The student groups and alliances were all teleported to the lowest floor of the maze, down below the earth and had to make their way up to the top.

    Alex and his friends opened their eyes and looked at their surroundings, noticing the large open hall. The space looked like an ancient style of architecture where the ceiling was several meters high and the walls grey and dark.

    Even in this slightly dark space, they had enough light to see. At the end of the large hall was a large opening that led into the depths of the maze, but there was a barrier that covered the exit as it was not opened yet.

    The students were given a grace period of a few minutes before the entrance was opened. They had a total of six hours to find their way out of the shifting maze and gather as many points as possible.

    The group deduced this as their starting point and there were many such spaces for the other students. Some found themselves alone, others in pairs and for those who made contact before teleporting, ended up together.

    "This should be our starting point," Alex muttered focusing on the locked entrance. He moved to a nearby wall and observed its structure, but he couldn''t tell how strong the walls were. So, he did the only sensible thing.

    BOOOM!

    Alex punched the wall with more than half his strength, but the only thing that happened was the loud sound of something hitting the wall and a small gust of disturbed air.

    The wall held on without so much as a crack.

    "I guess escaping the maze via breaking through the walls would be impossible," Alex muttered, turning his attention back to his group.

    Seraph Yiny, the principal of the academy, sat in her specialized cabin and waited for the event to start. This choice of venue, instead of the lounge for the instructor, was because she was expecting Hunter Zol to grace the event with his presence. After all, he had hinted at being present.

    This was obviously due to Alexander Gray, as their last discussion about the boy''s unusual situation made them curious to see if something would change. And while she did not know much about Alex, she knew no one had kept the attention of Hunter Zol for as long as Alex did.

    This was a real competition for Alex and the other students, as such, they could be exposed to Alex''s abilities he hadn''t discovered or revealed yet. Surprisingly, the academy was not the only one keeping an eye on this event as other forces with their own means were watching for the sake of a certain someone.

    Whatever their goal was, only they could determine that. Of course, The Order had already made their intent clear about Alex, but how exactly they wanted Alex''s help was still up for debate.

    ''I hope he shows us something interesting...'' She thought to herself, a small smile appearing on her beautiful face. She turned to look at the empty chair and wondered when he would show up.

    And as if by clockwork, Hunter Zol appeared like a ghost, startling the principal for a moment. She quickly got up and greeted him with a small bow.

    "Mm... How are the preparations?" Zol asked before making his way to the seat prepared for him.

    "Everything has been prepared and the failsafe set in place is at the ready to intervene if a student finds themselves struggling to cope." She explained and returned to her chair.

    Hunter Zol nodded and tuned and linked his display to the system and selected Alex as his primary viewpoint.

    ''Hmm... Julia will definitely become an issue if things go south for them.'' He thought about the personality of her niece and how she would behave now that she was officially Alex''s partner.

    Yes, he was very much aware that Alex had proposed to Julia which had cranked up her possessiveness to higher-than-normal levels, and this got him slightly worried. As her family member, she knew what that girl thought.