The Earth ruins or simply Trian Ruin was vast.
However, the exploration of ruins had been going on for centuries. So, humanity more or less knew every area.
Of course, they only knew.
In the early stages, humans were much weaker. Even level 7s were incredibly rare back then.
So, the exploration of ruins took time. It started with the weakest areas and then slowly, but surely, humans have uncovered almost every area with their current strength.
A few decades ago, they hit a ceiling in a sense.
They uncovered everything they could uncover. What they couldn't uncover was beyond their strength.
For instance, the Silver valleys. It was a place covered by a silver barrier all the time.
When a level 9 tried to cross the barrier, they were repulsed. But it wasn't without cost. The level 9 was on the verge of death.
Then, Sovereigns themselves came to explore it. However, it was beyond even their reach.
'I am confident of crossing this barrier. But what will reach the other side will only be my body. I'll be dead by then.'
Those were the words of Ceaser Xander.
Julius used to visit the area until recently. But even he didn't attempt to break into the area.
So, unexplored areas were a no-no.
Then there were fully explored areas which people knew a lot about out, if not everything.
Finally, there were partially explored areas. Regions which people had understanding, but not enough.
For example, an underground dungeon with thousands of tunnels, each leading to different locations.
These partially explored regions weren't too dangerous, but being careless could cost one's life.
For this reason, partially explored areas became the favorite spot of every team.
It was the perfect balance of risk and reward.
And there was always a chance of an adventurer discovering a big treasure and striking it rich.
'Compared to them, explored areas are far less popular.' Varian clicked his tongue as his figure blurred.
In one second, he was on top of a mountain, and in the next, he was on a tree, miles away from the mountain.
Like a flickering light, he disappeared and reappeared.
The bracelet on his wrist had a very crude locating function, but it was enough.
'But they're the best bet for me. I can accurately pick the ones that can help me instead of risking my life recklessly.'
In thirty minutes, Varian arrived at the foot of a large mountain. With a kick, he shot up the hill and paused.
He saw it.
It had the dimension of an apartment, but it was only a gate. A golden gate that was so high and tall that he had to raise his head to see its end and turn around to take in its complete width.
The gate was carved with deva script, which still was only partially understood.
"Finally…" Varian heaved a sigh of relief and walked forward.
To his surprise, there was a crowd of 30 in the area.
'Wait, why are there so many people?'
Considering that ruins was as large as earth's and there were only a few tens of thousands of members in, 30 was a large number.
They were divided into multiple teams of three-five members, each team was fiercely discussing strategies and tactics.
After the words such as 'limits', 'overcome', 'endure' were thrown around, the discussion finally took a turn.
Everyone came together and started what seemed like 'betting'.
"Don't bet on those martian cry babies. Their squads didn't do shit the last time we crushed the abyssal patrols." A handsome man said as he with curly brown hair snorted in disdain.
Varian felt like he saw him somewhere, but couldn't remember. 'Pretty sure it's a solar banquet.'
"The best bet is on Neptune." A woman with long platinum hair chuckled and said. "Of course, Earth comes close, but we have an edge."
She too seemed familiar. Varian rummaged through his memories as the conversation continued.
"Nah, Venus will be the dark horse, this time Prince Felix himself will crush everyone."
"Darkhorse my ass, Prince Carl will show you what despair is."
"Fuck off. This is Earth and no one's going to take away the victory from us." A man with blue hair and golden eyes crossed his arms and declared.
The young men and women, who seemed to be in their mid-twenties marched towards the gate.
'This princeling gang, what are they doing?" Varian stood far away, having just recognized the group.
Of course, his presence was sensed by them. But since he didn't go any further, they didn't bother him.
'They want to keep up their reputation. Prince and Princess titles can be revoked after all.' Varian thought.
But the reason was actually very different.
'Hey, I can't feel that guy's aura at all.' A psychic looked at her teammates and furrowed her brows.
Such a situation usually meant that the other party was either unawakened or…much stronger than them.
'He is just watching us from distance. We don't have anything that interests him either. Just make sure to not bother him.' A man replied to her and nodded at the others.
The conversations continued, but now, they were much more reserved.
Meanwhile, Varian checked the identities of the group again.
It wasn't too hard to recognize these people. Since he was a mind awakener, he could retrieve any of his memories.
From his memory of the solar banquet, he noted that most of them were the princes and princesses.
They weren't too old, but the youngest of them was also in their early 40s.
'And their level is…'
[Prince Alex: Water. Peak Level 7]
[Princess Hua: Lightning. Peak Level 7]
[Prince Kane: Superhuman. Peak Level 7]
…
…
[???: Morpher. Peak Level 7]
Once he found out about their levels from the system, it was crystal clear.
'So they want to test which stage they can go, eh.' Varian's lips curled up.
He watched the thirty princes and princesses walk into the golden gate and disappear.
'What will be the highest?' He was curious for some reason.
Since these were the best geniuses in the solar system, they should give him an estimate of how far ahead or how backward humans were at the moment.
[Host, you shouldn't compare yourself to them. It's an insult.]
'Then who should I compare myself to?'
[For starters, try a 18-year-old level 9.]
'Fuck off!'
