Chapter 38: Entry Crystal and 'The Bridge'
Whenever powerful mana is felt in the surrounding, it could only mean two things, either a dangerous monster is present nearby and that mana is simply its aura, or a treasure exuding a dense amount of mana to the surroundings is nearby.
In the case of the former, other monsters would surely be running away from the source of the powerful mana. After all, if humans don't want to fight when all odds are against them, not to mention monsters. These cunning and dangerous beings are even more sensitive when it comes to picking who to fight. If they feel like they would definitely lose the battle, then they will not hesitate to run away.
As for the latter, it's similar to what is happening right now — monsters gathering in one place seemingly looking like they are forming a Monster Horde. Of course, there are also times when they are indeed doing that, but there are also times when a treasure is present.
Simply put, if a dangerous monster makes other living beings afraid to approach them, the treasure, on the other hand, attracts them to approach it.
And since the monsters are gathering here, this just shows that it is a treasure and not a dangerous monster.
"Before we go there, let's confirm something first," Kayn decided to be careful. "Are you certain that it is really a treasure and not a dangerous monster? After all, there were dozens of cases where a dangerous monster attracts monster, instead of making them run away from it,"
"Moreover, when a Monster Horde is being formed, the monster would also behave like this,"
"I looked at Leah's report a while ago and there was an important detail that she forgot to mention. Although monsters were going in and out of the Eclipse Forest, the species that got out never actually went back in again," Natas was confident in his claim after reading this part of the report. "Inside the 'Tower', there are only two reasons why monsters would act like this. One, they don't want to participate in whatever the discussion was all about after hearing the content themselves, or two, they got eliminated to be a part of the said group,"
"Just like in Human's case, a group would only form when there is a common goal that they need to attain that an individual alone couldn't hope to achieve. And the common goal for these monsters gathering in the Eclipse Forest should be a treasure,"
"Monsters also gather in a group before launching a Monster Horde, you know, that right? And attacking a city is also a goal that warrants monsters to gather together," Kayn still didn't believe Natas' claim. He isn't actually a cautious individual. He just doesn't want to waste time and put himself in potential danger for something that they aren't even certain about in the first place whether it really exists or not. He'd only do that when there is truly a benefit that he could receive.
Moreover, if the benefit he could get from doing this couldn't outweigh the other by a huge margin, then why bother doing it, right? After all, both could bring him a profit, the only difference is, if he goes along with Selina and Leah, his earnings would depend entirely on his own performance, while from the supposed treasure it depends on whether he could even get it or not. The former guarantees him a profit, while the other is not even definite yet but just a mere assumption.
"Yes, they do gather in a group. But they don't gather in one single spot but should be spread out all over the Eclipse Forest right now. The only time when monsters gather together would be when they are with their own species or pack, and not with another species of monsters. Not to mention, multiple species gathering in one spot," Natas was talking about the fact that to their north a bunch of monsters from different species is gathered together.
After all, although they are both labeled as monsters, they consider each other enemies and prey. If a predator monster is coincidentally gathered along with its natural prey, then it's already obvious what would happen, right? It would be an eat-all-you-can buffet for them.
"You're right!" Kayn finally realized. Even though it is a known fact that monsters gather in a single territory when they are trying to form a Monster Horde, still that doesn't necessarily mean they would be staying with one another in a single spot.
Monsters would spread out, and only when the time comes to attack would they start to gather together. But even then, conflict is still bound to take place between predator monster and their natural prey amidst the attempt to attack a city.
Sometimes, predator monsters would even abandon the Monster Horde and focus on attacking their natural prey instead, since they would still achieve the same result.
"Let's get going now. Otherwise, Selina and Leah would get suspicious of us," Kayn no longer hesitated and started walking to where Natas pointed a short while ago. Albeit, Natas hastily overtook him and decided to lead the path.
"Stay behind me, I'll scout ahead and warn you if there are any monsters that you can't handle," Natas took the responsibility to guarantee Kayn's safety as he was the one who suggested doing this.
