Healing System

Chapter 211 Trial of the Golden Dragon Sect (15)

'This isn't it... Right?' Michael looked downward with a cracking smile.

Initially, he had expected to arrive before some grand mountain, filled to the brim with dragons.

Instead, there was a fire spanning the entire forest and a half-destroyed mountain in sight.

These were no ordinary flames—they were made of mana, similar to the kind the drakes used, but much stronger.

And they had one distinct property that made them seem off: the color black.

The flames surged upward and all around, exuding extreme destructiveness.

But it also meant that this fire had started not too long ago—otherwise, it would have spread much further.

Checking the map, Michael couldn't spot any dots or anything else for that matter.

Instead, he opted to be even more certain by using Eyes of the Great Sage.

Only then was he able to tell that something was off—all of the black fire was concentrated in one particular spot.

Michael decided to go down and check it out, spreading out his own mana and using much more than expected just to dispel the black flames.

Until finally, he found the source—it was just a simple mushroom.

'Is this a joke?' he questioned himself, trying once again to look around.

But no, this was actually it. The mushroom was the source.

Pick it up perhaps, the system suggested, and he decided to follow along.

After all, what's the worst that could happen?

Reaching down, he grabbed hold of the mushroom and pulled, but he quickly noticed it was difficult to extract.

Michael frowned and resorted to using much more of his strength, even infusing mana into his hands.

And yet, it was impossible to pull out.

Therefore, he resorted to the next best thing—simply cutting it off with a sword.

Summoning a sword of light, he aimed it toward the mushroom and swiftly cut.

Surprisingly, it felt as though he was cutting through metal, but nonetheless, it finally worked.

The moment it did, the ground shook beneath him, immediately extinguishing all the flames around.

But that wasn't all. A large amount of mana began exuding from the mushroom in his hands, and before long, he started falling into a pit which magically appear below him.

Michael attempted to use his wings, but it felt as though gravity was strongly against him. Even with the mana he infused into his wings, boosting them to their maximum potential, it still didn't work.

Therefore, he opted for the next best thing—creating tens, maybe even hundreds, of swords of light and using each one to stab into the walls that were growing farther and farther away from him.

Yet as he did so, there was only a tiny bit of friction, causing each of his swords to slide off the walls, making it extremely difficult to anchor himself.

He kept trying for a few moments but soon realized it was pointless. Resigned, he gave in to his fate of falling to wherever he was headed.

'Got any ideas?' Michael questioned the system.

Just wait for a little bit. Doesn't look like you'll die. Probably.

'Probably? Yeah, that's not very assuring,' he muttered, trying out some other ideas to catch himself mid-air, but all proved futile.

That was until he began seeing light at the bottom, positioning himself in a way that would absorb the impact and spare his legs.

The momentum at which he was falling would injure even someone like him.

But just as he prepared to face-plant and break his legs, gravity reversed for only a moment, acting as some sort of trampoline that began gliding him downward.

Soon, a golden room appeared before him, along with a single broken-down door at least twice his height.

There were also some strange symbols etched into the walls, some of which he thought he recognized, but upon further look, it was nothing alike to what he had knowledge.

Which prompted the question, 'Can you translate?'

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But he was simply ignored, so he helplessly turned to the side.

He noticed a few piles of gold bars scattered across the ground but chose to ignore them for a moment.

That was—after pocketing a few gold coins into the bag he carried. They looked a bit more expensive than the gold coins he'd gotten from the escort mission.

Say, system, any way for you to pocket some in that little temporal dimension of yours? Michael haggled sarcastically, not expecting much.

However, he heard a sigh, and with it, at least half of the gold in the room suddenly disappeared.

Happy?

'Yup,' he affirmed with a small chuckle, heading toward the door in front of him.

Michael swiftly went through the door, only to appear in complete and utter darkness, which he quickly illuminated using his light skills.

But even then, all he saw was a narrow hallway with some kind of holes in the walls that seemed to lead nowhere.

Yet, at the same time, they exuded mana—as if mirroring his own.

Michael remained extremely wary of what awaited him, if anything at all.

So far, it looked like some sort of tomb, though there were neither coffins nor anything of the sort—it was truly abandoned.

However, he soon came upon a certain hole in the wall that was much wider than the others. Upon looking into it, he saw something he hadn't expected.

A golden eyeball stared directly at him, but as Michael blinked, it suddenly disappeared. The same went for the mana signature—it had completely vanished.

Instead of asking the system for help, he decided to investigate on his own, using the Eyes of the Great Sage skill. Immediately, he spotted some sort of trail.

It led him forward, the holes in the walls pulsating with strange mana that seemed to gloss completely past him.

Yet he knew that whatever awaited at the end was either what he was looking for or something he'd rather not see.

There's only one way to find out, no? the system remarked, and he merely nodded.

'Yup.'