novelThe White Room
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The group returned to the tunnel and continued walking for four days until reaching the exit.
Thanks to their trap detecting artifacts, they didn't face any problem in those days. Furthermore, all of them used that time to train their Stone Golem spell, using it in such environment full of the earth element was easier after all.
The day they left the tunnel Yale had managed to improve it until the third level. He didn't know what level Hyrk had reached, but his golem was the best with a lot of difference from the others. Hyrk finally was able to show off after all that happened in the special realm.
The only legacy that suited him before was the Fire Shield, but due to Aizu's incident, he didn't get too much attention by his speed in learning it, and he couldn't use that kind of skill while walking with the others because he could harm his companions.
"Vitality points increased to 30 due to sub-quest reward."
"Strength points increased to 30 due to sub-quest reward."
After leaving the tunnel, the sub-quest rewards activated and Yale approached more the peak of the 3-star mortal realm, he only needed to increase his Dexterity, and he would reach the true peak of the realm.
When Yale went to the Quest Menu in order to see the next sub-quest, he found that it was still as weird as before, but the reward shocked him.
"Sub-quest's details not available. Reward: Legacy Skill."
Yale didn't know what the sub-quest wanted him to do to obtain the reward, but the reward was enough to make Yale capable of anything the system asked him to do as long that didn't imply harming his family or friends.
At that moment, his only Legacy Skill was Absolute Protection, and he owed his life to it. Thus, having the chance to obtain another Legacy Skill was something he couldn't let pass.
That new sub-quest excited Yale; he couldn't wait to know its details and accomplish them to obtain the reward, he felt that his battle prowess could only increase by a great amount after obtaining it.
After leaving the tunnel, they only needed three days to reach the new zone. The main difficulty had been crossing the mountain range, once they did that the rest of the path was easy to travel.
The new zone was the weirdest they had found; the terrain changed from one type to another every few meters it seemed an area made by fragments of other zones.
There were parts with traps covered by illusions and others flooded with water, magma or poison.
Fortunately, with Yale's Illusion Immunity and the Wind Wings spell they had obtained in the Forest Zone, they were able to pass that type of traps easily. The only one who couldn't fly was Aizu, but Yale was able to fly while carrying her, even if that act provoked Aizu's blush.
They also found small parts of a forest with some beasts in it, but they were at most in the 4-star mortal realm and weren't enough to put the group in danger as they had dealt with a lot of those beasts before.
The most challenging part was when three golems attacked them, but with Yale and Kermu boosted by Nurvey's spells the battle was quick as they were also more used to fight with golems than before.
That mixed area wasn't as dangerous as the previous ones to a group like them, but for those who reached that far by luck, it was a deadly trap.
That mixed area was rather short, and it seemed more like a passage between regions than a region itself.
After the weird area, they reached a circular white room instead of another zone. There was nothing inside the white room, but the trap detecting artifacts reacted like mad before they entered into it.
"This is the only way, and the artifacts say that it's a trap, can it be that our path is a wrong one?"
Kermu was shocked because since they left the mountain range the path hadn't had any bifurcation, there was no way to mistake the road in that mixed area.
"Maybe this room is the real end of the path and not a dead end with traps. It can have hidden mechanisms that will activate once inside, but it doesn't mean that the mechanisms should be traps aiming to our lives."
Yale thought more about his previous theory; it would be difficult that all the paths lead to the same final room. However, a place with a mechanism to move or teleport them to the final destination would still activate the trap detecting artifacts.
"Even if that is true, do we really need to take the risk?"
Kermu was unsure, as the group leader he didn't want to put everyone in danger by a mere guess, even if the chances of Yale being in the right were high.
"I can enter first, you know very well my survival capacities, even if that is a trap I won't die."
The others weren't able to refute Yale's words as they had seen before how he avoided death, and except Aizu, all the others had tested the skill's effect themselves.
Yale entered the room slowly and ready to cast Absolute Protection in any moment, but nothing happened after he entered the room.
Yale looked carefully at the whole room; there wasn't anything strange in the walls, only pure white.
However, when he looked at the ceiling he discovered some words written there, those words weren't possible to see without entering the room.
"Wait here until the correct time."
Those words didn't say a lot, but at least they stated that something would happen when that unknown moment arrived.
"It seems that my theory was correct. Come to see the words on the ceiling."
As Yale managed to enter the room without problems and claimed had discovered some words, all the others also entered the room and looked at the ceiling.
"It didn't seem like a trap, although I can't discard it completely. What do you think? Should we wait here until something happens or we should go back to look for another path?"
Kermu didn't mind risking his own life as he already believed that the room wasn't a trap, but he wouldn't force any of his companions to think the same.
"We already reached this far, we should try until the end, at most we should remain near Yale, and we will be safe. That skill he has should be enough to ensure our security."
Hyrk wasn't the type of guy who chose to retreat in front of the danger; he liked to be straightforward. Furthermore, as Yale dared to risk entering the room, Hyrk thought that he should be capable of using the skill which saved all of them before.
"We should try it; the special realm is dangerous since the start, we shouldn't retreat because this can be a potential trap. Furthermore, even choosing another road can lead us to another room like this one, and in that case, we would have lost our time, maybe we even lose an opportunity due to being late."
Serka had confidence in Yale and looking for another road didn't ensure anything either, so she preferred to take the risk.
Nurvey didn't speak, but she seated beside Yale while hugging Wyba, her actions were implying that she would also wait.
Aizu didn't say anything as she had decided to follow Yale. Furthermore, she alone wouldn't be able to go back, so she never thought about giving her opinion and just complied with the group's decision.
As no one opposed to waiting in the white room, all of them sat inside waiting for the time that the words on the ceiling referred to.
Yale used the time to practice Minor Boost, as he didn't need to move nor disturb the others to practice it; he had thought of practicing body shift, but he felt that changing his body non-stop would distract others.
In two weeks, Yale managed to improve Minor Boost to the fifth level, and the consumption rate decreased to three Origin Points per minute, the Boost Skills worked similar to the healing spells and when leveling up the cost could decrease.
After those two weeks, the room started to tremble; something had been activated.
"It seems that the time the words in the ceiling said has arrived, I will be ready to cast my spell if something goes wrong, everyone stays near me."
Yale said those words because he was the one who had the idea to wait, so even if everyone agreed he felt responsible for their security. Furthermore, having Absolute Protection protecting them wasn't difficult if they weren't far from him.
As the room trembled, space-time fluctuations appeared, the mechanisms had activated a space-time passage. However, it was the type that forced those inside to reach other destination and not the kind one would enter willingly.
In a few seconds, all of the group had disappeared from the white room after being teleported to another place.
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