"Ryen, does the Twilight Forest portal require any rare materials?"

Ganyu blinked curiously at Ryen.

"Why do you ask?"

Ryen returned the question, and Ganyu began counting on her fingers:

"The Nether portal needs obsidian, which was hard to get in the early stages for us.

The End portal requires enough Eyes of Ender to locate and activate,

and if it weren't for the Lucky Block mod, we'd have had to kill a lot of Endermen—again, a rare resource.

Since the Twilight Forest has even greater treasures than those worlds, it makes sense that its portal should require rarer materials too!"

She made a good point, but Ryen just chuckled and patted Ganyu on the head.

"It doesn't require any special materials. Just follow me and you'll see."

With that, Ryen stood up, went to the basement, and fetched some items.

Then he walked out of the courtyard, scanning his surroundings for a suitable location to place the portal.

Honestly, the Twilight Forest portal didn't take up much space,

but the spot still needed to be controlled—

if people wandered in at will, there could be trouble.

After thinking for a moment, Ryen walked over to the open space between the farm and the lake.

"This will do!"

He smiled, took out an iron shovel, and dug a 2×2 square hole in the ground.

Then he poured in a bucket of water, and planted the edge densely with flowers.

Finally, he took out a diamond. Glancing back at the crowd that had gathered much too close,

he sighed helplessly:

"Don't stand so close. Move back. If you get struck by lightning later, don't blame me for not warning you!"

"Lightning?"

Venti tilted his head in confusion.

The next moment, everyone saw Ryen toss the diamond into the water.

The once-clear twilight sky, cloudless a moment before, suddenly rang with a deafening crack of thunder.

A bolt of lightning struck straight down onto the pool.

In an instant, the water turned into shimmering, violet-hued ripples—

strange and mesmerizing, like the surface of a Nether portal.

Everyone clicked their tongues in awe,

stepping forward to examine the sight more closely.

Tartaglia's eyes lit up—he clearly wanted to jump right in and see this "extremely dangerous" Twilight Forest for himself.

But with so many eyes watching, he restrained himself.

If he messed around now, they might not let him tag along in the future.

Still, the eerie allure of the Twilight Forest was almost irresistible to him.

Swallowing hard, Tartaglia asked quietly,

"So… it's done?"

Ryen nodded.

"A 2×2 portal is the most basic size. We're just going to explore, so there's no need to make it bigger.

If we need to later, we can always build another one."

He glanced around at the group, who were now leaning in so close they were practically stepping inside.

Helpless, Ryen took out some fences and quickly enclosed the portal.

"What are you fencing it off for? The portal's built—shouldn't we be studying it up close?"

Venti complained, hands on hips, clearly displeased.

"You call that research? You just want to go in there and play!"

"Eh-heh!"

Busted, Venti looked a little embarrassed and muttered,

"Playing can still be exploring, you know…"

Ryen rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, no one's going to the Twilight Forest today. We'll head out tomorrow once we're fully prepared.

Also, we need to decide who's coming and who's staying behind to guard the place."

Seeing Ryen's firm tone that brooked no argument, the group didn't press the matter further.

They simply cast one last longing look at the Twilight Forest portal before pulling their gazes away.

Suddenly, something clicked in Tartaglia's mind. Stroking his chin, he began to ponder.

Since there were all sorts of portals… who said this world could only have these three?

What if…

Other portals could be built through some special method?

What if there was a world even better suited for honing combat skills?

He subtly glanced at the others, then smirked inwardly.

Looks like I'm the first one to think of this!

Right then, Tartaglia spoke up:

"Mr. Ryen, since there are so many strange portals and so many extra worlds…

is it possible there might be other portals that lead to entirely different dimensions?"

Ryen's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Tartaglia with genuine admiration.

"You really are a clever one!"

~~----------------------

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