could mean the difference between life and death here.
However, when the first person tried to jump across the platforms, something unexpected happened. Madan was sent right back, repelled by some kind of invisible barrier.
"No. That's not a barrier." Liam reached his hand out, feeling the palpable energy in his hand. It was very close to something he was familiar with and he instantly knew what to do. "This should be some sort of energy field. To cross, we have to use our dao fields."
Clearly, the Spire was not satisfied with simply pitting one trial taker against another, creating a massive slaughter trial. It also wanted to test out the qualifications of the survivors. Only those who were able to conjure an energy field strong enough to resist the energy that was sprawled around them would be qualified to survive.
Liam had no idea what this energy was. He hadn't come across this before but it was strong enough to make even him unable to simply blast through the gap.
"Is it space-attuned energy or perhaps…" Liam's mind wandered but he did not dare dwell on it for too long as the platforms around them were getting consumed left and right. Everyone was trying to race to the pyramid.
Liam immediately used the semi-formed dao field that he had been playing around with for the past few floors. Perhaps this would be the opportunity he needed to finally make a breakthrough? For now, he did not worry about that and tried to step through the energy barrier using his own protection bubble. He used an ice-attuned barrier for this purpose as his nether reserves were limited. Technically, his mana reserves were also limited as this place seemed to be weirdly low on all energies but the mana concentration was still higher than nether concentration. So recharging his mana batteries would be faster.
As Liam stepped forward, enveloped in his ice-attuned barrier, the energy field surrounding the platforms reacted. Unlike before, when Madan was repelled, Liam passed through seamlessly. The ice-attuned barrier shimmered brightly as it came into contact with the invisible energy, creating a small pathway for him.
But the difficulty did not end there. Just like how the other energy field seemed to be impenetrable for others, Liam's dao field was equally deadly and it did not differentiate between friend or foe. Only him standing at the eye of the dao field was able to enjoy a friendlier environment. If others wanted to safety zone with him, then he needed to be equally skilled in not only creating a dao field but also in controlling individual zones of it.
Thankfully for the others, Liam was able to do this, focussing the worst of the frigid energy at the very edge of the dao field so that it was able to effectively cut through the barrier. Inwardly gaping at the intricacies of the skill, everyone immediately stepped into the protective bubble and finally, they were able to leave their original platform heading to the second one. They were now one step closer to the golden pyramid.
But there was still a long way to go and it looked like their troubles were only just now beginning. As if the challenges they already had were not enough, the platforms started moving randomly every few seconds and the path they had plotted became completely useless.
Every step they took forward led them nowhere. One second they would be closer to the pyramid and the next second they would be somehow brought back to the very place they started.
Many hurled out screams of anger and frustration at the difficulty level of the trial and this was real with all their lives on the line.
As if this was not enough, there was another misfortune that had suddenly cropped up. To everyone's utter shock and dismay, some of the trial takers were going out of their way to destroy the platforms around them, leaving behind only a scant few for their personal use.
"Fucking bloodsuckers!" Eldrin gnashed his teeth. The number of platforms was already dwindling at a frightening pace and on top of this, the vampires seemed to be hell-bent on destroying everything that they could.
"What the hell are these lunatics doing? Bloody asseaters! I bet the Spire is throwing out these ridiculous trials because of these bastards! They are purposefully doing something shady!" Rey glared at the group of vampires closest to them. Not one of them seemed nervous about surviving this trial which ticked him off further. However, Eldrin suddenly froze as if he heard something odd. The elf realized something. The human youngling was not wrong. It was almost as if the Spire was making the run extra difficult on purpose. While surviving right now might seem like a dire predicament, the rewards that awaited them would most probably make them drool.
Was this good luck or bad luck? And was this because of the army of vampire elites who seemed to be running through the Spire at the same time as them or perhaps was it because of a single person who was treating a Spire like a local dungeon and speed running through it?
The elf couldn't help but glance at Liam again who was once more adeptly conjuring another dao field like it was nothing. Did he have infinite reserves of energy pool? His efficiency in conjuring the damn thing was through the roof! What a monster!
Ignoring the elf's pointed look, Liam continued to weave through the platforms one after the other. If one crumpled he chose another and continued to push forward. He was used to working with low amounts of mana so it wasn't too tiring for him to use the least amount of energy to create the weakest dao fields and keep pushing forward. But… Rumble… Rumble…
Their path was once again shifted and this time the Spire had brought them right next to a vampire group!
From the looks of it both the groups had their paths cut off and now only one can progress forward!