Five people rushed out of a mountain cavern.

Four Adventurers and one boy of unknown origin ceased moving further away from the entrance.

Three Adventurers had trouble holding their bodies upright as if their sense of balance had been thoroughly messed with, which was true in this case.

Two people, one middle-aged and one teen, displayed no qualms as if they had not experienced what the other three had.

Only one of them, however, displayed a face filled with confusion.

Seeing his party members so shaken by the Gate Sickness, Jacob wondered if he should give them some relief in the form of a few moments of brief recovery.

In the end, what he chose was its opposite.

“Come.” Jacob announced. “Some running will do you good to digest the Gate Sickness.” Then he slowly began his fast-walk away from the mountain cavern entrance.

His party members, who had no choice in the matter, followed in the same fast-walking fashion before transitioning into a full-blown run.

Luckily, Jacob did not need to pay too much attention to where he was bringing his party members because as long as it was away from the mountain cavern from which they had emerged, then it was good. It was good because the more distance existed between them and their soon-to-be-appearing pursuers, the greater their chances of survival after having poked the nest of stinging wasps known by the name of Rose Heart Syndicate.

As such, moments passed as the party traveled through the ancient fairytale-like giant forest.

Soon enough, the Gate Sickness affecting Paul, Evelyn, and Martin subsided, though it would take more than simple running to get it out of their system entirely.

Still, even if Jacob noticed his fellow Adventurers getting better, he did not have them slow down on their run. Instead, their speed only increased. Only after about an hour and much distance covered between them and the Rose Heart Syndicate members did Jacob slow down before eventually finding a good spot behind the giant roots of one ancient tree.

“We will take a break here and recover.” Jacob declared, and his team nodded. On the side, however, he noticed Adam staring blankly at their surroundings while his spear rested on his right shoulder.

Seeing him like that, Jacob had a tough time holding himself back on stepping closer to the boy and beating the crap out of him.

“Hngh… Boy.” Jacob grunted and called out. Though, not exactly seeing the reaction he desired, Jacob called again. “Adam… I think it's about damn time you tell us what was on that note considering you've steered us into entering a Third Ranked Nightmare Gate.”

“Ah… Right.” Adam said before taking out the note from one of the few pockets his outfit possessed. He unfolded it and glanced at the message in question before returning it to its current owner. “It's simple really. You have already figured out most of the content within it by overcoming your doubts and entering this… whatever this is as I expected something else entirely.”

Taking the note and the message in question, Jacob stared at the words he could not read. Paul, Evelyn, and Martin stayed quiet for a moment. “I've figured that out myself, but what was the content specifically? Also, remember how you said that we would be able to read it?”

“That is the easy part.” Adam noted before pointing at the note and finally giving them the full truth. “Though it is Rank Three. Convince them it is worth the risk. Adam!!! There. That was the content. Now that you know the content, take it in for a moment before we go word by word through the symbols and the grammar involved.”

Somewhat stunned and unsure if he was hearing it correctly, Paul spoke up the most confusing part. “Adam? As in your name, Adam?”

“Yes, That note is a direct message for me.” Adam answered. “Before you ask how I know or how it got there, let me answer it. I know because that is how my Name is spelled and written in the Human Tongue.” Adam told them, quite sure of it because after realizing his true identity and having trouble staying within the margins of said identity, Adam practiced his signature to further center his true identity instead of constantly switching back to the identity graft known as Adamu. “The question of how it got there is, however, irrelevant because of who I am associated with. All that matters is the message reached me when it needed to.”

“Define ‘Irrelevant’.” Jacob inquired with a stern voice.

“It's simple really.” Adam explained. “When Fate or someone associated with Fate’s own takes an interest in somebody like me, it does not matter if I smell foul play at hand. What matters is that I place my trust in who is guiding me by following the instructions given to me. And since that instruction told me to convince you guys to enter this… Nightmare Gate, that's what I did.” Noticing the skepticism on the Adventurer’s faces, Adam went on. “Look at it this way. We were meant to enter this place one way or the other. Paul is a prime example of that. Or do you really think he broke from his nine-year-long stagnation with just a bit of simple truth oozing out of him?”

