Gate of the Dead

Two days have passed since the day Kai arrived in this new world and now that he had the time to consolidate all the information he had received, he was-there was only one word for it-gobsmacked.

He was astonished and also excited to know that this was a mild sci-fi and fantasy type world.

They had better AI technology, holographic touch displays but most of all they had...superpowers! Which they called aspects.

But Granted or as they say, awakened by something they called the Psion but that was also only after passing a trial they called Astralisation.

It was like a vetting process of sorts of people who have the potential to wield powers but a trial for them to see if they are worthy or not to wield that power.

After all, potential was only potential and a person's fortitude for different situations came first.

But even after all that, the powers or aspects they will receive will come with a flaw unique to them.

His excitement waned as he did not know how to feel about this.

From a realistic perspective, this was only normal as all things have flaws so these must too. Those webnovels have corrupted his mind too much about powers. If you think about it how could one have boundless power without paying a price?

His father always said that if a thing was given without a price, it means that you are the price. He saw that it quite suited the situation here.

But he was still confused about one thing, he glanced at the document and saw that his details were written there.

They were all correct about his age and name and face but he did not know about the supposed dead parents and lost sister of his nor about his stay in the government orphanage.

The bigger question was how could a person with the same face, name and age already exist in this world, and If he did then where was he?

Because the people who have kept him in this room surely had the resources to check if he was a doppelganger or someone else in disguise.

This thing creeped him out and then there was also the trial which was only due in...

"Ahh..my brain feels like it's gonna explode and why I am even thinking about these things when my trial is in 10 minutes!" Kai couldn't help but lampoon.

*Knock* *knock*

"Come out Kai, let's get you prepared for the trial" Amy knocked on the door and then walked off as the sound of her footsteps started fading

"Coming, coming"

***

At this moment Kai was strapped to a reinforced alloy bed with all his hands and legs bound, there was only a minute left before he entered the trial.

"Oh Ms.Amy, I forgot one important thing, why am I bound and what happens if I fail this trial?" He asked cautiously.

"If you fail?, you will then mutate and become a monster, and then unfortunately I will have to end your journey here and as for why you are bound..it's for the safety of the people present here" She made a head severing action as she was saying this.

"And those are two questions" she added.

Kai gulped nervously as he heard that.

"But.."

"Okay, now stop, close your eyes and repeat the word Awaken repeatedly"

"Yes okay"

'Awaken, awaken, awaken...' Kai started repeating the word and then he thought he was in an endless loop.

But then it all stopped.

***

In the sky of a world long forsaken, the day and night were alternating backwards as were the months and years of forgotten history.

A dilapidated and destroyed mountain was slowly being brought back to its age-old splendor and the...ruins within it.

It was as if time itself was flipping the pages of history.

And once the mountain was completely restored, a path was forming around it and on that path a carriage was slowly moving towards the entrance point of the ruins.

Maybe they were another group of thrill seekers or ruin explorers or they were another group of people who will become a number in the list of people this ruin consumed...who knows?

Only time will tell.

***

*Smack*

"Ugh... Who hit me?, It feels like the world is spinning, wait a second, where am I?" Kai was complaining when he suddenly remembered what happened and opened his eyes wide in realisation.

"You should have not drank so much if you forgot the importance of this expedition and we are at the entrance of the ruins, so get ready we are going to enter in a few minutes!" A gruff male voice said

"Huh? I drank?" Kai was baffled

"You should have smacked him one more time Gerald, after all, he is the scout and he should have been awake rather than sleeping and having us do his job, Look he doesn't even know he drank last night" A cold voice remarked after seeing his all confused.

Gerald finally frowned after knowing that Kai didn't even know he drank last night.

Kai stood up from the ground and looked towards a buff man in old-style clothes and draped in leather armor with a longsword on his waist and a small shield in his left hand.

And then he looked towards the man beside him who was a bit lean and wore a knight type Armor which only covered his vital parts sporting a rapier on his waist

After looking at them, he looked at his surroundings and saw that they were in an open area before a huge red gate covered in aesthetically pleasing carvings and there was a downtrodden path opposite the gate leading down the mountain.

Feeling the wind flowing here, Kai knew that they were at a high point.

Finally, he looked at the buff man Gerald and the lean man with the rapier.

"What are you gawking about and now do you remember everything?" The lean man with the rapier questioned.

"Oh I was just mesmerized by the peaceful atmosphere here and yeah it was just..you know, my mind adjusting to suddenly waking up, so no worries I will do my job perfectly"

'Whatever that is' He muttered inwardly.

Gerald's expression finally eased and he took a sigh of relief.

"But..." The lean man with the rapier wanted to say something else but Gerald stopped him.

"Stop it Fred and let's do what we came here to do," Gerald said sternly

"I am trusting you that your name is as famous as you say because I trust Fred and know his capabilities but you... I don't know anything about you or your capabilities as a scout" Gerald said with a straight face as he looked at him.

"Oh you will be surprised, my name is as famous as water in a desert!" Kai stated solemnly and lied through his teeth.

"Both are not available when you need them the most" Fred commented offhandedly.

"Cough cough, I shall lead the way as I am the scout!" He coughed awkwardly and moved ahead of them.

He stood in front of the ginormous arching gate and marveled at its architectural design and aesthetically pleasing curving patterns.

"Magnificent isn't it" Gerald said standing beside him.

"Hmm.."

"But how do we open it..." As he was asking, something flew over his head, splashing on the surface of the gate but it was completely absorbed by the gate.

He did not even get the chance to see what exactly that was because of how fast the gate absorbed it.

"Blood!" Fred answered him.

"By making it drink blood, we can open it" He then continued.

"But why did you throw it in front of me?" Kai pulled a long face.

Fred ignored him and continued moving towards the gate.

"Wait a second why does it even... drink blood?" He asked again.

*Click*

When he was asking, the gate made a clicking sound and slowly started opening inwards.

"We are going inside, if you find the reason please do tell us" Fred said as he walked inside with Gerald.

He glanced inside and saw that nothing could be seen from outside so he gulped nervously as he cautiously stepped inside.

He waited for 2 seconds and nothing happened.

"Phew... I guess it's okay for now"

Then suddenly the door closed with a loud sound.

*Bam*

"Motherfu..." He lept up like a cat.

Gerald and Fred watched his antics with interest.

"Ahem, gentlemen we shall proceed now that I have assessed the situation" Kai cleared his throat and started moving ahead of them again.

"Indeed, your reputation precedes you," Fred remarked offhandedly as he was moving behind Kai.

"Okay both of you, stop your antics, now that we are in the ruins we have to proceed cautiously or else we will be dead like all the others who came before us" Gerald took the role of team leader again.

"Why isn't there any lighting set up here," Kai asked as he was moving forward with a lantern in his left hand.

"Because it's a thousand-year-old ruin, it's desolate so people don't come adventuring here often, and most of all people can die here, that's why it got itself the name, The Gate of the dead," Gerald answered

"Oh okay.. no what I mean is, why is there no set up for lighting up torches, I mean in their time, they should have used some sort of things to light up this whole hallway right?"

"Now that you say it, it does seem a bit weird for there to have been no place for torches in this hallway" Gerald said as he glanced at the walls.

"Yeah..."

*Bang*

"Ouch..." A reverberating sound rang out as his head bumped into something hard.