40 The Second Path
"I've finished them," Stark said in a monotone voice as he walked toward the three other participants, "They're all dead now."
"What did you say about them not winning," Hero smirked at Dreamer, who was actually bewildered that Stark was able to come out on top.
But no… this wasn't just Stark, there was someone missing…
"Where is Boxer?" Orasio was the first to remark that, "Wasn't he with you?"
"You perfectly know why he isn't with me, let's just move on," Stark, with the blankest of expressions, pointed at the door at the end of the chamber.
All of them immediately understood as he spoke: Boxer was dead, killed by the guardians, meaning that Stark had to finish the job by himself.
"Oh well… I guess it's fine, we still have two more paths," Hero sighed and then headed toward the door.
"Seems like we really need to be more careful," Dreamer rubbed his chin, after all the people who were transported to the domain were based on luck, and he couldn't let such a factor decide whether he would live or not.
"Fuck…" Orasio gritted his teeth.
Hero's swords, Dreamer's books, and Orasio's shield disappeared as they deactivated [Domination], no need to keep using it now that the battle ended.
"Alright, let's just focus on the task ahead," Stark said.
The group made their way to the exit, their pace slower than usual, there were five of them when they entered, and now only four remained.
Once they passed the door at the far end of the chamber, they found themselves in a room with five small oval mirrors hang against the wall.
[Each participant needs to destroy a mirror to be transported back to the 'Colossal Paths']
Hero examined the mirrors, "The mirrors are probably holding our consciousness. We destroy one, we're sent back."
Dreamer nodded, "Sounds about right. Let's get going then."
One by one, they each approached a mirror, shattered it with a strike of their weapon or a burst of their magic.
Once they'd done so, the world around them began to change and they found themselves transported back to the 'Colossal Paths.'
Back at the center of the large chamber, multiple panels suddenly appeared in front of Stark.
[You have slain "Conjoined Witch lv20 (GUARDIAN)", gained 100000EXP!]
[You have slain "Conjoined Warrior lv20 (GUARDIAN)", gained 100000EXP!]
[First path cleared, two remain]
And of course, getting this incredible amount of experience meant that he was enveloped by the golden glow again.
[Your level has increased to level 12, granting you one skill point and boost in stats]
[Experience: 102617/125000]
But he wasn't the only one: just like him, all the others were enveloped by the golden glow that announced the fact they leveled up.
"Seems like we do get experience in here, I was wondering why it didn't appear," Hero laughed.
"I did most of the work, so I was kind of hoping you would get nothing, or at least not much," Stark shrugged.
"That's rude, we were all fighting!" he replied.
They then noticed that one of the pearls on the Sphinx's forehead was now glowing with a deep silver aura, and two remained unlit.
"Let's take a break before going, you guys can sleep," Dreamer sat on the cold ground, seemingly tired.
And the others couldn't say they weren't either, plus their skill had a cooldown, [The Hero's Resolve] and [Clone Frenzy] needed 30 minutes to be used again, so they waited.
***
(1 hour later)
The thirty minutes turned into an hour as they chatted about all and nothing, getting to know each other was futile in such a place, but it still felt good to know you weren't alone, plus every single one of them made sure not to reveal information about their powers.
"Let's go, then," Stark pointed at the effigy with the number 2 engraved on its forehead, and the rest nodded.
There was no leader in the group as each took their initiatives, but based on everything that happened so far, it was safe to say that Stark was the head.
'Oh wait… I think I haven't used my skill points yet…' he remembered the message, and so all the while walking down the stairs to the mirrors, he checked his status.
[Skill Points: 3 Available]
'I don't even know why I kept them, I haven't used any since level 10…' he sighed, and soon enough he arrived in front of the mirror to the second path.
"Yeah," and all of them replied, traversing the mirror just like the first time.
~SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH~
As soon as they passed through the doorway to the second guardian, they heard splashing noise, and saw that below them was water… although not the usual blue color, but black…
"Black water?" Hero tilted his head in confusion.
It wasn't that deep, only reaching up to their knees, but it was still a weird environment to be in.
They could see sky above them, and a crimson moon could be seen, no stars present in the sky, its darkness looming all over them.
The black water also seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions, trapping them in here as long as they didn't beat the guardian.
"Where's the exit door? We could see it before…" Orasio spoke.
"I don't know, I guess we have to beat it…?" Dreamer replied, although unsure, he didn't like the atmosphere, and none of them could see very far because of the darkness.
Meaning… that the guardian could be anywhere, ready to ambush and kill them all.
While the rest of the participants looked around in confusion, Stark was currently upgrading his skills.
[You have upgraded 'Aura Smash' to level 5!]
[You have upgraded 'Focus' to level 4!]
[You have upgraded 'Focus' to level 5!]
He used his three skill points to upgrade both of his skills to level 5, and that meant…
[Skill: Aura Smash lv5]
[New Perk: Thanks to upgrading this skill to level 5, you are now able to use both of your hands and send two crimson fists at the same time, dealing more damage and increasing the chance of stunning.]
[Skill: Focus lv5]
[New Perk: Thanks to upgrading this skill to level 5, you now gain a significant boost to your agility and reaction time, allowing you to dodge and counterattack with ease, time seems to advantage you even more.]
With these new perks, Stark felt more confident in his abilities.
"Alright, let's search this place. We need to find the guardian and beat it," he said after finishing his business, his eyes scanning the dark water as he stepped forward.
But just like last time, the moment one of them took a step forward…
~SPLASH~
~BOOM~
Another explosion echoed behind them, and once they turned their heads to see what it was.
They saw it.
[Glass Guardian #2: The Black Water Devourer]
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EndKun
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