When Arthur reached the gate and touched it, he realized that it was made of black metal, not stone.
He realized that the brown stony surface that he thought it had was only layers of dust that had settled on it over the years. So the circular stone gate was really a giant metal ring standing on its side.
He removed the layer of dust standing between him and the gate and touched the gate with the palm of his hand. Then he tried to input his internal energy into the gate.
There was resistance to his energy at first. But the resistance was quickly broken, and his violent internal energy made its way into the metal ring.
The metal ring absorbed his internal energy readily. Then runes on its surface lit up, and the whole structure hummed loudly like an internal combustion engine coming to life.
The loud hum was caused by the metal ring vibrating slightly. This vibration also caused the dust on the surface of the ring to shake loose.
This caused the sight of its entire length lighting up with colors of various colors to be visible to everyone. It also caused the whole place to become dusty.
Arthur had the ability to protect himself from the dust with an energy shield or even with his mind. All he needed to do was push the dust away from himself. But he was too distracted to do so.
He was distracted because when the metal ring lit up, some of his energy had activated a technique stored within the ring. The technique had then been transmitted into his mind through the contact between his hand and the metal ring.
So he was stunned just as the dust was shaken off. Some of it got into his nose and mouth. They made him cough and regain his attention.
When he separated from the metal ring and looked back, he noticed that everyone was looking at him. They were all looking at him with curiosity that felt heavy and physical.
Especially the gaze of the ever-silent Thunder Drake. Not only was the blue energy form that was vaguely humanoid unsettling, but also having the undivided attention of such a person on him felt dangerous.
Lady Evergreen looked at him and said, "Tell us. What happened? What did you get?"
Something heavy struck his mind when he answered that question. His eyes rolled in his head, and he became unconscious. He began falling to the ground.
Fortunately, there were three powerful people nearby who could save him. The three of them had been stunned by his behavior, but they still reacted enough to save him.
It was Sword Flash who saved him. The golem used the power of its mind to catch him and then brought him over to the golem for inspection.
The golem began checking Arthur's physical condition up close. As it did, it asked Lady Evergreen, "What did you do to him? Did you want to kill him? At least wait until I leave or our curse is lifted completely before doing something so suicidal."
Gone was his usual jovial attitude. He was very serious and angry right now.
His serious attitude made Lady Evergreen decide not to mess with him right now. She quickly explained, "I didn't try to hurt him. I only used a charm technique to try and make him tell the truth."
After checking Arthur carefully, he sighed in relief and said, "He is fine. His mind is just worn out. It looked like he was mentally strained earlier. His mental energy was drained completely."
When he was sure they and Arthur would be fine, he took out some pills that he fed to Arthur. The pills were mind concentration pills to help him recover his mental energy.
He said to her, "Fortunately, he wasn't hurt, and your action didn't count as an attack, or the curse would have made you regret doing it by now."
Lady Evergreen sighed in relief too. Then she said, "Let me help heal him faster. Then we can try again."
She touched Arthur and began transferring green mana into his body. This helped him digest the pills and recover faster.
While she was doing so, Sword Flash snorted and said, "Don't bother looking. I already checked him from head to toe. There is nothing out of the ordinary in his body."
"The design of his foundation is a little unexpected from someone of his level, but his talents are just like what was reported when he was tested before the regional sect examination."
She nodded in agreement after doing her own thorough search of Arthur's body. The only thing that she hadn't touched yet was his mind.
She would have tried to search his mind for his memories if not for the fact that it would hurt him, and the curse on them prevents them from harming him.
After searching him, she said, "His mind and body are abnormally strong, though. Do you think his special mind is why he was able to resist my charm technique?"
He shook his head as he replied, "I doubt a third mortal coil, pipsqueak, can resist the mental power of a nascent soul. I have also checked; there is nothing about him strong enough to achieve such a feat."
"Besides, we have been watching him for so long. If there was anything out of the ordinary with him, we would have noticed before now. I believe it was a mental restriction from what he received that protected him and prevented him from being mentally coerced."
Her eyes lit up when she heard that. She said, "So you think he received something from the gateway."
He nodded and said, "I believe that is the case. He must have received something, or what else would he need to come here for?"
Then he shook his head and warned her, "Unfortunately, we will have no part in whatever he received, and don't try to force your way again. If something goes wrong, we will have to pay a terrible price for it."