After what appears to be a dull eternity inside the maze, Danalof heard an echo. It was hard to locate, and harder to identify. After concentrating on it a bit, the sage guessed it was comming from the southern part of the maze. It appeared to be flute play.
"Bah, I've been in here for so long, I'm starting to immagine sounds... I just miss Uchiwakameru too much..." mutters the old man.
Soon, the sound is accompanied by footsteps. Danalof stands up and follows the sound, to convince himself it was just his silly immagination. As he walked around a corner, he crashed into someone and fell to the ground.
"Hey, can't you watch out!" said the person.
"What, oh, sorry, I didnt know there would be anyone else in this maze-" replied Danalof before noticing who was infront of him. The sage starts mumbling in a stare-locked shock.
"Oh sure, as if the maze only belongs to you." said Uchiwakameru angrily, dusting himself off.
"GAH! Is this stay in this accursed place driving me insane, or did the immortal spirit of Uchiwakameru come to haunt and annoy me for all of eternity?!?"
"Yyyyes, I came to haunt you, yes. But before that, could you maybe help me out? There should be a big bell somewhere in this maze. Pure gold, about as big as an apple. Yoou haven't seen it, right ?"
Danalof walked back, away from uchi, shouting, "Stay back, STAY BACK, specter of the dead! Oh, why didnt i invest more time in Death flows, as my dear old master told me to? I remember the day so long ago, when i was still a pupil..."
"Sigh, you are sure hopeless." Uchiwakamaru slaped Danalof. The sage snaped back to normal, stared a bit at uchi, and put his hand on his head. Uchi felt a tingling sensation in his body, as the mage checked for life signs.
"Uchi, it really IS you!"
"Of course. If I was dead, don't you think I had better things to do than haunting you?"
Danalof slaped Uchi, increasing his strength with the power of Air, to such an extent as Uchi was propelled back by a gust of wind. "WHERE IN THE NINE LAYERS OF HELL HAVE YOU BEEN???"
"Gah" exclaimed Uchiwakamaru before standing up and dusting himself. "Due to unfortunate circumstances i had a little problem to find the way back. Judging by the fact that you are here I guess you can relate."
"I was transported here by an unstudied and unexplainable manifestation of displacement flows in a shperical void element. A black hole, if you will. And I hope you thought of some way to get out of this place, as I've been lost in it for many months."
"So you tripped, fell into a hole, and suddenly find yourself in a maze thousand of miles away from home. I am afraid I have a bad influence on you... As for the exit, no problem, it's right over there." Uchiwakamaru showed Danalof his finger. A red line was strung to it.
"Ah, well atleast you thought of THAT. Now, you said something about a bell? Yes, I've seen one, and haven't been able to retreive it. I'll show you to it, so that we can then leave this place with all due hurry."
"Lead the way then, and don't trip into holes."
"I have to say, I've missed such comments." Said Danalof before leading him back to the main chamber.
Once there, Uchiwakamaru saw the Bell under the glass casing. "Why have you not managed to retrieve it?"
"These runes around it prevent me from reaching it. I think it has something to do with that plaque on the wall, written in a hitenguan dialect i can't read. Maybe you could have better luck at it"
Uchiwaka read the plaque, "'Follow the path of my light.' What is so hard to understand about this?"
"Try to read an unknown language and then ask that question."
"Sigh, this is the oldest hitengu puzzle ever. Whoever built this maze did not have much imagination that's for sure. Heck, it was me who devised this kind of mechanism." Uchiwakamaru pointed his flute at the writing, and then shined light in it like through a flashlight. The light bundled and moved in a straight line to the opposite wall.
"Check the point where the light touches the wall, will ya?"
Danalof examined were the light fell on the wall, and noticed one of the tiles was strange-looking. He clicked it. The tile easily sank into the wall. The glass casing disappeared.
"See ? Not the hardest of puzzles." teased Uchiwaka.
"Maybe for you. But considering I don't know Hitenguan riddles, I am at a disadvantage."
"Anyway, this is the bell of hourai. Very nice tool to have. You see, it attracts the attention of all spirits, living or dead." Uchiwakamaru held it up and shaked it.
"I dont see what's the use of attracting spirits-"
As the sound hit the old man's ears, he found himslef absolutely unable to look away from it for even a second. After a few seconds, he was again able to move his eyes into other directions, just in time to see something forming in the corner of his eye. A dark shadow, taking shape.
"Careful... Are you sure they are friendly?"
