Chapter 69 – The Scattered Ruins

The following day, the three of them were asked by teacher Marsk to come to the academy's training room number 17.

Once they arrived, they saw a bunch of students from their class. Each of them looked excited.

Teacher Marsk entered the room shortly afterward.

"Welcome, everyone," He called out cheerfully, "I know why you are all here, so I won't lose any time. First, the secret realm of the academy will open soon. The secret realm will be open for ten days, and each of you who wants to can enter it. The academy's secret realm contains many opportunities for each of you to improve yourself and your cultivation, but they're also a lot of danger, like traps and crystal beasts inside."

Teacher Marsk paused for a second before continuing.

"The secret realm is called The Scattered Ruins. It's a giant forest containing part of ancient ruins everywhere. The scattered ruins is divised into different regions. The area near the secret realm entrance have generally weaker crystal beasts but also less opportunity for you to improve. But the reverse is also true. The more you go near to the center of the secret realm, the more powerful the crystal beasts you encounter will become, and the opportunities you find will be greater as well."

Teacher Marsk looked at his students thoughtfully.

"Each one of you who wants to enter into the secret realm will be granted a protective amulet created with a special mineral found inside the scattered ruins with an engraved inscription on it. Suppose you encounter a life-threatening situation in the secret realm. In that case, the protective amulet will activate automatically, and when it's activated, you will be instantly teleported out of the secret Realm or if you want to quit the secret realm, you can activate it directly."

Each student looked at teacher Marsk when they heard him explaining the danger inside the scattered ruins, many thought of abandoning the idea of entering it. However, they all feel relieved after they learn about the protective amulet.

Seeing his students be complacent when they heard about the protective amulet, he opened his mouth again to bring them back to reality.

"I may warn you that an accident can still happen even if you have the protective amulet. You need to be careful inside the scattered ruins and not overestimate yourself."

Kieran raised his hand at that moment.

"Yes, Kieran?"

"Teacher, how powerful are the crystal beasts we can encounter inside the scattered ruins?"

"Their strength varies greatly between the early stage of the Iron rank and the late stage of the Bronze rank according to the area of the scattered ruins."

"Will there be a guide inside the scattered ruins?" asked another student.

"A few people will accompany you into the scattered ruins but don't expect them to be your guides or anything similar. They're just there to help you if something unexpected happens."

After hearing those answers, many students felt reassured and were eager to enter the secret realm.

"Before we go, let me give each of you a copy of the map of the scattered ruins."

Teacher Marsk moved his fingers in front of him when a notification appeared on the aurora collar of each student present, displaying a map of the scattered ruins on it, along with the different zones of the scattered ruins with the location of the dangerous zone marked with a red circle.

Looking through it, Kieran can see a yellow mark near the center of the map surrounded by red circles.

"Teacher, what is the yellow mark on the map?"

"The scattered ruins have many treasures inside of it, as plants, minerals, and even some crystal beasts who are rare on the spatial rift inside Ozryn appear inside. But the ancient formation array in its center is the most precious thing inside the scattered ruins. The ancient formation array has ten entrances, and each of them lets in only one person who are under the Silver rank before closing. Once inside, you can cultivate with the crystal essence that the secret realm has gathered through the time he was closed, letting you cultivate at a higher speed than normal."

Teacher Marsk stopped talking there to give his students time to think.

Kieran looked at Ryan and Thomas.

"What do you think? Do you want to try it?"

They looked at each other. Their gaze contained a touch of excitement with an undisguised impatience inside of them.

"Well, it looks like we're going," said Thomas, smiling at the others.

"Me too!" said Ryan enthusiastically.

Kieran nodded at them.

After a few minutes, the teacher spoke again.

"The one who wants to enter the secret realm can follow me."

With a nod, the group of students followed teacher Marsk outside the training room.

The teacher led them down the stairs until they reached the first floor, where the main hall of the academy was located. There, the teacher took them to the right side of the hall, passing through a door that led to the courtyard.

There, they saw a large building made from stone with a dome-shaped roof above it. The door was open wide, revealing a long corridor behind them with many students from different classes walking inside.

Following the line of students, they entered the building one by one. Once inside, they were greeted by the sight of a large hall filled with guards on each side with a spatial vortex that slowly rotates over itself in its center.

Close to the spatial vortex, the Director waited patiently for each student to enter the hall. Once the last student entered the hall, he stepped forward a few steps.

"Welcome, everyone. This is the entrance to the scattered ruins. If you come here, that means you all want to enter the scattered ruins, so I'm sure your teacher has already explained it to you. So, without further ado, let's begin."

A teacher walked beside the Director.

"Stand in line and approach one by one. Once you receive the protective amulet from me, you can enter the spatial vortex."

The teacher handed out the protective amulets to each student before entering the spatial vortex.

Kieran waited in line with Ryan and Thomas until it was their turn to receive the protective amulets.

"Thank you," said Kieran taking the protective amulet that the teacher was handing him.

The size of the amulet was not bigger than its thumb. A thin inscription were engraved on it with a small chain that was tied to it to carry it around the neck.

He approached the spatial vortex with Ryan and Thomas behind him when he glanced at them.

"Ready?"

Both nodded at him.

"Let's go."

The three entered the spatial vortex disappearing from the hall.