Stepping through the gate, I felt like all the commotion coming from this enormous crowd of pious people disappeared. Instead of continuous chanting of prayers, I could only hear the chirping of the birds, accompanying the soft sound of the water cascading down the stones of the fountains while the air shook the leaves of the everpresent trees akin to a light percussion in symphonic orchestra.Just a few steps were enough to put my mind at ease. While I initially wanted to just sit down on one of the many benches around and just enjoy the tranquil atmosphere of this beautiful place, something was forcing me to take a single step more whenever I was about to take a short rest.
At first, this strange urge to follow deeper into this garden was akin to just a minimal scratch in a place I couldn"t reach, but as I got closer and closer to the enormous building on the opposite side of the greenery, I could feel the force that attracted me towards it grow stronger.
By the time I was just a few meters away from the gate, it turned from just an urge to a powerful current that forced me to place one step after the other, without even the slightest delay.
Only when I crossed the doorstep that leads me inside the structure, did this feeling subside a bit, changing the direction from the overall building, to the further part of the dark corridor.
Blank.
By the time I opened my eyes, I realised that my surroundings changed. Instead of being in a s.p.a.cious but poorly lighted corridor, I was standing in the middle of a big hall. Surrounded by nothing but open s.p.a.ce of the hall, I could only see a single set of doors in front of me.
Cap, cap, cap.
Recognising new sound coming from my direct proximity, I instantly turned around in order to face my potential enemy, only to realise that I was all alone in this room!
Cap, cap, cap.
Unwilling to give up on my curiosity, I scanned the entire area with my energy vision, but it showed the exact same results! I was all alone!
Only after looking down did I manage to find the source of this strangely familiar sound!
Cap, cap, cap.
Flowing down the edge of the blade I was holding, a small current of blood was slowly dripping from the short sword down on the stone bricks making the floor of the room.
WHAT THE f.u.c.k!
Since when did I have this weapon? How come I was holding such a crude piece of metal, that in my eyes was no different from a metallic brick with sharpened edges?
Throwing this useless piece of junk away, I inspected my own state, only to realise that my entire outfit - as haggard as it was after everything I went through to find this place - was covered in blood!
Unwilling to wear something so filthy, I tore the upper part of my robes away, revealing my bulging muscles to the empty room. Unable to recall any memories that would explain how did I move from the entrance corridor to this place while somehow bathing in someone"s blood, I shook my head and dropped the matter.
With no clues capable of letting me understand what the heck was going on, I had only one choice - to go forward.
Just like before, the closer I got to the doors, the greater the pressure it exerted on me as if some kind of unknown force was trying to block me from turning away. While I was going to check those doors anyway, the fact that something was attempting to mess with my mind wasn"t to my liking!
Stelling my mind and covering my entire body with a thin layer of entropy in hopes that whatever was causing those strange events wouldn"t be able to continue doing so through the barrier of rule-breaking force, I gathered the strength in my palms and pushed the doors open.
Contrary to my expectations, there was no throne room or the big boss waiting for me on the other side. As if trying to subvert all my expectations for this place, all I saw was a set of round stairs, extending towards the higher part of the staircase.
Despite my several attempts, neither my normal vision nor the energetical one was capable of uncovering what was hiding at the top of the stairs, forcing me to just go with the flow and climb them in a cla.s.sic way.
At first, the pressure that pushed me forward disappeared as soon as I stepped over the threshold of the doors. Only after I hiked what seemed like a kilometre of the vertical distance, I felt my entropy barrier caving in and shattering under the onslaught of the unknown force.
Recognising the dangers of being led by the nose to some unknown destination, I used all my strength to guard my mind against this strange pressure, recreating the entropy barrier once again. This time, instead of being as thin as a piece of paper, I made it a thumb thick!
Freed from the influence of this strange energy, I continued climbing the stairs. In just a few minutes I finally reached the next set of doors, that even without being scanned with my energy vision were giving off the vibes of object infused with energy to an astonis.h.i.+ng degree!
Standing mere meter away from it, I could feel my thick barrier of entropy slowly giving up under the pressure. Just this was enough to prove how powerful force those doors were exerting on me!
Unwilling to just stand and wait for this invading pressure to make a long work of my barrier, I gnashed my teeth and kicked the doors open with a single move of my leg!
Jumping through the threshold, I could feel the pressure once again disappearing, but as soon as I saw what was going on on the other side of the doors, I could feel my mind giving up.