Chapter 104: Portals

"Woah..." Tyr exclaimed again in shock as everyone made their way closer to the portals.

There were six of the portals lined beside eachother, and were of various sizes and colors. They looked like oval, vertical vortexes with cloudy energy swirling around within them.

As everyone stared with awe, Tyr said, "But... is that a big deal? I have no clue."

'I can teleport to other planets no problem... heh.' He mused inwardly.

Hanzo's brows lowered, "Tsk... of course it is! Its not just a big deal, its a giant deal. No country, atleast in Ainsveld, has been able to create portals to other planets in our Solar Tree. That alone tells you how rare this is."

"What exactly does it help with though?" Tyr questioned, still not sold.

"Look... from what I see now, they must not have perfected it yet. It must still be in the prototype mode. However, if this can be monopolized then Ovalantis may be able to become a world power in no time. Above that, spreading Ovalantis' influence over other planets is another possibility. There are endless choices that open up when world travel is involved."

"Hmm." Tyr said, making his way toward one of the portals.

He stopped after a few feet, however, as he felt a cold chill seep into his spine.

'A person...' He thought to himself, feeling his intuition blaring.

"You sure you wanna step so close to an unstable portal?" A voice came from the doorway to the room.

Everyone turned, their guards quickly raised and their brows furrowed.

A skinny young man made his way into the room, half naked and wearing only dirty black rags over his private parts.

"Who the hell are you?" Hanzo exclaimed, reaching for his bow. Sёarᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Me? Oh... im nobody that you need to have a big reaction to right now. Anyways, playtimes over... for both me and you. It's time you all get your punishment." The young man exclaimed with a smirk on his face.

Malon raised a brow, "For both us... and you? What does that mean."

Hanzo exhaled, "Its you isnt it..." He said under his breath.

On hearing this, the young man's face went a bit surprised, "Did you already figure me out?"

"I was right... you're the old man from before." Hanzo said in a low tone.

On hearing this, the young man seemed to have a wave of relief wash over him.

"Phew... I thought, well, nevermind." He quickly changed the subject, "Yes! You caught me indeed!" The young man somehow morphed into the old man again, and then into a middle aged man.

"So what is our punishment going to be? Are you going to cage us again?" Noa questioned, her expression hostile.

There was a short moment of silence between both parties, and then...

"What? No, hahaha! I was just doing that to scare you guys. What you have done is a minor offense. A few weeks doing voluntary work within the kingdom should be enough."

The young man, who was the old man, and now a middle aged man, turned at that moment, "Follow me... ya' don't have much of a choice. Trust me... I am far stronger than you guys." He smirked.

'Scan.'

[Error!]

[This subject's power level exceeds 5x of your current strength.]

[Scan is unable to check their status.]

Tyr's eyes flew open with shock, 'F-five times... more powerful than me? Thats well in the 700's...' He was at a loss.

Hanzo furrowed his brows, "Come on, lets go... he isn't bluffing it seems." He said, walking forward.

The other two followed along as Tyr stayed back for a moment.

"Oh and you..." The middle aged man suddenly stopped, turning and speaking to Tyr who was dozens of feet away, "Try to survive... you seem to have some potential."

Tyr's brows abruptly furrowed. The others were also on edge by hearing this.

"What do you mean?" Hanzo stared at the man, who gestured toward here.

On turning to face Tyr, Hanzo noticed a large hand double the size of a human, rotten and red, slowly reach out of the red portal behind Tyr--the fingers fully extended.

Tyr stood there clueless, and before Hanzo or the others could say anything, the fingers collasped on Tyr--wrapping him in a tight grip before violently pulling him inside the portal that it came from.

"TYR!" Malon yelled, attempting to dash forward.

"Not so quick." The middle aged man's voice was serious, "Don't take another step. Your month punishment will turn into much more... just quietly proceed this way."

A block of ice rose in front of Malon at that moment--halting him in his tracks.

"He will die..." Noa said in a low tone, as though in disbelief.

"Is that the trust you have in your friend?" The middle aged man exclaimed.

Hanzo gritted his teeth, turning around and facing the doorway: "Oi... lets go. He will survive it and come out. If not, we will return here one way or another after our sentences. After all, getting inside this ice dungeon is just another few weeks of punishment right?"

The middle aged man remained silent.

"Then its settled..." Hanzo began to walk forward, the other two staring at his back with shock as he said: "I know Tyr won't die in damn stupid place like this."

After a minute or so, the three had left the room. Only the middle aged man stood there still looking at the red portal for a few seconds with squinted eyes.

'Apart from parts of Titan, there is no planet as unforgiving as Tarnish. Its creature's aren't of the strongest variety, and its materials aren't of the highest values... yet even the strongest of Hunter's can't remain there long. Out of all these portals, he decided to stand in front of the most dastardly one. He has absolutely no choice to survive.'

He shook his head: 'Tsk tsk tsk... poor soul.'

***

[Warning!]

[You have entered a very harsh environment.]

[Warning!]

[Your health is rapidly decreasing!]

[Health: 50-->41]

[41-->35-->24]

"Shit!"

Tyr quickly activated Full Golden Body.

[Immune to all fire damage.]

[Immune to all wind damage.]

Tyr began to heal again after popping a health capsule.

All around him was what seemed to be a completley unfamilar landscape.

It was a giant red desert made of hard red stone floor as far as the eye could see.

Even the sky was a tone of orange, blocking out any sign of the sun or moon.

The land was incredibly dystopian, with random rock formations scattered aroound scarcely. On top of that, lava flowed through the floor cracks, and fire seemed to be littered all over as well.

*Kera ka machi knea*

A noise came from behind, GG quickly translating it: "Fresh meat..."

The young man slowly turned his head, only to notice a ginormous humaniod figure with melting skin sitting behind him.