Chương 83: The Empty Grave

Arthur walked towards the crystal ball suspended away from the Core Layers. The crystal ball appeared smaller than Arthur had originally expected. However, considering the amount of potion he had consumed, its current size was only natural. Furthermore, if it were to have a larger size, the encroachment would have happened too quickly, and he would have failed to subdue the crystal. Perhaps Ava knew about the consequences. Hence, it only used a single Faunite Crystal Essence.

Arthur was not the least bit worried about the size of the crystal. When it had started to cover the Core, it almost covered half of it; so size did not matter, but how it was used mattered a lot. Following which, Arthur extended his hand to touch the crystal ball. To his surprise, he was actually able to grab the crystal. It perfectly fit in his palm. It weighed about half a kilogram, and when he closed his fist, it felt rock-solid.

After inspecting it for a while, he let go of the ball, allowing it to suspend within the Core Space. Having successfully subdued the crystal, it was time for him to exit the space. With a single thought, his consciousness exited from the space. When Arthur opened his eyes, he was currently sitting in the center of the dead-end cave. Meanwhile, his body was still shrouded in cloudy smoke. Upon flipping his hand, he noticed that the bones and muscles were healed. His hand had become whole as if nothing had happened.

To his surprise, Arthur could now feel the connection to his core without any effort. Furthermore, he could even feel the secondary element within the Core Layer Space. The whole Core Layer Space was currently in his control. Giving the command to Ava to stop the healing, Arthur stood up feeling fresh. The sucking pain in his stomach was nowhere to be found. Even though the pain was gone, the sensation lingered in his mind. He was afraid it would never go away from his memory.

Looking outside, not much time had passed from when he sat to meditate. As he walked out of the dead-end cave, the breeze gently blew through his hair. When he decided to consume the core to attain a Crystal body, Arthur did not know the process would be this painful. He half expected it would be as easy as consuming a Night crystal and gaining Attribute Points. However, the pain he went through was enormous.

Eventually, all the pain improved his self-growth, and the Crystal was a great addition to his first Core Layer. Instinctively, Arthur willed the Crystal lying in the Core Layer Space. Instantly, the crystal ball the size of two golf balls vanished and manifested on his right hand. There was no delay in transforming his flesh into Crystal. From his elbow down to his fingers, it now became a glittering Crystal, very similar to the Ant King's body.

The strange part was that Arthur could not feel any difference from his own muscle and skin. The crystal hand gave the same feeling as the hand he had grown with. Now, the doubt about whether his body parts would lose sensation was removed. Shuuu! Arthur threw a straight punch. The crystal fist crashed into the gust of wind, creating a sound.

"Very powerful," he muttered. With his upgraded Attribute points, the punch was very forceful. It would definitely pierce through a tree trunk. Arthur played with it for a moment, trying to materialize the crystal on different body parts with a single instant intent. With the amount of Crystal he possessed, it could cover his two whole fists. The speed it moved to cover different parts of the body was staggering. The Crystal would act as a great defensive shield for him.

The number of times the Crystal could split had a limitation. Currently, the two golf-ball sizes could split into three. If he willed an intent for four parts, it did not listen and ignored the intention. However, he did not worry about that for now. Arthur was on cloud nine since he successfully integrated the Crystal into his body. Gradually, he would increase the size. Ava had recipes on its list. With its [Instant Brew] ability, there would be no problem with the potion.

But the issue was he had to manifest the Crystal out of his body. Currently, Arthur could not do that. He had tried multiple times, even giving the order out loud, but it did not work. Maybe he had to get used to it more, then he would find a way to do that. Until then, he would not consume more of the sluggish [Faunite Core Elixir] potion. With that, Arthur was ready to move out of the place. It was time to hunt monsters to collect Night Crystals.

His next target was to obtain the [Omega] core by completing the quest and inheriting the [Special Affinity]. This would put him one step up in his power growth. His confidence would also greatly improve, and with that, he could make more confident choices. Arthur ordered Ava to tidy up. Within a minute, the skeleton put away all the alchemy tools. He entered the dead-end cave and gave one final look to see if he was leaving anything in the place. Suddenly, he noticed something.

The floor he had punched to stay conscious looked pristine. It was without any damage, and not even a small crack appeared on it. It was truly baffling. After he Evolved his Core Layer, he gained a lot of physical strength. With that strength, there should be at least some damage, but this place looked pristine. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Very strange," Arthur muttered.

"What kind of place is this?" He wondered. Maybe the inscriptions were the reason for this phenomenon. Suddenly, his interest in these inscriptions piqued, but he could not read, and the skeleton that could read was very expensive. He felt it was almost impossible to find the mystery of this place. Ohhh. Arthur shook his head, clearing it. As he told himself earlier, he had grown a lot lately. So, he should make decisions more decisively, not making confusion in his head.

With nothing left in the dead-end cave, Arthur exited and looked around for which way to travel. He could ascend the mountain to see what resided on the top, and even find the gate to the next territory. But now, he needed to collect the Night crystals. Instead of wasting time, he should concentrate on that. Now that he evolved his Core Layer, it was time to inherit Affinities. With that decision, Arthur walked deep into the forest.

Underground Safe Spot, One of the Chambers. 12 PM.

"I am the one who has the Ability, and I earned it by myself. So, I will make the decisions," a young man's voice echoed. Standing with his head held high and his chest puffed up, Victor stared down at all the people present in the chamber. There were three people present. The unfathomable authority the old man, Dejan Pleasence, had possessed the day before was now nowhere to be seen. He simply stood in front of his grandson. Beside him stood his second son, Sabin Pleasence.

