Once inside, the group realized that after passing through that door, they were now in some sort of ancient temple. They were surrounded by beige-colored walls, or something similar, and there were several pillars. A few torches were lit along the walls. At the end of the corridor was another door, a rather large one made of stone.
“Wow…” said Mat, and after observing the place for a moment, he turned around. “What?”
The door they had entered through was no longer there.
“So, we need to finish what we came here to do in order to leave, right?” Mat asked.
“No, we can still get out,” TRX replied. “There will be other exits inside. Although... they might not take us back the way we came.”
“What do you mean?” Mat asked.
“I don’t know, but that’s just how it works.”
“...” Roundy didn’t say a word.
“Alright, let’s keep going.”
As soon as Mat took a step, a voice echoed through the place, saying, “In this place, you will be tested to see if you are worthy of taking the Orb. Pass through that door and the trial will begin. Keep in mind that each trial is different from the last.”
The door opened, but what was behind it couldn’t be seen. There was only a very bright light.
“Enter,” said the voice.
“Oh, okay,” Mat responded. “Let’s go.”
“Yeah, let’s,” said TRX.
“Okay...” Roundy, who seemed a bit scared for some reason.
They approached the door. Even from up close, they couldn’t see what was behind it. It was like a void of light.
After passing through the door...
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“Oh, wow,” said Mat.
It seemed like they had exited the place. It was night, but... despite this, they could tell they were still in the jungle. The light from the full moon faintly illuminated the area. They were standing in the middle of ruins that appeared to belong to an ancient civilization.
|||||
“These ruins look, ugh…” I said. “Even if I say the name, you won’t know what I’m talking about. Wait... Alaya.”
“Yes?” she replied.
“Well, it looks like the city where your mom and your grandparents live,” I answered.
“Hmmm... Ah, that’s true,” she responded.
“Well, the thing is, they look like Incan ruins.”
“...What?” said Eliah.
|||||
There were several houses, or buildings that seemed to be houses, scattered across a hill. In the center was a building that appeared to have a spiral shape, though worn down by time. At the top of the hill were two larger buildings, one close to the other.
The sound of crickets could be heard.
“...Now what?” Mat asked.
“I don’t know,” TRX replied.
“What do you mean, ‘I don’t know’? Aren’t you supposed to be guiding me or something?!”
“Oh, right. Well, let’s explore.”
“...”
Roundy didn’t say anything here either.
“Alright,” Mat said, creating three orange PSI lanterns. “Let’s keep going.”
They started exploring the area, but before that, TRX said, “Although... Well, if there’s a monster around here, I might be able to tell you what it is, its abilities, weaknesses, stuff like that... I read about it.”
“I see,” Mat replied. “That’s pretty useful, actually.”
They walked for quite some time and found absolutely nothing but ruins. There was no one alive there, not even monsters. They couldn’t sense anything around them either.
“There’s nothing... Now what?” Mathias said.
“Hmmm... We have to keep looking for the exit. There’s no other option,” Trixxie responded.
“Yeah, but... There’s literally nothing here. Not even monsters or anything like what the previous Hero told me about,” Mat replied.
“I know, but every trial is different, you heard that yourself,” TRX said.
“So... The trials he went through are different, I see...” Mat said.
“Well, yeah, that’s what I said, and the angel said that too.”
“Yeah... Well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s keep going…”
Roundy touched TRX’s shoulder, seemingly telling her something.
“Oh, right. There’s supposed to be a tool or artifact here that can help us.”
“Yeah, I remember something like that, but... Weren’t those things useless?”
“...” Roundy didn’t respond.
“Who the hell told you they were useless?! Some of those tools are for things that can’t normally be done. They have unique qualities that are necessary to find the corresponding orb!”
“...I see. Let’s search for them, then,” Mat said.
“Yes.”
“How strange... So the other Hero lied to me or something... Ugh, never mind.”
They continued exploring the area.
Roundy separated from the group for a moment to explore on his own, without saying anything to TRX or Mat, and he stumbled upon something strange... There were places they couldn’t pass through. It was like there was an invisible wall.
After this, Roundy rejoined the rest of the group, who were exploring another area.
“Huh? Where were you?” Mat asked.
“...”
“...I see.”
They continued exploring.
As they did, they stopped at a house and realized that despite its ancient appearance, the place seemed to have been recently inhabited. And not just by one person, it seemed like several people had been there recently, but had vanished without a trace. However...
“W-what?” Mathias said.
“Huh?!” Roundy exclaimed.
“B-but it wasn’t like this before...” TRX stammered.
Then, as Mathias took a closer look, shining his lantern into the house through the window, he saw incomplete skeletons on the floor. They were stunned by the fact that those bones were disintegrating... and that the house itself was slowly being corroded.
“W-what’s going on here?” Mathias said.
Then, under the dim moonlight, Mat looked at the hand holding the lantern, his right hand.
“Ah!” Mat yelled.
“Huh?”
Roundy and TRX turned to look at him.
His hand was also melting.