Chapter 269 - 263 : The Black Jade Gate

'Alright. Time to get this over with. I've spent so much time in these trials and my level has been stagnating for more than a week now. It would be bad if I get left behind.'

After logging back into the Infinite Realm, Sato felt pumped up for action, or more precisely, he wanted to be done with the Main Trials as quickly as possible. Because he had been stuck here for almost 2 days, Sato's level didn't increase by much. This was especially true since the opponents on the Entry trials couldn't be defeated for Experience points and the ones on the first challenge of the Main trials mostly consisted of Phantasmal creatures that were unreal. In other words, they provided neither rewards nor Experience points for killing them. Even for the real monsters, they provided a measly amount of Experience points. Added with the fact that Sato only encountered less than 3 such monsters, Sato's strength was crawling at an extremely slow pace that made one feel hopeless about it. As for the uncanny humanoid creature Sato faced off with earlier, he easily defeated it, and just like the real monsters of the First challenge, it didn't give much Experience points. 

The faster he completed the challenges, the sooner Sato would return to the main world and begin leveling up. 

From the show, Virtual Times, Sato realized that there was a chance that he would receive a reward for being the first player to make it to level 10. And he had a shot at it because, from the information relayed from the program, there was yet to be any player that had broken through the bottleneck and stepped into the next level.

'Only if these monsters gave more Experience points then I wouldn't be so hard-pressed at the moment.' Sato sighed as he ventured deeper in. 

The challenge wasn't one that simply depended on his efforts but was time-based. So, no matter how far Sato walked, it wouldn't be over till the 36 hours duration was over or he found the exit. However, the second option was unrealistic.

After Sato had dealt with the shadow monster clone, he had journeyed further into the labyrinth, taking turns and bends to the point that he couldn't even recall his way back. While this sounded dumb and stupid, this trial was one totally dependent on one's luck.

Considering the fact that no map, even if it were an incomplete one, was given, finding one's way around the place was impossible. It wasn't as if the exit could be said to be north and so one would try to keep heading north no matter what. The location of the exit was unknown. Using the starting position as a guide, the exit could have been to the west, east, or north. There were no hints, giveaways or any plot to it. To find one's way out, one could only depend on luck, unless they were like the other 2 that did so; relying on their comprehension of spatial magic and elements to find their way out.

'However, I am not a mage much less do I have an affinity to the space element. This path was already far from me from the very beginning.' Sato sighed internally with a bitter expression.

Since he couldn't rely on his ability or control of spatial elements, which were non-existent by the way, Sato could only hope that his luck was as good as the third figure who passed this challenge, or even a tenth of his. That way, while Sato wouldn't get the highest rating, he would still pass the challenge. However, only the heavens knew how bright his lucky star was.

"Hmm?" Sato looked up ahead and was surprised by what he saw ahead of him.

Right in front of him, just a couple of metres ahead was a gigantic gate that stood at an imposing height of 12 metres and a width of 5 metres. The gate had a slit in the middle, making it seem like it was made up of two doors. If one looked closely at it, it looked more like a double door than a gate. Sato identified it as such because the size was way too absurd to simply address it as a door. Also, it gave off the feeling as if it existed to lock something behind it, just like a seal.

The reason Sato noticed it was mostly because the gate exuded an evil aura that sent shivers running down his spine. This wasn't to say that Sato himself was scared of the gate but instead, the gate triggered his body's natural reactions. Like when a wild animal was in the presence of a formidable prey, its instincts would alert it and the same was happening with Sato. His body seemed to scream at him, ringing warning bells as he stood just a few metres away from the door.

"What the hell is this?" Sato couldn't help but wonder out loud as he approached the gate.

Though the lighting in the labyrinth was dim, it didn't mean that Sato couldn't see anything. From a distance of fewer than 5 metres away from the gate, Sato could easily take in the view of the entire gate.

The gate looked to be made of a kind of black Jade but was as tough as a divine metal. Carved on the surface of the black Jade gate, were murals of ancient gods and demons, asuras and devas. Creatures that might have dominated the world at some point in time.

On the left side of the gate were celestial gods that stood on clouds and wielded different weapons. They all had an indifferent look on their face as if none of the burdens of mortality[1] affected them. In their hands were stylish weapons ranging from swords, bows, and spears to uncommon ones like a harp, a zither, a flute, and even a horn.

On the right side of the gate, however, was a legion of demons, ranging from one-horned demons and two-horned demons to scaled monsters and 4 armed creatures. They all had ferocious looks etched on their faces, seeming as if all they lived for was destruction, murder and pillage. The weapons they held, though similar, looked barbarous and crude, different from that of the celestial gods.

The two separate murals were painted in such a way that it made the two different races face each other as if they were waging a divine war against the other. The art was extremely realistic to the point that Sato had the feeling that these beings could jump right out of the mural and appear in the real world.

"Such an amazing level of art." Sato praised.

While he was an engineering student in the real world, it didn't mean that he knew nothing about art or couldn't appreciate it. Even a novice in art won't be able to resist complimenting such a piece at a close first look.

Looking at the murals, Sato even wondered whether one of these races was the depiction of the Caventry or maybe their ancestors. After all, from Saimon's words, the Caventry had something to do with the 'Grey God' and such a title was most likely used to address a high-level NPC individual in the game. He wouldn't be surprised if one of the celestial gods in this depiction was the Grey god, though Sato felt it was unlikely.

'I wonder what's behind this gate...' Sato couldn't resist his curiosity.

While his instincts did indeed warn him that something scary lies behind there, Sato still couldn't resist the desire to know what it was. This wasn't him simply being curious but also Sato looking for a turning point in this challenge.

With the way things were, Sato didn't have much faith in passing this challenge so unless he took certain risks, he might not succeed in the challenge.

Now, before him laid an opportunity or an end; it could be either. Since Sato didn't have much faith in getting through the challenge by just running around the place, he decided to explore behind this gate first. Who knows, though highly improbable, maybe he might find the exit or better yet, find a map of the labyrinth. What mattered was that there was a chance to turn things around and this chance laid behind the gate.

"That settles it. I'm going in."

Having made up his mind, Sato placed his two hands on the two sides of the gate and applying a certain amount of force to them, he pushed forward, opening it just like a door.

AN :

[1] Burdens of mortality here refer to some of the features of man. Mainly emotions and hunger.

Infinite Facts :

Versuchsgründe was made by Lord Worrus. As for the locations of the various trials, most of them exited before his birth.. All he did was connect them to Versuchsgründe, making it the starting position for anyone who wanted to participate in the Main Trials as well as the holy ground of the Caventry.