Under the chunk of lightning aura, Max sat quietly, slowly deepening his comprehension of the lightning elements.
At this moment, everyone on the first floor was doing the same—sitting in front of the many chunks of rocks, their eyes closed in meditation.
Time passed slowly: one hour, two hours, three hours, and so on. Those who had only reached around the 100-meter mark were the first to be kicked out of the comprehension space.
After that, those in the 200-meter range, then 300 meters, and so on, were kicked out as their time ran out.
Sometimes later those who were above the 200 minutes range or above like from 300 minutes to 400, to 500 minutes were also kicked out… Eventually, nearly all the geniuses were kicked out. Only Max remained, alone.
His entire figure glowed with a barely visible blue light. His mind was filled with comprehensions of lightning aura. He stayed in a deep meditative state for hours.
It wasn’t until his 1000 minutes had passed that Max opened his eyes.
"I’ve reached the peak of Level 1 Lightning Aura," Max muttered, his face radiating joy. He was genuinely happy that he had accomplished what he set out to do. "Now, onto the second floor to comprehend Level 2 auras." He smiled in excitement as he thought of the Level 2 auras waiting for him on the second floor.
Returning to the monolith, he noticed others were also standing nearby.
"Are you guys planning to enter the second floor?" Max asked, glancing at them. All he got in response were strange looks from Princess Aveline, Nathan, Tom, and Evlin.
"We’re not monsters like you," Princess Aveline said, glancing at Max. "Though our time in the comprehension section wasn’t as long as yours, it’s enough for us to comprehend an aura. So, we’re preparing to meditate under the protection of the monolith to finally comprehend our aura in peace."
She looked at the others around her. "One cannot trust anyone when they’re defenseless while comprehending their auras."
Max raised his brows at her words. He understood what she meant. Simply sitting on the first floor to comprehend auras might invite a sneak attack, even though attacking others wasn’t allowed. One simply couldn’t take that risk.
"You guys do your thing, then," Max said to them, turning toward the blob in the air. "Send me to the second floor."
The blob smiled and gestured toward the monolith. "This way." Max glanced at the monolith and noticed a small door had appeared at its base.
"Go through, and you’ll enter the trial. If you pass, you’ll enter the second floor."
Max nodded at the blob and was about to head inside the door when two masked men blocked his path. They were Sam and Dean.
Find your next read at freewebnovel
"What do you two want?" Max asked, frowning.
Sam threw a small red ball the size of a nail at Max.
Max caught it and immediately recognized what it was. "What is this for?" he asked.
Sam smiled. "A show of goodwill from our Black Lotus Guild." With those words, they parted ways.
Max frowned at their words but accepted the ball. He pinched it atop his holowatch, and it turned to dust, entering the device.
[New data obtained. Do you wish to open it?]
A new notification appeared on his holowatch. Max wondered what this was about but decided to check it later, once inside the monolith.
With that, he nodded slightly at Sam and Dean before entering the door, disappearing into the monolith.
---
Max found himself standing in a square room, glowing with blue arcs of light all around him. In the middle was a red glowing door.
’Is this the way into the trial?’ Max mused, but curiosity got the better of him.
He opened the contents of the message the Black Lotus Guild had given him and began reading slowly.
His expression changed many times as he read—sometimes angry, sometimes solemn, and sometimes disgusted. But in the end, he was a little shocked after reading everything.
Max was a bit speechless after learning all of this.
To summarize, the message detailed Freya Voidwalker, his big sister, and her deal with the four super families.
Basically, Freya had thwarted the Young Monarch’s plan to reach the Master Rank, which angered him immensely. In revenge, he nearly started a war in the East Region. However, before he could do so, Freya Voidwalker disappeared without a trace.
But in reality, they had met face to face—Freya Voidwalker and the Young Monarch.
The Young Monarch had wanted to wage war on the East Region, intending to annihilate the Phoenix Order Guild and other top guilds. However, Freya made a deal with him to prevent the war.
In the deal, she revealed that Alice possessed Phoenix Flames, knowing the Young Monarch’s obsession with different types of flames. The Young Monarch gladly accepted the deal, unaware that it would be the last time he ever saw her.
And that’s how Freya Voidwalker came to be known as the traitor of the Phoenix Order Guild.
Later, in the shadows, Freya struck another deal with the Union Vanguard and the four super families because she believed one or more of the four major families might be under the control of the Young Monarch.
The deal was simple: the Union Vanguard would protect Max Morgan from any threats until his awakening, and the four major families wouldn’t attack Max in any way.
But the Union Vanguard refused the deal. They didn’t want anything to do with Freya. To get them on board, she compromised and adjusted the terms of the deal with the Union Vanguard.
The new deal stated that the Union Vanguard would protect Max from all threats until his awakening, but they couldn’t interfere with any matters concerning Max after that.
The Union Vanguard accepted this new deal.
In return, Freya ensured that the Young Monarch wouldn’t start the war before reaching the Master Rank. The four major families gladly accepted the deal, as they weren’t prepared for war. The deal also included a clause that Max’s identity wouldn’t be revealed to any outside party not involved in the agreement.
The deal was sealed with a Three-Way Deadly Contract. If any party broke the agreement, they would face punishment according to the contract.
After that, Freya Voidwalker disappeared from the Lower Domain.
It took take some moments for Max to come to terms with all that information.
Max finally understood many things he had been unsure about. He recalled what happened with Nevin and the Awakening Dungeon. Everything started to make sense. Why then? Why wait until that moment?
He also understood why a commander didn’t help him when he needed it, and why the Blades had been after him.
Max took a moment to digest everything and sighed. "So, basically, I’m in all this trouble because of the mess created by my big sis?" He laughed wryly, already planning to scold her when he met her again.
"The Black Lotus Guild sure has far-reaching influence," Max muttered, impressed by the mysteriousness of the guild. While other guilds remained ignorant about him and Freya Voidwalker, the Black Lotus Guild seemed to know everything.
"It seems I’ll have to pay them a visit," he said, deciding to visit their guild after the temple trial.
Following he entered the red door to and disappeared from the blue glowing room.