Humans didn’t know if gods existed. They had yet to find any concrete proof.
Yet, Devas were treated as beings that touched divinity, with their name literally meaning god or demi-god in an ancient earth language.
Not much remained of these near-divinities. Their language, their culture, their deeds—they all turned into dust.
Save for their small worlds.
Unlike humans who used to only live on earth, devas resided not just on planets, but also in small worlds.
According to the scientific community, there were at least ten thousand small worlds when devas perished.
These small words also ‘slipped’ away from outer space due to some reason, perhaps lack of aura.
As time passed mercilessly, the small worlds began to collapse one by one.
Almost six thousand years after the last deva’s death, there were only a fraction of the small worlds left.
But most of them completely lost their special nature and became mere extensions of space and time—these were also known as secret realms by humans.
On the other hand, very few secret realms partially retained their deva characteristics. An example would be the realm used for Solar Trial.
Then, there was another extreme.
A small world that lost no or almost no characteristic.
“Ruins.”
Varian took in a deep breath as he watched the grand silhouette.
A wall of mist circled an area as the walls stretched upward and formed a dome.
The area encircled was too small to be a ruin. It wasn’t. The area inside contained a huge entrance gate and the white mist was merely isolating it.
In other words, it was the entrance to the entrance.
Varian took another breath and stepped forward. Beside him, light footsteps sounded as Enigma walked at a distance with a special mask on.
They were concealing their identities before entering the ruins.
Of course, with the help of Sovereign Irene and the capabilities of Boo, it wasn’t hard. What’s more, Enigma herself had a lot of experience in sneaking into the Ruins.
As they approached the mist wall, Varian saw people moving in and out in directed lines.
Even though the mist wall’s circumference was nothing compared to dungeons, it was still around twenty miles.
Thus, an entire division of ten thousand soldiers was deployed to maintain law and order here.
So, outside the mist wall itself, there were reinforced walls made with tough alloys, automated weapon systems capable of shooting down even mid awakeners, and most importantly, some powerful awakeners enough to intimidate any potential trouble maker.
Varian and Enigma joined separate queues for the security test.
In his opinion, it was already the 35th of Trian, the third month. The secret realm would remain open only for 10 more days.
‘Trian…the third planet, it is also the name of this ruin.’ Varian clicked his tongue. Ruins were so important that the months were literally named after them.
Trian, the third month had 45 days. It meant that the third planet would have its Ruin open for 45 days.
‘It’s nearly the end of the month. So, only be a few people entering now.’ Varian frowned.
But contrary to his imagination, there were around two thousand people moving to and fro.
Two thousand awakeners might not seem like much, but these two thousand were all high awakeners!
‘Why are so many entering now?’ Varian’s voice sounded in Enigma’s mind.
She kept her pace with calm breathing and answered. ‘The big powers enter the ruins right at the beginning. For instance, the prime families, the army, the trade union, and the adventure guild.
They are usually the ones who get the best treasures due to their better strength. By now, they’d have already gotten the treasures.
But the bigger treasures in the ruins will only start manifesting now. So, these people want to get a slice of the pie and they’re ready to fight it out.’
‘The major powers would have gotten stronger by now. They should’ve entered the ruins at the beginning and grew strong with them. Isn’t it foolish to fight stronger opponents?’ Varian frowned.
If he was ‘Varian’s’ opponent, then he’d never let him take any treasure. Because once ‘Varian’ got a treasure, he’d grow stronger in the blink of an eye and overpower him.
So, the right strategy should be to fight off these big powers from the start.
He was right, but it only applied to himself.
‘It takes anywhere from a few days to even a week for major powers to find suitable treasures.’ Enigma rolled her eyes and explained.
‘Then what’s the problem…?’
‘Because if any normal person takes those treasures, it takes time for them to digest the treasure and improve.
Some treasures can be digested only in a week, but some take months. During this period, awakeners tend to avoid fights. In fact, most of them would prefer entering seclusion.’ Enigma sighed in the end.
‘So I’m the anomaly here?’ Varian realized that he was the only one who could improve in a very short time.
‘…’ Enigma didn’t answer, but she nodded.
The corner of Varian’s lips twitched and he turned away from here.
It finally made sense why so many were willing to enter the ruins two weeks before it closed.
Since the big powers got the treasures, a significant portion of their people would either be busy in the ruins assimilating that treasure or would’ve left the ruins altogether for a safe place.
In either case, the overall strength of the major powers would fall.
‘And the best treasures in the ruins will be revealed the closer it is to closing.’ Varian gulped his saliva.
This was truly the best time to hunt for the treasures.
Varian looked around and saw that most of the awakeners were either middle-aged or elderly.
Of course, the elderly didn’t look frail, they were more like grandpas with abs. Grandmas too.
And then, there were also young people. They looked to be in their late twenties.
Varian took a deep breath as he silently felt their auras.
‘Level 9s, Level 8s, level 7s.’
As he was determined that not a single level 6 was entering, he saw a few teenagers in the line with old men and women.
From their gazes and mannerism, he understood that these level 6s were mostly here to ‘experience’ the ruins.
To afford level 7 guards, they must be from a big local power.
“ID.” The guard said in a monotonous tone.
Varian clicked on his comm and a light shot out from the tall metal wall behind the guard.
After a few seconds, the light disappeared and the guard opened his mouth. “100 thousand kp.”
“Y—”
Varian was about to curse “Your ass” when Enigma’s voice rang in his mind.
‘Don’t!’
“Y—Yes.” Varian tapped on his comm and watched the KP he just acquired from Enigma vanish.
‘So much money!’
The last time Varian seriously spent money was for a mind check-up to probe his memories.
It cost him 300,000 credit points or 300kp.
That was his biggest purchase.
Now, he was spending almost 330 times that amount.
‘Fucking hell!’
As he cursed inside his mind, the metal gate slid down.
“Here you go.” The guard snapped his finger and a bracelet flew towards Varian.
Whoosh!
It fixed onto his wrist and adjusted its size.
Varian walked into the mist.
A huge gate taller than a ten-story building, filled with ancient carvings with the writings of mysterious deva script appeared on this site.
Its two sides, one for entry and exit each, exuded brilliant lights in a mix of all colors.
Varian looked at Enigma in the distance and nodded.
Whoosh!
Varian’s space sense caught clearly sensed the space—it was like a still lake. Then, ripples began. First, it was a gentle ripple, then it slowly turned forceful and continued until the whole lake was in turbulence.
‘Be careful.’ Enigma’s voice sounded in the end.
‘Don’t worry. I will reach level 7 soon.’ Varian said.
‘There are level 9s in the Ruin. Though they won’t attack for no reason. Be careful.’
‘Hm. No worries. Even if things go south, I have Boo with me.’