*Ba-Dump*
*Ba-Dump*
*Ba-Dump*
Hao Xuan could literally hear his own heartbeat. It felt like it was in his throat, ready to jump out if he opened his mouth wide enough.
They had been flying for over 3 hours before arriving at their destination.
He looked down at the gigantic castle below and leaned in towards Ryfon. It was only them in the carriage right now so they could talk openly.
"Is this it?"
"Yeah, relax, he won't bite hahaha," Ryfon patted his shoulder upon noticing the droplets of sweat forming on his forehead, but it was easier said than done.
The person Hao Xuan was going to meet was an actual hero for mankind. He was older than most kingdoms out there, so much so that barely anyone knew how old he was right now. He was apparently at least two realms higher than Ryfon who was a Profound Realm expert himself.
He had also fought in the last Great War. Hao Xuan didn't know the actual significance of those words but just hearing them made his heart beat faster. He taught Ryfon's father, the current King, and two of his older brothers and was considered to be a very respectable character by all the higher-ups of the academy as well as the three leading clans.
The carriage came to a stop and Hao Xuan felt a tug on his poor heart. he felt like throwing up for some reason.
Ryfon opened the door and jumped down.
"Come on, he's waiting," he gestured towards Hao Xuan who reluctantly followed after.
The first thing he saw was the never-ending staircase in front of him in a world of ice and snow. It went up for more than a kilometer and connected to a gigantic castle on top of a mountain. There was a deep chasm underneath the stairs and the only way to get to the other side was either by flying to using the stairs. (Pic in authors notes)
From where they were standing, barely anything else was visible.
The sky was covered with white clouds and the cold wind filled with crystal-like snowflakes brushed passed their faces non-stop.
"Let's go."
Ryfon took the lead and started walking up the stairs one by one. Each of the steps was the exact distance as the one before. The stairs looked like they were carved from one single rock and connected with one another seamlessly.
Hao Xuan took in a breath of cold air and followed. The only sound was coming from their footsteps and the howling, cold wind in this mountainous region. There were no beasts, no people, not even a single tree.
Step by step by step they went up in silence. There was not a single person in sight.
"No guards?" Hao Xuan asked curiously. A person of this caliber, wouldn't a few thousand guards be normal?
Ryfon chuckled, "Guards? For what? If someone is able to fight with master toe-to-toe, no amount of guards will be able to stop them. After a certain level, guards don't matter. Only your own ability can guarantee your safety," he explained without stopping or turning around.
Hao Xuan nodded and didn't ask anything else. It took them 15 minutes to reach the top where a red wooden gate waited.
Ryfon held his hands against the door and it opened on its own. It closed when both of them entered.
Inside, there was another staircase. This one even longer than the one outside. Ryfon obviously knew this and started walking without wasting any time.
This time it took them 40 minutes to reach the top where three more gates waited, these ones much smaller in size at about 4 meters of width and length each.
Ryfon went up to the middle door to knock but it opened on its own. He gestured towards Hao Xuan to follow and went inside.
Hao Xuan took another deep breath and tried to calm himself down but to no avail.
He went inside and the surroundings suddenly turned much darker. The door closed behind him.
Ryfon was already kneeling in front of a throne about 5 meters away. This throne looked like it was made from black ice.
A person sat on it motionlessly, everything from chest up being covered by a veil of darkness. No matter how hard Hao Xuan tried he couldn't see his face. Copying Ryfon, he also got on one knee awkwardly.
Neither of them said anything for the next 5 to 10 minutes. There was absolutely no sound in the chamber other than their faint breathing. If he didn't know any better he would have thought that the person on the throne was a statue.
Time trickled by and another ten minutes passed. Finally having had enough Hao Xuan leaned over to Ryfon to ask him what was going on when he felt someone looking at him.
Since there was only one other person in the room, Hao Xuan awkwardly turned to face the throne and saw a pair of curious white pupils staring at him from the dark.
"Eighteen minutes and forty two seconds," an emotionless voice echoed inside his head. It sounded even more detached than Baracus who didn't even have any emotions until recently.
"That's how long you took before making a move. In the last five thousand years, this is the shortest time anyone has ever given me, especially after knowing full well who I was," the voice finished.
The pair of white pupils didn't move at all. They looked like LED lights in the darkness and Hao Xuan could see nothing else as they started back at him.
Hao Xuan didn't know what to say. Should he apologize? But for what? This person called him over in the middle of his training, had him come all the way over here and then made him wait for no reason at all.
So with the same gusto that was shown to him, he said one word in return.
"Okay."
"…."
"…"
Ryfon's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Okay? What the f*ck does that mean?
He glared at Hao Xuan from the corner of his eyes trying to give him a warning but Hao Xuan didn't even acknowledge his existence and instead chose to stare directly at those pupils in front.
For some reason, looking at them made him want to punch the face they belonged to. Those eyes were filled with unconcealed arrogance, as if they were looking down on the whole world.
The more he stared at them, the angrier he became. He refused to look away or back down. Their staredown continued for an entire hour. And neither of them blinked even once.
It was finally this great elder that broke the silence and spoke out loud.
"Do you know why I have called you here?" his voice came from every side. Even though he was sitting in front of him the sound was coming from every possible direction without overlapping.
Hao Xuan wanted to say 'To waste my time?' but held back and answered with a shake of his head.
"To see what kind of a person is able to get my student's attention. I see…nothing special here…"
It sounded like he was picking a fight without even trying to hide it anymore. Was he mad that Hao Xuan didn't wait longer? Or that he didn't look away? What kind of a small-minded individual would take that personally? Weren't seniors supposed to be magnanimous?
When Hao Xuan's thoughts reached this point, the little bit of respect he had for this 'great elder' melted away. He was nervous at first but now his heart was as calm as it could be.
'So what if you've lived long? When you can't even take something like this without it hurting your pride, what use is that?' he thought and his hunched back straightened unconsciously.
The elder's pupils contracted a little seeing that, for the first time there was a change in them. Suddenly, the temperature became colder in the room.
Ryfon's back was drenched in sweat. 'The hell is going on here??' Seeing as neither of them was going to speak up anytime soon, he finally interjected.
"M-Master, the tournament…" he reminded weakly.
The look in the elder's softened slightly upon hearing him.
"Yes.."
****
Authors Notes:
Castle: https://urlzs.com/3E1bS
Original url: https://i.pinimg..com/564x/9c/a9/8f/9ca98fa792f28ae060a5be3ad9c9ee4f.jpg
