"Care to explain more about it?" Recovering from the shock Valyr's words had given them, Hal took a bit of time to return to normal as he asked the young man a question. "Also, where did you even get this information?"
In response, Valyr wryly smiled. "Where else would I get it, if not for the trials?"
Though Valyr knew that it would be better if less people were to know the information that he had gotten from completing the First Forger quest, the young man also knew that it would be useless for him to hide it.
After all, if he were to move on his own in order to gain access to the Gates of Awakening or the Gates of Transcendence, it would be a given for the other four to become suspicious and corner him.
With that, he decided that it would be better for him to share a bit of the information rather than keep all of it to himself.
By sharing it, even though all of them would more or less arrive at the same point, he could use the information he had kept to himself to still be ahead of the others.
A great example of that would be the map of important locations within the Gates of Enlightenment he had received from the system.
Feeling that it would take a while for the leader of their group to explain everything they needed to know, the five of them decided to stop their journey to the four quadrants for the meantime.
Collating the information he would share with the others in his mind, Valyr moved in front of them as he took in a deep breath.
"Hmm... where should I begin?" Briefly scratching the back of his head, Valyr eventually found a train of thought to follow as he began his explanation. "Well, to start off this explanation, have you guys heard of sects before?"
Hearing his question, Hal nodded in agreement. "What about it?"
"Think about the usual hierarchy that applies within sects," replied Valyr, prompting Hal to ponder over it in silence for a bit.
"That's basically the hierarchy that applies within the organization the Gates of Enlightenment is a part of, with the Gates of Enlightenment considered to be equal to where the outer disciples would be in sects," he continued.
While Hal eventually nodded in understanding in response to the young man's words, the other three were still somewhat confused by his explanation. "What kind of hierarchy do sects use exactly?"
"Well, it depends from sect to sect," said Valyr in response, only continuing after the others nodded in response.
"But most of the time, the hierarchy starts from outer disciple, then inner disciple, then core disciple. There are also elders and protectors and all that, but I'm talking about it from our perspective where we still have a ways to go before reaching the peak of power."
Giving the others some time to digest the information he shared, Valyr only continued his explanation after a couple of minutes had passed.
"Those who passed the Gates of Enlightenment are equivalent to those who are considered outer disciples in the sect. Usually, people at this level don't get access to much stuff."
"Which is why it's kind of weird for us to receive such precious rewards just from completing the trials," said Valyr, shrugging his shoulders.
"However, from the information I received after completing the trials, the two gates that exist above the Gates of Enlightenment contain rewards far greater than the advancements or the Intent Seeds that we comprehended." At this point, the four were intently listening to Valyr's each and every word, not wanting to miss even a single line.
"The gate that corresponds to the level of inner disciples is called the Gates of Awakening, while the gate that corresponds to the level of core disciples is called the Gates of Transcendence," said Valyr to the others.
"These three gates make up the entire organization that's aptly named the Triad Gates."
"And I plan to enter the Gates of Awakening after arriving at the four quadrants."
Feeling like he had explained almost everything the others would need to understand the current situation, Valyr then talked about the thought he had while waiting for the four of them to return from the Gates of Enlightenment.
Hearing about how each portion of the inheritance they were in possibly corresponded to a specific gate in the organization, the others soon began to think of the same thing Valyr was thinking earlier.
To no surprise, all of them now wanted to enter the Gates of Awakening for themselves to gain even more from the inheritance.
During this time, he also explained the concept of authority levels to the others, talking about how each building needed a specific authority level in order for one to be able to access it without any problems.
By the end of it, he told them that the need for a higher authority level might be unnecessary once they entered the Gates of Awakening since they would then be considered a higher rank than those from the Gates of Enlightenment.
Unsurprisingly, whether it was the information Valyr had dumped onto the four regarding riches, or the inference the four made from the information the young man had given them, the four seemed to have regained their motivation.
With that, they headed to the four quadrants at the greatest speed they could muster, their expressions as eager as it could be.
Fortunately for them, Valyr was of the same mind, casting a couple of skills on all of them that enhanced their movement speed. By the time the sun had gone past its zenith, the five of them stood at the periphery of the closest quadrant to them, the south quadrant.
...
"We're here." Staring at the beings that roamed the long-dilapidated streets of the south quadrant, Valyr had a slightly conflicted expression on his face.
Wondering if he was the only one to feel this way, he then proceeded to look at the others, only to see that their expressions were similar to his.
Activating his identification skill on one of the roaming creatures, Hal looked at the others before asking a question that resonated with everyone else. "Do we really have to kill these guys?"
Though the information they received from their identification skills told them that they were in no way similar to who they were, the appearance of the creatures made them greatly hesitate on whether to continue their journey or not. After all, from their point of view...
These beings were fellow humans, no?
