'Is it finally open? What happened?'
Garven was shocked when he found the dark open. But, the light coming from outside blinded his vision for a moment. It took him quite a long time to finally see.
As he walked out of the room, his heightened senses suddenly triggered.
Blood! Rotten! Pungent!
Different kinds of scents started entering his nose. He had to physically block his breathing for a moment as it was overwhelming for him. His heart started beating faster as he looked around.
He saw the door of other rooms open as well. He looked inside and saw the bodies of the other children like him on the ground.
They were all dead. Suddenly, his ears picked up the silent moves. His body reacted to those moves as he jerked to the left while changing his body position to the front.
His eyes fell on a young man. This young man was around his age, maybe a bit older but not by a lot. The young man looked at him and said.
"It seems like you are also a Martial Artist."
Garven was confused for a moment but he was also cautious. He didn't answer immediately instead asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Can't you tell? Only those who can survive under extreme conditions for thirty days can live. Most of the bodies are already rotten which means they died even before reaching fifteen days. Only Martial Artists have such kind of power to stay alive."
The young man replied. His expression was quite stoic. He seemed neither happy nor sad as if the death of these people didn't bother him at all.
Garven understood what kind of force he was dealing with. He knew he had to become extra careful. He took a deep breath and asked.
"So, do you know where we are?"
"Not exactly sure! If I had to guess, then it would be some kind of hidden powerhouse. You don't have to be so cautious of me."
The young man noticed his expression and answered.
Garven was still on guard but he had hundreds of questions in his mind. He calmed down first and then asked.
"You said, martial artists. Are they like Knights?"
The young man was surprised by his question. His eyes narrowed a bit as he asked.
"Wait, you aren't a martial artist? How the hell did you survive then?"
"I did somehow," Garven replied and asked.
"Are you going to answer my question or not?"
The young man was astounded hearing that. He didn't expect a normal person to survive here because he knew what kind of situation he had to go through.
First, hunger! Second, darkness! Third, poison! Fourth, loneliness!
If they have even the slightest problem, just one of these would be enough to kill them.
Although he was surprised, he didn't think too much. He simply answered.
"Knights are basically guards representing a lord. For example; I came from a place called Crystal City. It is controlled by the City Lord who has the authority to hire knights."
"Knights are basically the lowest level Martial Artists who do not have a proper future. Of course, Knights from the Royal Kingdom are different. The first of the Martial Art journey is known as Spirit Body Realm."
"I was lucky enough to find a manual that recorded a method to enter the Spirit Body Realm. I guess I was captured because I was only an independent martial artist."
Hearing his explanation, Garven felt like there were lots of things missing in his explanation. He immediately asked.
"What do you mean by Spirit Body Realm and what is an independent martial artist?"
"You seriously don't know anything?" The young man widened his eyes and asked. Then, he proceeded to slap his forehead as he asked.
"First, shouldn't you introduce yourself after asking so much? By the way, My name is Jin."
Garven put his guard down a little as he replied.
"My name is Garven."
"Well, it seems like you know nothing about the martial artist. I also don't know much about it. So, I can only teach you things I know. First, I don't know much about Spirit Body Realm except the way I perceive it is that we need to absorb the energy from the surroundings to constantly strengthen our body."
"Natural Energy in the surroundings is known as spiritual energy and once it enters our body, it can change into internal energy using a Cultivation Manual though I can't share mine."
"I don't have a copy of that. As for your other question. Individual Cultivator means someone who hasn't joined any other forces. I could become a Knight or a member of a certain Great Family, or join a sect."
"But, each of them has certain rules and conditions. So, unless I manage to pass their rules and conditions, I can't join them. I have just recently started my cultivation so I haven't tried yet."
Jin explained without hiding much.
Garven was shocked by how friendly Jin was trying to be. In his mind, he instantly made two conclusions.
Either Jin was hiding something or he was just being too nice.
Garven didn't mind it though. If Jin wanted to backstab him. He was ready. The only problem was Jin's strength. He wasn't sure if he could take down a martial artist but he knew he had made enough preparation so he wasn't afraid either.
"Can you tell me more about Martial Artists? How come I never heard of them before when I have already gone to every corner of Yellowstone City?"
Hearing his words, Jin suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! I finally understand why you didn't know about martial arts. Yellowstone city? That's one of the lowest-ranking cities in our kingdom. My Crystal city is already five times bigger than your Yellowstone city."
"And, above the city is the province. Our city falls under the power of Diamond Province. There are four provinces including Diamond Province and they are Spade Province, Heart Province, and Clover Province."
"And, each province has three major sects; Heavenly Soul Sect, Golden Dragon Sect, and Roaring Thunder Sect. And, one of the three major sects, Golden Dragon Sect is in Crystal City."
"I was this close to joining that sect before I got dragged into this place. And, I don't even know what kind of place is this."
Hearing his words, Garven was having a hard time digesting all this information. It was simply because he had never left Yellowstone City. He had quite a lot of places but none of them were outside the city.
Of course, it wasn't his fault. First, he was just a ten-year-old. Even without one month of hardcore exercise, his body had barely changed a bit. He still looked skinny and pale.
"Alright! Now, let's not waste any more time. We need to go there. Come on!"
Jin said as he turned around and walked toward a giant door. Garven quickly caught up and they reached closer to the door.
"So, what now? How can we open it?" Garven had never seen such a big door. It was almost three times taller than him. So, Garven knew he wouldn't be able to open it.
"What else can we do? Since you are not a martial artist, just keep on pushing. I will run from the back and force it open with all my strength." Jin said while moving back from the door.
Hearing his words, Garven was a bit surprised but nodded. After all, this was a good plan.
Jin made quite a long gap. He took a deep breath and his internal energy reached into his foot. His foot pressed against the ground and his body dashed toward the door like a flash of light.
Jin raised his hand, but instead of two, he only raised one and that one hand was holding a knife. A cruel expression appeared on his face that replaced his previous calm expression as he changed his direction toward Garven.
Bang!
He was so fast that he was sure it would hit Garven but just before it could, Garven moved to the side. The knife struck the door and pierced it.
"Ugh!"
Jin also collided with the door and received some injuries but minor. Garven who had already moved to the side retreated a few steps and asked.
"Why? Why try to kill me?"
This was something he didn't understand. Jin was being overly friendly with someone he just met. And, that made him suspicious but he wasn't sure. After all, they survived and now they had a chance to leave. So, why kill him?
Jin clenched his teeth as he looked at Garven.
"You don't understand. While you were still inside, I went out and tried to leave this place. This door is locked and it can only be opened from outside. And, the person outside will only open it when only one person remains in this room."
"Which means for me to go out, you need to die. I tried to make it simpler before but didn't expect you to have such good senses. I still can't comprehend how are you not a martial artist yet."
"But none of that matters now."
Thwack!
Jin took out the knife from the door and made a fighting stance. He stared at Graven with killing intent and said.
"Only one of us can go out and it will be me."
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