SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will - Chapter 240 The Tablets [2]

Chapter 240  The Tablets [2]

“What is this place?! There’s not a single beast in sight… did we actually kill them all already?” Nina grumbled loudly, staring at the dead-end tunnel they’d reached after twenty minutes of cautiously exploring the path they chose.

Moon looked at Nina with a visible frown forming on his face. The woman simply couldn’t keep her mouth shut. She was constantly complaining about everything and anything, her commentary providing nothing constructive to the team’s efforts.

The more time he spent listening to her incessant complaints, the more irritated he became.

“This gate obviously contains more beasts,” Kael responded to her rhetorical question calmly, his expression remaining completely neutral. “We’ve simply haven’t explored enough territory to encounter the next concentration of enemies.”

Nina grumbled something unintelligible under her breath, her dissatisfaction evident despite Kael’s logical explanation.

Grant took control before she could launch into another complaint. “Alright, let’s turn around. We’ve reached a dead end with nothing to explore in this direction. We’ll try the other paths.”

He began walking back along the path they’d come from, his shield held ready despite the apparent absence of immediate threats.

The team followed him dutifully, maintaining their defensive formation.

Returning to the junction where they’d first encountered the tablet, they noted two additional unexplored paths branching off in different directions.

“Why don’t we split into two groups? This way we can explore both remaining paths simultaneously at a much faster rate. Even when divided, we should be able to hold our ground against remaining beasts as groups of five. We’re all S-rankers, after all.” Nina suggested suddenly.

“Absolutely not,” Moon interjected firmly before anyone else could respond. “That kind of overconfidence could very well be exactly what killed the previous team. They got too arrogant about their capabilities, made unsound decisions, and it led to their complete annihilation.”

“Hmph! You are talking about unsound decisions? After what you done earli-” Nina scoffed.

Moon did not stop speaking, interrupting her, “Besides, it’s abundantly clear that we need to remain together as a complete group. It’s not coincidental that the entry requirement for this gate was precisely ten people, and the tablet specifically mentioned ten things that must be opened or freed. The numbers align. Splitting up would violate whatever underlying condition this gate operates on.”

Hearing his reasoning, the rest of the group visibly aligned with Moon’s position.

Moon did not stop speaking, interrupting her, “Besides, it’s abundantly clear that we need to remain together as a complete group. It’s not coincidental that the entry requirement for this gate was precisely ten people, and the tablet specifically mentioned ten things that must be opened or freed. The numbers align. Splitting up would violate whatever underlying condition this gate operates on.”

Hearing his reasoning, the rest of the group visibly aligned with Moon’s position.

“Yeah, splitting our forces isn’t sound even without considering the tablet’s cryptic warning about needing to address all ten objectives rather than partial completion,” Caleb added.

Jonah nodded silently, “Splitting up will make us an easy target for others to pick on.”

Grant gave his approval with a firm nod. “Moon’s right. As a team we should stick together and be patient.”

Reid simply raised her hand in agreement, not bothering to voice what was already obvious consensus.

Kael remained quiet but gestured his acceptance of the group decision.

Even Nina, despite having proposed the splitting strategy, couldn’t argue against the unified rejection. She shrugged her shoulders with obvious annoyance but didn’t push the matter further.

Though Moon noticed she still maintained that same inexplicable grudge against him specifically, her eyes occasionally shooting him irritated glances.

‘What is wrong with this woman? She seems to have developed a personal grudge against me specifically,’ Moon thought in confusion.

He mentally reviewed their interactions, searching for any offense he might have inadvertently caused.

Nothing came to mind. He’d never met her before this operation. Their only conflict had been the formation disruption incident, which he’d already apologized for and which hadn’t affected anyone else on the team with this level of persistent hostility.

‘Maybe it’s hormonal? Stress response to the dangerous environment?’ Moon considered briefly before dismissing the thought as unproductive speculation. ‘No, her attitude seems specifically directed at me rather than being generalized irritation. But I can’t identify any rational cause…’

Unable to determine the source of her antagonism and recognizing that dwelling on useless drama was pointless during a life-threatening mission, Moon simply decided to ignore Nina’s aggression.

He had more important things to focus on than one knight’s inexplicable bad attitude.

Like finding more S-rank beasts to complete his evolution requirements. And figuring out what the tablet’s message actually meant before its warning became relevant in a catastrophic way.

Grant gestured toward the leftmost unexplored path. “We’ll take this route first. Same formation, same vigilance. Move out.”

The team advanced into the darkness once more, their lighting runes pushing back the darkness as they ventured deeper into the mysterious gate’s.

♢♢♢♢

After walking the leftmost path for some time, Grant discovered another tablet embedded in the wall, identical in style to the first one they’d encountered.

“Check this out,” he said, motioning to the team behind him as he retrieved the same parchment from his storage ring and began transcribing the new message.

The inscription was brief, almost terse compared to the previous tablet:

[He who fails is chosen.]

Grant wrote the phrase down with before stepping back to study it, his mind already working to understand its meaning in context with the first tablet.

The whole group gathered closer, mentally combining the two texts and trying to decipher the connection between them.

‘This links directly back to the previous warning, this must be a hint about the penalty for failure. But what does “chosen” mean in this context? Chosen for what? By what?’

The word carried an ominous tone. Being “chosen” by a malevolent force governing this gate couldn’t mean anything good, if that was the case.

After a few minutes of tense silence and contemplation, with each team member lost in their own theories, Grant broke the quiet.

“Let’s keep moving. There might be another clue at the end of this path that provides more context .”

The group continued their journey down the leftmost tunnel until they reached its termination point, finding another dead end identical to the first path they’d explored. After thoroughly checking for hidden passages, concealed tablets, or any other relevant features and finding nothing, they had no choice but to return to the main junction.

**

Current GT Rank: No.8