Ryo was lying on the ground, hatred in his eyes. He had been defeated twice by Zalaria, and she hadn't even done anything—just the pressure of her aura alone.
Her presence by itself was enough to crush Ryo.
Ryo: "Damn…! Have I really become this weak?!..."
System: "Note: You could have used the Continent's Covenant skill to control her body."
Ryo (looking like a fool): "What do you mean?? Isn't she higher level than me?.. If she were at my level, she wouldn't have defeated and humiliated me just with her aura!!"
System: "You're right!"
Ryo (sighing): "I thought I finally had a chance to win, but it seems that's impossible!"
System: "Maybe you need to train... You haven't trained your whole life, and you're still just a child of eight years old. You need to greatly strengthen your body to defeat her."
Ryo (angrily): "Shut up!... Don't remind me! My power has dropped so much!... One hand amputated! And a child's body that can't use all skills with full strength and stamina, and energy has dropped...! All my power levels are in the dirt!!... And on top of that, losing my hand! I can only use the Eternal Field for a few seconds?!... That's ridiculous!"
System: "I understand, but don't worry. Many people lost a part of themselves and are still very powerful!"
Ryo (shouting in anger): "Those people!!!... They're not kids!... Their power is complete, and their bodies can endure skills unlike me, and they can bear mountain-level pressure!!... Don't you get it?!"
The system did not reply.
Ryo (sighing and calming down): "I apologize for my reaction... Sorry!"
System: "Go train, then."
Ryo: "You're right... There is an enemy... Not one, maybe a whole organization. As you know, in the palace she was talking to someone?!... Maybe there are many with her level! I have to train."
Ryo (determined and serious): "System... I will isolate myself for two weeks inside the void I created around the tree. Maybe that will enhance my abilities!"
System: "Don't you know what void means??"
Ryo (surprised, raising an eyebrow): "What do you mean?? Void is void... nothing!"
System: "Even after your intelligence evolved, you still don't think... I mean, the void has no oxygen—how will you breathe?"
Ryo: "Ah... right, I forgot that!"
Ryo: "Wait a minute... I forgot!... Those two girls from the maze—they must want to get out now! I completely forgot them!!"
System: "Good thing you remembered... They must have rotted or been eaten by monsters there!"
Ryo: "I don't think they rotted. Time passes very slowly there—the century is just a few seconds for them."
System: "That's why I understood why, despite your advanced levels, your energy runs out quickly!"
Ryo: "Really?! So what's the reason?"
System: "Life is an adventure... discover it yourself!"
Ryo: "It doesn't matter. I'll find out over time. Also, I will return to the maze... and take some food with me. They must have run out of food!"
System: "Are you going to tell your friends you're leaving now?!"
Ryo: "Don't worry, they trust my strength a lot and trust me, and I've gone to places many times without telling them."
The system didn't reply.
Ryo (sighing and spreading his wings): "The training journey and rescue of those two girls has begun!"
He flew to the capital, first took food of many kinds and carried it with him.
Then he returned to the forest.
Ryo (looking at the maze with surprise and wonder): "Is this the maze?! That I created...?! It changed a lot, looks like a training ground forgotten by time! Well, that doesn't matter."
Ryo entered the maze searching for the two girls, but… he faced a problem: The maze started changing with every floor; it was constantly shifting with no fixed form!
[It was changing because it was trying to protect itself and constantly shifting as a kind of self-defense.]
Ryo: "What's happening?!... I can't find the two girls this way!... So I'll change the maze and reshape it to make it easier to find the girls!"
System: "You can't do that... It's true that your full energy was released, but because your body shrank, it became a bit lower... No, I won't lie, much lower, so you can't manipulate the maze again!"
Ryo (shocked, his eyes almost popped out): "Tell me you're joking!... Don't you understand what it means that I can't control it?! That means I have to... explore the maze until I find the exit. But how?? How will I find an exit in a maze with no fixed shape and always changing?!"
System: "I don't know."
Ryo: "What a disaster!!... I must find those two girls now and think of a way out later. If I get lost there, it might take me about four years or more to get out!"
System: "Also, we don't know if the two girls are alive or not!.. Maybe all your efforts will be wasted!"
Ryo knew that, but he stepped deeper into the maze!
To be continued...