Singled out, everybody stared at the blond pony-tail-haired and green-eyed Ranger.

However, Adam was not done quite yet. “After Paul, come Evelyn and Martin. After all, have they not placed their Faith in their party leader to lead them through the tough parts to arrive at this place?

Sure. We had to anger and fight somebody we would not have under normal circumstances. But are we not all hale and healthy right now? Ready to face whatever we were meant to face in this place?”

That said, Adam instantly noticed the realization surge through the Adventurers, only it was Evelyn who took the limelight, at least for Jacob, Paul, and Adam, because Martin could not yet see Evelyn’s Aura as it fluctuated for a few moments when from its yellow depths arose the color green to envelop red, orange and yellow.

In the same instant, Evelyn shouted out in clear surprise. “This… Is this what Aura feels like?”

“What?” Martin called out, still confused about everything, when a sudden possibility entered his mind. “Wait… Did Evelyn just reach the Green stage?”

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“She did.” Jacob nodded and affirmed.

“Congratulations, Eve.” Paul added, a tiny bit forlorn at the thought of having been Fated to make no progress for nine years. After all, if he took into consideration his original speed of progression, and if no stagnation existed, then he would have definitely reached the ranks of Master Adventurer.

“Haha… Thank you, Paul.” Evelyn replied before staring at Martin with a haughty gaze of superiority.

Noticing it, Martin instantly retaliated. “Bitch… Remember that just because you can feel Aura does not mean you can control it. As such, I am still stronger than you.”

“Hmph…” Evelyn grunted in return because she knew Martin was right. Still, it would not have been her if she had not retaliated in some form for being called a derogatory term. “Asshole… Remember now I am ahead of you? That means I have another Skill to play with, unlike you, who has only three.”

“OK… Enough of you two.” Jacob suddenly called for some order between them. “You can argue with each other later. There is more important stuff that needs to be straightened out.” That said, Jacob faced Adam again. “So… The note/message only mentioned the rank of the Gate and that it is worth it?”

“Yes, as you will find out soon enough.”

“So… You have no idea what we will be facing? How will we be facing it? Or if we will even survive till the end?” Jacob pointed out. “And you are fine with that because we are meant to be going through this together?”

“Would not call it fine.” Adam replied, slightly nonchalant, about it. “More along the line of ‘I will pull through it one way or the other’. The same should apply to you guys as well. But unlike myself, I can not be certain of that fact. Hence, you will have to put everything on the line and probably go beyond said line to actually make it worthwhile.”

“But is that not how Life works in general?”

“You either make it through and thrive, or you become the fertilizer by paving the road for those following after you?”

Reminded of it, although through a different idiom, the Adventurers had no choice but to agree, no matter how they disliked it.

“Fine… How long will it take for us to read this note?” Jacob inquired, clearly sidestepping the current problem for later.

“It depends, but it should be very fast.” That said, Adam began pointing at each word on the note before voicing it and finally explaining the grammar behind it.

“That is still freaky, in my opinion.” Martin commented once he could read the message. “It's like, now that I am aware of it, I can no longer unsee it with how plain and obvious it is.” Ignoring the note, he stared at Adam. “Is this how it feels all the time?”

Shaking his head, Adam replied. “No. Your brain is simply still not done calling forth everything it needs. Once the process is complete, it will feel just natural. Just like how you don’t pay attention to how your limbs move without direct and active attention from you, they simply do.”

“Anyway. Since I have proven myself and the clue that led us here, wherever here is, what is our next plan of action?” Adam asked. “Whatever it is, just lay it out, and I will follow you guys like a lost dog in search of familiar grounds.”

Thinking for a moment, Jacob spoke up. “The rest of the notes written in Common revealed that we find ourselves with a Nightmare Gate replicating the establishment of the Roselia Dukedom.” Jacob explained for Adam in particular since the other three already knew the circumstances of the Gate, even if its rank had been concealed from them. “First thing we have to do is return to Roselia, or whatever stands in its place. After that, however, it will depend on the circumstances.”

