Chapter 176 Second Stage

Even though Raydon's Flame Burst skill had been improved thanks to the newly upgraded Ashen Heart, he anticipated that this stage would take a lot of time for him to complete because the distance he needed to travel was so great. Additionally, after the sand had melted and been molded into a solid form, he had to wait for it to cool down before proceeding further.

'If I had some sort of ability that would enable me to fly, I wouldn't have to put in as much effort. ' He said while heaving a sigh.

Unfortunately, having only five magic equipment slots prevented him from acquiring every skill he needed. Since there was nothing else for Raydon to do, he continued to advance while using his Flame Burst skill to burn the sand.

—

'Finally, I'm about to finish this boring stage. ' Raydon said as he surveyed the stone floor and the stone chest that stood only a few meters away from him.

It took him 20 minutes to get here, even though he didn't stop moving the whole time.

Raydon, disheartened that he had wasted so much time but had not gained any experience points as a result, eventually took a step onto the stone floor.

"I really hope the reward is something that's going to be worth my time."

He took a wary glance in all directions to determine whether or not there were any other potential threats nearby. After determining that there was nothing that could put him in harm's way, he approached the stone chest.

'I really hope that I won't have to smash it in order to get it open. ' He thought.

He extended his hand, grabbed the lid of the chest's sides, and lifted it. Fortunately, there was no lock on the chest, so it wasn't necessary to break open the lid.

The lid slowly creaked open, revealing the treasures inside with a deep rumbling sound.

As he took in the contents of the chest, Raydon's eyes grew wider.

''Apparently, the trouble was worthwhile. '' He laughed as he said this while looking at the five storage expansion orbs that were contained inside the chest.

As their size would suggest, all of them were white-grade, but Raydon could not have cared less about that fact. Even though he already possesses eight green-grade expansion orbs, in order to get the most out of them, he had to first bring the total capacity of his dimensional storage up to one hundred square meters.

He tossed them into his dimensional storage with a contented grin on his face before getting ready to proceed to the next stage.

"Do I have to return the same way I came?" Raydon wondered as he looked ahead at the stretch of glass road that had been awkwardly laid out on the sand and was glowing in the dim light. Returning would take some time even if he didn't have to build the road from scratch.

*Rumble*

As he pondered whether the door that had closed behind him when he arrived was now open, a jolt on the ground and a noise behind him startled him.

''Huh? '' He was taken aback when he turned in the direction of the rumbling sound and discovered that a door that appeared to be the same door he had come through was located exactly where the chest had been moments earlier.

''Now that is a generous move. '' With a grin on his face, Raydon stepped inside.

Despite the fact that he once again had no idea what lay beyond the door other than blackness, he was confident that this was the door that would lead him to the next stage or back to where he started from, and he was relieved that he wouldn't have to backtrack his way.

And everything went according to his expectations. As soon as he walked through the door, he found himself in the same room he had been in when he first arrived at this inheritance.

Raydon gave the room's four walls another thorough inspection and discovered that the door to the stage he had most recently finished wasn't where it was supposed to be.

''It seems I was right in my assumption. There are still three stages for me to go through, and I have just over two and a half hours left. '' He muttered, and without wasting any time, he chose a door at random and continued.

As soon as Raydon stepped through the door, he discovered that he had been transported to an entirely new location, just as he had done in the earlier stage.

He looked around and noticed the walls were lined with glistening crystals that were both sharp and jagged.

As he cautiously made his way forward, he became aware of the labyrinthine structure that was ahead of him, complete with winding corridors and dead ends.

Raydon murmured, "Is this a maze?" as he explored the dungeon.

The air was filled with a musty smell, and he could feel the coolness of the damp stones under his feet. As he progressed, he heard the sound of dripping water echoing through the tunnels.

''What, all I have to do is follow the correct path and receive my reward? '' Raydon said grumpily, noticing the stillness of his surroundings and the fact that the only challenge he faced was the confusing layout of the hallways.

As was the case in the stage before this one, it appeared that there was no experience point source nearby in this stage.

''What a disappointment. '' Raydon said this and continued walking to locate the correct corridor. However, he soon became aware of something and stopped.

''What is this sound? '' He eventually came to the realization that the sound of reverberating drops of water and the biting wind that was blowing through this labyrinth were not the only things that made up the lively aspects of this maze. The sound made him think of a handful of stones being thrown onto the ground and rolling around.

Raydon stopped to investigate the source of the sound that was drawing nearer and nearer to him, and soon he realized that the source was coming from the direction of the corridor's end.