Even though Kayn already knew that it is impossible for any monster in the Eclipse Forest to pose a threat against him, he decided not to stop Natas.
There was nothing wrong with what Natas is doing, and it is also better to be safe.
Time continued to pass, and not long after, Kayn and Natas finally reached the place they were looking for.
Well, how did they know?
In front, a group of monsters from different species were gathered together to surround a floating blue crystal right in the middle.
If someone tells Kayn right now that this is not the location of the treasure that Natas was suspecting about, he would not hesitate to smack the living soul out of that person's body.
"Isn't that an Entry Crystal?!" Kayn felt extremely shocked at their discovery.
An Entry Crystal is an item that functions similarly to a key that opens a door. However, the door the Entry Crystal opens is a path leading one inside the 'Tower'!
Needless to say, this wasn't a shortcut of any kind for one to easily enter the 'Tower'. Just like what he had mentioned before, the only way for one to enter the 'Tower' is to first obtain permission or recognition from the 'Tower' itself. And there's no easy path to get that.
The Entry Crystal indeed opens up a path leading one inside the 'Tower', but this path is actually a path full of challenges which if one successfully completes, the 'Tower' would immediately grant them entry inside its floor.
How the Entry Crystal work is; when someone activates it, they would then be teleported to the -1 floor. That's right, the negative first floor, otherwise also known as the 'The Bridge'.
The reason why it is called 'The Bridge' is because the place looks more or less like a bridge. And it also seems to function like one as over the distance one could see the 'Tower'. Coincidentally as well, if one reaches the end of 'The Bridge', they would actually see the arc doorway of the 'Tower', which only a few people have seen before as they could only witness this sight if they entered through the Entry Crystal.
To win the challenges of 'The Bridge', one has to simply reach the end of the 'Tower' and touch the arch door entrance. As easy as it may sound, the reality is, countless people have already died before they could even see the arch door of the 'Tower'. In fact, the main reason why an Entry Crystal still exists right now simply means that there is still no one who has reached the end of 'The Bridge' until this present moment. This also means that numerous people are currently still trapped in 'The Bridge' as it is impossible to leave the place unless someone clears the challenge. If ever one does clear the challenges, the other participants would then be automatically teleported back to Earth, thus they failed to get entry to the 'Tower'.
However, despite that, an Entry Crystal is still a high-demand item both inside and outside the 'Tower'. The reason being is that it doesn't limit anyone to enter 'The Bridge', may they be ordinary people, Superhumans, or even monsters — that's why the scene in front of them is happening right now.
There are also a lot of treasures to find inside the 'The Bridge'. As a matter of fact, there was even a time that an item that can and should only be found on the 100th floor was spotted, albeit no one knows of that right now since no one has any up-to-date information about what is exactly happening in 'The Bridge' as the only way to pass news from there to the outside world is through an item that can transmit messages, which is a very rare item in 'The Bridge'. As for how he knew, it's obviously because that event happened in the future.
"This is perfect!" Natas felt excited.
"Why so?" Kayn narrowed his eyes in confusion. Although it sounds great to gain access to enter the 'Tower' through 'The Bridge', unfortunately in his case, it's considered unnecessary. After all, as long as he performs well inside a dungeon, which he definitely would in the future, he could easily get inside the 'Tower'. And forget about finding a lot of treasures in 'The Bridge', because with his knowledge about the future, the moment he enters the 'Tower' he could easily make himself an overpowered Hero.
"I'll explain later. And yes! It is going to help you, tremendously, to be exact,"
"But, there's no need for me to do this, right?"
"Do you trust me?" Natas grabbed both of Kayn's shoulders tightly as he stared straight into his eyes.
"Well, not so much, but it's at the level where I can entrust you my safety," Not his life, though.
"Then trust me on this one! Please! Just get that Entry Crystal no matter what, and once you do, run immediately toward Selina and Leah's location. There's no need to feel ashamed because as long as you have that item, believe me, you will be able to return the favor to them soon," Natas tried his best to persuade Kayn to follow his suggestion. Although he wants to explain deeper so that he can better persuade Kayn, regretfully, they don't have much time left.
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