"That was a shorter journey than I initially thought."
After deciding to head to the center of the city ruins just after sunset, Valyr expected their journey to take quite some time.
Of course, the reason for that was not because of the lack of sunlight. Something like that could be easily solved with a simple spell.
Instead, it was because they were going to tread deeper into the city ruins themselves in order to get to the center.
Which meant that they would have to face primitive humanoids at every possible moment along the way.
With that in mind, the trio remained vigilant as they headed deeper into the south quadrant, choosing paths and streets that reduced their exposure towards the primitive humanoids.
Though there were a couple of times where they were forced to fight against the primitive humanoids to move onward, it was as if the majority of their journey towards the center had become smooth sailing.
Nearly every time, whenever they were at a junction that led to various paths along the quadrant, there was always a path that seemed to have next to no primitive humanoids roaming through them.
At some point, they had even gotten a consecutive streak of paths that had no primitive humanoids ambushing them whatsoever.
Naturally, the trio began to wonder whether their luck was finally looking up, considering the hardships that they had gone through to get where they were at the moment.
However, as if the heavens were pulling a prank on them, they had been ambushed by a massive group of humanoids just as they were close to the center.
Then again, with their strengths improved thanks to the Gates of Awakening, even a large group of primitive humanoids had been reduced to a slight nuisance.
In total, it took the trio a few hours to arrive at the center, with the moon only a couple hours away from reaching its zenith.
"Seems like we won't be able to set up camp here that easily." Looking around their surroundings for vacant areas, Valyr turned around to look at the two before shaking his head with a sigh.
Unlike the south quadrant, as well as the other quadrants they had explored before, the center was nearly filled to the brim with possible opponents roaming around every corner.
If those opponents were only as strong as the primitive humanoids that barred them, then the trio would have carved a space for themselves and set up camp that way.
However, just like how there was a difference in strength between the aberrations and the primitive humanoids, the same went for the beings that roamed the center of the city ruins.
Though Valyr and the others could not make out their appearances because of the darkness, the aura these beings radiated had already made them realize that the trio had arrived at the center of the ruins.
After all, where would one find a sea of beings as strong as quadrant leaders if not at the center of the city ruins?
Searching around for areas they could set up a temporary camp in, the trio eventually decided to ditch their initial ideas.
Instead, they headed into an abandoned building that looked and felt stable, using that as their temporary camp for the meantime.
"Well, that's quite the view."
Making their way up the abandoned building, the trio eventually found themselves at the rooftop, giving them a great view of the center of the city ruins.
If it were any other time, the trio would have probably admired the sight before them as they felt their bodies relax.
But as they were at the part of the inheritance that housed the strongest enemies they would have to face, it only reminded them that they would have to fight against these beings sooner or later.
After talking for a bit, the three decided to set up camp at the rooftop, with Valyr cooking a meal as always.
"A long day awaits us tomorrow," said the young man as he stared at the two waiting for him to finish cooking. "My suspicions tell me that we'll probably have to grind authority again."
At those words, Vera and Hal slightly shuddered in fear.
"Fighting 100 beings with the equivalent strength of quadrant leaders just for an additional level of authority?" said Hal as he shook his head. "I'd rather not."
"We don't really have much choice," said Valyr in response as he shrugged.
At the same time, he took a small taste of the food he cooked, his eyes widening in satisfaction.
Telling the two that the food was ready, the three then grabbed themselves plates of food as they prepared their minds for what was to come tomorrow.
"Then again, what's there to fear about?" Valyr looked at the others as he dug into his food.
"We've grown a lot stronger thanks to the Gates of Awakening. We don't even think much into fighting against primitive humanoids anymore."
"That is true…" Hal agreed with the young man's words. "However, what if these beings have a second and third phase like the quadrant leaders?"
"Not to mention the Myth-level being at the actual center of the ruins," said Vera, prompting Hal to nod in agreement.
Listening to their words, Valyr thought back to the time he had killed three quadrant leaders in a row on his own.
With that in mind, the young man shrugged his shoulders and assured the two that they would be fine.
"Relax. It's not like it's mandatory for us to fight against the beings below on our own, no?"
After saying more things that went along a similar train of thought, the somewhat tense atmosphere that arose from Hal's statement eventually dissipated on its own.
Then, after talking about a few more topics to pass the time, the trio went into their respective tents.
Within minutes, the three fell into a deep slumber, the thoughts in their mind thinking about the kind of beings they would be up against the next day.
Though, by the time they woke up to finally see what they would be up against, a couple of them looked at their foes with their mouths fully agape.
