April 14th. 6 am.

Part 1.

We rose up early in the morning along with the golden ageless sun. Our plan for today was to first discover what the mine was all about. The Mystic Mine that Kuzan was referring to.

Our path naturally was already a path that we were familiar with, though I hadn't crossed it yet. I was leaving the tablet with Rayazaki as we crossed the jungle while we kept on heading northwest.

He would keep the map in tabs while Kuzan would eat all the fruit. Truth be told, we had plenty of fruit; which was our early morning breakfast. Our sleep was fairly horrible because we had not the conditions to have a nice sleep in the first place. It was also additionally impossible to have a long sleep because the moment the sun would come up, it was lights in for us.

Although I am the leader here, Rayazaki was taking the leadership currently as he knew the path far better than Kuzan; so I relied on that. Kuzan was on my right side as he witnessed my current behavior.

Aside from that, the morning isn't as blazing as I thought it would as there are traces of cold still chasing from the night. However, soon enough, it will be spread with burning temperatures closely reaching the kind of temperatures where we would have to strip our uniforms.

We were also taking a path that was far less occupied with lianas and instead was portrayed by massively tall brown trees more fitting in a forest than a jungle.

Midst this, Kuzan decided to speak, while eating a yellow raw banana. His eyes were calm but his words didn't exactly reflect calm in general.

"Master, what are you doing...? Hurry up and solve it..."

"I've solved it many times. I am trying to figure out what the cube is all about."

That's right.

While Rayazaki is handling the discovery factor and is leading us the way to the Mystic Mine, I am here in the back attempting to figure out what Sagasuga's cube is all about.

There is no way possible that Sagasuga would just have a random cube.

But Kuzan didn't really think so.

"Now, look here... You said that cube was Sagasuga's, but maybe he really just brought it along because he thought this was just a school trip...?"

"You fool, Kuzan. He was way too prepared for this "school trip". And a cube in the midst does not add up."

Before falling asleep, last night, I came across a spectacular thought of mine.

To this, I brought Rayazaki's attention to the matter too.

"Rayazaki, stop going so fast and come and join us for a while."

To be more specific, Kuzan and I already had stopped our tracks and were on the borderline of a lake. The exact same lake that Sagasuga and I came across a few days ago. A lake that is so fantastically gigantic that one would not escape from the thought of wondering its central depth.

Still, I must say, this resembles a tundra because the sky itself is so baby blue that its reflection upon the mineral conservative water which is not wild whatsoever and is instead peaceful and mature; far outwits any calamity out there.

Nevertheless, we were simply standing on the edge of the water's lake where the water would barely even reach our feet.

It was extremely peaceful and it gave us a brilliant view to have this conversation in.

"Let me see it."

"Here."

Rayazaki handed me the tablet which is running on an infinite battery as he sat down on the silky wet sand that was neither rigid nor tough. Simply wet and fragile. Our bottoms were succumbing slightly towards the weak mold that the sand presented itself with.

"23% only? I thought it would be way more, honestly."

The central south and northwest south of the map are practically all discovered, which is extremely helpful. However, I thought that it would be way more by now.

Rayazaki took out an apple from his bag and then spoke as he took the first bite out of the scarlet apple.

"It's gonna take a while. This island--- I think that the other sections that you've spoken about are way more interesting. Anyway, why did we stop? None of us are feeling tired. What gives?"

I extended my right hand towards Rayazaki implying that I also wanted an apple to which he gave me instantly. And then, I spoke my mind to Rayazaki and Kuzan who were mirroring me, while also holding the Rubik's cube in my left hand.

"In the Necrohol of Canopus, we obtained this remote."

I took out the remote that Sagasuga and I had obtained back in the Necrohol. The remote that had no connection whatsoever thus far. Because in order to make use of this remote, I would need the material that is inside the secret passage. The legendary second component.

"Here; it says number 1 on the back."

"Wait, what? Then why would you yesterday say that the Necrohol isn't the first section?"

Rayazaki's doubt here wasn't exactly easy to explain because I would have to go over some things first. In order to recapitulate, it's important to capitalize on my discoveries thus far. In the Necrohol of Canopus, I discovered the remote which had the number "1" behind it. This would imply that the Necrohol of Canopus is the first section.

However, there is something here that makes no sense whatsoever. If in the second section, I was able to access the secret passage by inserting the correct password, then how come the same result wasn't reproduced in the first section? The answer to that is simpler than it looks.

The true first section's contents were already breached and this ax is the cohesive and most likely the ultimate conclusive evidence that I've got right now.

"Because the remote that was obtained in the Necrohol; although it has the number "1" on its back, it's not the piece from the Necrohol."

"Huuuuuuuh? I am so confused, Master!"

To be honest, I might be completely wrong here, but if I was Sagasuga, I would do what I am about to tell them.

"I think Sagasuga already came across the first section and he stole the initial item from it. Subsequently, he went forth to the second section and then he swapped their places."

"Kawahara, that seems so unlikely... Are you sure you aren't overestimating Sagasuga? What you are implying is quite well-thought-out."

I understand Rayazaki's skepticism, henceforth I'll tell him an additional piece of information here.

"In the Tuwile Skyhigh Tower, the moment I inserted the password correctly, a hidden location was immediately unlocked and so was the tablet. But none of that happened in the Necrohol."

"Isn't that just because the password had already been tried out as you explained it to me?"

