21 The wish for Strength!
Marik's Pov:
When I was sleeping today, I felt that someone had entered my illusionary field around me. First, I thought it might be some blockhead who got trapped here and would die like several others in this mist illusion, after a while of wandering around.
If you don't have extreme determination and a very strong will you will never be able to get out of this place and will die of exhaustion in the infinite loop illusion, due to mental breakdown, starvation, etc.
Thousands of people have died like this and extremely few were able to survive Marik's illusion techniques. Yet those who survived the illusion ended up dying because of standing in my presence. They ended up losing their determination and will just by looking at me.
Today, it was the first time someone had made it out alive through my infinite loop illusion.
That kid had an extraordinary determination as if he knew that he could get out of the illusion easily and that there was nothing to worry about. He kept walking without any sign of exhaustion and fear of the unknown as if he knew that there was nothing to be afraid of.
Although the time inside my illusion moves faster when compared to the outer world. But the illusion still gives a real sense of time passing.
It was already the 15th day in the infinite loop illusion when that boy finally reached me. He had been walking with his strong will for 15 days straight and never showing a sign of wavering on his path.
This impressed me. It has been so many decades since I was last impressed like this. So, for the last test which was of standing in my presence, I tried to increase the pressure on his will, yet he remained as unwavering as ever while facing me and talked calmly.
After becoming an SS rank you can see through several truths and lies just by your intuition alone, yet, due to some unknown reason my intuition was not working on him, I was not able to determine if he was telling the truth or lie when he said, that he read about me in human record books.
So, I was even more surprised. This kid has something special, but I can't pinpoint what it is.
So, to fulfill my promise I opened a gate to his destination. Due to my illusion powers the person who goes through my gate will find themselves at the place they wanted to go, It can be anywhere in this world.
I wonder where that boy has gone. Even I don't know about the destinations on the other side after all. I just hope that boy knew where he wanted to go and would make it back alive.
'That kid was a strange one' (Marik)
Marik thought so in his mind, he shook his head and sighed after remembering that strange encounter with the human kid.
After a while, the huge snake put down his head and closed its eyes to sleep again for a few decades waiting for the next person to visit him. Looking forward to more such interesting encounters.
...
Rio's Pov:
After walking towards the tomb, Rio stood in front of a huge gate.
The gate was huge and seemingly made of some mysterious metal, it was showing signs of being rusted over a very long time.
Rio recalled in his head about this place from the novel.
According to the novel, Fade and Kira met Marik on their 6th day of walking through that infinite loop illusion and finally made their way toward the giant snake.
Well, you might wonder why it took so long for Rio to reach Marik. When Fade and Kira were able to do the same in just 6 days, did they have a stronger will than Rio?
Nope, it's just that they are both protected by heavenly will and these illusions can't trap the heaven's children for long.
Due to this, they were able to reach Marik so easily and so early even Marik himself was dumbfounded by this and was angered because it was the first time that his great illusion was not able to keep someone suffering in that loop illusion.
His pride as a great illusion master was hurt because of it. But then Kira mediated and was able to recognize the name of Marik.
She is not the main heroine for just being a mere harem member of Fade, she has a strong backing and she has been accustomed to many history books since childhood. Her father tried to provide her with everything, to the best of his abilities.
She has been always interested in history and was instantly able to recognize Marik because she read about this giant snake in the history books.
Kira Purposely praised Marik's past achievements of trapping the demon army in an eternal illusion, due to which, Marik forgave them both and opened a gate for them to reach their destination.
Although Marik seems like a humble old snake with a good personality, he takes extreme pride in his strength and achievements and will be pleased easily by praising him.
So, he was impressed by that little praise from Kira and let them both go.
Unlike Rio, who was being tested by Marik to figure out if he was telling the truth or was lying. It's a relief that Rio's 'True immunity' can block such unusual things used on him like 'intuition'.
If not for this skill, Rio would have never been able to survive this illusion test. After all the heavenly luck will not help Rio to reach the end and Marik could have seen through his lies if not for this skill. It was a close call this time, he could have been dead due to a single mistake this time.
But in the end, all of it was resolved without much of a problem occurring. This also proves that the heavenly will is not an absolute thing, it can be altered to some extent and your fate can be changed by hard work.
'Now that I think about it Fade and Kira found this place by mere coincidence or can be said luck' (Rio)
When Fade and Kira walked in the portal their destination was to get out of this forest and reach the academy, but how could the heavenly will let them go without giving any reward for passing this place?
