Chương 41: 41. Give Up

The captain of the pirates frowned at seeing Runo enter the portal once again because he remembered they had entered the portal at the same time previously.

This made him feel a little ashamed considering he was at the iron rank outside the temple, but here he couldn't compete even with a bronze-rank kid.

"Damn it."

Cursing over this, he quickly turned around and entered the portal once again.

Seeing this, the other pirates who had come with him also entered the portal this time. After understanding the difficulties of learning the Three Divine Ways, they ultimately chose to fight.

Everyone in the hall saw this, but nobody commented on anything about it.

Runo's team, the transmigrator's group, and Orion were busy with their training. While the group of lost souls just wandered here and there on temple.

Time ticked slowly, and just like that, a day had fully passed.

But no one seemed to have made any progress, as everyone was still seated cross-legged with their eyes closed.

Looking over them were Agnar, Walric, and Feran. They appeared to be standing close and talking to each other.

"One day has passed, but there has been no progress at all," Walric sighed. He had hoped, however small, that maybe they would be able to see a miracle—a true genius that could learn this technique easily—but it appeared that hope would never be fulfilled.

"We should wait at least the sixth day; if they can't complete the step till that day, then we can only do what we have been doing for years—wait," Agnar said, his face filled with worry as he tapped the ground with his leg. He had less hope compared to Walric, but that didn't mean he didn't want to leave this cursed temple.

No, it could be said that every soul wanted to leave this temple. Although their souls lived because of this temple, they didn't forget that it was because of this temple too that their bodies had been destroyed outside.

Moreover, living as a soul trapped in a temple didn't sit well with them. They didn't feel hunger, sleep, or anything a human should feel. This made them want to leave this temple, even though it was the only thing keeping their souls alive.

"Don't worry. If we are meant to be free, then we will be even without the Three Divine Ways, but if that isn't in our fate, then even god won't be able to do anything. So just stand and wait," Feran said as he stood with his hands behind his back. He appeared to be the calmest of the three.

As for the other souls inside the temple, they had long lost hope that they would one day be able to leave this place.

One couldn't blame them for it. They had tried years after years and trained many other individuals before Orion's group. However, they ultimately failed, and those trained individuals became nothing but a part of their despairing group.

It had been the story of these poor souls trapped inside this cursed temple for years.

As more time passed, someone among the group of kids opened his eyes. It caught the attention of the three old men, and to their surprise, it happened to be the same kid who had been asking them questions earlier.

Orion had his brows furrowed as he opened his eyes.

'One day was successfully wasted.'

He felt frustrated, thinking how difficult it was to control the flow of the energy inside him. No matter how hard he tried, how many times he tried, or what method he tried, he just couldn't control even a wisp of the darkness around him.

To Orion, it felt like he was in a concrete room and was asked to control the concrete in the walls and take it outside without touching them.

'It seems that the Three Divine Ways isn't for me.'

Giving up on the Three Divine Ways, Orion stood up, but as he did, the faces of the three old men turned dark, particularly Walric and Agnar's faces.

But Orion didn't notice that and made his way towards the corner where he had sat earlier when someone blocked his path. Turning his head up, he saw Walric appear in front of him.

"Kid, are you not going to try anymore?"

Walric hastily asked as he clutched Orion's shoulders with his hands.

Orion frowned at this. He didn't like it when someone clutched his shoulders like that, but he sighed this time. He just couldn't bring himself to say those ugly words to the old man, considering he had been trapped here for years and had only been helping them since they had arrived here.

As for the question Walric asked, he didn't even think for a moment before answering it.

"I won't. This technique is not suitable for me."

Walric tightened his clutch on Orion as he heard his words.

"What do you mean it isn't suitable for you?" he asked, his voice filled with irritation. "You only practiced it for a day."

If before Orion felt only irritation from Walric when he held his shoulders, then now he was starting to feel disgust towards him.

"It is what it is," he said, his voice sounding cold. "Now, can you let me go?"

Hearing his words, Walric took a deep breath, but instead of letting him go, he tightened his grip on him.

In that moment, Orion began to feel pain because of it.

"Aghh!"

A muffled scream escaped his mouth as he felt like his shoulders would be crushed at any moment.

He was about to use his curse, Sacrificial Renewal and flying swords when someone interfered.

"Walric enough!"

A loud shout echoed throughout the hall, and Feran appeared before them.

Turning his head to Feran, Walric's expression turned from grave to pitiful as tears started to well up in his eyes.

"Feran, we have been trapped here for years, doing everything to help others so that we can be free from the shackles of this temple," he paused, tears rolling down his eyes. "But people like this kid and the two from before are the worst. We have been trying all sorts of things to help them in any way possible, but what we got was nothing but cold shoulders."

At the end, Walric let Orion go as he kneeled to the ground slowly.

"I want to leave this place badly, Feran," he cried as he started punching the floor of the hall. "I can't take it anymore. This feeling of hollowness, this feeling of being trapped—it's making me crazy now. Sometimes I even forget who I am and what I am doing here. While most of the time it's becoming hard for me to control my emotions, it's like I am starting to lose sense of myself.

At the end, he stopped and looked at Feran.

"Feran, my friend, tell me the truth; am I turning into those things?" Walric asked, his voice sounded hoarse.