"It's true, Rayazaki. As I told you two, Sagasuga already had claimed that he had tried out the password before. HOWEVER, I noticed something while leaving the tower. Although I was able to nail it on the last try, there is no saying that you can't just insert the same password over and over. It's something that I am not sure about yet but I think it's possible. Maybe it's not limited to just the wrong tries of passwords."

Kuzan was utterly clueless to what we were talking about and Rayazaki had to think a little before speaking again; which he did eventually.

"So you are saying that Sagasuga already had inserted the right password but... he... reset everything...?"

"Unfortunately, so."

It appears that Rayazaki has started to breach my theory here. Hence why he asked the following question with an eccentric horrifying enthusiasm.

"Hold on, hold on! Doesn't that mean that Sagasuga was able to access the secret passage too?!"

I smiled a bit, but that smile faded as soon as I started to explain the current hypothesis that I had last night.

"I don't believe he was able to. That was utterly locked and Sagasuga and I weren't able to do shit about it."

"Then, what does that mean?"

"It means, Rayazaki, that the first section had not the answers to the secret passage in the Necrohol. Either that, or there was something in the first section that Sagasuga did not notice."

"Huh... again, what does that mean? Where does that leave us, exactly? Did you stop us just to make theories?"

He looked mad, but the moment I explained to him how that was not the case at all, he regained a far more composed look.

Midst that, I had already eaten all that the scarlet apple had to offer.

"If he really did swap the items as I told you, then this tablet is the actual item from the Necrohol. Thus, the number "2", because the Necrohol is the second section; according to the theory. The number in the back symbolizes and corresponds to the section where it was found. And then there's the remote which has the number "1" on its back. I reason it belongs to the almighty first section. SO, if the number in the back symbolizes the section where it belongs... What is the deal with this ax then?"

I took ahold of the ax in my back and started to dismember it. Rayazaki and Kuzan gasped the instance they noticed that there was something very odd about this ax.

Kuzan pointed at the ax and then expressed his vivid exclamation.

"Number 9?! What?! How is that possible?!"

"Shouldn't that mean that Sagasuga obtained that ax in the ninth section?!"

This was what I wanted them to truly understand.

But instead of explaining things, I got up and issued our leave.

"We need to get going; it's no longer dawn. Let's find out about the Mystic Mine!"

Part 2.

11 am.

It took us a grand total of five hours just to get here. Our way here was so extensive that the tablet's discovery percentage bar went from 23% to 27%. That is far too little for what we walked. Furthermore, it appears that Rayazaki was wrong about this location when yesterday he pointed at the map and said that it stayed central northwest. No, it doesn't stay towards the center. It's a fully diagonal path towards the northwest. In other words, we are currently on the left side of the island. From a central perspective, we are at the west edge of the island. Nevertheless, we are not exactly surrounded by water as one would initially think.

Instead, our current scenario is an upper wards cliff. Furthermore, the environment is not a jungle anymore as it has an additional contrasting factor to the environment we were in a few hours ago. This environment is iron cold. It's massively foggy. A maddening gray mist lying all over the place clouding our vision senses ever slightly the more steps we took forth.

Rayazaki remarked something along with Kuzan as we were slowly being entangled by the featureless perpetually dismal swamp of gray fog.

"What the hell... It wasn't this foggy yesterday..."

"Rayazaki, was this really the right way to go...?"

Kuzan was attempting to clear the fog out of his way of vision, but no matter how much he tried, the fog would ultimately replace itself. As it stands, we are in the middle of nowhere, without a sense of direction. We are just going forward and forward in the hope we stumble upon something.

"Rayazaki, you do remember the way to the entrance, right?"

"God, fucking calm down, you two. I do remember it, ok? And you should too, Kuzan. There's a long stairway case first before the entrance. Plus, it's really long! Horizontally, I mean. You'll see it once we get there!"

Furious, Rayazaki was stuck between checking the tablet's map to see if there was something to click since he knows that once we reach the mine that there will be a talking balloon icon to click.

That was when I noticed that I was unconsciously breathing more oxygen than I necessarily needed to. Upon noticing this, I told them to stop as I stopped my own body from walking.

"Stop!"

I just couldn't stop breathing more oxygen! Despite telling myself to not breathe with such frequency, I couldn't. Could it be that this mist isn't fog, but a...?

"Why did we stop...? Ahh... Ahhh..."

"Master...? What's wrong...? Ahh..."

Fuck, they are both begging for oxygen. Their faces look horribly pale. Furthermore, I don't think that this fog is actual fog; only in appearance maybe. It's as if we are surrounded by a toxin that keeps asking for more oxygen the more we advance.

Still, what's bugging me is how; according to Rayazaki, yesterday, this mist wasn't here... So, why now?!

"Stop breathing for a second..."

They both tried to do that, but they nonetheless couldn't hold their breaths for more than two seconds. Subsequently, they inhaled as much oxygen as they could.

"What is this...?!"

Before they could panic even further just from the fact that this deadly toxin around us was being responsible for what was currently happening, I issued the plan of action by stepping forth and continuing to walk forward towards the unknown.

"Quick! We can't lose time! The more we stay emerged in this environment, the more we are subjected to it! We must get out of the fog!"

I realize that I am potentially leading them to their deaths but we need to discover what's ahead! Through this endless fog, the mine will be visible!

Part 3.

11:45 am.

We kept on running and running with immense difficulty but we nevertheless managed to cut through the seemingly endless mist of fog; ultimately arriving at our desired destination. Just as I had gambled, the mist stopped. It only covered our way when we started to leave the jungle and had entered a tall cliff only leading upwards; almost as if we were climbing towards the sky.

