#67 The Golden Cliff

I was sitting in cross-legged positing with closed eyes.

I relaxed all of my muscles and tried to clear my mind of any meaningless thoughts like 'How to get inside that world?'

When I was relaxed enough I started thinking about nothing, about the absolute void.

I didn't know how long I need to maintain such a state of mind so I tried to maintain it for as long as possible.

After what felt like hours, I forcefully opened my red eyes, they were glowing in red with a glittering yellow ring around my vertical slits pupils.

I grinned when I looked around myself because I noticed that I was no longer inside my room.

Senses were slowly returning to me and I was finally able to feel how sweaty I became just from trying to enter this world.

Ugh, disgusting. Thankfully I bought a lot of bottled water or I would have to spend entire day without taking a bath.

I got up from the ground and looked more carefully around myself.

I was on top of the enormous cliff with a gigantic tree in the middle of the cliff. There was also a waterfall with a fairly big pond. It looked similar to the hot springs.

The huge golden double doors caught my eyes because I saw them in Asao's memories only with a different color. Asao's doors had silver color while my doors have a golden color with an azure phoenix with red shining eyes as an ornament in the middle. It definitely looked more imposing than Asao's doors but I wonder if there will be anything else different.

There was also the same monument in front of the doors.

I couldn't understand anything written on the monument but the letters looked slightly similar to Latin. The Latin alphabet was derived from the 3 main alphabets if I remember correctly from my past life. There are a few letters from one of the 3 main alphabets and if I remember well enough then it should be the Phoenician alphabet which was derived from Egyptian hieroglyphs. Why use so many alphabets?

Hmm...I can remember a few letters but that won't help me much right now, I should research it once I return back to the normal world. If I had to make a wild guess then it says something about trial, heart, and mind but these are only 3 words of the numerous sentences on the monument so I could be wrong.

I approached the edge of the cliff and looked down, and even with my superior sight I couldn't see anything, It almost looked like the cliff was floating in the sky because I was able to see only a few clouds above me and clear light-blue under the cliff. However, even the clouds weren't normal, they had a golden color.

"What a bizarre sight" I couldn't help but mutter.

Even though I looked surprised by the sight before me, I was constantly on my guard in case of a surprise attack. Although I doubt that I would be able to protect myself from living things in this magical place. I have no weapon on me and if some mad man jumped on me with a sword in hand or some other shit then my only chance how to win would be him underestimating me.

Thankfully, there was almost no chance that such a thing would happen because there were no bushes and the pond itself wasn't that deep. The only place where someone or something could hide is the treetop which I am unable to even see with how gigantic this tree is...

I approached the gigantic black doors and noticed that there wasn't even the slightest gap between the doors.

I remember that Asao was able to open them slightly but how? I thought that it was because he was able to decipher the breathing technique but it doesn't seem like it. Or maybe it's because we have different doors so I have to do something else.

I had thoughtful expression while touching the various spots of the doors, trying to find some clue other than the monument.

I readied my fist and throw a light punch to the doors.

*Bang*

A loud and dull noise resonated through the entire cliff.

"Fu*k! What the hell are these doors made of? It was such a light punch yet it hurt so much, even if I punched the reinforced concrete with my entire strength, it wouldn't hurt me this much or if it would hurt me at all." I complained aloud while rubbing my fist with a helpless smile but I quickly calmed down since I didn't expect anything good.

"Now that I think of it...I don't know how to return" I muttered with an absent-minded expression while observing the floating golden clouds above me.

I set up the alarm in the real world but how should I know if it's enough to wake me up? I have no idea if this is simply some kind of dream world or if it's some other dimension inside my heart, soul or whatever, Thankfully, I prepared some food and water for Yukina before entering here but I don't know how long it will take for me to wake up.

There is no way for me to go anywhere other than jumping off the cliff but I rather not do that because I don't know what would happen to me. I wonder if my real body remained in the room or if it got transported here...

I am also curious about what's behind those doors, if there is some other world with dangerous creatures running all around or it's just the other side of this cliff with a few secrets.

I couldn't help but chuckle when I thought about some fantasy worlds with dragons and phoenixes.

"Since I can't decipher words on the monument right at the moment, I should simply try using that breathing technique, maybe it will have better effect in this place, after all, the air here feels more comfortable and light." I muttered and sat cross-legged with my back leaning against the wall connected to the doors. Even though I was tempted to sit under that giant tree, I rather played it safe by sitting on the secluded location where nothing could sneak up on me.

"Ah, I should also name this place if there is not a name on the monument already." I looked around myself to get a better inspiration on the name.

"The Golden Cliff it is..." I nodded with a satisfied expression, I can imagine someone making a fuss about my naming sense but I like simple things.

I started using the breathing technique as per usual, however, I could instantly feel that it was much easier and I could also feel that the progress was much faster here.

I wasn't aware of time but if I had to make a wild guess then I was practicing here already around the whole day but I wasn't sure.

When I opened my eyes I was drenched in sweat and there were even small black dots on my entire body. Once again, I had the glittering yellow ring around my pupils and I was able to see small yellow to greenish particles in the air. They looked slightly similar to fireflies at night, yet I was able to see them clearly in the daytime.

I looked towards the sky and noticed that the sun hadn't moved at all from its original position.

However, instead of worrying about how much time passed by when I was practicing, I quickly blocked my nose when I smelled the stench coming from my clothes and my body.

What the hell is that?

I didn't think for a second before getting rid of my clothes and jumping into the pond.

"F*ck, I thought I am going to die..." I sighed in relief when I was finally able to breathe.

Sweat shouldn't stench that much, maybe it was those black dots...

However, when I was in the middle of my "bath" I abruptly opened my eyes, discovering myself back in my room, sitting on my bed.

I looked at my phone and noticed a few unread messages which slightly surprised me because I thought who would type me a message over the night, however, when I looked at the date and time, I discovered that almost the entire day passed by.

This could be dangerous...I am lucky that we still have vacation.

I also need to learn how to quickly enter The Golden Cliff and how to exit whenever I want.

It seems that most of the messages are from Kei. It looks like she was worried since her messages weren't marked as 'read'

I should reply but first...

I stink like hell, guess the bath I took at The Golden Cliff doesn't apply here...

I decided to take a bath first before replying to her. After all, she waited an entire day for a reply, a few more minutes won't hurt.