Kyle looked at the familiar hall in front of him and let out a dry chuckle. Countless human-sized fire eagles filled his vision.
“So, my guess is correct.”
He mumbled slowly. Bia was sitting on his shoulder. She was tired after the last battle and right now she wanted nothing but to leave this place. She yawned and nuzzled closer to his neck.
-‘Whatever, I am not going to fight again. Just take care of it on your own.’
Kyle hummed. He waved his hand and the air cracked around him. In an instant, hundreds of thunder arrows rained down on the eagles, successfully stopping them in their place. The eagles who were hit cried out in pain and immediately flew back to avoid the arrows. It’s been a while since Kyle used the ‘thunder arrow’ skill and he would be lying if he said he was not astonished.
“It’s true even a simple (F+)-Rank skill can become so destructive if the user is strong.”
He glanced at the eagles and increased his voice.
“I don’t think we need to fight because I found the correct answer to the path in front of us.”
“We are in a loop. Aren’t we? This place is filled with similar halls, that’s why after killing the monsters no matter what path we choose we will end up in the same place.”
His loud and clear voice echoed everywhere as he took a step forward. Bia blinked at his words.
-‘A loop? I don’t think so it’s only the third hall..’
Her words were cut short because, in the next second, a familiar mechanical voice echoed in the hall.
“Congratulations participants for finding the correct answer to the path ahead. The door leading to the treasure room will be opened in a few seconds.”
‘”5… 4…3..”
Bia almost tripped on his shoulder. She could not believe the answer was so simple yet so difficult at the same time.
-‘Seriously?’
Kyle chuckled and thought about Emion.
“It seems I don’t need to worry about revenge because it’s almost impossible for him to survive in this place.”
After the countdown hit zero, a low tremble shook the hall and a familiar bright light flashed in front of Kyle. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again the fire eagles were nowhere to be seen. Instead, a huge door was standing proudly in the center. The door was vastly different from the others because it was filled with strange designs.
Kyle briskly approached the door and pushed it open with a smile. A low creaking sound echoed in the air before a white room appeared in his vision. The room was filled with nothing but a round table in the center, and above it, a massive transparent blue shield was shimmering brightly.
-‘What’s that?’
Bia unfurled her wings and left his shoulder to circle the table. It was old and rusty but the massive shield atop the table looked beautiful. She glanced at the empty spot behind the shield with a raised brow.
-‘I think someone else found this room before us because there’s an empty spot behind the shield.’
Kyle looked around and after confirming that the room had nothing except for the table, he stepped inside and gazed at the shield with curiosity.
“Only one? This treasure land… is quite poor.”
Bia’s eyebrow twitched at his remarks.
-‘Just take it. So, we can leave.’
Kyle sighed. He couldn’t believe he suffered so much just for a round shield and to make matters worse he sensed nothing special from it. With a dejected expression, he reached out his hand to grab the shield but his fingers went right through it.
“Huh?”
The shield’s clear surface rippled with a mesmerizing shimmer when Kyle moved his hand back.
“Don’t tell me I can not touch this thing!?”
Kyle’s expression sank. No way, in hell he was going to accept this! He was ready to smuggle the whole table but the shimmering shield in front of him suddenly crumbled into bright particles. Those particles gathered in front of his body before clinging to his skin tightly.
“What the..”
He abruptly yanked his hoodie when a sudden cold sensation touched his chest. It was different from the sensation he usually felt around his body.
Bia circled above his head with a curious expression. Suddenly, Kyle grabbed the hem of his hoodie and slid it off his shoulders. He traced his fingers on his chest before they bumped into a solid surface that covered the area around his heart. He blinked and gazed at his chest, a fist-size blue shield shimmered brightly above his skin.
“It turned smaller. I want to test out how it works but the place… do I need to attack my heart?”
Bia gazed at the small bright shield with interest.
-‘So, it’s going to cling to your body?’
Kyle grabbed the shield and tried to pull it away from his skin. However, instead of leaving his body, the shield turned into bright particles that roamed around his body before clinging to his skin again.
“I don’t think I can remove it.”
He jumped back and crooked a finger at Bia with a smile that seemed nothing but annoying in her eyes.
“Attack me. Let’s test it out.”
-‘Okay.’
Bia looked at the shield around his heart. With a sigh, she flapped her wings twice and two fireballs shot out toward Kyle’s chest with fast speed. Kyle did not dodge. Instead, he let the attack fall on his chest. Anyway, the fireballs were too weak to actually harm him.
Under two pairs of eyes, the fireballs successfully traveled and closed into his chest but before they could crash a familiar round shield zoomed out in front of Kyle. It devoured the attack within a second and vanished back into his chest.
Kyle patted his chest and wore his hoodie with a satisfied expression.
“Not bad!”
He looked back and noticed something different. The door from where they entered the room was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a bright portal was present in its place.
-‘Now, finally, I can rest!’
Bia cheered loudly and urged Kyle to enter the portal because she wanted to sleep!
After the duo entered the portal, another door appeared in the room. With a loud crashing sound, Emion’s body plummeted inside through a narrow opening. One of his wings was broken and his whole body was covered with thick dark colored blood.
“Damn it! Who the hell made this shitty place I almost died in those halls!”
He groaned and after taking a few large breaths, he dragged his body so he could look around. However, the sight in front of him was anything but pleasant. The air in the room trembled when a loud angry shout emerged from Emion’s throat.
He kicked the empty table and looked at the room with veins bulging all around his body.
“I endured so much only to find an empty room!?”