Chapter 8 - A Small Tournament (1)

Time moved fast and the night fell. There had been quite unbelievable things happened today. Someone who was in the last level of the Nascent Profound Realm, whom many people considered untouchable, was easily killed. It surprised and scared people. This caused the atmosphere to change in the different clans in and around the Star Plain.

Of course, the biggest change was in the Mirza Clan.

Many people from other clans had come to the Mirza Clan by nightfall and had brought many gifts with them. They all came for the same purpose. All they wanted to do was to ingratiate themselves with Asil Mirza, who knew the scary and powerful Skinny Man. There were even those who brought their own daughters or beautiful girls from their clan, hoping that Asil Mirza would like them. But those who treated Asil Mirza completely differently today than before were not limited to different clans. During the day, all members of the Mirza Clan visited Asil and told him that he got them wrong, that they see him as their own blood, and that if he had any kind of problems he could tell them in the future without hesitation.

No matter how good they were to Asil Mirza, he was irritated by this fake kindness. After all, he was well aware that the Skinny Man was the reason for this change.

"Today was really exhausting. I have no choice but to put up with it, even though this fake attitude is really disturbing. I wonder what that Skinny Man is going to talk to me about tomorrow. More importantly, if I ask him to fix my situation with his miraculous healing ability, will he? Don't Sigh, No matter how much you think about it right now, it won't help. It's best to go to sleep now, wake up early in the morning, and wait for that mysterious man to show up." Asil Mirza spoke to himself as he lay wearily in his bed and then closed his eyes and fell asleep in a short time.

...

What is this place? Where am I? Why is it so dark?

In the pitch dark environment, a young man about 170-175 cm and 15-16-years old, who had a hair that is long enough to reach the neck of an ordinary body, tried to understand where he was looking through with his black slightly glowing black eyes.

After a brief look around, the young boy saw a red glow that was far from where he was. The only different thing in this pitch-dark environment was that red glow, so the young boy headed there right away. As the young boy progressed, the temperature around him gradually increased.

After a walk of about twenty minutes, the young boy reached the source of the red glow, and at that moment, he figured out where he was.

That young boy was Asil Mirza and this was the place where he kept coming in his dreams; in this place which emanated a deadly aura, there was a giant door surrounded with lava, sealed with eight different chains, and a large book on a rectangular rock about a meter long in front of it.

Asil looked at the giant door and spoke to himself: "I started coming here in my dreams so often these days. It never used to be this often. And it doesn't feel like it's just a dream. It's like this is the real world. I can smell it here, I can clearly feel the deadly aura, I'm overwhelmed by the heat of the lava. Here, it feels like how all the things I have done in my real life would feel and I feel them as if they were real. But the most interesting of all is this giant door... I feel as if there's something very important for me behind that door, and every time I look at it, long for it. But no matter how much I think about it, let alone this pitch-black environment, I can't remember seeing a door this big before in my life. I wonder if..."

*Bang*, *Bang*, *Bang*...

Asil Mirza's monologue was interrupted by the sudden crackling noises. Asil Mirza slid his gaze a little and looked towards where the sound was coming from. A strange expression occurred on Asil's face along with a brief glance, and then he spoke: "This...This is a first. Normally, when I came here in my dream, it would not happen. Is there a reason this happened? But it can't be because I didn't do anything that could have caused it."

What he was surprised by was that one of the eight chains found above the giant gate began to disintegrate. He had come here many times in his dreams, but by this time, he had done different things to the chains, but he couldn't move even one of them. But this time, no matter what he did, one of those chains that he thought couldn't hurt was starting to fall apart on its own. Although the rate of disintegration was quite slow, seeing one of the chains begin to disintegrate made him happy for a reason.

Asil Mirza approached the giant door and started to examine it closely after speaking. He then touched the chain, which began to disintegrate, and tried to move it. But as with his previous attempts, he failed to do so. Asil Mirza was a little disappointed, but then, as if something had suddenly come to his mind, he immediately turned and proceeded to the great book, which was in front of the giant door, while his eyes shone with a glimmer of hope.

He stood in front of the big book and slowly extended his hand to try to open the book, while his eyes shone with hope. Asil had tried to open the book many times just as he had tried to move the chains on the door before. But he was not successful in any of these attempts. Now that one of the chains was falling apart, he suddenly thought there was a chance that he could open this book, so he came right in front of the book.

Asil Mirza slowly extended his hand to open the Big Book, wondering what was inside. He took a deep breath again and tried to open the book by force. At that very moment, Asil Mirza suddenly felt more intense excitement than he had ever felt before in his life.

Because even though he tried so many times, the big book he couldn't open was finally opened this time!

Asil looked at the Big Book he had opened in no time, and as soon as he looked, his face was covered with a bewildered expression. Because even though the book was quite large, there were only 8 pages in it. All of the pages were quite thick, and they had an orangish color to them since they were very old. Asil Mirza looked carefully at all the pages but unexpectedly there was only writing at the beginning of the first page.

Asil Mirza immediately read the writing on the first page:

"The Chosen One! If you can open this book and read it, the selection time is near! This book consists of eight pages, you can only see the writings on the first page, you can only see the rest if you get stronger!"

" The Chosen One! If you want to open the door and find out the truth, be strong! You only can open the door and find out who you really are if you get stronger! But if you want to have a happy and peaceful life, don't try to get stronger, because only destruction and sadness await you on the road ahead!"

"The Chosen One! If you decide to get stronger, never regret what awaits you next! Because regret will not bring back what you will lose!"

Asil Mirza was confused by what he read. For a while he idly looked at the writings and spoke to himself:

"Who I really am? What does it mean by 'truth'? If I get stronger, I will know the truth, but then only destruction and sadness awaits me? I ought not to get strong if I want to be happy? And what does it means by 'The Chosen One', isn't it is all actually a dream?"

Asil Mirza thought quietly for a while, and as he tried to figure out what had happened, the pitch-dark world suddenly began to tremble. This trembling caused Asil Mirza to come to his senses and then he spoke to himself as he looked at this pitch-dark world:

"So, it's time to get out of here again."

...

Asil Mirza, gasping for breath, suddenly opened his eyes and quickly straightened up. His clothes were soaked in sweat and her lips were slightly cracked, drying. He quickly got out of bed and spoke to himself as he changed his clothes and arranged his scattered hair: "I wonder if it is not just a dream? But if it's not a dream, then what exactly is it? Where is that place? I was able to open the book for the first time, and given what it says, I don't think it's just a dream. Besides, when I think about it, people usually dream about what they've experienced, but I've never heard or seen anything like that. The things I felt after I opened the book were absolutely real. I don't believe it's a dream now, but I don't know exactly what it is. That doesn't matter for now, though. I mean, it's clear what I have to do based on what's in the book. I need to get stronger, and if the bad things that are supposed to happen in the book are really going to happen, I need to prevent them."

After changing his clothes and picking himself up, he began to wait for the noon, which was the time when Skinny Man would arrive.