What we found near the end of the mist was a long linear entrance towards the grand stairway case that had no visible appearance if we kept on looking forth to its end. Precisely like the cliff, we would have to climb the stairs in order to get to the top. Plus, in addition to the staircase; which is arcadian-looking, there are two other entrances with similar staircases if not entirely equal to the one in front of us. I've therefore concluded that there must be another entrance right in our contrasting direction. In other words, there are four entrances.

Rayazaki was not joking when he said that the staircases were horizontally huge. Rustic and old; they would be more accurately described as stairs that have been here for centuries. Just by feeling their surface, they were extremely humid thanks to the glacial atmosphere. Though fog did not corrupt this place, it was still cloudy; but not foggy.

Regarding the architecture of this temple; not mine, it would be Aztecan.

I see.

No wonder, then. It makes sense as to why there are potentially four entrances. Aztecan temples most of the time had four entrances though some simply had a long stairway with two to three divisions alternating in-between. It's also normal that we can't see the top no matter how much we climb. Five to ten minutes had passed and we still weren't able to see what the top had to offer.

Climbing these stairs is hellish. Not only are they abundantly large but their surface is brutally tough.

Midst our climbing, Kuzan began to sit down as he no longer could take the physical toll that the climbing was putting on him.

He threw his bag to the edge of the stair's degree and lied on the surface of the degree like a dead man with his jaw falling off.

"Who designed this?! Why are there so many degrees?! I don't get it! Why not create an elevator instead?! This is why I prefer elevators over stairs!"

To add insult to injury, Kuzan started to spit saliva cannonballs onto the degrees below out of spite.

"...I'm taking a break too. Christ, I don't remember this being so long..."

Rayazaki sat down right next to Kuzan; more precisely speaking right next to Kuzan's shoes. Afterward, he inhaled deeply and fell back with his back freely while facing the sharp degree ahead of him without a care.

Although it caused him pain, he did not mention it. His fatigue was far too noticeable and more important.

As for me, I didn't take a break and instead kept on analyzing the degrees up ahead.

"Hey, Kawahara! Take a break too, man!"

"Why don't you two do that instead?"

"...Yeah, fine! Just looking out for you, whatever."

I didn't answer and instead slowly climbed the upper degrees just a little bit.

There is something that has intrigued me ever since we started to climb this seemingly endless staircase.

On the fourth degree away from Rayazaki and Kuzan, a small hallway was there. But, by small, I mean extremely small. It had a length of five meters. We already encountered two of these small halls. Maybe hall isn't the right word here. Maybe it's something far more simple. The pure absence of the stairway degrees turned into a gigantic degree itself.

Grasping the surface once again, I felt the ironclad untender formation of the ground. I looked to my right, where I saw the absence of structure and saw a far more hollow dark place. The same could be said if I were to look to my left. Every time we would encounter this large absence, the absence would continuously increase until it met its end. Of course, since this temple's shaped almost like a pyramid, it just means that the other side took its place.

Rocky and incomplete. It looks to have the ability to crumble but the contrasting steeled form says otherwise. The question is, why an Aztecan temple? I didn't study the Aztec era and I am slightly regretting that. Because if I could find some clues to symbolism, it could help in the long run. Yet, no. I am clueless as I look at the geoglyphs in the staircase degrees.

It should be utterly obvious what it is to me, but in every degree, there are different symbols. I've been counting the number of degrees thus far and this one I am currently under is the 178th one. And on the plain surface, there is a gigantic geoglyph. On both sides of the stairway, there is a lion's face. No. Not a lion... Perhaps a serpent? It's hard to tell what it is. On the long upward handrail it's always there, staring at those who cross it.

"Hey, you two! Break's over!"

I didn't move and instead rushed them to come over.

"Come to where I am, I need your opinions."

"Ugh... We only rested for two minutes, Master!"

"Come on, Kuzan. We gotta be close."

"Yeah... I hope so, Rayazaki."

Accompanied by their sluggish movements with fatigue all over them, they arrived at the space between the degrees where I am in front of the figure that I am attempting to figure out what it is.

"What is that? That lion face."

I pointed at the stone face that was showing in the thick rocky handrail. To be called handrail is an exaggeration because these stairs don't have a handrail, but it's not wrong to associate both.

Also, now that I further look at the temple's sides, I can clearly see that this face is far more present within the outside of the whole temple than I initially analyzed it to be. In other words, this figure must be important.

"How is that a lion?"

"Come on, just look at the sharp fangs!"

"No way that's a lion, Kawahara. That's a damn fish!"

Now Rayazaki was claiming that it wasn't a lion, but a fish instead. I didn't retort and attempted to see how it resembled a fish and strangely... It kinda did. The stone figure which was showing its head only; resembled a fish.

That was when Kuzan decided to speak his mind.

"It's a feathery serpent! A snake!"

"But it looks too calm to be a snake... Damn, dude, you seriously don't know what this is?"

It pained me to admit in front of Rayazaki my lack of knowledge, but there was no other choice but to do exactly that.

"I don't! I don't! FUCK!"

I get nervous when I don't know something these days. To the point where I start to scratch my head compulsively.

Rayazaki then approached my side as Kuzan kept on analyzing the headed figure.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Why are you so stressed out, dude? It's just a figure. Probably an old relic or something. Nothing to worry about!"

So he said, with his index finger arousing the bottom of his finger like a pendulum.