"Ahh, and here we have our first ghost" The dark blobs finished taking it's shape. Danalof immediatly recognized it. 14 meters talls, a beard that was adorned with skulls, and a gigantic black hammer in his hands.
"Nope, I am sure this one is not friendly." said Uchi nonchalantly.
"GAH, YOU IDIOT! RUUUN!" Danalof started casting a Death spell to keep it at bay, only remembering too late that it probably wouldnt be powerful enough to stop such a powerful being's ghost.
"Yes, you do that. I will stay. The reason why he came is obvious, is it not. Unless I put him to rest properly, the little baby here will just come again and again."
"I wont leave you to stand against this thing alone. I thought you were dead the first time, and you turned out alive. I won't let you annoy me with your death once again."
Uchiwakamaru walked up to Danalof and stood next to him. "Fine, fine. Here is what we will do. I will distract it while you use a sp-"
Suddenly, Danalof's eyes went black.
---3 hours later---
As Danalof woke up, he found himself in a small village, surrounded by bamboo. A tall woman with black hair stood next to him, concentrating on keeping a portal open.
"Huh... were am I? Did I trip into a hole aga- Wait, what am I saying?!"
"Uchiwaka threw you to the portal. You were unconscious. he went back inside, saying he had something to do. Please, don't speak, I have to concentrate."
Danalof stood up slowly, rubbing his head. "I'll help you with that." Danalof started to expertly weave Displacement flows to help with the portal.
"Didn't know you could do that. Thanks a lot. A little bit longer, and it would have collapsed."
"You can rest now, I'll take care of the portal."
"How can i rest now? He has been in there for 3 hours after you came out..."
"Don't worry. I think I've learned the ultimate lesson about trusting Uchiwakameru. No matter what, he'll be back. By the way, excuse me my lady, but I forgot to introduce myself. I am Danalof, the wandering sage, friend of Uchiwakameru."
"You are the guy who blew up his pants?"
"Uh, well yes. I guess I was..."
"I am Kaguya Taketori Madake. Pleased to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you too. Now may I ask, do you know what this labyrinth I was lost in was? And where did you learn this portal magic? And- Oh, yes, were am I?"
"It's just a labyrinth build to hide the bell of hourai, I don't know more about it. You are in the village of eientei."
"Ah, I guess I'm a bit... far... from home. Atleast I found Uchiwaka again. Everyone back home thinks he's dead..."
Uchi suddenly appeared through the portal. "Phew, that took a while"
"Uchiwaka!" exlaimed Danalof.
Kaguya rushed to hug him. "How dare you make me worried like that!"
Danalof put his hand on Uchi's head, to check his health. He concluded that Uchi was
"Couldn't be helped," continued Uchi. "I had to deal with an old aquantaince."
"Ah, I see you have come victorious. Once again. I can't say I am surprised." Danalof smiles to Uchi. "So, old friend, how about you tell me how you got here, and how you plan on getting home? It's been a while i havent seen you..."
Teaching status: (I will be using the minute system of number counting, as in 1 30' = 1.5 and 2 20' = 2.333333 etc...)
Yugi (male), Sentry, Mind: Basic Mind, 2/4 Average Mind (self taught)
Masaru (male),Sword user, Displacement: Basic Displacement, Average Displacement, 1/3 High Displacement (taught by Arbaxis)
Akane (female), Spear user, Temporal: Basic Darkness, 0 30'/6 Average Darkness (not taught this turn)
Hinata (female), Spear user, Light: Basic Light, Average Light (not taught this turn)
Kohaku (female), Shield user, Water: Basic Illusion (not taught this turn)
NewStudent1, Death: 2 40'/8 Basic Darkness, 1 30'/6 Basic Death (taught by Akane)
NewStudent2, Death: 2 40'/8 Basic Darkness, 1 30'/6 Basic Death (taught by Akane)
NewStudent3, Fire: 1 30'/6 Basic Fire, 0 40'/8 Basic Light (taught by Hinata)
NewStudent4, Fire: 1 30'/6 Basic Fire, 0 40'/8 Basic Light (taught by Hinata)
NewStudent5, Transmutation: 2 40'/8 Basic Displacement, 1/6 Basic Transmutation (taught by Masaru)
NewStudent6, Earth: 1 20'/8 Basic Light, 1/6 Basic Earth (taught by Hinata)
NewStudent7, Illusion: 3 20'/6 Basic Illusion (taught by Kohaku)
well i'm staying in the game for now, although i have little to do...))