Chapter 36 – Characters

Several hours passed when Kieran finally reached the last step of the stairs and, with it, the last illusion.

He found himself face to face with a Bronze rank elf who hurled himself at him the instant the illusion began, a deep layer of crystal essence surrounded the elf's entire body as a strong wind covered his sword forming a small layer of green aura around it.

The elf's sword moved closer and closer to Kieran as his body quickly took on the shape of a lycan. His right arm twisted into a giant misshapen arm. Crystal essence shifted inside his body until it reached its claws.

"Crystal Essence Claw"

*boom*

An explosion sounded as Kieran and the elf were pushed back.

He gazed at the elf standing before him, his right arm tingling with numbness from their intense encounter. The claws that clashed against the sword enveloped in a gust of wind now bore subtle cracks upon them.

"He's much stronger than other Bronze rank illusions I've faced. He's the first one to use a crystal tree ability from the start."

The elf raised his sword, rushing quickly towards Kieran. A gust of wind came from behind him, pushing him forward.

The elf quickly approached him when he waved his hand to the side. Five wind blades formed one after another, the elf waved his hand again and all the wind blades flew on Kyeran.

Seeing the blades made of wind heading towards him, Kieran circulated the crystal essence inside his body towards his legs, moving the giant transformation ability in his legs, his body once again became deformed, and each of his legs now possessed immense strength.

In an instant, his body disappeared from where he stood, easily dodging the blades of wind. However, Kieran was moving too fast, having trouble controlling his speed.

He twisted his body in the air, the giant transformation returning to his whole body as he dug his claws into the ground. When his legs touched the ground again, the giant's ability moved toward them again.

Kieran tensed his whole body and pressed with all his strength into his legs, throwing himself at the elf.

The giant's transformation moved through his body again, filling his right arm.

"Crystal Essence Claw"

The elf had no time to react to Kieran's speed, the sword in his hands moved quickly in front of him, and a small tornado formed around his body, protecting him. It was then that Kieran's huge pair of claws appeared in front of him.

Kieran felt a deep pain in his arm as he punched through the wind vortex, but he didn't give in and kept pushing forward with his crystal essence.

The wind only stopped its pair of claws for a moment, which pierced the elf’s chest, making him disappear the next moment.

He fell to one knee on the floor as he held himself back from falling to the ground with his hands, panting heavily to catch his breath.

"Damn, I had to use all my crystal essence in that last move to beat that elf."

As he tried to catch his breath, an explosion was heard close to him.

"Hm? They still haven't managed to open the palace door?"

Kieran's gaze drifted towards the palace door, the six guild representatives and Anna standing in front of it, attacking it relentlessly.

Before he reached the last step, he had already seen them trying to open this door by all means, running out of options, they all started attacking, attempting to force it open.

"In all this time, the door doesn't even have a scratch on it."

He sat with his eyes closed, attracting the crystal essence in the environment inside his body, slowly recovering what he had used in his fight against the elf.

***

Daggers made of water flew through the air rushing against the palace door one by one without any result.

Alexei's face was pale. It had been two hours since he arrived in front of the palace door without any means of opening it.

Alexei paused, inspecting the door before turning his attention to the other guild representative who had arrived outside the palace door.

'Are we going to have to use the crystal essence accumulators again? But we don't have enough cultivators present to fill them quickly...'

Alexei looked at Anna, who was standing close to him, moving her hands in the air as if she were typing on a keyboard.

"Did you manage to find anything on the text written at the top of the door?"

"For the moment, I have not found anything in the database which corresponds to the character written here. Even a search on the language of the elves has given nothing."

"Keep looking. I'll talk to the other guilds."

Anna nodded slightly, returning to her work.

Alexei turned to the other representatives, who continued to attack the door.

"It is pointless to attack this door relentlessly. Let's try to come up with a plan together to succeed in opening it, otherwise, none of us will be able to obtain treasures from this secret realm."

The other representatives stopped their attacks, focusing their gaze on Alexei.

"What are you suggesting, Alexei?" Kade asked.

"I don't have a plan yet. We won't be able to fill the crystal essence accumulators quickly without the help of enough cultivators, but apart from us, there is no one who can face the illusions of Bronze rank, especially the last illusion."

Kade frowned slightly as he pointed to a spot.

"Didn't you say that we were the only ones who could face the Bronze rank illusions? If so, then who is he?"

Alexei looked in the direction Kade was pointing when he saw Kieran sitting there, absorbing the crystal essence from the surroundings.