"It's more than just a figure, Rayazaki. They could hold immense knowledge."

"I get that, but it's not like we'll be able to enter the mine, anyway."

"We'll see about that. Kuzan, let's go!"

And so, our journey continued.

About ten minutes later, we reached the top and we were bathed without warning by a powerful light source that came through the sun up above.

The dark clouds below were completely visible to us as they covered the entirety below. Only the top of the temple; the mighty summit was cloudless. Up here, it was nothing but a sunny day. Just like an Aztecan temple, it had a very small entrance; contrasting the grand entirety of the whole temple thus far.

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810323018014261321/844480850954289192/Comic57.png]

Kuzan and Rayazaki didn't hesitate to admire what the view from here had to offer to them.

"Whaaaa! We are so high up! You can see the whole island from here! You can see the volcano, the ocean around it and...!"

Kuzan was taken back when he went to the other side of the small house that we were in front of. To be completely more specific, in front of us, is a very small area shaped like an ancient house. The summit of the temple, I would like to believe. It's fully dark gold and holds an extremely abysmally dark entrance without anything to see beyond it. Furthermore, there are three open halls on each side; three on the right and three on the left, to make way for the obtusely large entrance which is stairless.

"Don't be fooled. We also thought that this was normal at first but when we entered it, we were crying for help..."

Rayazaki was upholding a high level of danger in the facial expression that he was wearing but we were quickly interrupted by Kuzan who was shouting from the other side of the house. If from here, I turn around and see the clouds below covering over the temple and the rest of the island, then I assumed that the exact same would happen, should I go to the other side too.

However, as Rayazaki and I went to Kuzan's side, we didn't witness any sort of clouds hovering the temple's true backside.

Kuzan, who was seating on the edge of the temple, struck me as someone who liked heights because no normal person would stand right here.

It might sound unrealistic, but seating on the edge of the temple from the back, where the sun doesn't illuminate you and shadows embrace you, is the equivalent of standing on the edge of an American skyscraper that towers anything below it by around 150 meters if not more.

"Look at that!! Master, isn't it amazing!"

"You fucking said it. Hey, Kuzan, wanna take a dive?"

"......"

Kuzan started to get up from his seat and took back a nice reasonable distance from me and Rayazaki.

Speaking of Rayazaki, he was oddly afraid of heights. His face had an explicit horror all over it.

"How about you---"

I was going to jokingly say if someone wanted to take a swim, but Rayazaki intercepted me before I could.

"Don't even think about it..."

They both vanished towards the entrance of the temple at the speed of light. Before I could meet up with them again, I glanced at what this side had to offer.

As it stands, this is the tip of the island. The pure edge where it's supposed to be covered by water only. However, below this colossal rocky cliff mashed up with a ravine's structure lies nothing but the wild dark-blue ocean which is not calm whatsoever. Raging tail waves clashing back and forth rising a height that begs the question if they are even average tidal waves or not. What's somewhat terrifying is how this temple stands at the exact west edge of the island. If it were to fall, it would be catastrophic.

I went back to meet up with them then.

Once there, we faced the entrance and I inhaled as much oxygen as I could. They did the same. Ultimately, I put myself in front, because I am the leader.

"Let's go."

A distance of five meters was separating us from the entrance.

We took a step and another.

Roughly three meters stood in-between us right now. I, once again, inhaled, to see any drastic difference but unlike before in the fog, there wasn't anything.

There were no differences so to speak, but Rayazaki and Kuzan had the expressions of terror all over them.

Thus, the decisive two to three steps were taken which welcomed us inside the dark mine with nothing but an unfathomable dark-inked hallway.

I took a deep inhale and started to get confident as we were already inside the mine and I noticed not a single difference.

Then, at that single fracture of time I was switching my gears, the moment I attempted to talk out loud, I felt a strangling sensation.

Without making any secondary mistakes, I used all my strength to throw Rayazaki and Kuzan out of the darkness we were starting to be engulfed in.

"KAAAH! AGGHH!"

On my knees I succumbed even further as I felt like I was being strangled in my neck, my nostrils began to beg for oxygen which would enter at a far too heavy of a cost.

My eyes never felt this heavy before and I thought I was done for, but I reached out to the right side of the entrance and used that impulse to push my own body out of the darkness, which ultimately allowed me to be back at the outside of the entrance once more.

"AHHHHH! AHHHHH! Ahhh! Fuuuuu..."

It took me the impressive lung strength to inhale as much of this fresh oxygen that there was, but I did it. Quickly then, I got up with all my strength and went to Kuzan, who was having trouble managing his oxygen inhaling.

I placed my left hand on his back and slapped him lightly three times on his face while ordering him.

"Kuzan! Kuzan! Inhale and breathe calmly! You are outside of the mine! Keep it cool!"

"AHH! Ahhhh! Ohhh... Ohh..."

He managed to rapidly regain his composure and I needn't worry about Rayazaki as he handled himself pretty well.

"That's much better... Thanks, Master! See, I told you! It's a Mystic Mine!"

"I hate to agree with Kuzan, but this is really starting to seem like one. Out of nowhere, we lost the ability to inhale."

I corrected Rayazaki now on my two feet standing tall and proudly.

"We didn't lose the ability to inhale. The oxygen there is corrupted by a deadly toxin. It's like standing on Mars. Actually, it's exactly like that!"

Now that I think about it, this analogy isn't too far-fetched. But Rayazaki and Kuzan demanded a more thorough explanation as they began to complain.

