?When Kyle entered the gate, a familiar sensation of dizziness filled his head, but this time he did not even take a second to recover. His feet silently landed on a solid surface before he lifted his gaze to look at the scenery in front of him.
The space in front of him was rugged and weathered, filled with worn-out targets. His eyes trailed off toward the dented armor and weapons scattered around almost everywhere before finally stopping at the three heavily panting figures standing in the distance.
Kyle's eyes narrowed at them as he mused under his breath.
"Dwarfs?"
It wasn't his first time seeing dwarfs. He had seen some in Kingdom tersia, but he was still intrigued by them because, unlike normal humans, they were shorter in height.
Instantly, Kyle noticed the strangeness in their behavior. The trio was standing far away from each other, one in each corner of the large room that looked very similar to an old training ground. Moreover, their hands were devoid of any weapons yet they were panting like they had just run a marathon.
He wanted to observe them for a while quietly but unlike Yue and Sia, the moment Jian appeared behind him he started waving his hand at the dwarfs with enthusiasm as if they were his long-lost buddies.
"Hi, guys. What's going on here?"
Kyle's facepalm and the dwarfs instantly snapped their heads to look at the new arrivals with wary eyes. However, Jian was not done. His eyes roamed around the room before he backed away with knitted brows.
"What the? This room is so dusty and old. Moreover, aren't we already in the castle? So, why did the mechanical voice not announce our arrival? Hmm.."
One of the dwarfs suddenly grinned at Jian.
"Human, the voice will surely announce it you just need to cross the circular boundary drawn on the ground."
Jian gazed down and after spotting the boundary he raised his thumb toward the dwarf with a smirk.
"Oh right, thanks."
Kyle instinctively reached out to grab his collar but even before he could grab him, Jian turned to look back at him with a cheeky smile.
"What? Do you think I am idiot enough to step inside when I can clearly see their condition?"
Kyle rolled his eyes. He so desperately wanted to say that yes, you are an idiot but held it in.
Opposite them, the dwarf who asked Jian to step inside shrugged his shoulders with a scoff.
"Do whatever you want. Anyway, in the end, you have to step inside."
Kyle frowned and looked around the room. However, even after a minute, he was unable to locate any exit. At that moment, Jian suddenly tapped his shoulder and sucked in a deep breath.
"I will enter the battlefield first save me if I am in danger."
Under Kyle's speechless eyes, he jumped forward and landed directly inside the boundary, but to everyone's surprise, nothing happened. Regardless, the familiar mechanical voice finally reverberated in the air.
"Welcome new participants to the '012' treasure land."
"Counting the number of new arrivals...."
"Total new arrivals one; A (C+)-Rank human."
"Please do your best to complete the training designed for you."
The room was filled with eerie silence as Jian gazed back with a grin. He couldn't believe he was safe and sound! This outcome was a thousandfold better than the first time he entered a treasure island and almost lost his dear life.
"It's safe guys."
With a nod, Kyle, Yue, and Sia entered the boundary behind him, and the mechanical voice echoed in the air again.
"Welcome new participants to the '012' treasure land."
"Counting the number of new arrivals...."
"Total new arrivals four; One (D+)-Rank demi-human, one (C-)-
Rank elve, one (C+)-Rank divine beast, and one (??)-Rank human."
"Loading... unable to detect the rank of the human... Automatic rank would be assigned."
"Conclusion; The human would be assigned (F-)-Rank."
"Please do your best to complete the training designed for you."
In an instant, everyone snapped their eyes toward Kyle in shock. He was the only human among the ones who just crossed the boundary. However, no one was willing to believe that he was only (F-)-Rank!?
Jian was the first to question him regarding his rank.
"Bro?? How can you be (F-)-Rank? It's impossible-!"
His sentence was cut short because the land beneath his feet suddenly shook violently. Kyle reached out to pull him but just like Jian the ground beneath him also started quivering.
The dwarfs in the distance wiped their sweet with bitter smiles. They mumbled simultaneously under their breath.
"It's starting again."
The moment their words fell, the ground beneath everyone's feet was lifted upward before a round glowing transparent dome appeared around their bodies separately.
Kyle and Jian both hastily punched the dome but it did not even budge, instead a sharp current pushed them back.
A deep frown appeared between Kyle's brows. The moment he attacked the dome, he knew he could break it within ten or so minutes if he used his full strength. However, the problem was the current flowing in the dome. It targeted his mana, and he knew if he attacked the dome even for a minute he would lose all his mana. He glanced at the others calmly.
"Don't touch the dome."
Due to the sudden noise, Bia was startled awake, but before she could open her eyes fully, Kyle tapped her head with a chuckle.
"It's okay you can sleep I can handle it."
His ears twitched when a slow whistling voice reverberated around him. Instantly, he stepped backward to stand in the center of the dome. With a loud rumble, three moving targets appeared around them. The targets were old but on each target, a big '1000' was written. Kyle chuckled amidst the tense atmosphere.
"Now I know what the mechanical voice meant when it asked everyone to complete the training."
However, the treasure land was not done yet because, in the next second, a floating bronze key appeared in the center of the room. After the key appeared, the mechanical voice sounded once again.
"Only the participant who completed the training first would be shown the next path. The remaining had to try again. So, please do your best."
One of the dwarfs smirked and started punching one of the targets around him.
"I am going to take the key this time!"
The other dwarfs chuckled at him as they attacked the moving targets around them. The trio have been in this room for a while now but they failed to take the first key. The one who took it was a strong demi-human.
After them, Sia, Yue, and Jian also started attacking the targets. The room was filled with many noises as they hit their targets. The number on each target decreased with every successful hit.
Among them, Kyle was the only one standing silently without attacking the targets. Therefore, the moment Jian, Sia, and Yue noticed him they stopped and looked at each other.
As if noticing their behavior, Kyle looked up and said with a deep expression.
"Can not we just take the key without completing the task?"
