Birth Of The Crafts-God

Chapter 256 Decision

"Where are we?" The heiress of the CEO of a top 300 company asked.

Compared to Lucas who had recovered thirty minutes earlier, some of the other tourists were regaining their senses at the moment.

Some in the group of scions and young prodigies, for instance, had only awoken at this period.

"You're finally awake I see." Duran, the pioneer who acted as the guide for the group, said.

Compared to some of the scions, he had awoken earlier just like Lucas. However, since he was tasked with acting as their guide, he didn't make any moves and waited for them to wake up. There was that, and also the fact that their seven bodyguards were awake as well. So, even if he didn't have any malicious intents and wanted to leave the group, he couldn't; after all, he was their guide.

Apart from Duran and the seven bodyguards, Laura and William were also awake before the others. Vergil woke up slightly after, whereas the other three including the girl, were recovering at this moment.

When Laura and William woke up, they had originally tried to rouse the others but failed. In the end, they opted to wait a while for them, but after ten minutes, only Vergil came around. As such, they decided to explore the area. Two of the bodyguards were sent out as scouts to get a better understanding of the layout, while Laura and William discussed with Duran to understand the East Braftford relics better.

Twenty minutes had gone by since then, but only one bodyguard had returned. This made the group worried, but they didn't take any unnecessary moves as they felt that their current location was quite safe. Also, the others were still asleep and moving with them would inhibit the group's reaction and strength. Now that they were awake, they could proceed with the next step.

After informing the trio of their findings, they stood up and prepared to move in the direction scouted by the bodyguard who had survived.

Whether it was the correct route or not, no one could say. But it was the only one with a chance of survival. As for their original location, they couldn't stay there forever. No one knew when help would come or whether they would be found. As such, it was best to take matters into their hands for the time being.

"So, Mr Duran surmised that our current location is either the inner or outer region. Then, how can we be so sure we aren't walking into the pit?"

One of the young scions, the nephew of the chairman of a trading alliance, asked. By 'pit', he was referring to an even worse ending than the bodyguard who had died.

The young man's uncle was an old man who was without a family of his own. He had no kids nor a wife, leading to a vacuum of his inheritance. As such, the chairman looked towards the children of his siblings. The young man was one of the brightest amongst his nephews and nieces, and possessed a lot of talent and potential. Apart from that, the young man had lost his father at a very young age, which made him a prime candidate for a successor in the eyes of the old man. He then took the young man in and raised him, naming him his successor and turning his life around.

Despite all of that, as someone born from a humble beginning, the young man had a cautious and meticulous nature, which was something his uncle liked about him.

"We don't have a choice." Vergil sighed.

"On one hand, it's certain death. And on the other hand, a chance at survival."

"But how can we be so sure that it is certain death? What if he died because he was alone, while we can survive together?" The young man countered.

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His words put some doubt on the faces of the others and they seriously began to consider the issue.

The bodyguard was a fourth level stellar practitioner. However, three of the remaining six were fifth level stellar practitioners, and the others were at the fourth level. There were also characters such as Laura and William who were at the fifth level and armed with exquisite vestiges. Duran was also a fifth level stellar practitioner.

Against the threat that killed the bodyguard, there was a good chance that they could destroy it, and even if they couldn't, they would at least be able to still come out alive.

But what if they couldn't?

This was the question that plagued the group as they knew nothing about what had taken the bodyguard's life. Communicators didn't work here and the only means of communication was verbal relaying, or speech. Unless the bodyguard could somehow rise from the dead and return to then, the group could only go through the same path if they wished to find the truth. That or...

"Should we send another scout?" The heiress suggested. The three fifth level bodyguards were sent to protect the Mertens siblings and William, so she had no authority over them and could only suggest this.

Since a fourth level Apertures Opening stage stellar practitioner failed to survive, a fifth level stellar practitioner should. No matter how powerful the Sunil civilisation was, there was a limit to their technology after all, they didn't even exceed the tenth level of the Apertures Opening stage. If this was the inner region, a fifth level stellar practitioner should be able to survive the majority of threats here.

Even though this didn't sound like a bad idea, bodyguards were hyumans too. Their safety hinged on the possibility that this was the inner region and not the core region. If it was the latter, even a fifth level stellar practitioner would die. There was a reason why the core region had never been explored, at least publicly.

"We can't weaken our forces like that." William rejected the idea right away.

"We either go together or pick the other route."

At this point, Duran, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.

"Why don't we go check out the safe route first? I've been to the inner region once and as long as I can find some familiar elements, I'll be able to discern where we truly are. Our focus shouldn't be on taking risks but figuring out where we are first. After that, we can decide whether or not to take such risks in our bid to escape this place."

The idea was welcomed as not only was it logical, but it avoided what the group feared the most, danger.

Duran's suggestion was to safely explore the region first so as to figure out which of the two they were in. If it was the inner region, they could take some risks in their bid to escape. However, if it was the core region, they would have to be even more cautious and avoid any single trace of danger.

It was a logical proposal and they saw nothing wrong with it. Unknown to them, Duran sighed with relief. He had brought up the proposal to avoid becoming a scout and fighter for the group. Although he had some value to the group thanks to his experience and knowledge, when push comes to shove, Duran would be thrown to the front lines. This was because he had less intrinsic value to the scions when compared to their bodyguards, who were trained to die for them.

Even if they didn't abandon Duran, they won't be able to protect him during dangerous events as they would be focused on their own lives. Their bodyguards also won't care about him as their attention would be on preserving the lives of the scions. Since that was the case, it was best to avoid danger from the start.

'I can only hope that we find a clue fast.' Duran thought.