Chapter 62: The Domain

The atmosphere in the little corner, where Neo and the four people sat, remained quiet through the rest of the journey.

No one said anything again.

Not after Suren had that look.

Tukitan knew it was best he kept shut after Suren’s face showed she was no longer in the mood to joke.

It was the surest way for him to keep his head on his shoulders.

He wasn’t about to get into a fight with the woman.

A wise choice, no doubt.

Neo felt he had seen enough of these people.

He closed his eyes.

His attention was turned within himself.

Devour had settled within his being.

It had become so intertwined with the very fabric of his existence.

That he felt no difference between Devour and himself.

He was Devour, and Devour was him.

There was still that barrier to their communication.

But he could feel himself getting more, from the hints Devour was passing to him.

It was clearer than it had ever been before.

Devour was on the edge of evolving.

When it did, its capabilities would become even better than Neo could imagine.

That was the promise Devour whispered to him.

Neo also got to realize that the only way for Devour to evolve, absolutely relied on him.

The limit placed on the essence Devour could provide to him, had been removed.

Even the cultivation he received now, had become even more plentiful and refined.

He felt he was on the path to something greater...

The carriage stopped abruptly.

The limit breakers were the ones leading the convoy.

Neo opened his eyes.

He looked ahead.

The first thing he saw, was the mountain.

One vast beyond measure.

It filled the sight, as far as one could see.

Then there was what seemed to be a massive crack in the very walls of reality itself.

It appeared on the vast mountain.

It seemed to be eating through it, as all who looked into the crack saw a sight that scared them.

The mountain seemed to be collapsing on the inside, turning into dust.

Lightning and all sorts of abnormal phenomena, appeared in the massive crack.

It frightened the mind.

And shook the heart.

Neo quickly gathered what had happened, from the conversations floating around him.

The carriage had been on a smooth path, when the mountain suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

It had startled everyone.

His eyes stared at the crack that seemed to split reality itself.

He didn’t feel scared.

Nor did he feel his heart shake.

He only observed.

He watched how the crack interacted with the space around it.

There were already discussions in the carriage, about whether they were in the right place.

And after repeated confirmation that they weren’t in the wrong place.

Few could muster the courage to even go near the crack.

As they debated whether to head in or not.

And the whole situation was slowly devolving into a hubbub.

Someone walked out of the crack.

This unexpected event was enough to startle everyone.

The arguments and noise slowly died down.

Everyone became vigilant, as they observed.

But someone was quick to recognize the man that walked out.

It was the man from Raela’s family.

"Senior Humba!"

He shouted.

The man who walked out of the crack smiled.

He came closer to the carriage.

"What took you all so long?"

He looked at them.

"I had to keep coming out here every few hours, waiting on you all to arrive."

The man was more curious than admonishing.

The man from Raela’s family jumped down from the carriage.

He smiled.

"Senior, forgive our tardiness. Some unexpected business came up on the road."

He gestured at everyone to come down.

"We are all here now."

The man, who was addressed as Senior Humba, nodded.

Humba watched as everyone came down from the carriages.

The limit breakers, and the normal F-Ranks.

His mind fell into deep thoughts.

The world had changed a lot in the past two years.

This was just one of the many signs of that fact.

Having so many juniors become limit breakers in such a short time.

"I welcome everyone. My name is Humba."

The man addressed them.

"There isn’t much I will be doing for you. Other than to introduce you to the domain we are about to enter."

He clapped his hands.

"Now, before we enter through that crack over there. There is something I will like you all to do."

He gestured at the carriages.

"Have these carriages moved to one side."

That was simple enough, and it was quickly done.

"We can all go inside then."

He turned, and started walking towards the massive crack in the mountain.

Everyone stared at his back at first.

They wondered if they were really going to enter into that crack.

But as the first person moved to follow, another person joined.

And one by one, everyone followed behind the man.

Walking into the massive crack.

It was a great test of courage for many.

Neo stepped into the crack.

It was narrow on the inside, compared to how massive it looked.

He walked through the lightning.

Through the mountain that was slowly turning into dust.

And all the phenomena that appeared within the crack.

None of them bothered him.

But that fact wasn’t the same for many others, they had to summon all their courage.

Neo walked with leisure.

He even had the time to observe all the phenomena around him.

They looked very real, but their true nature appeared to be somewhere between reality and illusion.

They couldn’t interact with the physical, but their pressure on the mind was frightening.

It was a short walk.

They stepped into a large cavern.

It was a shocking transition from the narrow space inside the crack.

Some people could not help but gasp, as they struggled to comprehend the vastness of this underground space.

Neo looked up.

Up there was a sight, even he found stunning.

It looked like night sky of the Immortal World had been copied, and placed there directly.

Every star glowed in its rightful place.

Of course, this wasn’t the night sky he was looking at.

It was the glowing rocks in the roof of the cavern.

They were so far away, yet they still glowed so brightly.

Their apparent formation up there also made him wonder, if this was natural, or manipulated by the hands of man.

He wasn’t the only one staring at the wonderful sight.

"Beautiful, isn’t it?"

The man who led them in, Humba, spoke.

His voice woke everyone from their entranced state.

They had all been captivated by the spellbinding sight.

Neo agreed with the man in his mind.

It was indeed beautiful.

He turned to look at the place they had stepped out from.

It had turned into a wall. There was no sign of any crack.

He looked around, trying to see what he could of this cavern.

He noticed some large passageways in the walls of the cavern, far away from their current position.

"Can you all look behind you?"

Humba asked them.

They all turned to look back.

Many of them saw for the first time what Neo had already noticed.

"That is your way out of here."

Many wondered how the place they had just stepped out of, had become like this.

If this was their way out, how would they go out through such solid wall.

Some even tried touching it.

They discovered that it wasn’t an illusion, the wall was as real as could be.

"The only way to go out through that wall, is to use the special substance in this domain to make your way out."

Humba now had everyone’s attention.

"The riloma, which you will be harvesting from the dead bodies of the inhabitants of this domain. It is the only thing that works here."

He looked at everyone.

"You won’t be needing much of it to go out. But if you want to explore this domain. You will make sure to get as much of it as you can."

He gestured at the empty space around them.

But his next words told them to look deeper.

"You see the passageways around us? They are the paths through which you will explore the domain."

In one of the passageways he gestured at, a group of people had just walked out.

They walked to one part of the cavern.

There they gathered and sat.

No doubt resting, before they made their next move.

"As you move deeper into the passageways, you will discover that the inhabitants of this domain are just the least of your troubles.

"There will be many more dangers and traps that you will encounter inside. Illusions that look no different from reality, they will draw you in just to crush your souls."

This man really knew how to scare people.

That was what Neo thought.

But he paid careful attention to everything the man said.

"The riloma you will need as you go deeper into the domain will become greater. There will be places where the passageways meet, there will be dead ends. This place is a literal maze."

Humba felt he was filling their minds with too many information at once.

"Everything has been detailed for you all. This is our exploration log."

He removed a book from the satchel he carried, and lifted it for all to see.

He then handed it to the limit breaker from Raela’s family.

"I will leave you all to sort it out among yourselves."

He left them, as he walked into a passageway.

Now, the time had come to make a decision on the path ahead.

----------------------------------

Happy New Month.

It’s November, 2026.

And Happy Halloween too, even though it is coming late.