577 Azure Plains
"Today is 32nd." Varian checked his bracelet and muttered.
He entered the ruins on the 30th evening. By the morning of the 32nd, he had explored the golden room and lake of illusions.
The ruins would stay open till the end of the 45th.
Breathing in the sweet fragrance of the flowers, Varian laid down in the middle of a flower garden.
The garden wasn't normal. Nor were the flowers. Once they chose prey, they'd turn into monstrous Plantae and their flowers would spit out invisible seeds that would grow on any creature and suck them dry.
'The flowers' smell though, it reminds me of that park I used to visit with Sia.' Varian thought.
"Gree!" A beautiful flower near his feet suddenly tripled in size and opened its petals, ready to spit out the dangerous seeds.
Zaap!
A lightning bolt struck the flower and burnt it to ashes.
The other flowers that were thinking of the same thing flinched and stayed like cute little flowers. They even increased the fragrance.
"Hmmm." Varian took another deep breath and thought of his next step.
Technically, he had a lot of time at hand to explore more locations and grow stronger.
Except he didn't.
The partially explored region opened up a new area called Ruler's Abode. It could be accessible only through keys. He got the key a few hours ago.
Since it opened only on 45th, he should have all the time till then.
But there was a big problem—Reaching the Ruler's Abode.
Since it was a partially explored region, it wasn't as safe as other places. Moreover, this particular region was notorious for its difficult environment.
'In the original plan, Enigma said I'd be able to skip the difficulty and reach the ruler's abode in ghost ship.' Varian recalled the conversation and smiled wryly.
Boo was still asleep. Ghost ship was still frozen.
The plan had gone to the dogs.
Now, Varian was forced to confront a reality where he no longer had it easy.
'Enigma also talked about how easy or hard it is to travel to that location based on an awakeners' level.' Varian tapped his chin and thought.
The flowers swayed in the wind as if dancing according to Varian's breathing.
'On a safe estimate, I'd take twelve days to reach there.'
That meant, he had to start on the 33rd. He'd reach the Ruler's Abode by the end of the 44th. Twelve full days.
That meant the only day he had left was—
"Fuck!" Varian jumped onto his feet and ran.
There was only one day he had left.
Today.
*** *** *** ***
"Azure Plains…" Varian stood on a mountain peak and gazed at the blue plains below.
There were hundreds of portals shaped in the form of a butterfly. These gates shone a bluish light covering their entrance.
This blue light from the portals' entrance shone down on the green grass and painted the entire plains blue.
Hence, the name Azure Plains.
Like the golden room, this was also a fully explored region.
The similarities didn't end there, however.
Like the golden room, azure plains was also once in a lifetime entrance. It was also a contest to kill.
And of course, it also adjusted the level of the opponents according to the level of the participant.
But.
The minimum level was 7. And instead of giving energy orbs, it would grant a treasure.
'Treasure…' Varian recalled the legends about the Azure Plains.
To put it graciously, Star Treasures that the trade union made were inspired by the treasures found here.
To put it bluntly, they were inferior copies of the treasures found here.
From one-star treasure to nine-star treasure to even Sovereign grade treasure, anything can be found here.
Of course, despite its grandeur, this place didn't offer any 'artifact'.
Artifacts were simply too powerful to be given to teens.
Because originally, the Azure plains were created for teens in the deva empire.
The small worlds, the test, the rewards—it was all basically a coming of age ceremony.
"Haa~" Varian sighed deeply.
Humanity found it hard to supply just their high awakeners with suitable treasures. But devas…they were giving away high-quality treasures as gifts to teens!
The disparity between humanity and devas was so vast that it made him wonder how such a mighty civilization crumbled leaving almost traces.
A few thousand years shouldn't be that damaging. Even though the system said they died out due to lack of aura, it was weird.
'Search the library. You will find the answers.' Varian recalled the words of the golden room's caretaker.
'But the library, there is no library.' Varian searched through the map.
All the explored regions and even partially explored regions made no mention of any library.
'It sucks.'
The Library was one of the important places, Varian felt that it'd not only be difficult to enter, but also to find.
'If it's hidden or something like that, I can kiss my chances of finding it goodbye.' Varian shook his head.
Then, he jumped down the hill.
Whoosh!
He landed in front of the portals like a feather.
There were several young men and women around him. But it was only a single glance before they went back to their thing.
'This area is much quieter and safer than that lake.' Varian noticed quite a few level 7s, and a couple of level 8s here.
He could even feel a more terrifying aura in the distance.
'A level 9…he's watching everyone.' It must be to maintain law and order here.
It made sense since higher-level awakeners could simply snatch treasures of level 7s and there was nothing they could do about it.
But if it was done, it'd discourage the actual geniuses and would hinder their growth.
That's why they deployed even a level 9.
Varian felt a sense of irony at this law and order.
He wanted to go to the dungeon to awaken for many years. But due to the terrible cost sought by the adventurers, it was always out of his reach.
The federation, the people, and even the adventure council gave no fuck about it.
But here, it was the complete opposite.
'No one is ever equal. Since there is no equality…' Varian kicked the ground.
Whoosh!
'I'll make the inequality in my favor.'
