"Is that so…" Ryu's eyes narrowed.
The situation seemed to only be becoming more and more confusing. First, they were sent to the Nether Realm rather than the usual trial grounds of the Tri Palace. Second, there was the lack of Elite Carnis. In fact, there hadn't been any Elite Falx or Alpha Rotting Wolves either. Now, Ryu was listening to a young man speak a language that should be long dead.
There was a chance to explain this. After all, there were so many small worlds in existence that they couldn't all be accounted for by Ryu. And, since traveling between worlds was so difficult for these small worlds, the idea that they could be trapped in their ancient customs without ever advancing was possible.
The issue here, though, was that even if they were trapped in their ancient customs, never advancing, their language should still change and shift with the times.
It had been trillions up on trillions of years since the Pedestal Era. Languages could experience huge shifts in just a few hundred years, let alone such a large period of time.
If Ryu was truly running into a person from a small world that was birthed in the Pedestal Era and never progressed, he should still expect to find some deviations from the original language. Of course, with his expertise as a Ruin Master, he would still be able to understand after a small period of observation, but it most definitely shouldn't be where the language seemed perfectly copied and pasted from that Era!
Ryu gave the young man with an apparent kind heart a deep look.
He stood at two and a half meters tall and had solid grey skin. Within this grey skin were the swirling patterns of numerous bronze Runes he had been adding to his body since his infancy. His entire body seemed to exude power and strength, as expected of the Rune Giants.
The Rune Giants practiced a very special fusion of Mental and Body Realm cultivation which fused their comprehension of Fundamental Runes with their powerful bodies. Rather than relying on Visualizations, they etched the Runes onto themselves, resulting in explosive boosts in power and strength.
They were one of the many races that had popped into existence before fading away with time. Ryu had truly not thought that he would meet one here.
But, wasn't there a Fey by his side? He had thought that they were extinct too, but here one was, still clinging to his sleeve like a little girl.
"And those people on the inside…?" Ryu probed.
"They are either elites with special privileges that allow them more flexibility to enter and exit, or they are normal citizens who didn't exit yet. We're only hanging around here because it's somewhat safer nearer the city than going elsewhere."
Ryu nodded. "Thank you for the information."
The Rune Giant smiled and shook his head. But, he was left speechless by Ryu's next actions.
As though he had never had the conversation to begin with, Ryu's hand found a place on the gate.
Before anyone could react, a sweeping wind enveloped the outer city limits, nearly taking many off of their feet. Without a resounding bang, the gates swung open, nearly flying off their hinges entirely.
It was exactly at that moment that guardians of the gate stirred. For some reason, they seemed to have lagged behind, acting more sluggishly than they had in the past.
They raised their halberds, dust falling from their stone bodies as they prepared to swing down and decapitate Ryu.
But before they could react, Nemesis sent a hoof toward Niel's back, sending him soaring through the open gates. As for Ryu, he took a step forward, crossing the line of the city.
As though the guardians had lost their target, they froze mid action, quaking and creaking. Then, without a choice, they lowered themselves back down.
Within the city limits, many turned to take a look at those who had entered, their eyes widened in shock. It had been a while since anyone had entered outside of the designated time. Usually, everyone had to wait.
As surprised as those on the inside were, those on the outside were also at a loss, especially the young Rune Giant whose mouth hung partially open.
However, they couldn't get an answer before the gates slammed close again, leaving them all locked out to continue to wait.
Sarriel's mouth opened and closed as though she wanted to say something. Seemingly not realizing, Ryu's gaze continued to scan the city as though he didn't want to miss even a single detail.
From the inside, the city didn't seem to be too special, at least not the outer city. Within the inner city, Ryu could clearly see a castle structure which was likely where the most core elites of the city gathered. As for the outer city, it looked quite shabby, to be honest. And, even the castle within the inner city didn't seem to be in great shape, it was only better by comparison.
The entirety of the outer city seemed to be one part slum and another part cobbled together middle class. It was the kind of place one would expect to find in a barely civilized land with kings and queens.
"… Shouldn't we have just taken the elite test?" Sarriel finally asked.
She realized what had happened back there, though she was quite shocked the more she thought about it.
Ryu had seen through the formations that controlled the guardians and forced them to lag, knowing that the guardians couldn't attack anything within the city limits. He was practically toying with the foundations of this place at a whim.
This was cool and all, but the issue was that there was a platform assigned for assessing elite talent right outside. She didn't understand why Ryu had ignored it.
Ryu gave Sarriel a look but didn't respond. In fact, he was a bit surprised she didn't know the answer. After all, she should have seen through him completely before he improved his Pupils.
How could Ryu pass an elite talent test designed for Necromancers with his poor Mental Realm? Rather than waste his time only to be labeled as trash, he might as well bypass the test completely.
"Let's go to the inner city." Ryu finally said. "This place doesn't have what we need."
Ryu was sure there'd likely be another test for the inner city. He just didn't know if he'd be able to skirt past this one too.