"Explain!"

But before I could answer them, I went to seat on the first degree of the enormous stairway case. As I glanced at the volcano whose height far outreigned this temple's from afar, I started to speak.

Midst my speech's start, they joined my side; Rayazaki on my right and Kuzan on my left.

"Recall a little, the moment we started to feel that way, didn't the temperatures drop suddenly? It was freezing!"

"Oh yeah, it totally was!"

"But we were too absorbed on the fact that we were dying, so it was hard to notice, but now that I look at my skin---HOLY SHIT, IT'S PURPLE! AHHHHHHH!!"

Kuzan also noticed his hands and saw his hand purple and started to freak out.

I interrupted them before they could freak out even further.

"Please stop. It's just for a while. Give it a few minutes and it will be back to normal."

"But Master!"

"Shut up! It's true. The atmosphere rejected us, essentially. When I said that being there is like standing on Mars, I actually meant it. A human being would survive no more than 2 minutes on Mars. But, to be more precise, I am talking about the body. You would pass out way before that. Five to ten seconds, I dare say. Why? Because the glacial temperatures there are unbearable! Furthermore, it has toxic soil and a tremendous low gravity! That's exactly what we felt there!"

They were mind-blown but I was too. Still, I knew for a fact that we just didn't step on Mars. This was just an example to portray my point.

What's more interesting is how we only really felt the differences once we stepped inside of the mine itself. It's like there's a barrier that doesn't allow the toxic atmosphere inside of it to overextend to the outside. In other words, if it's not overextending as it should naturally, then... No doubt about it, it's incredibly manufactured.

This is an absolute no zone. As such, I once again issued the path of action by rising my posture to full height whilst looking forward; standing high and mighty.

"We are going all the way towards the Tower! Get ready to fucking walk, because we are not stopping!"

"Ehhh?! We are taking breaks, right?!"

"I said what I said!"

"Give up, Kuzan..."

Part 4.

Of course, I was lying when I said that we weren't going to make any stops. The first thing I did while making my way along with Kuzan and Rayazaki to the Tuwile Skyhigh tower that stays inside the Rigil Kentaurus Mines was to gather as many food resources as possible. Essentially, we collected as much fruit as we could and stuffed our bags with it. I then restricted us from eating more than two fruits in four hours in order to preserve our resources.

By the time we had walked all the way inside the Necrohol of Canopus and ultimately crossed over to the Rigil Kentaurus Mines, it was already far too dark outside. Nevertheless, our thirst for discovery did not stop and after a grand total of 9 hours, we got inside the hollow room where I discovered the tablet.

This time around, the door was unlocked but that was simply because unlocking the password had done that by itself. As of now, we stood in the middle of the room without any sort of strong illumination but nonetheless some. It was enough for us to recognize our faces but the shadows were overwhelming.

A dilemma arose to the surface. We could either follow the secret passage that had been unveiled to me the moment I discovered the battery or we could get into the tower and keep going through the way that would connect to the other sections.

However, I thought... Why would there be two open paths? I realized that perhaps one path would not be open. Otherwise, why? But, what if there were two open paths...? What then...?

I can use my numbers to my advantage but there is just a slight problem. We don't have any way to communicate with each other. Our phones are dead by now. There is no way to recharge them. A decision had to be made, therefore.

"Let's climb to the tower and find what's there."

"What about the passage though?"

Rayazaki asked Kuzan's question, basically.

"I reason that it's either open both ways or one path is open only."

"If it's not?"

"So be it. We need to discover, and fast!"

This pumped them up and thus, our journey once again resumed. We made our way towards the secret passage that had opened itself when I took the elevator on the other sector ahead of the Tuwile Skyhigh Tower. By following that trail we arrived at the chamber which had the path to the elevator.

Once we took the elevator, we arrived at the center of the tower.

That was when I decided to do something on my own.

I told Kuzan and Rayazaki to go up ahead and that I would meet them again shortly. This task of mine took me less than five minutes.

The way that Kuzan and Rayazaki would go towards the third section would be to walk through a very long linear but sheltered bridge basking under the sun. It appears that there is no concept of the night in this world because the sun never moves from its position; almost as if it's programmed to be at the mighty center. As I made my way to the Tuwile Skyhigh Tower, I thought that perhaps if this environment is programmed that maybe there would be extremely rainy days or really long nights and so on.

Now, the real question is... Why am I running with all my speed and strength towards the Tuwile Skyhigh Tower? What is it that I can find there? As far as I'm concerned, the elevator there isn't operational, so why am I going here? Why is it that when I descend these spiral degrees in this intertwined staircase I look everywhere and only see the exact scenario as the last time that I was here?

No changes whatsoever.

At the bottom of the staircases, I reached the elevator and attempted to see if it was working, for some miraculous reason.

"Of course not."

I then started to walk quite slowly as I thought that I would be greeting him with my presence. Nonetheless, I quickly realized that the absence of the wooden boxes near the bridge's edge could only mean two things.

However, it appeared that I wasn't greeting anyone with my presence as I was the only one who remained in this lonesome environment. From afar, I saw the ravine that had a very lineal small tight valley. I know for a fact that beyond that lies the ever-intriguing sandsea. The broken bridge that holds no remains to it no longer exists.

With my foot on the tip of the unexistent bridge's entrance, I kneeled down and looked at the dark pit that was supposedly bottomless but in reality, if I focused my vision, I could see the sharp boulders smashed to pieces along with the animals I knew not existed. Hyenas right at the end of the bottom.

