Might not get much done the next few days, Christmas stuff with relatives. I'll try to post a few shorter chapters at least, but no guarantees.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akiza and Cixi continued to make numerous attempts to go into the Labyrinth, but they were not getting anywhere. It was the same every day. Meditate in the morning. Then go into the Labyrinth. Each time they went in, they found more undead, killed them, and occasionally collected some parts. These parts were then exchanged for Points to the stores if they ever needed to buy anything. They decided to go see Himiko for clues.

"We're lost in there," said Akiza. "I have no idea where we're going."

"You're not lost," said Himiko. "The Laybrinth is a maze with a beginning and an end. The problem is that no one has found the end yet."

"How is that even possible?" asked Cixi. "Hasn't it been around for hundreds of years?"

"Yes," said Himiko. "But it is not just that easy. There is something hiding the presence of the Demon Lord here, so we cannot just walk in and find it."

"If there's something as powerful as a Demon Lord, can't we detect its Internal Energy?" asked Cixi.

"Normally, you would," said Himiko. "But the problem is that the Demon Lord's power is being distributed to regenerate the undead monsters in the Labyrinth. If you tried to look for it by finding its Dark Energy or Internal Energy, the entire Labyrinth would be it. Until we find out what can help us identify the source, it is basically impossible to find."

"What if we killed enough undead?" asked Akiza.

"Theoretically it is possible," said Himiko. "But I do not think all the people gathered here could kill fast enough to do that."

"Is there no way to find the Demon Lord?" asked Cixi.

"None that I am aware of I'm afraid," said Himiko.

Akiza had been able to brute force almost everything in the past. But now, her obstacles required proper thought and planning, something she was terrible at. She even got headaches from the mere thought of it.

"You're trying to rush things too much," said Cixi.

"But five years is the limit," said Akiza. "And every day that goes by, I am getting closer to dying at the hands of Master Saki and not getting any closer to an Emperor Stage Artifact."

"I will not let you die," said Cixi. "If he tries to kill you, I will stop him myself."

"Thank you," said Akiza. She would at least not die immediately if Cixi intervened and stopped Master Saki. "So what do we do now?" asked Akiza.

"Why not look around the stores?" said Cixi. "Since we've been here, we've been down at the Labyrinth almost every day. It might help to get a change of pace."

Akiza looked around the shops. What interested her the most was the strange foods she had never seen before. Green colored eggs and soups of every color were available. What she wanted the most was sweets. "No sweets until you learn to give your elements shape," said Cixi.

Akiza frowned, but she had to obey her Master. "Is there any secret trick to being able to shape elements?" Akiza asked Cixi.

"No," said Cixi. "It is all about what you can do with your mental strength," she explained. "The stronger your mind is, the easier it is to do it."

"Is my mind weak?" asked Akiza.

"No, but too direct," said Cixi. "Your personality seems to be run in first and attack. What you need to be doing is sitting back, relaxing, and thinking about it, the complete opposite."

"Is that what makes it hard?" asked Akiza.

"Yes," said Cixi. "But once you figure it out once, it gets easier every time. Eventually it becomes natural."

"You make it seem so easy," said Akiza.

"I had many years to practice," Cixi replied with a smile.

The two continued to look around the stores. There were some that sold some high quality materials like Dragonskin Leather and Orihalcum Crystals. Even Cixi was amazed at those high quality materials. The problem was the cost, 100,000,000 Points. Cixi looked at her own card, 108,321. Akiza looked at hers, 20,987. Combined, they would still need over 99 million more. "If we had that, we could probably make an Immortal Stage Artifact," said Cixi.

The two left disappointed. All the good things were too expensive. The things they could afford, they did not need. They could only enjoy the food. Overall, it was a good day though. They were not making any progress despite going into the Labyrinth so many times. It renewed their energy and motivation. The two headed back to the room they were staying at.