'Kieran!? How could he get here?'

Alexei was so focused on the palace door that he didn't notice that Kieran had reached this place too.

"Anna, wasn't Kieran in the middle stage of Iron rank when the horde of crystal beasts attacked?"

Anna walked toward Alexei, her eyes fixed on Kieran.

"He is in the middle stage of the Iron rank."

"If he's in the middle stage, how did he get here?"

"He's a double awakened."

All sound stopped at this point. Each representative of the guilds now looked at Kieran in a different way.

Kade took a step forward, getting close to Kieran.

"Hey, you."

Kade's voice woke Kieran. Opening his eyes slowly when he saw Kade standing in front of him.

Kieran looked around before looking back at Kade.

"You're talking to me?"

"Yes, your name is Kieran, is that it? Join my guild," Kade said with an authoritative tone.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in joining a guild," Kieran said as he stood up.

"Not interested? Do you at least know the honor I do you by inviting you to my guild?"

Kade's voice grew louder at Kieran's refusal.

"I didn't ask to join your guild. You invited me. Why should I take it as an honor to join your guild?"

"It seems you don’t understand the situation you’re in. We’re not in a refuge of the Aegis Alliance."

Crystal Essence emanated from Kade's body as he tried to pressure Kieran.

Kieran's body didn't move, crystal essence emanating from his body colliding with Kade's.

He stood with his back straight, staring Kade in the eye, but inside his body, the crystal essence was circulating rapidly, ready for any move Kade might take.

"Kade, stop there!"

The figure of Alexei appeared next to them, a water dagger in his hand.

"What are you doing, Alexei?"

"I should ask you instead. Is this how the Thundershield guild recruits its members?"

"How my guild recruits its members is none of your business."

Lightning began to travel through Kade's body.

"Don't start a fight here, Kade. We need all the help we can get if we're going to open this door."

"Tsk, I'm not done with you."

The pressure that Kade emanated suddenly faded. He took one last look at Kieran before turning back.

Kieran watched him leave.

"Don't worry about him. He just has a bad temper, he won't try anything as long as I'm here."

"I'm not worried."

Alexei looked Kieran in the eye.

'Isn't he worried about what Kade might do to him? Didn't he feel how strong Kade was when he used his crystal essence to suppress him?'

Alexei thought Kade's crystal essence had suppressed Kieran, and that was the reason he wasn't making any moves.

"Since you've come this far, do you want to team up with us to try to open this door?"

"Do you have a plan? From what I could see on the way up here, your attacks didn't leave a single scratch on the palace door."

"That's right. We'll try to come up with a plan to get through this door with the representatives of the other guilds. Anna is also researching the characters engraved at the top of the door."

"The Characters?"

"Yes, look above the door. You will see characters engraved in the stone, which shines with a blue light."

According to what Alexei had just said, Kieran's gaze went above the door of the palace, where several characters were engraved on it.

'These characters... I feel like I've seen them before...'

The moment Kieran's eyes landed on the characters, he felt an immense pain inside his head, his body staggering for a moment as he pressed the palm of his hand against the side of his head.

"Ugh!!"

"Kieran? Are you okay?"

Alexei tried to help Kieran, but he stopped him.

"I'm fine. It's just a headache."

The pain in his head disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, but something had changed in Kieran's vision, the characters that made no sense to him, and he couldn't even pronounce a single letter became clear to him.

"Kokni supflirtz il ruanon sohni."

He didn't know how it had happened, but he could clearly read the characters that were etched above the door, a foreign language coming out of his mouth without him realizing it.

A blue light surrounded Kieran's body, pushing Alexei away, who was standing close to him. A circle filled with ancient inscriptions formed under his feet before he disappeared from the place without leaving a trace.

"Kieran!"

Alexei was the first to react to the situation, but he could only watch his silhouette disappear in front of him.

"Where has he disappeared?"

"How did he do that?"

The guild representatives became agitated at the sudden situation.

Far above them, the illusory figure of the old elf was staring at them constantly for a while. His face changed when Kieran read the characters that were etched above the door. An unhidden surprise appeared in his eyes.

"So far, this race seemed barbaric to me, but it seems they are not all like that. One of them seems civilized compared to the others who tried to attack the door of my palace in vain. This one pronounces the motto of my clan in our language. It seems interesting, I should go and greet him."

The figure of the old elf disappeared, leaving behind him the representatives of the guilds who were lost at the situation.