Walking down the stairs again, the two found a different set. If the first set of stairs took them down a linear path, this one was circular. Yet, same as last time, runes lit the way with every step, making it easier to see their way.
'Same material like last time,' Shen concluded after swiping his hand across the walls. 'But something is different. The first floor had nothing distinct but these walls… Why are they wet?' he pondered while descending.
This time it took the duo a couple of minutes to reach the stairs' end. While the first floor had a small door, the second one had a huge, ancient gate. Its black texture gave a feeling of oppression, while the red runes seemed like closed eyes.
"Shen bro, are you sure we should continue?" Dane asked while looking at the gate with a tremble. "Don't these red dots give a feeling of someone staring at you?"
Shen looked at Dane with a calm gaze and a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, this is just your fear speaking."
Although he said that, Shen narrowed his eyes inwardly. 'He's right,' he gravely thought.
Shen sighed, pushing his worries down and pressed on the door. Contrary to his expectations, no matter how much he pushed, he couldn't open the gate.
Turning to Dane, he smiled. "How about you try opening the door?"
"Sure."
Putting his hands on the door, Dane put all his weight and pushed…
*Bam!*
Rubbing his head, Dane frowned. "This was easy," he said.
"It's because you opened this inh-"
*Rumble*
Another quake happened as Shen looked around the room. He calmly stood and watched as a blue-colored centipede appeared in the middle of the room.
"What's hap-AGhh, a bug! And a big one!!" Dane screamed and hid behind Shen.
"You're afraid of bugs?"
Dane shook his head. "No! They are just disgusting!"
'Okay, now this is becoming annoying.' Shen wanted to rub the bridge of his nose but stopped himself. 'Good thing I have patience.'
'Anyway,' Shen stared at the centipede. It towered over them at a height of four meters, its countless legs had a sharp look and its mandibles kept clacking. 'This floor's requirement isn't simple,' he frowned.
"I will deal with it, you stay behind me."
Just like last time, the gate had already closed, locking the duo. The room's outline seemed simple with one big blue rune illuminating the room in the middle of the ceiling.
Dane nodded and went to a corner.
Looking at the centipede not attacking, Shen circled it. "It's rank 4 mid stage." "Hmm, it seems like these mandibles have some poison." "Qi and Magic?" He commented every once in a while.
After examining the centipede, Shen drew his sword, but weirdly enough, he held it backward.
'This won't be easy.' he sighed again.
Shen appeared in the air, right on top of the centipede's head. With his sword over his head, he slashed downward. The centipede clacked its mandibles and blocked the attack.
*Shing!*
Shen's red sword clashed with the centipede's mandibles, creating sparks. After his first attack failed, Shen slashed again. This time he attacked from behind.
*Shing! Psss!*
The centipede barely blocked again and spat poison while defending. The green-like substance passed over Shen's head as he bent it backward.
This didn't faze Shen. Instead, with another flash, this time faster than before, Shen attacked the centipede.
Dane watched everything in awe. He watched as Shen defeated the monster in the desert, but this time, he clearly saw it. He couldn't see Shen's movement as it was too fast. However, he could clearly see how easily Shen suppressed the centipede.
'Why isn't he killing it?'
While that thought roamed Dane's mind, Shen's slash had finally landed on top of the centipede. Its power drove the centipede backward, crashing it into the walls.
"RAGHHHAW!"
The centipede screeched and shook its head. Another bang and Shen landed another hit. He kept hitting the centipede with his dull edge. It was a comical scene.
After seven hits, the centipede stopped screeching or resisting. It bowed its head and bent it in front of Shen who gracefully landed in front of it.
Shen rubbed the centipede's head and with that, the centipede dematerialized. It broke down, becoming blue particles that entered the walls.
"That was amazing!" Dane approached Shen when the centipede disappeared. "But, what just happened, Shen bro?"
*Rumble*
Another quake happened as a small entrance appeared in front of the duo. It appeared that their journey still hadn't ended.
Ignoring it, Shen turned to Dane. "You see, this room materialized a rank 4 middle tier beast. This beast was stronger than others as it had both Mana and QI in its composition."
"Wow," Dane exclaimed with admiration and shining eyes. "Wait, but this doesn't explain why you didn't kill it? It obviously appeared that you were suppressing it but none of your blows injured it."
"I see," Shen said. 'This guy is slow. He really doesn't feel like the person I heard about!' He felt frustrated.
Answering Dane, Shen wanted to sigh but stopped. "This room's test wasn't to kill the beast but to tame it. If I killed the beast, we might have gotten trapped here forever. It was easy to figure this out. When the beast didn't attack no matter how much we stood in front of it. This could have been just it being cautious, you might think, but the signs were there. When I released my killing intent towards it only, it didn't react. This showed that it didn't have any plans to attack. If I didn't turn my blade the other way, it wouldn't have attacked." he explained in one breath.
Dane nodded his head but still seemed confused, "But how did you know that, if you didn't try?" he asked.
"Who said I didn't?" Shen smirked. "When I first attacked it, it didn't resist at all until I turned my blade."
Dane felt awe like never before. Shen was younger than him but not only was he smarter he was stronger.
"Let's go, it doesn't seem like we are done here," Shen quickly said.
"Aren't you tired?"
Shen seemed confused, "Why would I be tired?"
"...nevermind."