The stones fell and shattered to pieces.
Sasha and Elias waited to see if there was something else, but there was none.
However, there was this tension in the air they could almost taste—a heaviness that pressed against their skin and made each breath feel deliberate.
"It happened. Strong wind throwing rock debris from above the mountain. We need to move with caution about what will fall from above!"
Elias's praise earlier wasn't false. The compass did show Uncharted Territory which was their path, but there were many of those paths. She had cross-referenced from her map, then compass, then calculated some units he'd never heard about while he was moving, not waiting, and before they reached the location, she would point with unwavering certainty.
"You too, you are not bad. A five-hour journey is not easy."
"Thank you!" Elias smiled and she blushed.
"You shouldn't laugh at people's misfortune. It's not good."
"Okay. Even though I didn't laugh because you were hurt but at the sudden—"
"Whatever!" She walked ahead toward the pipes and giant wheel.
It was a door unlike any Elias had ever seen. Towering at least three stories high, the massive gate seemed to have grown from the very bedrock itself. Ancient copper and silver pipes wrapped around its surface like metallic veins, pulsing with dormant energy. The enormous central wheel—easily twice Elias's height—was dusty with dried grime. Rust and patina had transformed the metal surfaces into tapestries of verdigris green and midnight blue, yet somehow the mechanism looked ready to turn, as if time itself had been frozen rather than passed.
An oppressive feeling emanated from it—the same aura they had felt when confronting the broken door earlier, but concentrated, refined, like the difference between raw ore and forged steel.
They stood like insignificant ants before the giant mechanical stone wonder. Gazing at it was akin to being transported back to the very ancient time it was crafted.
Elias sighed, "The feeling is similar to that stone relic book. As if opening the gate was akin to opening a treasure trove of knowledge a book holds!"
"That's true. Inside every new gate is one or two of those books."
Sasha's eyes were already darting around, her hand pointing from location to another, making an internal analysis of how to open the gate.
Elias watched as minutes passed until it was one and half hours later did she respond.
"The twisting and bending pipes are copper and silver, which means I can affect them. But if we fail to open it, can you break it?"
"Are we allowed to break it?"
"That first door was destroyed because it refused to open!" She replied, making Elias understand.
He went close, a feeling akin to submerging into deaf silence enveloping him. He stood before the 100-foot-tall door and touched it. His perception spread.
Coming back, he took a deep sigh. "It's hard. Two or four attacks are needed to break it. And I can only attack once a day. You know the cool down."
"Good. You are indeed powerful!" Sasha said. "Let me open the door then!"
"Why did you ask?"
Elias took a sharp turn, his gaze landing at the L turn. Three figures materialized from the shadows, their silhouettes stark against the dim light of the corridor.
The same black uniforms but having their badges dangling outside proudly on their chests. The tallest one strode forward with practiced confidence while the other two flanked him like practiced sentinels. Sasha whispered urgently, "I want to be the only one to open the door!"
Elias nodded and walked toward them, positioning himself between the newcomers and Sasha. They stood 50 meters apart. Then silence—heavy and calculated, like predators sizing each other up.
"We want to participate in opening the door!" The one in the center declared, his voice echoing confidently through the chamber. He was tall, older, carrying a single-edged sheathed sword at his hip. The polished hilt caught what little light filtered through the cavern.
"Sorry, we are here first. If she fails, you can try!" Elias replied, squaring his shoulders.
"Why are you hiding your face behind the hat veil? Do I know you?" The swordsman said, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "I'm Dicing Edge. Introduce yourself." His hand rested casually on his sword hilt—a gesture that was anything but casual.
"Sasha Thunderspark," she called out from behind Elias, not bothering to approach. "Please let me try; if I fail, you can try!"
"Sasha, I know you," Dicing Edge's tone shifted to one of recognition tinged with something like annoyance. "According to Explorer guidelines, Explorers need to work together in these matters," he recited as if reading from a rulebook he had memorized.
"And if an Explorer is at the place for hours, planning and almost finished, others shouldn't take the fruit of their labor without them truly failing!" Sasha fired back, her voice sharp with indignation.
Those at either side of the swordsman walked forward, their movements synchronized with practiced precision.
"Dice. We shouldn't allow her," a boy on the right said with a sneer, his dyed green hair stark against his pale face and sharp features. "I know her; she is the best at these things. If we wait, we'll just be watching her succeed."
The other one was frowning, muscles tensed beneath his uniform. "She is strong, you know. She probably has her brother's lightning." He was tall, lean with thick legs that spoke of power and speed.
"We shall disrupt her concentration," Dice said, barely bothering to lower his voice. "And perhaps take the opportunity to open the gate ourselves." A cold smile played at the corners of his mouth.
Their gaze then turned to Elias, assessing, calculating.
"Do you know him?" Dice asked his companions, and they all shook their heads. "Rank 2 won't be here. And anyone with Brand Skill older than 2 months won't be allowed to be here helping Explorer trainees."
Elias couldn't listen to what they were saying, but from the way their eyes moved and their heads turned, it was no brainer they wanted to affect her actions.
Cackling lightning rose behind him and slithered toward the biggest pipe, then another crackling lightning rose and reached the giant wheel. The air charged with the scent of ozone as Sasha's power manifested.
The first lightning began to jump from one pipe to another at intervals that elicited a reaction from the ancient door—ancient mechanisms responding to her power with groans of awakening metal.
The tall slender boy dashed forward, his speed accelerating until he was almost a blur. Elias moved without hesitation and used Push.
Shadows cast over Dice and the green-haired boy, and they looked up in shock. A giant rock was above them falling, its mass blocking out what little light there was.
The green-haired boy jumped away with a curse, and Dice unsheathed his sword in one fluid motion, its edge glowing with pale white energy, cleaving the rock in two with a sound like thunder.