When Garven heard that voice, the snake slowly lowered its tail. Garven's eyes fell on that man and a strong hatred appeared in his eyes.
But, something was telling him that he shouldn't make a move. He shouldn't show any kind of hatred. Garven's had so much belief in his instinct that he instantly hid all of his hatred and asked.
"What's the second trial?"
"Follow me!"
The man turned around and started walking away. Garven looked at the back of the man and he got an incredible sense to attack. But, he stopped his urge and followed the man.
After a few seconds, the man suddenly disappeared. Garven was confused but he quickly understood when he saw a small hole. It was enough to walk through but it wasn't like the previous door.
Garven looked above and saw nothing. He was a bit confused because he didn't understand where that strong light came from. The light in the area where he was standing was quite high compared to the previous room but it was nowhere enough like sunlight.
He couldn't even see any kind of fire as well. It felt like the entire structure was glowing on its own.
So, when he saw the light behind the hole, he immediately understood that's where he should go. So, he went. He passed through the hole and when he came out, he was blinded by the light once again.
This time, he didn't have the snake to block it because he had hidden the snake underneath his cloth. This snake was a powerful weapon for him and thanks to its small size, it could live inside his cloth as well.
When he came out of that hole, he was surprised.
'So many people!'
Garven saw nearly eighty to a hundred boys and girls standing next to each other. They were all different not just by face but also by their clothes. It looked like none of them came from the same power.
But, Garven quickly noticed something. He saw the small holes all around him. The massive dome in the middle was where they were still and there was a massive glass ceiling from where the sunlight was coming in.
And, at the walls, there were hundreds of small holes that were the size of the hole he came out from.
'Does that mean every other hole is linked with the same giant door and each door has a similar condition to mine? Wait, Jin told me that only one person can come out of that giant door.'
'That means only the strongest children managed to come out. Those who were weak either died or got slaughtered. But, why are they doing this? Why kill hundreds of children just to find a few strong ones? After all, all of us are just children ranging from ten years old to fourteen years old.'
'Damn it! I have so many questions but it seems like I can't find the answer soon. I need to wait and properly analyze the situation. From what I've learned after spending a month in that room is that I need to have patience.'
Garven noticed a few eyes looking at him. Most of them only looked at him for a moment and ignored him. But some were curious so much so that one of them came toward him.
"Hello! My name is Azur." A young boy introduced himself with a kind smile. There was a hint of gentleness in his eyes. He was nearly the height of five feet and wore a grey shirt and pants.
"My name is Garven." Garven didn't ignore him. There was no reason to do so, especially in his condition.
"You must be surprised that I came to introduce me out of nowhere. You know that we are kidnapped for some kind of purpose, right?" Azur asked.
Garven narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Do you know the purpose?"
"Isn't it obvious? They want to train us into their soldiers. Everyone from this group has suffered quite an adversity to make it here. That means everyone here has the potential to grow into a powerhouse."
"So, whoever planned this must be raising us into their soldier. I just don't know who they are." Azur answered.
'I thought of the same reason. But, something doesn't seem right. If they were the powerhouse of the kingdom, why would they need to go through such steps to pick out potential? They could simply choose someone based on their talent for martial arts.'
Garven fell into deep thought for a moment but he was quickly snapped out of it by Azur.
"It seems like you are curious about their identity as well. I feel like we need to wait for more. I counted the holes in the wall and there were exactly hundred and twenty but now, only around ninety people have come out."
"That means they are still waiting for others. After that, we might know more about this." Azur spoke.
Garven stared at him and asked.
"So, why are you telling me this?"
"Isn't it obvious? We only overcame the first trial. There is still the second trial. Then, maybe third and fourth. We have no idea how many trials are still up there. So, I am trying to make a team in case we need to work as a team." Azur smiled as he replied.
Garven thought for a moment and nodded his head. After that, he remained silent.
"Seeing your silence, I assumed that you are not going to join us." Azur asked.
"I won't make a decision until I need to. But, thanks for the invite." Garven answered him politely and turned around. He folded his arms and waited.
Azur just smiled and walked away. But, he turned around and his smile changed a little bit.
'Interesting! A guy with not a single trace of internal energy managed to come out of that door. In a normal case, I would've assumed that there were only normal people in his gate.'
'But, when I think about everyone here who are martial artists even if they are just the rank one, it makes me doubt that there was not a single martial artist there.'
'That means he managed to kill a martial artist while not being one. Although there are several ways to kill a martial artist, all of them required external force.'
'So, what is he hiding? What kind of external force could have helped him? Or, is he just naturally strong? There are lots of mysteries surrounding him. I need to wait and observe more.'
"Ugh! Just how long are we going to wait here? Damn it! Who are the people that captured us?" Suddenly, one of the young men shouted in dissatisfaction. He wore a yellow shirt and looked a bit pale.
"Yeah! Why are they doing this to us?"
"Aren't they afraid of sects or royal knights?"
More and more people started shouting in dissatisfaction but no one got the answer.
Garven decided to wait as he silently observed other people. From what he had seen, most of them are cultivators. After fighting Jin, he managed to pick up the pressure of the internal energy.
Only a dozen of them were hiding the pressure, and most of them were releasing it constantly. Since internal energy keeps flowing inside the blood vessels, it was quite easy to trace it.
After half an hour, all one hundred and twenty children were gathered. At this moment, nearly twenties shadows flashed on the stage. The stage was at the corner which was the height of five feet above the ground.
When they appeared, everyone instantly turned their eyes to them. All of them were still wearing the red masks but after a few seconds, the man in the middle slowly removed his mask.
He also removed his dark cloak. His muscular but also fit body was revealed in front of everyone. He was wearing loose black pants and a black shirt. He looked at everyone with his frightening eagle-like eyes and said.
"Most of you have done well by surviving the first trial. But, it was only there to filter the garbage. From the second trial, the true test finally begins."
"Hey! Who do you think you are to treat us like this? I got a recommendation from Roaring Thunder Sect. If you don't ..."
Splash!
Just when he was about to say more, a shadow flashed next to him and chopped his neck. The blood rose into the air and covered everyone nearby.
"When did I give you permission to speak?"
Those who wanted to scream held their breath to stop themselves from screaming. They were after all martial artists. They were able to hold it quite well.
Even though Garven wasn't a martial artist, he had already killed someone so he wasn't affected.
Everyone remained silent as they looked at the man with fear, including Garven.
"For the next trial, there will be a Battle Royale. You must fight against each other and kill twenty people. Only the remaining hundred will pass the second trial."
When he said that, everyone gasped in shock. The man raised his finger and snapped.
"Start!"
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