CHAPTER 35: A TEST

They continued walking for a while, the cavern stretching far wider and deeper than the previous tunnels.

A few minutes later, they reached a corner where there was a hole in the wall around 1.7 meters big. James ducked as he stepped inside right after Cassian.

The moment he stepped through, he stopped in his tracks. An intensely rich energy filled the entire chamber, thick enough to taste. Far ahead, a soft golden radiance shimmered from what appeared to be an immense pond.

The inside was surprisingly vast, spacious enough to comfortably hold hundreds of people at once. Even the golden pond itself was spacious enough for many people to train within it simultaneously.

Drawn to the warm glow, James crouched by the pond and scooped up a handful of the liquid. Even a simple sniff sent a refreshing sensation coursing through his body.

He drank it without hesitation. A sweet, honey-like flavor lingered as the liquid slid down his throat, followed by a surge of unbelievably pure energy spreading through his entire being—energy far richer than anything he had experienced before.

’This energy is indeed much purer and easier to absorb compared to the Legendary Rank Crystals.’ James thought to himself.

"Dad, where does this liquid come from?" James looked at his dad, who commanded the others to let everyone drink from the pond and started to absorb the energy while healing their injuries.

"There’s a small hole over there that supplies the liquid endlessly." Cassian pointed his hand at the corner of the pond.

"Why not dig toward the source? We might find the real treasure ground at that time." James raised an eyebrow.

"It’s not that simple. It’s said that this faction specialized in puppetry. If we force our way in recklessly, we might trigger a guardian puppet strong enough to kill us instantly. And the cave could collapse if we dig blindly." Cassian shook his head helplessly, then smiled bitterly as he continued.

"That’s why we decided not to bite off more than we can chew. For now, we should focus on increasing our strength. You might not know this yet, but the Grimwald Kingdom is just an unrated kingdom at the corner of the eastern region. Transcendent ranks are nothing in the outside world."

James’s curiosity was instantly piqued. "Can you tell me more about the outside world?"

He had once asked about this, but Cassian didn’t tell him since it wouldn’t do anything good even if he knew about them.

Cassian chuckled. "Sure. I’ll tell you what I know."

A few minutes later, James had finished listening to Cassian’s explanation while the rest continued healing themselves.

Cassian admitted that even he knew very little about the world beyond their region. The Grimwald Kingdom, it turns out, was one of many unrated kingdoms under the Drakensreich Empire, situated in a secluded area.

Even in this area alone, Grimwald Kingdom was something that’s not worth mentioning, as there was only one Transcendent Knight, which was the King himself. Compared to the other unrated kingdoms in the surrounding area, Grimwald Kingdom could be said to be a decent Kingdom.

Beyond these lay multiple 3rd-rate kingdoms, each ruled by an Abyssal Knight or a magician of equivalent rank—a necessary requirement to earn a "3rd-rate" classification.

Cassian also explained that anyone who wanted to leave this remote region and head toward the empire’s center had to cross an extremely dangerous area. A group required at least two Transcendent Ranks just to have the minimum qualification to attempt it.

But even then, one’s survival wasn’t guaranteed. Misfortune alone could claim the lives of even an Abyssal Rank.

That was why so few dared to travel to the outside world. According to rumors, the only way to cross safely was to have someone strong at the Cataclysm Rank protecting the group.

James was stunned. He had never imagined such a perilous barrier existed, and it only made him more interested in what lay beyond.

After explaining it to his son, Cassian seemed to be in deep thought for a few moments before walking toward the exit. "Let’s walk. There’s something I want to tell you."

James came back to his senses and quickly followed him. Nyxrael instantly stood up when he noticed that James seemed to be leaving.

"Just stay here." James chuckled, waving his hand casually.

...

After they exited the small cave that contained the pond and had walked quite far away, Cassian finally broke the silence. "I shouldn’t be telling you this yet. Traditionally, you would only learn this after becoming the next family head. But given our circumstances and your qualifications, you deserve to know in advance."

James raised an eyebrow, thinking for a moment but instantly gave up since he couldn’t come up with a definite guess. He had thought of a few possibilities, as he was certain that this must be related to the Steelhearts, but he wasn’t sure which one.

"What is it, Dad?" He asked curiously.

"You once asked how our family possesses such incredibly powerful swordsmanship, right?" Cassian said with a light chuckle.

James nodded his head. "I did... Is it related to that?"

"Yes, somewhat. But what I want to tell you is more about the origin of the Steelheart Family." Cassian answered with a smile.

He then continued. "The funny thing is that even the information passed down through generations is incomplete. According to our records, if we want to uncover the true origin of the Steelhearts, we must visit something called the Divine Exclusion Mountain. But the problem is... we don’t even know where it is. All we know is that it’s not located anywhere in this isolated region."

’Interesting...’ James thought to himself. He tried figuring things out from the readers’ perspective, piecing together clues and possibilities as if analyzing a story’s hidden lore.

"Do you think it’s some kind of test? Since it says we have to visit the Divine Exclusion Mountain to learn the truth, maybe it’s a trial. Or maybe it’s a punishment, like our ancestors made a mistake and were exiled." James said excitedly, as if it had become some sort of puzzle that intrigued him.

Cassian was surprised that James reached such a conclusion so quickly.

"To be honest, we don’t know either. There are too many possibilities. But your guesses are similar to our own. If it is a test, the most likely reason might be related to revenge or something equally dangerous. A trial of that scale wouldn’t be simple." Cassian responded with a bitter smile.

"As you can see, even dealing with the problems in this kingdom is already a test of its own. Let alone searching for the Divine Exclusion Mountain, meaning we would have to cross that deadly region first. Even that journey alone could be considered part of the trial."

"Now that you mention it. It makes sense to be more of a test rather than the others." James nodded his head in agreement, as the reason why he thought the same was also because it was extremely hard for them to even find this Divine Exclusion Mountain since they needed to be extremely strong just to leave this area.