As multiple A-Class scouts are tasked with stealth missions across the world to survey the lands of three nations they believe to be in turmoil, the meeting in Monk's temple beneath Valor City continues.
While a quick history lesson on the old man's origins and his thoughts on the global economy shifting from education, natural resources, and real estate to dungeon diving and energy gathering is interesting, I'm more focused on the urgent future.
"These trials you speak of—tell me more. Why is everyone so certain these doors will open? I've done countless scans on the abyss, yet I can never sense anything within. Was there something I missed before it all awakened?"
I turn to Raven, then back to the old man.
"And the big three as well. I want to know everything about them. They'll be our biggest adversaries moving forward, correct?"
The old man smiles and glances toward the room's exit.
"To answer your questions about the trials and the abyss, I think it's best to explain further once we leave this temple. I can't use my mana equipment to show you the necessary data in here. As for the big three..."
He turns to Raven, and she responds to my second question.
"I know I haven't told you much, but that's because it's all I know. I've only met each of them a handful of times in my decades with the Order. I can give you physical descriptions and list the powers I'm aware of, but they stay in their fortresses, in central, to contain their power from the outside world. Even as a True Core, the few minutes I've spent in their presence made it feel like my mind and body were about to split in two. They're on another level..."
He gazes off into the mountainous landscape of Sector 1 as we fly toward the abyss.
"This too was taken away from the public eye, reserved for the big three to study once the Demons planted the throne, discovered by the central scouting unit not long after. All I have left to study are my personal artifacts, occasional outings to the demonic realm when rift keys are found, and the limited recordings from earlier explorations."
"So this is how you know of the doors, but what of the trials?"
The Saint nods as the endless darkness of the abyss comes into view, even as I suppress all my senses and aura to avoid disrupting life in the nearby villages.
"One of the oldest translated texts, above these visual depictions, states that for the throne of a world to be claimed, its strongest champions must pass through the doors together. A trial of the body, a trial of the mind, and a trial of the soul must be passed before one can challenge the other champions..."
He pauses, thinking, then continues.
"There's another well-studied text, it was discovered in another region of the world. It roughly translates to: 'The one who walks through the final door will be the champion that never stops climbing. The steps to the other side do not end. Only one who does not wish to pass through shall never die...' or something like that."
The old man pulls out his recording crystal again, scrolling through the tapes before showing a piece of stone with incoherent carvings. He flips it toward me, and the three of us look down at it as he continues.
"My theory is that these texts speak of different events, but they're all connected. Over the years, I've come to believe that the Demons have replicated originator technology, imbuing it with their power source, and spread their reign from world to world by creating events for their Arch Demons to compete and upgrade their cores in a final trial for a world."
I raise an eyebrow at the Saint's words. Everything he says makes sense, but it all connects from different angles.
The first new piece of information I've gathered today is that the pillar I see in the distance will be opening to accept challengers. This aligns with what Ember, The Lich King, Celia, and even Raven have told me so far.
However, the second line in the Saint's description sounds odd. The talk of immortality in these ancient texts doesn't quite fit with the facts I've heard from the true immortals or those closer to the source.
Celia described reaching immortality as a universe-bending event, one she spent her 800 years trying to master. Simply claiming a world doesn't seem like such an event if her own creation of the divine construct wasn't enough to satisfy this metric.
Ember's old descriptions of this feat to an immortal core also seem far off. His only mention of the throne awakening was that it was a challenge for Arch Demons to become lords.
So, I fixate on this fact, thinking the Saint's knowledge will be the most accurate here.
The old man's eyes gleam with understanding, and I follow up with a question.
"How strong was the Demon who came to plant the throne? You said even the big three in central likely made a deal with them, as they weren't fit to face them in their current forms. What did you mean by that? Were they stronger than us? Was it a green core?"
The Saint's eyes widen even further as we reach the edge of the Abyss in Sector 1, far from any villages or trade routes. I allow more of my perception and aura to leak out.
As soon as he begins to answer, more land falls under my perception, and I sense multiple gravity wells far in the distance closing in on my territory. They don't seem strong, but they're certainly divine core holders, and I've never encountered these individuals before.