Though Adam nodded, like the others, he got reminded, once again, that a Nightmare Gate was not, in fact, a Dungeon. As such, he simply kept his mouth shut and waited for his new acquaintances to divulge the valuable information he needed to make sense of what he had sensed while passing through the Portal spewing out red, orange, and yellow colors from itself.

“Additionally.” Jacob continued. “Since Talim was supposed to acquire the knowledge we needed, his betrayal has left us vastly at a significant disadvantage in these circumstances. All I know about that time period is that there was plenty of strife and turmoil before everything achieved any reasonable form of peace. That being the case, it will not be Nightmares that will be our main problem but people.”

“Ignoring the ones we have already offended, that is.” Martin pointed out.

“Yes.” Evelyn added while Paul and Adam remained quiet

Nodding, Jacob continued laying out the facts. “On top of that… It is clear we are above our heads in the ability to clear this Gate. As such, we have only one true option. And that is to come clean with our circumstances and seek help from either the Guild Master or the Duke himself.”

Finally hearing something he could speak upon without sounding lackluster in knowledge, Adam spoke up. “You sound like you already know the clearing condition?”

Hearing the question, Jacob affirmed. “It's simple. Since the Gate is about the establishment of the Dukedom, the condition is the successful establishment of the Dukedom.” That pointed out, Jacob shook his head. “Beyond that? There is nothing in the notes.”

Not quite understanding the intricacies involved, Adam professed his confusion. “It's clear you guys still chose to try it despite the lack of knowledge?”

“It would have been fine for the most part if it had been a Second Ranked Nightmare Gate.” Paul suddenly spoke up because he felt Adam was missing some crucial details. “All Nightmare Gates have a maximum number of slots available, with a Second Ranked one being five people. The initial plan was to occupy four slots and deal with the one anomaly that would take the last slot, whoever that was. As such, clearing the Gate would have been much easier.

However, a Third Ranked Nightmare Gate has twenty-five slots. Hence, even without the lack of knowledge of the scenario, we neither have the numbers nor the strength to clear it. It's why Jake offered to come clean with the Guild Master or the Duke, considering our circumstances.”

“With their help, we could clear the Gate.”

“I've never been inside one before, so I don't know, but why does it sound like that is a bad option?” Adam asked.

Sighing, for a moment, Paul explained it as he was a bit more familiar with Nightmare Gate's behavior due to his nine-year-long stagnation. “All Historically based Nightmare Gates have one thing in common. That is to involve as little of the local populace as possible because nobody likes to hear that they are fake people manifested by a Nightmare Gate. There are plenty of tales that spell disaster once it is done.”

“But?” Adam poised.

“The Adventurer Guild has created procedures just for those kinds of circumstances.” Jacob intervened in the explanation. “In fact, every long-standing institution has similar procedures because all the powerful people behind them have gone through enough Nightmare Gates to not freak out to the truth.”

Shaking his head, Jacob voiced the real problem. “The trouble, however, is the credibility of those claiming those procedures.”

Realizing it, it finally clicked with Adam. “And we don't have that needed credibility?”

“Unfortunately. No, we do not.” Jacob replied instead with a shake of his head. “Before entering Third Ranked Historical Nightmare Gates, Master Adventurers are given those credentials specific to the Nightmare Gates and the replicated scenario within. After all, Third Ranked Nightmare Gates are where Masters go to become Grandmasters.”

“Ah… I see.” Adam noted thoughtfully. “Any other reason revealing the truth is avoided?”

“There is.” Jacob, the Shielder, and leader of the Adventuring party, added. “The more local help gets recruited, the lower the score for clearing the Gate, thus lowering the quality of the reward for clearing the Gate.”

“I see… I see.” Adam murmured before speaking his mind out. “If that is the case. Which is more important for you guys?” He asked as he looked straight into the eyes of the four Adventurers beside him, one by one, all while his smile beamed with schadenfreude. “The reward we have little chance of acquiring without help, thus making it not worthwhile at all? Or…“ Stretching the pause before saying it, Adam noticed the idea forming within their heads. “Or denying said reward for the Rose Heart Syndicate and your betrayer by actively and purposefully making things more… public?”