Early Morning, 34th of Trian Month, Trian Ruins.
It was a world covered in white.
As far as the eye could see and even beyond, snow covered the land.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Snowflakes danced in the air as the feet of a beast stepped on the snow and moved forward.
Every time the beast landed on the snow, it moved forward a couple of miles.
A few seconds after the beast left, sound finally caught up and a loud blast filled the field.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cold winds on the snowfield were replaced by fast, hot, and explosive shockwaves.
When the beast's feet touched the snow, they exerted tremendous strength and lunged forward.
Kacha! Kacha!
Huge cracks started in the area and spread onwards.
From the clouds, it looked like someone was simultaneously blowing away the snow with fierce winds, cracking the ice like cobwebs and raising the temperature.
"Huff!"
"Huff!"
It was a giant white wolf.
Its snowy fur blended with the falling snow and its powerful legs continued to dig into the ice to move forward.
As the snow fell, only a pair of green eyes shone in the endless white.
"Roar!"
The giant wolf finally reached the end of the snow. The white ended and the green began.
It started as tiny sprouts here and there until everything under the sky was filled with green plants.
"Roar!"
Charles ran all the same.
He was equally indifferent to the snow and the grassland.
And he remained indifferent to the swamps, savannas, deserts, and valleys he crossed.
But he couldn't remain indifferent after reaching the Ruler's Abode. To be precise, the entrance to its entrance.
*** ***
The region, known as the mystic range was a mountain range shrouded under mist.
It was a mist that wasn't penetrable even by level 9's senses.
The only way to enter the region was through one of the three valleys.
Drip! Drip! Drip!
It was raining.
The raindrops were cold and infused with water mana. The sky glowed in blue as it poured.
When the raindrops touched the mist covering the mountains, they bounced back and fell on the awakeners standing in front of the three valleys.
Charles stood in front of one such valley. Behind him, his team of ten level 8s stood quietly.
Their mana barriers couldn't stop the rain as it passed through their barriers and drenched them cold.
The water mana entering their body made them uncomfortable. It was like an itch that couldn't be scratched.
In fact, it was like an itch on the whole body.
But no one made a sound.
Because by the time they came here, Charles was already waiting for thirty minutes in the rain.
The young master of the Xanders looked at the open valley with hands behind his back.
The mist that covered the mountain range was absent at the valley entrance, so the pebble-strewn path was clearly visible.
But in the brown and black pebbles, there were peculiar whites.
They weren't pebbles.
"How many?" Charles asked in a neutral tone.
"Twenty-seven princes and princesses died last year." One of his team members replied.
"I see." Charles' eyes narrowed and his vision focused further into the valley.
If the bones were ignored, it was a normal valley. Grass covered the slopes of the valley while trees, small and large were scattered across.
Several small streams flowed down the slopes and formed a river that extended into the horizon.
The river's flow clashed against the pebbles and the harmonious sound of nature resounded in the valley.
Along the river, flowerbeds sprang up and painted a beautiful picture.
The valley was as beautiful as it could get.
But that was only half the picture.
The river was filled with water beasts, the pebbles were actually stone creatures, the trees were morphers, and the flowers had powers ranging from fire awakeners to psychics.
"Twenty-seven died to these monsters?" Charles snickered.
"It was the pressure that killed most. Not the monsters." Hira, his newest subordinate, replied.
"Pressure, huh." Charles nodded lightly and stepped forward.
As he took another step, the awakeners standing in front of the three valley entrances turned their gazes toward him.
The crowd consisted of level 7s, 8s, and even 9s.
It was a small crowd.
Either they had no keys and were waiting for their teams to bring them one or they secured the keys and were waiting for their team.
Of course, this also meant that weaker awakeners, like level 7s and level 8s, were exposed to strong level 9s who had no keys.
It was a perfect recipe for bullying and snatching keys from weaker ones.
But nothing happened.
Because the level 9s were strictly warned against such actions by the army.
'Most of the keys needed to be won in open areas. You already have an overwhelming advantage there.
The level 8s and level 7s can only win keys from the level restricted areas. If you still snatch the keys from them, how can any of them grow?
If we do that to our geniuses, we will kill our future.'
It was bitter but true. So, begrudgingly, most level 9 agreed. The rest were forced to agree.
So, the crowd here was relatively peaceful with no fights.
Of course, fightings within the same level still occurred.
But with Charles' appearance, they all paused.
"Hey, is that Charles?"
"Isn't he level 6? How dare he come here?"
"Arrogant!"
Not a lot of people knew he advanced.
"Fuck! This son of a bitch is too strong!"
"He knocked out Prince Adios with a single kick."
"What?!"
"Trust me, he took down ten princes all by himself!"
There were also those that knew.
"…But why is he walking towards the level 8 valley entrance?"
"…For fun?"
Ting!
When Charles was about to step inside the valley, an invisible barrier blocked him.
'Only level 8s, huh.' He took a breath and walked to the level 7 valley entrance.
When he raised his foot into the valley, he wasn't blocked.
Clearly, the valleys segregated the awakeners.
But it wasn't out of kindness.
Whoosh!
The moment he stepped into the valley, a terrifying pressure enveloped Charles. His body shook violently and he hurriedly channeled prana to stabilize himself.
'So, this is the pressure, huh.'
Charles' brows furrowed.
It wasn't a normal obstacle.
It was pressure from the aura. It was something beyond what even a Sovereign was capable of.
This was why the valleys segregated awakeners on their levels. If they all went through the same path, the mere pressure on a level 9 would be enough to kill most level 7s.
"Huf! Huff!" Charles breathed in and out as he slowly got the hang of the environment.
His prana slowed down considerably and he could feel his strength dropping under this pressure.
'But it doesn't matter. I can do it.' Charles had unshakeable confidence in himself.
"Young Master!" His team called out.
Charles turned around and looked at them.
After two days of work, they found a few treasures that could break disguise.
But the treasure he got from the mirror house was the best.
"Let's meet at the ruler's abode." Charles waved at his team and nodded at the level 9 robed man in the distance.
The robed man nodded.
"Now then," Charles turned around and looked ahead with brimming confidence.
If there was no aura pressure and no monsters, he'd have reached the ruler's abode in one hour.
Even if there were monsters, then, he'd have taken at most 3 days.
But with the aura pressure added on top of monsters, he needed a staggering 11 days.
However, Charles wasn't intimidated.
There were level 7s who needed whopping 20 days for the same journey.
Among level 7s, he was one of the fastest.
With the consolidation of his strength and practice in the mirror house, he was now able to completely control his strength.
He was confident of crushing any typical high level 7.
"Ruler's Abode, here I come!" He channeled his prana.
Whoosh!
Prana exploded out of his body and he turned into a giant white wolf.
"Roar!"
The journey began.
