The ruins

Under the clear night sky full of twinkling stars and a big bright half moon, Athan was standing on the sand watching a big inverted U shaped entrance made with big brownish yellow stones that stood before him as cold dry winds hit his face.

The effect from the passage of time in this harsh desert lands were evident on the rocks from just their outer looks, no doors were present to block him out so Athan just casually walked in.

Inside the ruins were like a small town burned down by a fire, with building and House all black and broken.

The structure of the buildings were like those traditional chinese houses with courtyard-style houses including one or more courtyards enclosed by buildings or high walls on all sides.

These ruins were named [ Alisa Ruins ] by the people who discovered it first. They took all the valuable items from it and killed all the monsters that were residing here.

Being a place that was ruined by war it didn't had many valuables items left for the people who discovered it so the people who came next were disappointed and since then this ruin was abandoned as it wasn't worth people's time.

Somehow they forgot that valuables are always kept hidden and the most valuable things in this ruin wasn't those old weapons and ornaments that were left behind but the underground testing area that was used to train Genius Children of that era.

Walking around the ruins I came across a small temple like structure that was made like an old telephone both and was empty all inside.

It was all black and burnt, but the engraving of children running and chasing each other could still be clearly seen there.

Anyone who saw it for the first time would think it like some structure detached from the main building after getting burned but they would never notice that this is where the first test starts.

Although there weren't many details about the traps that were laid underground in this ruin but the main parts like the entrance, the traps near the tree traps in which most children die were explained in great detail.

Searching for a bit and removing all the dust i quickly found a sword image ingraved on the left side of the wall.

Cutting my finger just enough to let some drops of blood out, i smeared them on the tip of the sword.

A few minutes passed by and the blood was all dried up and seeped into the sword. It was so naturally done that if anyone who doesn't know about it try do the same, would only get bored and leave the place thinking it to be just a normal sword image.

Waiting for a few minutes i focused on the tip on the sword the was now not more just an engraving but a sharp tip was pointing outwards from the wall.

If one doesn't focus enough they wouldn't even find the difference, but this was it.

~Breath in!

~breath out!

I once again checked all the equipments and items i bought with me because after this there was no turning back.

Checking everything i stepped forward and put my finger on the tip of the sword and pressed it down till a few more drops of blood flowed down along the sword.

~clank!

Some gears moved and suddenly! the area under my legs disappeared and in the blink of an eye, my vision turned black and,

I was falling downwards.

10 mins.....

15 mins ...

30 mins...

I kept falling for about an hour when suddenly i saw light comming from below.

[ Fly ]

I quickly casted the spell causing my body to come down to a sudden stop and started slowly descending towards the light.

As soon as i reached down and stepped on the muddy floor, my body started becoming hot and i felt nauseating, my vision started getting blurry and my head hurts like hell.

I knew this was the poison reacting that entered in my body when i pressed my finger on the sword tip.

But the difficult part is I must not neutralize the poison. It wasn't told why, but it was told to not neutralize the poison till i ate the fruit or death was imminent if i try to do it.

This was not told to the children who were sent here to train and i could clearly imagine the result.

I grit my teeth and started walking with wobbly legs, with my blurry vision i could only make a vague outline of things. I know that the light in this underground hall was coming from the illumination stones naturally formed here.

Walking down the muddy road, i quickly shifted my face rightwards.

~swish!

But i was still a second late as an arrow brushed past my cheek making an inch long cut on my face.

I quickly setup a mana shield around me and banadaged the cut.

More poison seeped into my body and my vision was getting more blurry and my breathing got heavier. I quickly stood up and started running.

I know that running will only make the poison quickly mix with my blood and seep into the organs but i didn't had any choice, i had to risk it or my barrier would fall first.

It was getting harder and harder to maintain the barrier around me but the rain of arrows didn't show even a single sign of slowing down.

I knew that there was some mechanism placed here allowing the bows to track my location but the amount of arrows left in this underground place was still a little shocking to me. Even the poison was more potent than i imagined and i could feel my legs starting to get numb.

After 5 minutes of continuous running i finally came across the gate and opened it without any hesitation.

" A big mistake "

The moment i opened the door a blizzard hit my face almost sending me backwards and making me loose my focus on my barrier.

The barrier was only meant to block arrows and other solid objects and not air and winds.

" Hisss "

I made a little mistake and an arrow came through my barrier and plunged into my left arm.

" Damn! more poison "

I didn't know what was happening anymore around me, i closed my eyes because my vision was almost black at this point and focused my mana to create a ring of flames around me.

I augmented my body with mana and made a run towards a single direction, that i knew was right.

Running around for 5 minutes i finally felt the cold around me decrease and a sudden rain started falling on me, Making my head a little clear.

I slowly opened my eyes and found that my vision was back but the poison still existed in my body.

Shaking my head and removing the unnecessary thoughts, i entered the innermost area of this underground ruin.

My condition was at the worst state possible and i felt that if i had hit by a few more arrows then my fall here would have been imminent.

.

.

.

Letting out a long breath I dazedly stared at the scenery presented before me.

'I expected something out of the norm, but this…'

'Overwhelmed' would be the perfect word to describe the sensation I was feeling at the moment.

A huge towering tree stood in front of me. Its large roots deeply penetrated the hard rock, almost as if it was made of clay, and its lush green leaves made one wonder if there really was no sunlight here.

Right on the top of the tree was a pale red fruit that looked extremely succulent. It resembled a peach, but contrarily to a regular peach, it had a yellow glow enveloping it making it clear that it wasn't just your regular peach that you could get from the market.

I quickly came out of the shock that came upon the sight of the fruit and sent a fireball at the right side wall.

1minute..

2 minute...

3minute..

It took me 5 minutes to realize that the mechanism and traps near the tree were already out of function.

" F***k All my hardwork on learning curses "

I didn't know if i should curse my luck or praise it, but i still choose to curse it and after cursing a little i quickly moved forward without wasting anytime and came near the tree.

Taking a deep breath I looked directly at the fruit with burning desire.

'This is it…once I get my hands on the fruit, my talent will level up quickly.'

I thought as my eyes couldn't detach themselves from the pale red fruit that sat on top of the tree.

Glancing at the fruit above me, I raise my hand and plucked it with a flick.

I carefully observed the fruit.

Its pale red colour added with its holy-like glow that was enveloping it, made it seem like I was holding a fruit straight out from heaven.

Swallowing the saliva that was stuck inside of my throat, I gently open my mouth and took a small bite out of the fruit.

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( A/N - Please comment any mistake and suggestions )