Nevertheless, I didn't find any traces of blood there nor a body. Plus, the wooden boxes weren't here... They had disappeared.

"Just like Sagasuga, eh?"

I clapped and then left.

Part 5.

"It's not working."

"We've tried many times, but it just doesn't work!"

As soon as I got to the end of the extremely long linear iron-sheltered gate which contained a condensing temperature to its iron bars, I encountered Kuzan and Rayazaki near the third section's tower. And for the record, this isn't like the first section's tower. No, that's wrong.

It would be more accurate to say that the Tuwile Skyhigh Tower is the first section's tower. If so...

"AH! I see now!"

I jammed my fist into my right hand as I realized the obvious, once again.

The reason as to why the elevator from the first section tower doesn't work is because------- Nevermind, that would be a really bad theory, now that I think about it. I was about to reason that the reason why the first elevator doesn't work is that the first section hasn't been fully cleared, but if that's the case, then how could the second elevator, which was the one I took to get to the bottom of the Rigil Kentaurus Mines and inside that chamber, suddenly worked? It wouldn't make sense because I didn't clear it before it was operational, but only after. Furthermore, the elevator was operational from the start.

My face really saddened.

"What the hell? Why did you get so happy and then so sad?"

"It's like when you get a boner and you can't decide what video to watch, Rayazaki."

"I don't have that problem though. I only get mad when what I watched was disappointing and I couldn't fully jerk it off and have to search for another video."

"Oh, I totally get it--"

I slapped the two of them on the back of their heads and called their attention quickly.

"Weirdos, don't discuss your porn issues with each other, that's fucking gay!"

"It is?"

"It is, Kuzan."

"But isn't it fi-"

Rayazaki was about to prolong this stupid conversation and as such, I stepped in and pressed the elevator switch, which did not work as expected.

"See? Not working. What now?"

"Hey, Master! Can't we just cross all the bridges for fun?"

What Kuzan proposed was probably possible. There were a lot of bridges connecting with other oil rigs, specifically speaking, to the other seven oil rigs.

It's fairly obvious that the Tuwile Skyhigh Tower is the first section's tower. I was impulsive in concluding that unraveling the password would lead the way to the elevator's access. It appears that the first section's elevator is locked for other reasons. While we could go across all the bridges, we won't, and here is why.

I turned in Kuzan's direction and gave him the reason.

"The result is most likely the same. As predicted, not all paths are open. In other words, we go back."

Rayazaki was already walking by my side towards the second tower where we would later upon arrival descend it but Kuzan still whined whilst lagging behind.

"Maybe it's not the same result, you know?!"

"No way I'm wrong here, Kuzan. We will probably find something that will answer us why that elevator is unfunctional."

But then Rayazaki posed an interesting question.

"He could be right, Kawahara. After all, didn't you say that the second elevator was functioning properly without you having done anything to it?"

"It's very unlikely that the passage that was upon in the arena-alike-room isn't related to this matter, you fools. If we skip the steps here we are going to end up like before. Remember the Mystic Mine? The only reason why the atmosphere was engulfed in that deadly toxin was that the conditions had not been cleared. This is like a puzzle, if you fit the wrong pieces in the right place you won't obtain the result you would expect. And if you put the right pieces in the wrong place you will get a different result as well. This is about perfection, you dorks."

Shortly afterward, we made our way to the arena and went near the mine's entrance. To the right, there was an open door that would lead us to a place we did not know at the time.

It could either lead us to the outside once again or it could be a place that would allow our progression to gain an even further advancement.

Regardless, if it led to the outside, then I wouldn't settle for that. I don't fucking want to get out of this world! If clearing one tower gives me such rewards, then I will stay inside this world for as long as I need to! The more rewards I obtain the closer I am so fucking clearing this exam! Fuck the outside world!

"Master, you have the devil's face..."

"It's his usual grin. I bet he doesn't even realize that he grins so widely that the corners of his lips are larger than his moth--"

Without speaking, I started to take very large and menacing steps towards Rayazaki who was gossiping with Kuzan behind my back.

"Finish it."

"...Huuuuh, I'll pass on that..."

Rayazaki started to look down and I closed our distance. We were about one centimeter from one another.

My height towered his which made me look down on him.

"Finish it, I said."

"Dude, what's your problem...? It was just a joke, you don't gotta act like this..."

"Then fucking finish it. If you are going to say it, then fucking do it, Rayazaki. Or are you a little pussy? If you are going to roast my mother then do it in my face like a man!!"

I was grabbing his uniform's collar and using considerable strength. But I knew that Rayazaki wouldn't ultimately back down in a fight so I was pushing his buttons.

"Master, wait!"

"Stay out of this, Kuzan!"

I shouted so loud it echoed throughout the entirety of the arena. I was waiting for Rayazaki to stop looking down and look me in the eyes.

"Rayazaki, look at me. I am talking to you!"

"Alright, fine! I don't care if you hit me, it was just a joke and if you can't take it, then you are an immature person who doesn't know the concept of mom jokes!"

"Then say it!"

"I bet you don't even realize that you grin so widely that the corners of your lips get larger than your mother's uterus!"

For the upcoming three seconds, I made the evilest face I could come up with and Rayazaki looked ready to fight. Our silence could easily be broken by a fist of the rage of mine. Kuzan had no idea what to do, should a fight break out.

