Chapter 165: The Dark Home [Part-1]
26 August, Year 2502. The Human Empire. Lamiar City, Eastern region.
Location: The Gate of Dimensional Link.
Outside the grand Dimensional Gate, two figures could be seen wearing long cloaks to hide themselves. They stood there patiently as the crowds of people passed through the swirling gate, attempting to enter for their trials.
From fresh Awakeners to ancient Sages, every single being had to pass through the Dimensional Gate to enter the Ascension Realm to attempt a trial. Of course, the specific trial they received would be different. An Awakener would get a different trial than a Walker, and any other people in different ranks would face challenges made according to the rules of the Ascension Realm.
Alen stood there, waiting for the people to pass through and for their own turn to come. Since they had finally finished their grueling training and decided to attempt the first trial of Stage 2, a different kind of thrill stirred inside them.
After getting the information through Lyris, Alen found out that Stage 2 only had three trials to pass through. Stage 1 was basically meant for beginner Ascenders, so the running theory told that those floors were just to test the individual to see if they were actually capable of further climbing. Ultimately, all the remaining Stages would have a comparatively lesser number of trials which they could attempt.
As the dense crowd seemed to thin out, with most of the individuals passing through the portal, Alen and Lyris began to walk together. They didn’t actually know if they would be able to attempt the trial together like last time, or if they would ultimately be separated into different dimensions. But whatever happened, they would not stop themselves from Ascending further up. As they reached the front of the Dimensional Gate, they cast one last glance at each other.
"All the best..." Lyris muttered. Her voice was soft as she nodded to him.
"You too..."
Alen replied with a calm nod. He took his gaze away from her and focused on the swirling gate before him. Without wasting any more time, both of them stepped forward and entered inside the Ascension Realm.
As the dimensional gate swallowed their figures inside its energy, they successfully started a brand new journey on the next Chapter of their lives.
...
Inside the Ascension Realm.
Alen’s figure suddenly appeared in a dark room. He couldn’t see anything with his eyes in the pitch-black space. Just as he was thinking about what he had to do next, bright notifications started to flood inside his mind.
[Ding!]
[Location: The Dark Home!]
[Trial: Kill them!]
[Time Limit: 1 hour]
As he read the quest, he didn’t know what the prompt exactly suggested. Without wasting his time, he instantly activated his ’Night Vision’ skill to see where he had appeared and ultimately what he had to do.
Now, he could see the room clearly.
What was present in front of him were humanoid creatures which had hollow eyes and looked more like stiff puppets than actual humans. Their eyes were a dark, eerie red which shone brightly in the dark room.
There were a few of these humans existing in the space. One looked like a normal man reading a newspaper while calmly sitting on the living room couch. Another was a woman standing by the kitchen counter. Meanwhile, two little kids, not more than four or five years old, one small boy and one small girl, were playing a game with each other on the floor. All of them were entirely focused on doing their own work.
They looked exactly like a picture-perfect family enjoying their life. Alen would have accepted that normal sight, unless he hadn’t seen their red shining eyes and their dead, hollow gazes. As he looked at them, a cold shiver ran through his spine at their uncanny appearance.
’So, do I just have to kill them? But that would be far too easy. Why was this specific trial given to me?...’
He looked around the dark house trying to find if Lyris was here, but just as he expected, she was summoned into a different trial.
His gaze flicked toward the family again. Without wasting any more time, he stepped forward toward them.
Suddenly, everyone paused from their work in unison and looked right at him.
"My, my, it seems the guest has arrived..."
The woman stepped forward while wiping water from her hands with a cloth as she entered the main hall. The children also stopped playing their game and turned their heads toward him. Even the man reading the newspaper put down his paper and stood up, wearing a warm, welcoming smile at the entrance of the guest.
"Hello young man, sorry, we don’t recognize you. But you can come sit here..."
Alen nodded cautiously as he walked toward the opposite couch from where the man had sat earlier.
The man also sat back down on his couch, gesturing to the woman to bring some water and refreshments for their new guest.
The children turned their curious glances at the unknown person entering their house.
"So what is your name, young man? What brought you here today?"
Alen looked at them. He felt a brief pang of guilt about killing a family in their home, but since it was the trial’s objective, he considered that the beings here were just false people made of magic.
"I came here to kill everyone..."
Before the man could react to those words, Alen made his move. Without wasting a single second, Alen used the Crimson Essence. Violent crimson lightning started to spark from his body, and it completely surrounded the whole room. In just a few seconds, all of the gathered lightning started to burst apart.
*BOOOOOOOM!*
The whole room got wiped out immediately as the debris flew around the area. The entire family was killed instantly.
Or at least, that was what he expected.
Suddenly, his eyes blurred as a wave of dizziness hit him. He blinked.
The dust and flying debris disappeared entirely. He sat there on the couch just as before. The man was sitting there calmly across from him, while the children were looking at him with the exact same curious look, and the woman had just gone to the kitchen to bring the refreshments.
Alen couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, but his lingering doubt cleared just a second later.
"So what is your name, young man? What brought you here today?"
Alen looked at the man with a surprised expression. He realized he had been regressed back to a few minutes ago. He didn’t know why this happened, since the trial clearly said he had to kill them. But now that he had tried, he was regressed back to the start? Was he missing some hidden rule?
Before the confusion could fully set in, he calmed his expression and replied smoothly.
"I am Alen, a new neighbor living in this apartment building. I just thought of introducing myself to everyone in order to get familiar with each other..."
Alen’s eyes flicked toward the front door where the number ’203’ was written, which explained that this might be a flat inside a larger building.
The man wore a surprised expression.
"A new neighbor? I don’t remember that there was any available flat around this place... Wife, do you know if there was any empty flat available?..."
The woman from the kitchen looked at them and glanced at Alen with a suspicious look on her stiff face.
"No, honey, there was no flat available in our apartment building... I am sure of it..."
The man’s eyes narrowed as he stared dangerously at him.
Alen sweated profusely as suddenly his eyes blurred all over again.
As he came into consciousness again and looked at the front, the man still wore the same calm smile. The woman was still preparing the refreshment in the kitchen, and the children were still looking at him curiously. He had regressed back again.
"So what is your name, young man? What brought you here today?"
As Alen looked at the family again, he felt his mind go completely blank. He didn’t know what to do now.