Then the illusion world broke, and all three opened their eyes, looked at each other, and nodded.
"Excuse me, before we continue Can someone tell me what the Death Zone is?"Ram said this while looking at the shocked expression of Prakhar and the understanding look of Hanu.
"Ram, the death zone is basically an area in the forest where no one likes to enter."
Hanu explained while looking at Ram.
"Why? "Are there some beasts there?"
"This no one knows off, but what is known is that whoever enters the death zone seldom comes back."
"Seldom? So there are people who came back. So didn't that person explain about the death zone?"
"The only thing explained about the death zone is that it's some kind of trial ground where either you live by winning or lose by dying."
Ram was shocked by the details he gave.
"Do people still enter the death zone?"
"Yes, some people do. When they feel they are stuck in cultivation, the death zone could help them."
"Does it help them?"
"No one knows."
Hanu responded while shaking his head in pity.
"So it's basically a death zone." Ram confirmed this while shaking his head.
"Yes, but there was once a woman who successfully came out of the death zone, and she later went on to become invincible in her lands, and there is a rumour that she later became a god."
Ram heard this and became speechless; he didn't know what to say.
"And there have been a few more who came out of the death zone and later on reached a higher level of cultivation and became legends in their own respective places."
"There have been few successors, so why is the information about the death zone still not clear? We humans tend to love gossiping at least some information or clarity of what the death zone should have been disclosed."
"Yes, there was a boy who was only 16 years old who exited the death zone and was called the battle god. He tried to reveal the information about the death zone, but it was said that he went missing and was never found. It is said that he was claimed by death for breaking the rule of law by revelling in the secret."
Ram looked at Hanu with horror. There have been these kinds of legends, but still, the information about the death zone wasn't clear. There was definitely something huge there, but who cares? It's not like he wanted to visit that place.
"But who knows if there is any truth to all these?" We have also heard this, as you are hearing from us." Hanu said this and looked towards the sky.
Wow, this statement itself dissolves all the authenticity of the rumour. Ram said it in his mind and then looked at Hanu and Prakhar, who were looking towards the sky. So he also, out of curiosity, looked up, but after some time without figuring anything out, asked
"What is it?"
"We should stay here for today and travel tomorrow." Prakhar replied.
"Why? It's not even evening? "We can easily travel some more." Ram said
Prakhar looked towards Ram and said,
"Can't you see the weather is going to change drastically, and it can be hindering?"
Ram nodded while recalling that the weather in Rudra's world did actually change drastically; sometimes it was a bright day and then immediately night clouds came and remained throughout the day. So it was not a surprise.
"Let's look for some better places and stay here for sometime." Hanu said
and soon all three walked a little further ahead, and after finding an open ground near the water source, Hanu withdrew the tents and supplies from his ring and handed them over to the others. Soon after playing around with the tent, Ram and others successfully planted it and sat in it to pass the time.
The weather did change to extreme dark clouds, and there were even loud stormy winds blowing.
Ram inside his tent.
"System, there is a storm nearby, but why are the tents not being disturbed?"
Ding!
"Host it because of the barrier set on the area where the tent is placed."
"What barrier? I didn't see anything."
"Host, you need to be more aware of your surroundings."
Ram heard it but didn't complain, as he knew he wasn't perfect and he was definitely new to the world, so he was learning at every step.
So he nodded and used his mental perception to look at the surroundings outside his tents, and soon he noticed that his perception was getting blocked 500 metres in every direction from him. It is to be known that since he entered Level 2 (beginner), his mental perception has reached 5 km from him, and yet here he was. He focused his perception again, narrowed his search, and reached a small brick that was releasing some kind of prana to its surroundings and blocking in- and out-word perception.
"System, is that brick creating the barrier?"
"Host that brick, which is called 'Barrier Stone." It's a treasure that has barrier installed in it. It works by placing the barrier."
"Can't someone just pick up that brick and run away?" This way, the barrier stone will be taken away."
"Host, It's not as bad as you think. This barrier stone has the prana energy of the owner in it. Only the owner of the stone can use it. If someone tried to take away the barrier stone, he would be repulsed by an attack from the stone. The thief might even be killed by that attack."
Ram nodded while observing the stone further with his perception.
After some time, he heard Prakhar calling him, so he exited the tent.
"Yes"
It seems like the weather will not be fine for some time, so Hanu just got the message from the chief stating that we should stay put for the night in the tent and proceed with the mission at daybreak."
"Okay. "Anything else?"
"Yes, the food will be supplied by Hanu after some time."
"I don't need it; I have brought mine. I think I need to rest early today and will cultivate in the tent tonight."
Prakhar nodded and left for his tent.
…..