Chapter 77: Entering the Heavenly Palace
"Heavenly palace has seven levels. After entering the palace you have to fight many wild magical beasts to reach the next level. There are many treasures hidden on every level but the highest the level you walk, the better treasures you will be able to find.
And furthermore, after the fifth level, you will even have the chance to get legacies of some powerful mages from the past." the man's voice resounded in the whole area.
No one dared to speak when the man spoke, but excited expressions could be seen on the people's face after the explanation of the man. If they were able to walk to the fifth level, they would have a chance to get the legacy of the mages from the past.
Everyone was eager to enter the palace, the mighty force like the heavenly palace wouldn't bury any ordinary mage inside the palace. Though they didn't know what the heavenly palace was — It was the treasure which they were seeing in front of them or it was some kind of organisation. No one had any idea.
"Yeah, one more thing you should know. The killing magic beasts inside the palace isn't as simple as you think, "As he said, he looked at the masses before continuing, "every kill inside the palace will raise your magic power. The more powerful beast you kill the more energy inside your body will increase."
Ayaan heard the explanation and raised his eyebrows, this method looks just like the levelling method of his system. He didn't know that if both methods were the same, but from the explanation of the man, it sounds exactly his method of levelling.
'Was their similar method out there which could level up people's magic energy just by killing the magic beasts?' Ayaan thought it might be possible, he didn't think that the demon was a god or something who created the system; if he was, he wouldn't have died in the first place.
However, there was still something which was bothering him, if there was really such a method available, why would anyone let them use it to level themselves. There were no free meals in this world, so why would someone go to such lengths to provide these resources to everyone in this barren land?
Ayaan thought about many possibilities, but he still didn't have any idea what the people from the central region wanted to do.
However, he was still worried about the intentions of the heavenly palace. King Alexander had previously told him that the first time the heavenly palace appeared, it was a hundred years ago. It wasn't any ancient ritual like thing and no one knew why they started this event.
There were very few who passed the fifth level in these years, and anyone who entered the fifth level was treated very politely by the envoy of the heavenly palace. Some directly went to the central region while some were still in the eastern region. One of the examples was the current leader of the Life Temple.
Though on the surface everything looks fine, Ayaan still wasn't able to believe that someone was ready to give his resources for free.
Nonetheless, he didn't know what was wrong and to unveil the truth he had to enter the palace. Though its name was palace it was just a gate. Similar gates would also open in the other three regions.
"Alright. Now everyone can enter one by one. Remember inside the palace there are no rules, so you have to protect yourself." the envoy of the heavenly palace said to the people who were eager to enter.
'This man is too evil,' Ayaan knew no one would dare to kill each other if the man said a single thing but on the contrary, he said there were no rules. Now people knew they could do anything inside the palace and no one would dare to say a single thing.
Those from the powerful factions didn't show any change in expression but those who came from the small kingdoms had awful expressions.
Some of them were merely senior mage, not even high mage. If someone had any bad intention or wanted to rob or if someone wanted to rape any girl, they would have no way of resisting. There was no difference in venturing the jungle full of vicious beasts or entering the heavenly palace.
Gradually, the gate which was hanging in the air started to open. Everyone tried to look inside but no one was able to see anything.
"Now, everyone can proceed." As his voice sounded, no one waited anymore. Some people hesitated, but they also entered eventually. No opportunity could be gained without any risk and it was a truth.
Though Ayaan was worried he still entered with the three ladies by his side. Before entering the group of four held the hands of each other. Ayaan knew they might separate inside the palace. So he told the other three to hold each other's hands.
Nonetheless, when he appeared inside an unknown space, he realised that his worries were futile. Everyone was present there with their groups. In front of them was standing the dark forest.
Ayaan looked around him and realised that he was in a completely different dimension. However, he didn't feel as if he travelled through space to reach here as he would generally feel when he would travel by using his system.
Ayaan as well didn't think that he was on another planet. Because the sky and clouds were looking as if they were artificial things made by humans. Though the dimension was full of vitality and magic power it wasn't the real world. They were actually inside some kind of space treasure.
After looking for some time, people started to lose their patience and walked towards the dark jungle. Everyone knew if they wanted to reach the next level they had to cross this forest.
When everyone entered the first the howls and roars of the beast started to resound throughout the forest. Ayaan looked at his companion before saying, "Let's go."
As they entered, they saw many people were fighting the beasts. In one look, he was able to tell that all the beasts here at the high mage level. Easy kill to him, but it won't benefit him, so he didn't engage in any fight. However, whenever any beast neared to their group, he killed them one by one.
There were some people who were struggling against the beasts. Ayaan looked at them and didn't go to help anyone. There were so many people who entered inside this weird dimension if he went to help everyone; he didn't have any idea how much time it would take.
His group walked deeper and deeper, and the attacks of the beasts became more frequent. Their number also increased. However, they were still at high mage. So it didn't take much Ayaan's effort to kill them.
Finally, after walking for more than half an hour the group arrived in front of the white wall which was made of light. However, Ayaan's group wasn't first to arrive.
There were already a few groups present. Though Ayaan didn't mind, he was here to get some goodies, not to compete with these people. They weren't just at his level.
At last, it was the group of the Life Temple who moved towards the wall without any fear. Luke was still standing in front of the group.
Ayaan looked at Luke and remembered someone from the Life Temple was able to enter the fifth level here. So it was normal they knew more information about this place.
Gradually, all the members of the Life Temple faded inside the wall. As everyone saw Lukes group disappearing inside the wall, they also followed from behind.
All this time, Ayaan was noticing the people who entered the wall. He discovered that some people entered the wall without any change in expression, but some people had to struggle little before going through it.
When most of the people entered, Ayaan's group as well proceeded. All the three ladies went through the wall without any problem; but when Ayaan tried, his expression changed. He felt as if something was pushing him away from the wall.
However, after trying for some time, he was able to enter the wall. But when he looked at the three ladies who had entered without any problem, a depressed look emerged on his face.
'Why is it so hard for me to enter while it is so easy for everyone else?' he knew the talent was the only factor in which he was worse than the ladies.
But he was worried that he might not be able to enter any higher level now because entering the second level was already this hard. So how would he enter the third level?
He looked in front of him, and other than the vast grassland there was nothing in the view. It looks like every level had a different environment. However, at this moment, he also noticed some new faces. He clearly remembered that these people didn't enter with him.