บท 24: 24 - Problems Before Even Entering

"That should be what she talked about earlier, right?" Lucian said, looking at the giant portal that was a couple of steps away from them.

Lucian couldn't believe he had missed such a big portal. Earlier, he had wondered where to go for his trial, but it had been so obvious. There was a portal that looked almost identical to what he had gone through earlier.

'Though I guess our arrival in the Otherworld changed some things…'

Lucian tried counting the number of people in the queue to reach the portal but simply couldn't. There were too many to count.

Suddenly, Lucian felt a slight pull on his shirt.

"Yes?" Lucian asked, not even looking back.

He already knew the person who had pulled his shirt. He didn't even need to confirm it anymore.

"A-Aren't you nervous, Lucian? That first trial didn't look like the funniest thing in the world to me…"

Ava kept playing with Lucian's shirt as she said that… She was nervous, and it was showing. The only way for her to have some confidence was to stay close to Lucian, or at least, that was the only thing she tried to do.

'Oh, right… the trial. Well, it certainly did seem somewhat unique. Though, I'm not nervous. It will probably be one of the only trials where I will be able to make an impact since there is basically no fighting involved from what the informant told us…'

"Nervous? Me! Never… When was I ever nervous?"

Lucian almost giggled in his mind. He had been nervous a lot of times, but he hadn't shown it once… Well, except when Alex had walked out on Michael and refused the offer to join the Celestial Family.

'That… certainly was something. Ah, I'm still mad about that. That first trial would have been a walk in the park with that support.'

***

A few minutes passed, and Lucian, Alex, and Ava were now in front of the portal. They all looked up, and they saw something similar to the Safe Zone Capacity back in the Tutorial. The only difference being… that this time, it was the Capacity for the First Trial.

"I guess that lady didn't lie about the Capacity at least… There really are only 20 people that can enter at a time."

[20/20]

[Please wait for the First Trial to finish before entering.]

Lucian was a little reassured seeing such a thing. However, he couldn't wait to see if the trial would be exactly like she had described. If it was, then it certainly would be interesting since it wasn't oriented toward fighting techniques or who's the strongest fighter. It would be a lot more oriented toward mind games and who's the best at tricking others into believing their lies.

'This is a really good chance for me to prove to Alex that I can contribute to the group. As for Ava…'

Lucian looked at her for a few seconds, which made her blush.

'She's already under my charm.'

"Hey, you guys! Want to form a team before we enter?"

Lucian tried looking around himself, wondering if the one who had spoken up was talking to him. Alex didn't care enough to do that, and Ava also looked.

As Lucian turned around, he saw that a group of three people were approaching them.

Lucian was immediately on his guard when he saw the smiles of that group approaching. However, he didn't make it obvious by letting them approach them. While they looked suspicious, there wasn't any reason to push them away right away.

After all, there is a famous saying that says: Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. And Lucian would make use of this saying very well.

"You want us to join forces with you guys?" Lucian uttered after some time when he noticed that both of his teammates weren't saying anything.

The three guys looked at one another with big smiles, approached Lucian, and one of them put their hand on their shoulder.

"Exactly. Wouldn't it make it easier if we were all part of the same team?"

'It would, but we would need to learn a little more about you before we accept though…'

"Of course, it would! Alex, what do you say? Can't they join us?"

Lucian already knew the response to that question since Alex… as usual… didn't give a shit about it. He was focused on something else. Who knows what it was, though?

"Sure, they can."

'It's not like it will change anything if they join or not. This trial shouldn't be much of a problem based on what the informant told us,' Alex thought.

Alex had already said while fighting someone earlier today. No one among the humans could rival him. The only people that summoned some interest in him were Michael and Ariel… Alex had been able to feel their strength, and he was somewhat interested in fighting them. As he thought about such things, one of the newcomers spoke up.

"Oh, can we? Thanks, we really appreciate it!"

The three then walked past Lucian and Ava while flashing a cruel smile on their face. It seemed that the first phase of their plan had worked.

Ava didn't seem too pleased with their arrival, and she tugged on Lucian's shirt even more. She seemed ready to protect him now more than ever.

'Why did they look at Luci like that… Did they want something with him?'

She brought out her wand in one of her hands. If any of them were to try something, they would be dying right away. It would be similar to how Trevor had died… she would make sure they would meet their ends.

Why were they trying to join their group?

That was something that only they would know.

***

Time passed by, and the portal still wasn't open. It seemed the people inside it still hadn't finished it. The ones who had just joined had been quiet. They hadn't even revealed what their names were just yet.

Lucian had opened his small bag and brought out his book. He wanted to read a few things about what would happen in the next 10 minutes. With this book, he might figure out why they had approached them in the first place.

'Hmm, interesting. So they were hired… Seems like that family didn't waste any time to attack us, huh?'

*Clack!*

Lucian closed the book suddenly and looked at the three guys, using "Insight".

He hadn't used it yet, but now that they would soon be entering the First Trial. There was no harm in taking precautions. He looked at one of them in particular, the one with a strange aura surrounding him…

—-----------

[Status]

[Name: Darius Khaid]

[Tendency: Violent, Loves to hurt people]

[Class: Killer]

[Title: Player Killer]

[Strength: 19 (Heroic)]

[Stamina: 16 (Rare)]

[Dexterity: 21 (Heroic)]

[Endurance: 14 (Rare)]

[Magic Power: 6 (Common)]

[Creativity: 8 (Common)]