“What was that roar?” Ambrose gazed into the horizon, but the source of the sound remained a mystery.
He then decided to forget it for the time being, as he was currently on a hunt.
He found a few tracks that could belong to another wild boar.
After stepping over fallen trunks, he came across a river that cut through the forest.
‘A river? Where could it come from when we are on the mountainside?’ He wondered to himself and then crossed the river with a long leap.
On the other side of the river, he came across an unexpected sight.
There stood a glowing flower.
Its petals were blue, but they were shining brightly.
‘This is… that flower!’ Ambrose exclaimed and crouched before the flower. ‘I discovered one like this before in Crow Forest. But it disappeared once I fought that Flower Guardian.’
As he extended his hand to touch the petals, a sudden clicking sound began to echo behind him. 𝑶𝑣xt.𝑶𝑀
He turned around, and to his surprise, there was a creature there, standing on two legs.
Its skin was green, and its head was round with flower petals growing out of it. Its pupils were shaped like four-leafed clover.
It was the Flower Guardian!
‘Just like I expected.’ Ambrose stood up and tightened the grip on his swords. ‘This creature guards this flower for some reason.’
“Click, click, click.” The Flower Guardian let out several clicking sounds as if it were trying to communicate somehow.
‘Hmm, is it trying to say something?’ Ambrose wondered, slowly sheathed his sword, and threw the other one back into his inventory.
‘I wonder if the reason for the flower’s disappearance has something to do with this guardian.’ He stepped aside and circled the small area until he had distanced himself from the blue-petaled flower.
He watched as the Flower Guardian hopped towards the glowing flower and gently cupped it in its hands.
The Flower Guardian turned towards the bald-headed young man, who had a few hairs starting to grow back, and extended both of its small arms.
It looked like it was offering the flower to him.
Before Ambrose could accept it, a loud roar shook the ground.
The Flower Guardian flinched and suddenly vanished.
In its place, green smoke appeared that corrupted everything in its wake; it even destroyed the blue-petaled flower!
That single roar somehow killed the Flower Guardian!
“The hell?” Ambrose looked in the direction where the roar came from.
The roars and thumping were nearing his location quickly!
It sounded like a stampede of wild animals was heading his way!
Crack, crush, snap—the powerful trees were uprooted and torn apart as the stampede of the creatures rushed through.
Ambrose finally managed to see the animals that were heading his way and was speechless.
They weren’t wild animals; they were dinosaurs!
“The fuck!” Ambrose turned around and began running away, but it was too late.
The fastest dinosaurs, Velociraptors, lunged forward, and using their sharp claws, they slashed towards Ambrose’s back.
Their claws were sharp enough to tear through the flesh and bones of ordinary humans easily.
“Why the fuck are there dinosaurs in here?!” Ambrose drew his Black Sword and jumped into the air before spinning around and smashing his sword at the incoming claws.
As the claws struck his black blade, he was sent flying through the air until he came crashing down onto the ground with a thunderous impact.
Thump, thump, thump—the majestic Tyrannosaurus Rex stomped through the forest, shaking the earth with every step.
As it saw the fallen human, it opened its large jaw and let out a bone-chilling roar.
Ambrose’s eyes shook as he saw the sharp teeth heading his way.
He quickly closed his eyes, inhaled and exhaled, then entered the World of Souls.
The world froze, and the majestic Tyrannosaurus Rex, with its open maw, stood only a few meters away from him.
‘Ah, shit.’ Ambrose sighed and looked around helplessly.
The Velociraptors had closed all escape paths, leaving Ambrose trapped and at the mercy of the colossal predator.
‘I can’t die now. It would half my XP, and I really need every XP I can get now that I have to somehow get to level 45.’
Feeling the desperation of the situation, Ambrose shut his eyes tight and braced himself for what he knew would be a brutal fight for survival.
‘What do I need to do…’ He slowly opened them again. ‘There is only one thing I could do in my current situation. I would need to learn to manifest the door and close it.’
‘According to the Wisdom King, my mastery of the world of souls would increase drastically, allowing me to talk and move.
‘If I could somehow learn to open my inventory and access my teleportation pearl, maybe I could escape.’
If he left the world of souls and tried to grab the teleportation pearl, he would die way before he even managed to use it.
It was also a very valuable item, and he didn’t really want to use it.
‘Should I really use it? It literally saved me from the clutches of Zahhak, and if I get cornered by them again, I could use the pearl again.’
Another dilemma appeared.
‘As long as I get to open my interface inside the world of souls, I can think about different solutions.
‘Now, let’s try to manifest it!’
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and began imagining the steel, black door.
Some distance away, hovering above the vast forest, the Wisdom King’s soul watched curiously.
‘Come on, you can do it.’ He thought and crossed his arms. ‘If you truly learned to hide your soul scent within one night’s time, like young Zhen said, then I trust that you should be able to do this too.
‘It often takes years for anyone to manifest and close the door to the world of souls, but you already managed to accomplish an impossible task.
‘Show me, Ambrose, your limit!’
Ambrose’s eyelids slightly twitched; it was the first sight of his body moving while inside the world of souls.
Inside his mind, there was a vast expanse of darkness.
There were no stars or lights to guide him through the darkness.
However, then an illusionary figure appeared in the darkness, slightly glowing blue.
He was the projection of Ambrose.
The projection sat cross-legged on the dark ground, meditating like an aged warrior.
His presence emanated an aura of calm and wisdom.
In the middle of the darkness, a flash appeared.
It was only momentary, but that single flash increased Ambrose’s desire to push further.
He then began pushing his mind to its utmost limit.
His head started to ache, his blood vessels protruded from his temples, and sweat poured down his face.
But he refused to give up and began pushing his mind all the way to the breaking point!
Slowly, a door began to manifest in the darkness.
It appeared first with a hazy outline, but shortly, color began appearing as if some unknown deity had picked up a brush and began coloring it.
After the color appeared, the door slowly solidified, revealing intricate carvings and markings.
Thump…
Thump…
Thump…
Crash!
A large, heavy door slammed into the ground, and its echo resounded through the darkness.
Then, the door slowly creaked open loudly.
Behind the door, a meditating figure of Ambrose appeared, surrounded by ancient symbols and markings.
The door was now open.
The entrance to his world of souls had appeared!
Ambrose, in the world of souls, opened his eyes and saw an open door appear from the thin air.
A strange echoing voice came from the open door, as if someone were whispering to close it.
As long as the door stayed open, everyone would be able to come as they wanted inside his world of souls.
‘I did it!’ Ambrose felt like laughing, but the job was not done yet.
He had to still close the door!
He again closed his eyes and summoned his flying soul.
The soul flew towards the door and slammed his hands into it, trying to shut the heavy door once and for all!