Dozier looked at the map trying to relate what he knew with the simple map in front of him. He and his men didn’t have a map like it, so he faced some difficulty trying to find the location he was talking about.
No one around him tried to interrupt him. They felt curious about what he just said. In minutes, he found what he was looking for. He pointed towards a zone in the map and explained:
“My men found unknown remnants at this spot. From their description, I concluded that these were the remains of a teleportation gate that Pnroian monsters used to use.”
“What did you say?”
“Did you just mention the Pnroian monsters’ teleportation gate?”
“Yes. Their description fitted only these teleportation gates. Except for this urgent meeting, I would have gone there by now to check it.”
Ibro sensed something wasn’t right. Their reaction was a little out of place, so he asked in confusion:
“What is strange about the presence of Pnroian monsters’ teleportation gate here in this world?
This world was destroyed by Pnroian monsters which came through the teleportation gate. What is wrong then?”
Ruliv answered his question in detail:
“The presence of this gate remnant until now is a very unusual thing. This gate needed a very huge amount of energy from Pnro World. That explains why this gate only lasted for 40 days maximum.
After these days it will disappear without a trace. Only in one condition, there will be a remnant of a gate, which is to be destroyed by players of this world.
This condition was just hypothetical info that we got from our ancestors. This incident never happened before throughout Apidon’s long history. If what Dozier said was true, then we are about to witness a historical event.”
This was new info to Ibro. That explained why they were so astonished by Dozier’s words. It appeared that this teleportation gate came with a big cost on Pnro World.
These gates were their way to invade and corrode worlds. If the cost was expensive, why were they trying so desperately to invade all the worlds? What benefit would they get from these worlds?
They didn’t colonize them, but they destroyed them completely then corroded them. That seemed strange to Ibro. Something was missing here. When he looked at all those around him, he knew they didn’t hide any info from him.
This missing info was unknown even to Apidon old players! He thought about the possibility of destroying this gate.
If this was true, then he needed to unveil this secret. If he knew how to destroy these teleportation gates, then he wouldn’t be nervous about any invasion.
“We should move now to confirm this doubt. If these claims are true, then this gate remnant value is way more valuable than what we can get from here.”
There was nothing else to be said. Everyone there wasn’t a rookie. They all knew the weight of this info. They must clear things. If this gate remnant was true, then they must investigate the cause behind its destruction.
Ibro wasn’t the only one seeking behind this secret. Everyone followed Ruliv steps walking outside this big building. Their sudden appearance caught everyone’s attention.
In minutes they reached the gates of the camp. Dozier talked a bit with guard captain Brant. After ten minutes of the Brant disappearance, he came back with a group of hundred guards.
Everyone knew that Dozier planned this for their protection. Although their troops searched this area before, Dozier’s cautious move was appreciated.
This one hundred man group circled Ruliv and Ibro and everyone else. The total number of Shonty city leaders was around 15 including Ruliv.
They marched at high speed that made it difficult for Ibro to catch up. They had to decrease their speed a lot so that Ibro could keep up. Through a whole hour of travel, they didn’t meet any monsters.
That was a good start. Ibro felt an unusual sense of worry and danger which was increasing obviously with time. This sensation first appeared when they just left Ronat camp towards their destination.
Ibro started to be vigilant. He always looked in focus on anything that seemed suspicious around him. He didn’t find any clue though.
After another hour, everyone reached their destination safely. In front of them, there was a very huge wide pit. This pit was slightly deeper than the surrounding earth.
Its land was bright red, which seemed strange. When Ibro saw this color, he felt pessimistic without reason. It reminded him of the color of blood. Just as he was in a daze, Ruliv exclaimed:
“This place looks weird, but this soil color is exactly the color of soil that surrounds Pnroian gates. For sure there is a gate here.”
Ouly then explained in surprise:
“This is Mokiz ore. This is platinum grade ore. I never saw even a tiny piece of it. If we could mine this ore, then we can make platinum grade pieces of equipment and scrolls.”
“We can’t just mine here. We need first to search for the place. There is the mission of finding these gate remnants. We also need to be sure that there is no danger lurking in the shadows.”
“Don’t be this cautious Dozier. This world was destroyed hundreds of thousands of years ago. As usual, there will be some monsters lying in slumber. As we don’t interrupt their sleep, we can be fine.”
Ruliv interfered to put an end to this quarrel ordering:
“Let’s first finish our mission then we will explore this place thoroughly. Is there anyone from your guards here Dozier who knows the place of these remnants?”
Dozier looked proudly at his one hundred guards’ team. One of them moved from his place saying in a respectful tone:
“I know, Mr. Governor. I was the captain of the team that discovered these remnants.”
“Show us the way then.”
This young captain seemed a little nervous as he started his walk into this red pit. It was natural for him to be so, as he was now with those legends he grew up listening to their tales.
After the young captain descended to the pit everyone followed. Dozier led a small ten-man team to be a vanguard. When Ibro’s feet touched this bright red soil he felt a stronger force of gravity pulling him downward.
He balanced himself with difficulty, but everyone around him was at ease. Although this gravity surprised him, everyone around him was calm.
This made Ibro think that this strange gravity was a constant feature with Pnroian gates. They moved at a slow speed, as they were afraid of an ambush.
The pit was vast. Ibro felt that he was in a sea of blood as they deepened in it. This pit was like open plains as if there were no mountains or hills. There were no trees or monsters at all.
There was even no sight of any ruins. They took nearly three hours walking in this red desert-like place till they saw distant grayish shadows on the horizon.
Once everyone laid their eyes on these distant shadows, they became very tense. Ibro felt their anxiety so he wielded Minior staff to be ready for any possible fight.
At this stage, they didn’t need the young captain’s guidance. Ruliv exchanged silent looks with Dozier who moved with his ten vanguard unit towards these distant ruins.
This time they didn’t march slowly but used their utmost speed. In minutes they vanished from Ibro’s sight. They were their vanguard to explore the situation up ahead.
The group didn’t stop their slow march. In 15 minutes, Dozier’s vanguard team came back to them and then he said with his accent:
“Don’t go any further. There is a huge Pnroian monster lying around the remnants of the gate.”
His words caused enough distress. Everyone looked at him while Ruliv asked for more details:
“What did you find out there?”
“I found ruins of an old Pnroian teleportation gate. It seemed as if a great battle had happened there.
I also found a huge Pnroian monster there. What was strange is that the gate isn’t the main gate, but the auxiliary gate!”
Ibro heard sounds of exclamation around him. He didn’t understand what Dozier meant by his words, so he asked trying to understand:
“What is the difference between the main teleportation gate and the Auxiliary teleportation gate?”
Ouly took the responsibility of explaining to him this time saying:
“The main teleportation gate is the gate which was caused by players. This gate is the gate responsible for bringing Pnroian monsters here for the first time.
As this gateway only lives for 40 days, then these monsters may need to establish a new teleportation gate. This gate we call the Auxiliary teleportation gate.
This gate is much bigger than the main gate but only lasts for just one day. To open it, a certain number of Pnroian monsters must be sacrificed.”
That seemed illogical to Ibro who said in doubt:
“If there was such a heavy price to be paid for just a one-day crossing gate, then why do they use it in the first place?”
“That gate is like these monsters’ trump cards. This gate if used brilliantly like always, then huge armies of reinforcement can arrive in any world in just one day.
This gate is a sign that this world showed great resistance to these monsters. So they will be forced to use this gate so they won’t lose the whole world.”
Ibro muttered:
“What is the benefit they will get from taking all these risks and pay all these sacrifices?”