He was also quiet, but his grim face made it seem as if he was controlling an overwhelming anger that he would unleash at any time. A step ahead of them stood another middle-aged man in his fifties, who possessed broad shoulders and a neatly tied beard and hair. Similar to Dejan Pleasence, he exuded an aura of authority that would put anyone on their knees; however, his current facial expression showed he was in a helpless state. It was the first son of Dejan Pleasence and the father of Victor Pleasence.

"Reginald Pleasence." He would inherit the position of family head after his father, Dejan. He held the same authority as his father in the overall family. But, that authority was not used in front of his son, Victor.

"Victor, you know I won't make decisions without thinking a hundred times," Dejan said in a neutral tone.

"Grandfather, I will not share even a single piece of Torical Treasure with anyone else! I want you to nullify the contract that you all agreed upon with the other people," Victor shouted like a rabid dog, his eyes turning red.

"Argh, you even included some beggars in this contract. We will not need anyone's help. Let us face the Trial alone; we will claim all the treasures for ourselves."

"Victor, listen carefully. I will explain how the Trial starts." Walking forward, Dejan stood, regaining his authority. Victor's face turned pale, and he could do nothing but listen.

"No one knows what kind of Trial we will get in each section of the Territory. As far as I know, there is a possibility that we will never meet until we reach the Safe Spot of each Territory. Because we, as a family, share the same bloodline," Dejan said.

"The Trial is vicious and cunning, and its rules and rewards will push people into making difficult decisions." Without an alliance and the [Kloser] contract, we will not survive. So, this is the safest way to attain the power we seek."

"I want you to understand that the seven territories will play a big part in our survival. Without cooperating, it will be hard for everyone." Dejan advised his grandson.

"But how can we only get 20% of the treasure? That is daylight robbery." Victor's face was downcast. When he first heard about the contract between the families of the city, he did not oppose his grandfather. But, after hearing they had to give away a total of 80% of the hard-earned treasure, he could not control his anger. He was the one who killed the guy who awoke from his slumber. Their family had waited for generations for this Trial; they knew, even before anyone else, that the Solomon Valley was an anomaly.

They waited patiently for generations for their chance. Eventually, it happened. At first, Victor was not allowed to participate in the Trial. However, he made the choice himself, entering the Solomon Valley when he heard rumors of people suddenly disappearing, something that had never happened for centuries. Naturally, he believed their family would eventually arrive at this place. Before that, he wanted to establish his authority. So, before the other families arrived, he did what he intended.

He established his authority by killing some nobody who acted like a hero, someone who was going to save everyone from this place by doing heroic stunts. However, a little surprise waited for him; he received a message stating that he had gained an Ability by killing an [Isolde Anomaly]. At that time, he did not think much of it, since gaining a reward for killing someone was natural at the Trial.

Yet, when he told his grandfather about the Ability, everyone was shocked and overjoyed by the opportunity they had gained on the Trial. With that, Dejan planned to use this opportunity properly without making any mistakes, planning to gather everyone that arrived at the Trial and lure them with this treasure. Victor hated that plan. He did not want to share anything with anyone in the first place. Since he held the leverage, he could oppose his grandfather and father. However, this only annoyed them.

Firstly, they could not secretly open the Torical Secret Chamber. People would eventually find out, and at that time, a fight would definitely break out. With eighty years of experience, Dejan did not want to take the chance of fighting with the strong families of the city. Therefore, he decided to make a peaceful contract. With that, they could get a piece of the treasure without a struggle. He believed a single treasure would be enough to push his name and family a hundred years ahead.

Another main reason why he wanted to initiate the proposal was to safeguard Victor, who was the main asset on this Trial. They knew the dangers of the Trial, and they had entered the Trial of their own free will. Instead of leaving empty-handed, they could leave holding something that would inevitably be useful once they exited the Trial.

"Just listen to me. We will leave the Trial successfully, and then Faith City will be ours to rule," Dejan said with a greedy smile.

"Should we go out and hunt the monsters?" Nickolas asked the group sitting before him.

"My grandmother warned me not to roam outside, since the Trial will start soon," Susanne said with a grim face. After her grandmother reprimanded her, she did not have a proper talk. Following that, she simply hung out with Nickolas, Charlton, Daniel, and Laurene.

"Didn't that old man say that in order to go to the next territory, we need to defeat the Territory Boss Monster and get the key to open the door?" Charlton asked, looking at Daniel.

"Now people are saying there will be a separate Trial."

"I do not know, man. I am very new to this kind of thing. I told you what I heard; other than that, I have no idea," Daniel said, shaking his head. He himself was confused about which rumor to believe. Over the last two days, a ton of people had arrived. Among those prominent family members, they had held multiple meetings, and none of them included this group. He was in a blind spot. Today, when he asked the old man about all of this, the old man refused to utter anything.

"Guys, do you think Arthur resurrected from death and dug himself out of the grave?" Laurene, who sat silently thinking deeply, asked.

"For God's sake, Laurene, leave that topic! As I said earlier, the pit was not deep enough to prevent a predator from sniffing him out," Daniel shouted at the girl. This morning, they all went to the place where they had buried Arthur. However, when they reached it, they were dumbfounded by the state of the grave. It was dug out as if it had been done by humans. All the dirt was properly dug out, and Arthur's body was missing. They were shell-shocked by that sight.

Immediately, everyone assumed that some predator had dug him out and eaten him, but Laurene had a different perspective. She believed Arthur must have resurrected from death, since it was a miracle that he had woken up from his deep slumber. Although everyone deep down wanted to believe that was true, rationality told them otherwise.

"How can someone who is dead be resurrected?"