After Valyr reminded everyone one last time that they'd be heading to the four quadrants tomorrow, as if everyone had lost all reason to keep their bodies and minds awake, all five of them headed into their respective tents in the middle of the day, closing their eyes as they finally got some proper rest.
However, even though they had a feeling that they would be able to sleep through the remainder of the day and wake up the very next day, all of them subconsciously stopped themselves from doing so, waking up by the time the sun was only a couple hours away from setting.
Though some of them still somewhat worried about what was going on in the outside world and how the situation would worsen the longer they stayed in the inheritance, they forced themselves to not think about it for the meantime, reminding themselves that it would affect their overall goal in entering the inheritance if they did.
With that, Loreina passed the time by cooking dinner for the group while knitting and sewing a few articles of clothing with the fabric she had brought along with her. Unsurprisingly, Faulus did more or less the same thing as her, taking out his cauldron to concoct a few batches of the vials they might need in their expedition tomorrow. Knowing that Loreina was more tired than any of them, the alchemist also helped out in cooking, cutting up the ingredients that were needed or controlling the flame in the pit to a reasonable temperature.
As for Hal, seeing that there wasn't really much else he could do to help the others out in the campsite, he decided to head out to the plains to fight against the aberrations. Giving everyone else the reason that he wanted to familiarize himself with his Intent Seed that had been upgraded, he headed in a random direction away from the campsite after assuring everyone that he'd return an hour or so after sunset.
Hearing that Hal was going to fight against the aberrations to polish his combat prowess, Valyr was inclined to do so as well, especially with the fact that he now had three Intent Seeds under his belt thanks to the trial.
Though the effects each Intent Seed had on the Attack stat coefficient did not stack, with only the most developed Intent Seed taking effect, each Intent Seed still offered a substantial change to his combat style. With that in mind, the young man wanted to capitalize on it and familiarize himself with it in the off chance he would need it in the journey.
Unfortunately for him, Vera, who opted to not do anything for the remainder of the day, had the young man stay put in the campsite as she taught the latter what Mystic Energy was and the ways to manipulate it. Recalling that the young woman still hadn't fulfilled Mystia's promise, Valyr eventually shrugged his shoulders and stayed put, intently listening to Vera's lecture.
After all, with how most of their journey involved combat, he essentially had a lot of time to familiarize with his three Intent Seeds. On the other hand, there was no guarantee that they would have more time to talk about Mystic Energy, especially after they went their separate ways after they left the inheritance.
With that, the rest of the day passed by with not much interesting going on. By the time night arrived, everyone huddled around the fire pit to talk about some of their experiences in the outside world before calling it a day, finally allowing their bodies and minds to get the full rest they sorely needed.
…
"Haah…" Yawning as he got out of his bed, Valyr did a few basic stretches with his body before heading out of his tent. Doing a simplified version of the morning routine he usually did, the young man felt like his body and mind had somewhat recovered from the suffering he had put both through, inwardly hoping that they wouldn't have to do something like that again.
Seeing as the others were still fast asleep, the young man briefly looked at the red-orange sky gradually turning more and more blue before proceeding to cook up breakfast for the five of them. Unsurprisingly, once the scent of freshly cooked breakfast began to waft throughout the area, the others finally got out of their tents, grabbing a part of the breakfast Valyr cooked before taking a seat around the fire pit.
"So, we're heading to the quadrants, right?" Regaining more and more of his energy with every consecutive bite he took, Hal took a look at Valyr beside him before asking a question.
In response, Valyr nodded. "Yeah, but we're not gonna head out that soon. Probably in about two hours or so."
"Got it." Hal nodded back, savoring each bite of food he took. Seeing how much delight his breakfast brought to everyone's faces, the young man took a brief glance at his empty plate, only to recall the information he had gained from the system regarding the Gates of Enlightenment.
"What's wrong?" Noticing that Valyr had a frown on his face all of a sudden, Hal asked in slight worry.
Giving the man an apologetic smile, the young man slowly shook his head as he replied, "It's nothing. I was just reminded of something that I should've told you guys yesterday."
"In any case, I'll tell you and the others more about it while we're on our way to the quadrants." Though his curiosity was piqued by Valyr's words, seeing as the others still needed a bit more time to become fully alert, Hal could only nod in response as all of them gradually prepared for their departure to the four quadrants.
…
"Did anyone forget to store anything into their spatial bracelet?" Asking this question to the others, Valyr took a brief glance at where their campsite had been. Though he was more than certain that no one forgot anything, he still went ahead with it just to be doubly sure.
"We're more than ready to depart," replied Faulus, with the others nodding in agreement. Hearing that, Valyr nodded back as the five of them finally began to make their way to the quadrants.
"So, what did you want to tell us, Valyr?" Running through the vast plains of the inheritance at brisk speeds, Hal began to initiate a conversation with the young man beside him, recalling the short conversation they had during breakfast. "You told me earlier that you were supposed to tell us about it yesterday."
Hearing his name being called, Valyr nodded. "It's about the Gates of Enlightenment."
"What about it?" As the information Valyr wanted to share involved the thing that brought them sleepless nights for the past couple of days, the other four instantly focused on what he wanted to tell them.
"What if I told you…" Asking the question to the others, the young man thought about how he would go about saying it. Though, at the very moment he figured out how, the four were left at a complete loss for words, even going so far as to stop in their tracks.
"What if I told you that the Gates of Enlightenment is only a small part of a bigger organization?"
