“What do you think is behind the door?”
“How should I know? Just like you, this is my first time coming here, and it will be the last since there’s no way we can get into the place after crossing twenty”
“The light still isn’t showing any signs of dying down. It has already been two days already, a lot of the people has been attracted here by it”
“Why are you acting like you’re the one who found this place? Weren’t you still attracted here by it?”
“If more people comes, then the battle for the treasure will get harder”
Looking closely, one could see groups of different sizes conversing quietly. Most of the groups each contained three or four people. Some of them were already together when they followed the light here, others grouped up after getting here. But they were all discussing the same thing, the door, and what they would potentially find in it.
……
“More people seem to be arriving, if the light doesn’t die down sooner, acquiring the treasure would be harder than expected”
One of the youths from the group who discovered the door said worriedly.
“I never thought it would give off this light, and even for so long. This wasn’t stated in the records else we would have been more careful”
Another one said.
The son of the middle-aged man looked around coldly, judging from the number of people present, he had already predicted things might get harder now. There was no way he could claim this place for himself since he couldn’t fight everyone here. He had already seen some geniuses who were in the Second stage of the Origin Plane already, and there were even six who are even at the same stage as himself.
If he were to battle them one on one, or one in two, he was confident in his abilities to defeat them. But given the current numbers present, he wasn’t that powerful yet.
“No matter what, we’ll still be the first to head inside”
He said with certainty.
They had already occupied the location closest to the door, and due to the cold aura they were giving off, none of the people dared to get close to them.
……..
“Seems like Grey isn’t here yet, could it be he’s not coming?”
Alice asked while searching the crowd if she could spot Grey.
Among the group of four, she was the first to get to the place since she was located closer to it. Reynolds was a few hours later than she was, but at that time, the number of people wasn’t too much, so he was able to quickly locate her. Klaus came in the morning of the second day but was only able to locate them after staying for almost one hour.
After the three got together, they searched for Grey but weren’t able to find him. Now the second day was almost up, and they didn’t know if the light would still be up by the next day. They wouldn’t want Grey to miss out on this if there happens to be something good inside.
“Maybe he’s in seclusion, or probably on his way here”
Klaus speculated.
The thought of Grey being dead didn’t even cross either of their minds because they believed there was no way for that to happen.
“Let’s continue waiting, it’s not as if the door has opened yet”
Reynolds said calmly.
The others nodded and took a sit by the side of a rock.
They each started telling the others of the experience during the time they were apart. Among the group, Reynolds’ experience was the most heart-racing due to the fact that he almost died. When the others heard he was cleansed by lightning and also gained the ability of summoning, they felt happy for him.
When they also found out his summon wasn’t an ordinary summon but an Elemental Warrior, they were shocked by his unexpected good fortune.
………..
‘It’s coming from there’
Grey looked up ahead of him.
The sun had already gone down, but luckily, he was able to get here before the day ended. He estimated he would be able to see the source of the light in another five minutes.
After killing Bernard, he had rushed here as fast as he could. Facing no major obstacles on the way, his speed increased further.
Shortly after, Grey could be seen walking out from the mountains. He didn’t attract any attention from others since he wasn’t the only one arriving at this moment.
When he looked around, he estimated there were already at least one hundred people present here. He guessed more were still on their way here since the light was still in and like him, they weren’t close to it. The fact that some were dead also didn’t escape his thoughts, and others might also be in seclusion.
The place where the people are gathered was an open valley with huge rocks present in different places. But the most eye-catching thing in the valley was a huge black door that was embedded on a mountain that seemed to lead underground.
“So that’s the source of the light”
Grey mumbled slowly as he studied the black door further.
The door was at least twenty meters wide, and looking at it from the ground level, the door had an average height of about ten meters, although its real length was longer than that, but since the door was embedded on the mountain slope, the height was a mere ten meters.
‘Looks like it will only open after the light dies down’
He thought while looking around.
When he looked away from the door, he noticed there was a good distance between the first group who were close to the door than the other groups. He suspected there was a reason behind it.
At the other regions of the crowd, he noticed some groups had already gotten into disputes and from the looks of things, a fight might break out any moment.
Shifting his gaze from them, he looked around to see if he could find his friends, but unfortunately, he couldn’t. The valley was quite spacious spanning over eight hundred meters. Being filled with huge rocks, it was likely that they were behind one of them.
‘I’ll wait till the door opens, there’s no way I wouldn’t see them then if they are here’
Being too lazy to search for them, he decided to wait till the door opens.
There was also the possibility of them not even being here, so his best choice of action was waiting till the door opened since if they were here, there was no way they wouldn’t try to get in.
He went close to the tree and sat in a meditative state, he entered into what looked to be a semi-conscious state and started cultivating.
Just as he speculated, the group who got into a dispute started fighting, but the fight didn’t last long as they were all reserving their energies for the battle that will likely take place once the door opens.
……..
The next day…
Just as the sun was about to rise, the light slowly started dying down.
“Look, the light is starting to die down”
The group at the front were the first people to notice the changes in the light.
Moments later, others started noticing it as well. Some who were sorted stood up and looked at it closer to confirm they weren’t seeing things.
“The light is fading”
“Does that mean the door is about to open?”
“Who knows? We’ll only find out after it does”
The dying light sparked different conversations among the groups gathered here.
“Rey, let’s head closer to see”
Klaus suggested while already walking towards the door.
They weren’t the only group going closer, everyone wanted to be the first to head into this strange place.
Even Grey stood from where he stood and walked closer as well.
“No one is allowed to come any closer, you can all enter after we head in”
Just as the groups were edging closer, the arrogant voice of the young man sounded out.
When everyone looked closer, they realized it was one of the young men from the group who were seated close to the door.
“It’s them, I remember seeing them when I got here”
“Yeah, I guess they are likely the people who found this place”
“But that doesn’t give him the right to be arrogant. We can head in when we want to”
“Oh! Why don’t you try walking closer”
“I don’t like entering strange doors first, so I’ll leave this to the others”
What the young man said caused an uproar among the others. They all felt he was being too arrogant. Although they felt this way, most of them still stopped in their tracks.
None of them wanted to be the one who would step out and challenge him, besides, it wasn’t like the door had opened anyway. And even if he was the first to go in, they would still be able to enter.
While they were all contemplating on the matter, one of the few people present who was in the Third stage of the Origin Plane walked out.
“Hmph! What gives you the right to enter before we do”
He said coldly.
He felt since he was in the same stage as the young man, he didn’t have anything to fear. Besides, he was confident in his abilities.
He slowly walked closer to the group with a cold and conceited look on his face.
“I don’t like repeating myself”
The young man’s gaze went cold.
And against everyone’s expectations, he attacked.
“Heh! Let’s see if you have the capabilities to enter first”
The youth laughed coldly.
Seeing the attack the young man sent his way, he set up an ice wall in front of himself to block it. He didn’t even take it seriously, but the next moment, his expression turned into one of horror as his Ice wall was instantly destroyed and the attack reached him without any obstructions.
“No….”
A heart wrenching scream resonated in the valley.
The others were still in the process of creating space for the battle. They too wanted to see what made him arrogant. But while they were still moving back, they froze because the scene which played out in front of them stunned them.
“Instant Kill”
A youth exclaimed in shock.
The young man killed his opponent instantly, and what is more shocking was the fact that they were on the same stage.
How quick the battle ended wasn’t the most telling thing, but it was the attack the young man used that caused an even greater uproar.
‘Darkness element’
Grey’s gaze turned intent as he looked at the young man once again.