Moon Realm

Everyone started moving forward, entering the Moon realm in batches. Due to their late arrival, the students from Zelestria Academy are set to enter last.

"I see you've grown even stronger." Krios heard a voice in his head. It was no other than the Headmistress of Zelestria Academy.

"I can't give you any information about what you'll encounter inside the Moon Realm, as it would be unfair for everybody else. And also because the Moon Realm changes ever so slightly every year."

Krios remained silent, walking continuesly towards the portal which was now nearing.

"All I can say is, always be careful. The threat of the mysterious people behind the attacks on the academies is still present."

"I understand Headmistress." Krios finally answered.

"You are our only hope of salvation if by any chance, an attack happens while you are inside the Moon Realm."

Finally, it was their time to enter the portal.

"Hold on to me so we don't get separated once we enter the portal." Krios told Loras.

Loras nodded and placed his hand on Krios' left shoulder.

Right before they stepped into the portal, the Headmistress spoke through telepathy once again.

"Do your best. I wish you all success."

Krios looked at the Headmistress and nodded in understanding. And they finally stepped into the Moon realm.

Krios and Loras were transported to the edges of the Moon realm just like everybody else. The two of them were standing on a rocky terrain, with no other things aside from mountains of rocks visible. They look around expecting to see a few people but they were alone.

"No one's here." Loras spoke.

He looked back to where they came from and so nothing but a translucent barrier. He tried pushing it back it would not budge.

"The portal is also gone."

Like everybody else, the two of them were transported to a random spot on the edges of the realm.

The Moon realm is a circular space that is around two thousand kilometers across. All the students start their journey at the edges of the Moon Realm and would wade their way through towards the center of the realm where the Moon Orb is placed.

"What should we do?" Loras asked.

"Since we can't go back, all we can do is to move forward."

The two of them started moving forward fast, with no real destination. They used their mana to traverse distances in quick succession, maneuvering through the rocky terrain.

"The second years told us that the most important and valuable treasures are always found near the center of the realm. So I guess that's where we are supposed to go."

"The fact that we were transported to the edges, means that the main objective is to move towards the center."

"It's also a good thing that we were transported right by the barrier. That makes it easier for us to know where the direction of the center is."

The two of them continued sprinting for hours, not stopping at anything. There was no sense thinking about time of day as there was no sun inside the Moon realm to use as time marker. There was only a big Moon that stayed unmoving high above the sky, illuminating the entire realm— thus the name.

They have encountered multiple wild mana beasts during their run. But they decided against taking them on as they don't want to waste time on low level beasts.

"Krios wait!" Loras stopped running and Krios stopped as well.

"What's wrong?"

Loras pointed towards a mountain a short distance away.

"Look at that. Do you see it? It looks like a building."

"Where? I don't see anything."

"Right there!" Loras adjusted Krios' position to let him see what he was talking about.

Krios squinted while looking at what Loras was pointing at. It was indeed a white building sitting in a very deep ravine, nestled between two rocky mountains.

It was very well placed that you would not be able to see it at any angles aside from the vantage point Krios and Loras were looking at it from. The ravine was also very narrow, making it harder to spot the building.

"You're right! Should we check it out?"

"We definitely should! I mean it wouldn't hurt right? We still have a lot of time to spend here inside the Moon realm anyway."

They reached and agreement and the two of them sprinted towards the direction of the mountain. They reached the cliff in ni time and inspected the way down. It was a stiff five hundred meter drop from where they were standing.

"Wow, that's a very deep drop. What would happen if we fall down that height?" Loras asked.

"I absolutely believe that you would not want to know that."

"We have still yet unlocked the ability to fly so I guess we have to trek down this cliff."

They started maneuvering around the cliff they were standing on, trying to find footholds and places to grab on to. In their current cultivation, flight was impossible. One only unlocks the ability to fly once they reach the Immortal Master realm, two realms above their own.

After four hours of dangerous trekking, they have finally reached the bottom of the ravine. Due to how deep it was, light from the moon above barely reached the bottom which made the place even darker.

They saw the building not too far away from where they were and started walking towards it.

"Wow, it looks pristine." Loras commented.

The building was two stories tall with pristine white columns. It looked simple yet it radiated a strong aura. But it had a look of not being touched for a very long time as dust and debris from the cliff above had started to pile on top of the building.

"It looks like no one has been here in a very long time."

Despite the desolation, Krios activated his soul power anyway, but he didn't feel any presence in the vicinity.

"No one's here, not even wild mana beasts."

"Let's go in then.

"Yeah, let's do it.

"Let's go."

The two of them walked towards the huge white double doors, and with a little bit of effort, Krios managed to push them open.

Once open, they were met with a very damp smell. The smell of a room that has been sealed off and not been opened in a while.

"The place looks like it has not seen the light of day in years."

"Technically, everything in this realm has not seen the light of day as it only has the moon shining from above all times of day."

They went inside and they found an almost empty room. Aside from the torches hanging on the white columns, there were nothing of note inside. The building interior was spacious and hollow.

"Nothing is in here." Loras spoke, his voice echoing through the room.

"Yeah, but look at the far back, there are doors there." Krios pointed at the multiple set of doors at the very back of the room.

Krios walked towards the doors and Loras followed suit. The doors were made of wood and there were symbols found on top of each of them.

"Each door has a symbol."

"Those are the symbols of the elements."

"Does that mean that we enter the one corresponding to our own elemental affinity?"

"I guess so."

Krios walked towards the door with the fire symbol, inspecting the door and trying to feel what was inside through his soul power.

"I'm going in." He said to Loras.

"Okay, I'm going in too. Be careful in there."

"Yeah, you too."

He pushed the door and stepped inside the mysterious room. For a few seconds, all he saw was darkness. Then someone spoke that startled him.

"Welcome, to the first trial." The voice said.

Krios looked around, trying to look for the source of the voice. But it sounded like it was coming from everywhere all at once.

"In this trial, you will be tested for your mana output." The voice spoke again.

'Mana output? This test might as well have been made for me.'

With his increadibly strengthened and durable core, coupled up by his twenty times compressed mana, his mana output was way beyond the normal early Reconvergence realm cultivator.

"Ugh" Krios groaned as an oppressive energy pressed down against him. It was so intense that it was starting to choke the breath out of him.

He was on the ground on all fours, trying to fight back against the intense pressure.

"W-what the hell is t-this intense p-pressure!"

"Use your mana to fight back. Or die trying. Your objective is to reach the end of this room and stop the formation controlling this energy." The voice answered him.

"That pressure is calibrated for an early Reconvergence youth like you. So you should be able to do it."

Krios flared his mana and it tried to push back the pressure that was enveloping him. They reached a stalemate with both the pressure and his mana not moving an inch.

Krios was breathing heavily, but he was no longer in eminent danger. And although he has pushed back against the pressure, it was still weighing down on him considerably.

"What the hell? This is definitely not meant for early Reconvergence realm cultivators!" Krios snapped at the voice.

"But it is. Since time immemorial, this has been the same test I have administered to anyone who has entered this palace." The voice explained.

"When was the last time you tested someone for you to be this out of touch with reality?"

"You are the first one since nine hundred thousand years ago." The voice answered.

"What?! No one has ever come here in that long?"