Suddenly, strange fluctuations happened in the portal and they were led to this tomb to collect the rewards for themselves. Really a great coincidence isn't it?
Rio sighed in his mind and looked at the huge words written above the iron gate. These words were written in some ancient language which he didn't know, but since he had read the novel, he knew that it meant "The Tomb of Wishes".
Kira was able to figure this out because she knew of these ancient languages and similar kinds of stuff. Her talent in history is even greater than her talent in being an excellent mage. She is a walking book of history with so much knowledge.
'Tsk, that Fade got a gem by his side. Well, nothing can be done about that...' (Rio)
It's not like, Rio wants to get involved with that girl.
She is also a disaster magnet and will get in several disasters and Fade will have to save her life every time she gets stuck in these disasters. Rio doesn't have that much energy to spend on saving someone, not to mention, he is extremely selfish to begin with.
To get these ancient texts translated, he can't waste so much time building a relationship with her.
'Let's leave these things for later and do what I came here for...' (Rio)
After sorting out everything in his mind, Rio walked towards the gate and gave it a light push.
The gate opened without much effort. There was a long corridor behind the gate. As Rio entered the corridor the huge gate closed behind him, all by itself, but Rio was not surprised by this, because he knew this was just a mere mechanism of that gate.
After walking continuously in that long corridor, Rio finally reached its end. There was a huge hall at the end, and a beautiful lake was present in the middle of this hall.
Looking at the Right side of the Lake, a Grave was present there. Rio walked towards the grave and observed it for a while.
A thought came to his mind:
'So, this is the grave of the greatest Magician Ivan, Such Irony...' (Rio)
It was said that Ivan was the greatest magician recorded in history and was capable of destroying continents with a mere spell. He was one of the few people who had reached the peak of SS grade and were already qualified to break through the limit and reach a new realm.
Yet the great bottleneck hindered his way to ascension and he failed to ascend, which led him to his death like every other person, who tried the same before him.
In the end, he used his last magic to create a separate dimension for his grave. This dimension was extremely well hidden and only by passing the test of Marik can be entered.
Ivan and Marik have been friends for a very long time and were like real brothers to each other. Marik has been protecting his brother's grave for decades. He deserves the title of the great holy beast for his unwavering loyalty to his long-dead friend.
This lake is the true lake of Wishes, it was condensed by the magic power and essences that escaped Ivan after his death and is capable of fulfilling 5 wishes at most.
All this was written on the huge stone placed near Ivan's grave, but it was in the ancient language. Of course, Rio can't read it, but he just knew about it, because Kira translated it for Fade in the novel.
The lake in the outside world is just a fake one, this lake right here is the true lake of wishes. It can fulfill your wishes under the world laws. Although it has several restrictions on it, this lake is a real treasure.
'But the problem is that one person can only get one wish and that wish can't be too ridiculous, like asking for immortality or something, it can only be under the scope of SS rank' (Rio) (No, you can't get a girlfriend even if you wish at this lake, so don't even think about it. You are meant to die single.)
Right now, this lake hasn't been used by anyone yet and still has all its 5 wishes intact. So, there won't be a problem even if Rio makes a wish here.
After all, Rio can't do any harm to this place. This Place is made up of the essence of an SS-rank individual. It can only be destroyed by someone who himself is an SS rank, only if he was able to pass through Marik first though.
When Fade and Kira used this lake, they both asked for advancement in their knowledge or strength as a mage.
Fade got what he wanted because heavenly luck helped him and his fire magic evolved into the High rank one. Giving a huge boost to his strength. After which he was capable of defeating a D rank while still being an E rank himself.
Kira got the advancement in her knowledge about history and other magical phenomena from the memory of the great mage Ivan. Leading her to become even better in her understanding of different magical phenomena.
'I wonder what will be the reward for me. After all, you can only choose knowledge or strength and the rest will depend on the lake; the reward will be random and can be anything.' (Rio)
Rio walked toward the lake and concentrated his mind on wishing for strength, since he already has the knowledge of the future from the novel, he doesn't need that for now and strength is more important for him at this time.
If he doesn't increase his strength as soon as possible Fade will catch up to him very quickly.
'I wish for strength!' (Rio)
...
...
Author's Note:- This is a poll, what do you want Rio to get?
1. A Sword- [Leads to the end of this adventure. Will focus on the academy more.]
2. A Skill- [Will lead to a new journey after the next events.]
3. Increase in Swordsmanship- [will lead to the way of interacting with the other characters.]
Tell me in the comments about your opinion. The story will be based on your opinion, be careful to choose what you like about the story. Thank you for your support.