But after those seconds had passed, I placed my two hands on Rayazaki's shoulders and gave him the proper reaction.

"HAHAHAHA! That wasn't half-bad, man!"

"....For fuck's sake, you could've just told me that you weren't taking it offensively...! Hahaha!"

"B-But... Hahaha! That would defeat the whole purpose of the act. Come on, you two, let's get going. I'll tell you something along the way."

I was genuinely laughing at Rayazaki's roast while entering the door's entrance.

In addition to that, I led the way towards yet another spiral staircase, but this time, instead of going down, it went up. Furthermore, it was highly illuminated due to the manual light lamps linked to each other diagonally on the top of the area above the staircase.

"My mother's a cocksucker. She used to suck the guy next door all the time and she would make the shittiest of excuses to hide that. It's like your neighbors who have sex all the time that complain about noise when you blast your music but then they don't let you sleep when it's fucking 3 am! Hah, hilarious shit!"

The stair's degrees are very small. My feet occupy twice their length. Why are they so small? Was this designed for a child to walk in?

"That's... fucked up, bro..."

"Was that why you took it that roast so well, Master?"

I answered while only looking forward as we kept on ascending the spiral stairs.

"Nah. It's just factual. I don't get kids who get offended when someone insults their mother/father. It's their responsibility to stand up for themselves when they get shat on. Not yours."

"But, dude, that's not the same, okay? If your mother was here and I had said that, wouldn't you have gotten mad?"

I stopped and looked at Rayazaki for a second before looking up again.

"I would be more than glad if she were to get roasted in front of me."

They kept their silences to that, but one minute later, we reached our destination.

We reached a room with twice the strong illumination that the stairs were covered with.

A doorless small room with a pretty clear objective.

Sheltered by the same kind of blue from the previous chamber.

However, just in the center, there were two buttons.

"I hate to make a joke in this moment of seriousness, but... Does anyone know that meme where the guy has to make a choice with two buttons in front of him?"

"Oh, I know that one, Rayazaki!"

Although they were talking with each other, they were approaching the center and there is something surrounding that center that they did not notice.

There is a square-shaped line around the two manipulator switches that contain the button.

As soon as I saw that, I went out of my way to put my hands on their shoulders in order to stop them from walking any further.

"I'll go."

Rayazaki in response made the most obvious of replies.

"Why don't Kuzan and I press the two switches at the same time? Then it would be perfect."

"Why don't you read the alert sign in the switches first?"

I pointed at the vertical rectangular structures that each switch had. The alert signs were fixated in the middle of the structure and it was somewhat hard to see it from afar.

It was also additionally colored in black and had white letters which made it super easy to identify nonetheless.

"One person only limit... Pressing both buttons will initiate electric discharge... Are you serious...!? And what does it mean by one person only?"

"Don't you see the square-shaped borderline covering the area of the switches? Most likely, when you get inside, you will be covered by something. Maybe a static barrier that makes the other ones not be able to enter? Anyways, I will be entering."

"Hold on, shouldn't we discuss the two options here, Master?"

Kuzan's question was logical but I simply didn't mention it because I thought that there was no real room for discussion. Although the decision isn't obvious, there is a decision that reigns more importance.

Regardless, I didn't want to private their minds, so I gave Kuzan the consent here.

"Is there something you two would like to say or am I free to take my choice here?"

I was mainly looking at Kuzan, though Rayazaki spoke his mind first.

"Weren't you the one that said that this is like a puzzle and that we shouldn't put the wrong pieces in the right place?"

"I did say that."

"Then go with the switch on the right, no?"

Now that Rayazaki had made his decision, Kuzan spoke his mind.

"I'm afraid that if you go with the switch on the right it could be something that would be obtainable nonetheless. So I think that the switch on the left is the correct one. Didn't you make progress so far regardless of what the other switch could offer? Why change now, Master?"

"A contrasting opinion, huh? Which means that the decision will be up to me, right?"

"Yeah." x2.

I wasn't expecting a sudden discord but it makes sense.

I turned around and faced both the switches.

Then, without saying a word, I entered the area that contained the switches and I was immediately surrounded by a magnetic barrier around the area. A barrier that would impede someone from walking in.

Given that I can't press both buttons without getting myself killed, I will do the logical decision here. I must say that the other one is quite tempting...

The right switch holds the ability to unlock the door from the Necrohol. I am starting to see why Sagasuga was so desperately attempting to rush into this area. If he truly already had the access to the first section, then it's no wonder he wanted to get rid of me. I have the words and I was the only one who could ever pose a threat.

And then there's the left switch, which enables the elevator to work in the Tuwile Skyhigh Tower. God, this is so fucking hard, man.

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810323018014261321/844490814885068830/Two_buttons_final.png]

Should I go with the right switch then I will be able to find the secondary component of the remote, on the other hand, if I go with the left switch, then I will be able to possibly go to the first section... But what if that's not worth it? What if it's a risky gamble? By choosing the right switch, I am not making a risky gamble.

It's the logical decision, for sure. As such, my decision will be the right switch.

As I clicked, the other switch disappeared down below along with the other switch and thus, the area became one without the switches. Furthermore, the barrier was no longer present.

The moment I turned around, I looked at the gloomy Kuzan, who was unhappy that I didn't go with his choice. However, I went out of my way to explain it to him.

