The quiet cave was interrupted by heavy breathing.
Roseline opened her eyes and got up from the floor.
'I'm out? Finally.'
She heard a notification sound from the System that had been quiet since entering the trial.
——— SYSTEM ———
Complete the Trial of The Weak
COMPLETED
Reward: +500 XP
——————————
Roseline accepted the reward and thought about the strange book that everything here seemed obsessed about.
Roseline looked for the book and found that it definitely didn't come with her to that trial.
She had noticed that back in the trial grounds.
She grabbed the book and tried to open it up but it wouldn't budge
The sound of the skeletons hitting the invisible wall resounded.
'How do I get out?'
The area before the white line was stuffed with skeletons.
There was literally no room left to move in.
'Maybe I can slowly take them out with Blood Swipe?'
But a pang of sleepiness hit her.
It was from the exhaustion and not taking a proper break.
She fell on her butt and her eyes drooped several times.
She tried her best to stay awake but soon fell asleep.
The sound of banging and shaking echoed before it moved away.
*****
….
….
….
The group had woken up 20 minutes before Roseline.
They just as equally tired but they knew about the drake still being out there.
Lelia was asleep on Lucas's shoulder while Lucas talked to Emma.
"Who do we get out without that drake fighting us?"
"The cave's been blocked in, maybe we can lead it there and have one of its attacks hit the rocks?"
"With Lelia and Aiden? They're weak."
Lucas sighed in response.
Shaking was felt throughout the cave, signs of the drake moving in order to find its pray from before.
"It only a matter of time before that beast finds us."
Both of them had solemn expressions on their face.
Emma got up and moved to where the white line was at.
"Then let's do what you suggested."
They woke up Lelia and Aiden, who was passed out on the floor, and headed towards the path that they first entered the cave.
The entrance was still blocked by boulders and rocks, with no sign of that changing.
Emma volunteered to get the drake over.
Lucas still needed to get rest and protect Lelia and Aiden.
"Well, good luck.."
She nodded and left.
*****
….
….
….
The teleporter from the military base on planet Olreon flashed.
Seth appeared and walked towards Atlas and Raven.
"Where is Lydia?"
"She's off healing the young students that got injured from before."
Because of this disappearance case, they had to stop the expedition mission for a while.
Lydia was off healing the ones that still had injures from fighting the beasts.
Seth followed the other two to the border of the desert.
During the journey, Seth asked about the students that went missing.
"The students that went missing were Aiden Whitlock, Emma West, Lucas Spade, Leila Ashley, and Roseline Hart."
Three names had caught Seth's attention.
One was an incredibly talented swordswomen, the second was from a hidden great family he had contact once with, and the last had that same purple aura like his mentor.
Once they had gotten there, Seth channeled mana into his eyes.
The world turned black with colors of green, blue, and red outlining the surrounding area.
Seth walked into the desert and asked for the direction the group walked off to.
"They went… East, I think?.."
Altas was in deep thought trying to remember.
There were too many students to keep track of and they had lost contact with the missing students IDs.
'East it is then.'
They sped up to get to the location of the missing students supposed area that the military last lost contact with them.
Getting to where the gray sand was at, Seth had noticed something unusual.
A gray aura was spread out like a wall.
It distorted the area to reflect the image of the desert before it, like a mirror.
"Did you see something?" Atlas looked at Seth.
What Seth was seeing, he didn't know if it was a seal, trap, or natural phenomenon the United Republic of Earth hadn't found yet.
Turning off his aura-sight, what he saw was the same for Atlas and Raven.
Yellow sand that seemed to have no end.
"Some kind of magic I don't recognize."
"Recognize?"
"I don't think this is the work of humans, it's mana affects a different element of the world."
Atlas thought for a moment before speaking.
"The Xalorians? Maybe the dragonkin?"
Seth shook his head.
"No I doesn't look like their Magic. It's dark, like a reaper's magic."
A small amount of fear awoke in them after hearing Seth.
"Reapers here? Is it a base? We should report this back to Sean."
"Don't be so quick. I can't tell if this is a trap or seal."
Raven spoke what was on her mind.
"If it's a seal, just what is sealed here that needs reaper magic?…"
"Let's head back to the base, asking questions won't do anything if we don't act first."
*****
….
….
….
The soft sound of steps echoed through the cave, only one with sensitive ears could hear it.
From the dark cave, Emma walked slowly and quietly so that the drake doesn't get alerted.
She stopped in her tracks when she felt a warm gust of wind blow from behind her.
Slowly turning her head, her eyes connected gazes with giant yellow eyes with sharp slits.
No matter how hard she tried, she could stop her heart from beating to loud at the sight of it.
All that was in her mind now was one word.
'Run.'
Emma sped off as fast as she could towards the entrance.
The drake followed suit but was a bit behind because of its huge body.
But it didn't stop the drake from using its affinity.
The shadows from below Emma's feet tried to keep her in place.
But she used her water affinity to wash off the physical form of the shadows like if it was sand.
Emma covered herself in ice shaped like armor to protect herself from all of the falling rocks and debris.
'Run!'