On the ground lay a body that was barely breathing. Almost all the bones in his body were broken, in some places they had even crashed into his organs. Blood was flowing from all of his orifices, and his energy was almost depleted. The sight was horrifying....
Gradually, the body began to absorb the energy from outside, and spread to all parts of the body, distributing it to every part, from the skin to the brain.
It is unknown how long it lasted, but after a long time, the half-living man's breathing began to equalize. And each breath became long and deep.
Slowly coming to his senses, Kai began to open his eyelids.
- Am I alive?! Thank you Luck! Damn, thank you! - Shouted Kai.
He began to quickly check his entire body for wounds and fractures. He was surprised, as it seemed to him that his body was even stronger.
"Did the Torture Kings do this? Did they really help me heal?" - Pondered Kai for a moment.
He quickly reached under his sweatshirt and began pouring out energy stones from there. But when they hit the floor, they were already dull and empty.....
"Hmm, it seems that unknowingly, I absorbed all the energy from them... It's a good thing I realized to grab them at the last moment. Perhaps without them, I would have died by now..." - Kai pondered.
"But I couldn't have absorbed them myself, that's for sure... The only possibility is that the Kings helped me. It turns out they are also interested in my development and life. Though you wouldn't say that at first glance either... Yep." - Kai shook his head.
- So, where are all the energy stones that were growing on the array? - After saying that, Kai started looking around and quickly fell silent.
- Where the hell am I!!! - He realized that he was now on a black stone tile, in a room that was illuminated by a bright, slightly purple light.
Standing up, Kai began to look around....
He saw that it was as if he was further into the cave, but all the walls and surroundings here were made of black perfectly smooth and polished tiles. He could even see his reflection in it.
"What is this place?" - Thinking about it, Kai noticed that there was a large door from this room.
"We need to cautiously check what's in there. I have absolutely no idea where I am, but I was definitely in a cave..." - Thinking quickly, Kai started sneaking towards the exit of this oddball room.
- Ooooof!!! - When he looked out from around the corner, he sucked in a breath of air in surprise.
In front of him now, there was a huge ramp descending hundreds of meters down to a huge area. And from his vantage point, he could see an incredibly huge black city that was illuminated with purple light everywhere!
"Where am I, what the hell! Am I dreaming?" - Shocked, Kai quickly looked up at the sky, since before, out of shock, he hadn't noticed that the city wasn't illuminated by stars.
Moving his gaze upwards, he realized that the sky wasn't there! There's only a stone ceiling with a huge rock emitting the same purple light as everywhere else here!
"Is this a fucking... A huge Underground City?!" - Kai was in complete shock. He had never heard of such a thing. How could people build an entire city underground?
"Maybe I'm dreaming?" - As if in a trance, Kai tried to pinch himself. And he realized he felt pain.
Looking around, he realized he couldn't see anyone, and he didn't feel threatened. He sat down in lotus pose and began to think. He needed to get his thoughts in order.
Kai knew that he had been in the cave recently, and began to go through the events in order.
"At what point did everything go wrong?" - Pondered Kai.
"Exactly! When my blood touched the array!" - Suddenly realized Kai.
After thinking some more, he came to the conclusion that that incredible array had most likely somehow transported him in space, but it was unclear where. And all those terrible events that were happening to his body were most likely from the fact that he was just too weak.
"The people who created that array definitely had a lot more strength than me, it's more likely that they didn't even feel the pressure..." - Kai slowly began to realize what kind of events had happened to him.
"Thank the Kings! If it wasn't for my hardened and strong body, as well as my ability to absorb energy quickly, I would have just accidentally died! And only my scraps would have flown here..." - Thinking about it, he was even thrown into a bit of a sweat.
Suddenly, Kai thought of something. About the mission he was out on and the Border Beast City. An expedition in search of ancient ruins! And that huge array that hadn't been used in thousands of years....
"Damn, it can't be!" - Kai quickly stood up and ran towards the convergence.
As he concentrated, black smoke started pouring out of his eyes. It seemed to him that his vision and senses became even stronger than before. Looking around, he frantically searched for any signs of life.
"There's nothing! The city is empty! What the hell, am I really in the ruins of an ancient civilization! In the ruins of our predecessors?!" - A thought of unbelievable magnitude came into Kai's mind.
He was now trying to realize if it was all an illusion?
"Wait! If my blood activated the array, could it be that my technique really has something to do with this place after all?!" - Suddenly thinking about it, Kai began to look into the essence of energy around as well as the purple light. He took a long look at each area and everything around him.
After ten minutes, he sat down on the floor and exhaled heavily shaking his head....
"Still, although I haven't seen such variations of energy as here yet... But everything consists of the same writing as upstairs... My technique is definitely not from here. I don't know what I'm feeling right now. Relief or frustration?" - Kai felt a slight dissonance.
- Okay we need to look around... There's no array to send back here, but maybe there's some other one? Still, if I don't get out of here, I'm just going to be underground forever. Especially I don't have many dry rations left... - Talking to himself, Kai reasoned in his voice.
"The city is huge... It's even a bit bigger than the Beast Border City in size... I don't believe there was only one way out of it!" - Firmly determined to find a way out, Kai went to descend the stairs.
Walking down the huge staircase, which was also made of polished black stone, Kai marveled at the grandeur of the city. It seemed as if it had been carved by a sculptor right under the ground. It was amazing that it was still lit up by the arrays.
"What am I surprised about? If even the array that transported me here was still working. Everything in this city is most likely still functioning... But here's the strange thing... If the city is intact, why isn't there a single person here? And why has all living things here ceased to exist?" - Kai wondered.
He slowly made his way straight down to the rectangular square. It stretched for hundreds of meters in different directions, it was incredible! Looking around the majestic city, there was one detail Kai didn't notice at first. But when he got closer, he saw a colossal statue of a man in the center of the square! It was under a hundred meters tall, as if it commanded the entire city. Because it was also made of black stone, from afar Kai thought it was an obelisk and not a human figure.
As he got closer, Kai began to examine it. There was something written at the bottom. Except Kai couldn't make out what it was, since he didn't know such writing.
"It seems Fabian was right..." - Kai thought.
On the pedestal stood the figure of a huge man. He seemed to be about 60 years old, but his face and posture gave away his incredible strength. He also had a beard that hung down to his waist and long hair gathered in a bundle. He looked like a sage, but he also radiated danger.
"What an amazing figure... Once upon a time, he must have commanded entire nations if his statue stands in the center of such an incredible city!" - Thinking to himself, Kai thought to himself.
When he looked down again, he realized that the man was not standing on a pedestal. He was standing on a large alchemical cauldron! Now only one word arose in Kai's mind:
"Alchemist!" - Dumbfoundedly exclaimed Kai in his head!