"It would be too risky. That door in the Necrohol is most likely what Sagasuga was aiming for. I reason that he already had a solid grasp of what it could be and as such, he was trying as much as he could to prevent me from going there. There is also a huge chance that he already knew about this scenario. I know it sounds unrealistic, but hear me out here. If Sagasuga already knew that there was a switch that would force me to make the grand decision here, he would've manipulated me slowly into making the decision that he so desired, for his own goal."

But still...

This is all too fucking much for one person. I legit can't think that Sagasuga is doing this alone anymore... But... Is Sagasuga aligned with the other two? I'm not talking about Tsudo nor Tatsu, of course. Ultimately, it's fairly possible that Sagasuga was working alongside the guy that we were chasing after.

"I understand, Master. I'm not really mad, I just thought that making more advancement instead of going back and making a regression would be better."

"Don't get the wrong idea, Kuzan."

"Eh?"

"This is an advancement in order for us to advance. Can't you see?! I obtained this tablet and the battery of it which allowed us to gain access to the ability to gain knowledge about the overall island! Can you imagine what this remote will probably do?!"

I already knew that this would cause Kuzan to be excited but he really started to get excited over the possibility very quickly.

"I see! If the remote is really useful with the other component then we will be able to advance more, right?!"

"That's why Kawahara went with that choice. Though, there's no guarantee that the remote will be something good. What if it's just a television remote?"

"Haha, no way that's the case!"

I don't like this. They are jinxing this way too much.

"Both of you, shut up. You are killing it. I'm gonna take it out on you two if it's nothing more than a television remote!"

I'm aware that whatever the door is holding is massively crucial, but I don't even want to think about the possibility of it not being crucial.

My mood would go way too fucking low.

Part 6.

Necrohol of Canopus.

Here we are, at the computer's room; where two doors stand. The one I previously walked right into with Sagasuga and the other one that could not be open no matter what.

Though that door was not open, as soon as I clicked on the manipulator switch on the right side of the iron door midst these radiant green crystals scattered deep inside this dark room, the door moved, which made me happier than it did Rayazaki and Kuzan.

We walked right into it and I expected a simple linear path covered with green crystals and geoglyphs, but a metallic black far more industrial started to surround the wall with an obscure cryptic shine to it. I couldn't believe my eyes as the structure of the walls on each side began to change drastically. The composition and structure of a piano crescendo. As a piano piece, the walls took the shape of vertical piano pieces but instead of the large pieces obtaining a lush white color; they were black and the in-between small pieces were white. The plain yet symbolic contrast was there.

Each wall piece kept on decreasing in height until it had no height to offer.

Naturally, if it had nothing to offer, it would mean that our journey would end, but that was not true. There was a leather with a staircase of ten degrees to be climbed.

Nonetheless, it had a password entry before it could be clicked. The entrance was most surely being blocked by an electric static barrier all over it.

Were I to climb, my overall height would tower Kuzan and Rayazaki from afar, but before I advanced onto the password entry, Rayazaki asked a question.

"There's nothing on top of that, is there? What the hell?!"

I then started to insert the password which was "Ultimate"; the same that I inserted without Sagasuga's consent back then.

"Chill out. The password changes everything. Watch and learn."

Swish.

A swift sound erupted from the bottom of the top of the surface up ahead and the barrier stopped prevailing. Still, the stairway's horizontal length only allowed one person to fit in.

"I'll go and I'll be back in a second."

They patiently then waited for me down below. While walking in the pitch-blacked degrees, I began to take the remote out and attempted to see what the correspondence would be the moment I got on the top.

Basking in imperial lights from above, I finally cast my eyesight on the correspondent component.

Then, I heard Rayazaki's impatient speech.

"Please don't tell me it's a fucking television...!"

"Maybe it's actually the charging stacks of the remote!"

"What the fuck?! But why would there be charging stacks of just the remote?!"

"Hehehe, Rayazaki, maybe up ahead there IS the television!"

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Rayazaki was going nuts over Kuzan's words, but I just didn't know how to react to this. I don't even know how to face them.

At the current moment, I am with my entire body opposed to their direction and with my eyes fully focused on the component.

Yet most importantly, I am attempting to associate the overall utility of this thing with the remote.

No, it's not charging stacks, thankfully. Because this remote ALREADY comes with the charging stacks.

In addition to that, I checked the number on the back of it and saw the most surprising factor.

At least I was glad that my theory was correct all along. Sagasuga did go out of his way to swap the components. That's very fucking smart. I like that move of his. It takes a certain amount of skill to conceal what he had done and go that far to deceive me. Brilliant, to say the least.

Without speaking, I grabbed the component and put the remote on my bag once again, which made Rayazaki furious.

"Why are you putting the remote away?!"

"It's not needed. Remember that theory from earlier that Sagasuga actually swapped the components? Well, DO you see a number "2" around this box somewhere?!"

I carefully handled Rayazaki the thin glassy box that was highlighting a key inside it.

That's right, our reward was nothing more than a key and I couldn't exactly be excited here because as far as I'm concerned we came not across a single door that requires a key. They all have manipulator switches and the elevators don't have a single lock.

In other words, I got played pretty hard here. Not only did we not make an advancement, but we are stuck with a component that we can't even use because it belongs to the first section to which we do NOT have access.

Nevertheless, if we had access to the first section through the Tuwile Skyhigh tower elevator, it's not as if we could have obtained the component because Sagasuga already had the other component.

This confirms it. He's not working alone; otherwise, he would have had the component with him. He gave the component of the first section to someone else.

Alternatively speaking, I don't have to bother myself with the first section because all I have to do is hunt down the one who holds the first component.