The darkness was strange. Black Sash Knights were trained to fight in the darkness. In fact, darkness was their ally. Yet for some reason, not one of them could see anything beyond the orange glow emitted from Gary's light crystal.
Ray's Dragon Eyes skill was useless as well. Just like with the red door, something was blocking his abilities. It was just a jumbled mess if he tried to use it, but it was also what was pushing him to dive deeper into this place.
"We should go back," Monk said shakily.
"We've made it this far, we can't go back now," Gary insisted.
"But we can't even see anything."
Gary ignored Monk and started moving down the stairs. As the light source drifted away, the rest of them were swallowed by the encroaching darkness. It felt as if they would be consumed by something if they didn't stay in the light. Each of them, felt like it was hard just to breathe, and were wondering why they were even going through with this.
As the four of them moved forward, Gary led the way, Monk followed behind him, then Jasmine, while Ray took up the rear. He wanted to keep it this way in case Jasmine decided to make a break for it. He still had his doubts about her.
While descending, Ray noticed that the stairs weren't a straight drop down but spiral-shaped, curving downward with the wall always at their right side.
They cautiously proceeded, wary of broken steps and the unknown depths below. At some point's they felt like they might have stepped on a few things, but were too scared to look down to see what it was.
After ten minutes, they finally reached the bottom, stepping into a circular chamber. They carefully moved around, scanning their surroundings, until they came across a massive iron door. After another quick search, it became evident—there was nothing else. This door was the only way forward.
"Well, I guess this is the only way," Gary said.
"Why is there no one here?" Jasmine wondered aloud.
"What do you mean?" Monk asked.
"Don't you think there would be more guards stationed here? And what about the guards outside?"
The thought unsettled all of them. Ray had assumed that Jasmine had lured them into a trap, which explained the lack of guards. But even she was questioning it now.
Gary dismissed the thought and pushed the iron door open. With no choice but to follow their only light source, they hurried after him.
As soon as Ray closed the door behind them, orange lights flared to life along the walls. The glow, similar to Gary's crystal, dimly illuminated the area. The room was enormous—at least as large as Avrion Academy's training grounds. Yet it looked to be mostly empty.
But what caught their attention were the remnants scattered throughout.
Beds, makeshift cots, wooden tables, and discarded clothing. Half-eaten plates of food and rusted cutlery lay strewn across the ground.
Yet, there was not a single soul in sight.
"What do you think happened here?" Gary asked.
"It looks like a campsite of some sort," Monk observed.
"Maybe they were hiding down here," Jasmine speculated.
If they were hiding… what were they hiding from? Ray thought to himself.
Now that the room was dimly lit, Gary stowed his crystal. They split up to search the area for anything useful.
Then Monk's voice cut through the silence. "Over here! There's another door!"
He shouted every so often to signal his location. Even with the lighting it was still difficult to see too far ahead. So Monk would end up disappearing once in a while. Eventually, they all gathered in front of it. The iron door loomed over them, nearly thirty meters tall and ten meters wide—an imposing, impenetrable barrier.
"Did you try to open it?" Gary asked.
"No, just in case there was something behind it," Monk admitted. The whole place gave him the creeps.
Gary stepped forward and pushed against the door with all his strength. It didn't budge. He took a few steps back and slammed his shoulder into it.
Bang.
Still, no movement.
"Well? Are you guys just going to stand there, or are you going to help?" Gary asked impatiently.
"I thought you had it?" Jasmine teased.
Gary, Monk, and Jasmine worked together to push the door while Ray hung back, observing from a distance, searching for any signs they had missed. Even with their combined strength, the door remained unmoving. Frustrated, Gary coated his sword in Ki and slashed at the metal. He swung with full force not holding back, not worried for if the door was destoyed
Not even a scratch.
"What is this thing made out of?" Gary muttered.
Jasmine stepped forward, eyeing the large circular indentation in the center. "It must be locked. Either that, or it weighs a ton."
Even if the door was heavy, their Ki should have at least budged it. And with Gary's sword Ki, a normal iron door would have been sliced clean through.
Monk shuddered. "I really think we should go. Whoever built this door didn't want people getting inside… or they were keeping something in."
"We can't go!" Gary shouted. "I can feel it. We're so close! Something inside is calling to me."
"But we can't go any further without getting this door open first," Jasmine pointed out.
Gary wasn't the only one reluctant to leave. Ray, too, felt compelled to see what lay beyond. Ever since stepping underground, everything had been an enigma. And why did his Dragon Eyes fail beyond the red door?
He had tried activating them multiple times, but they refused to work. In the absence of his ability, he had to rely on his ordinary sight.
While the others argued about whether to stay longer or turn back, Ray stepped toward the door, running his hand along the center where the circular marking was.
A system notification appeared before his eyes.