The Eternal Enigma!

"Didn't you say this journey would be safe?" Sophia asked, her heartrate accelerating at Hyth's grim words.

"It will be if all things go normally."

"Can we just keep walking? Your words now are doing nothing more than building fear rather than dispelling it." Ryft said.

"My mistake, I guess the anxiety is also getting to me." Hyth said with a weak laugh, though nothing about this situation was humorous.

"Enough talking, we need to keep moving." The guard at the front said, not in the mood to waste time in such a dangerous area.

"Right, let's go."

Soon enough the group got back on the move though it was clear the mood was very different this time around.

Any calm and peace had vanished, replaced by thick unease and apprehension that could almost be felt.

Of course with Minos's Heart Path, he could actually sense the feelings of the group, but he was unaffected.

Part of his mastery over the Heart Path had given him incredible control over his own emotions, not to mention he had experienced his fair share of life and death, so this wasn't a foreign experience to him.

But he also knew that his team's performance would also affect him, so very discreetly, he used his Heart Path to manipulate everyone's emotions, relieving some of their fears.

Unfortunately his ability didn't work on the Aperture Opening Realm guards, but luckily, they were the least anxious in the group, so he didn't really need to anyways.

As his Heart Path power's swept over the group, they couldn't help but feel as if a gentle wind had blown over them, sweeping away some of their negative emotions along with it.

The feeling was so subtle that no one really noticed it, but it made a big difference, everyone suddenly walking with more confidence, as if a weight had been relieved from their shoulders.

Happy to see his powers working, Minos focused back on the path ahead, his pupils immediately dilating as he noticed something in the distance.

"Stop… There's something up ahead…" The guard up front said almost right after Minos spotted the shadowy-creature.

"What is it?" Sophia asked.

"What else could it be? Just more Hell Beasts." Ryft replied before the guard could say anything.

"Not any ordinary Hell Beasts… Aperture Opening Realm ones!" The second guard added.

Hearing his words, the group immediately stepped back and huddled together, the fear that Minos had previously helped alleviate immediately coming back tenfold.

Soon enough, three large Hell Beasts, about twice as big as normal Hell Beasts, arrived in front of the group.

With a demonic growl, the Hell Beasts slowly crept towards them, their dagger-like claws dragging across the hard floor, creating a piercing sound like nails across a chalkboard.

Raising his sword, the first guard muttered something before swiping his hand across the sword's body, causing it to ignite in a blood-red flame.

The second guard also prepared his move, gathering a large bubble of water in his hands before splitting it into three pieces and shooting it towards the ground ahead of him.

As the water bubbles hit the floor, they slowly transformed into three water-elementals shaped like humans, each one wearing armor and holding a sword and shield.

With his Omniscient Eyes scanning both their moves, Minos immediately knew these weren't regular attacks, but rather the guards Aptus's.

For them to already activate their Aptus's before the battle even began made it clear that they took their opponents seriously.

Taking the lead, the second guard pointed his finger forward, sending his water elementals to attack.

As the three attacked, it immediately became clear that they were incomparable to the Hell Beasts, but at the very least they could distract them.

Using this distraction, the first guard lunged forward with his flaming sword, swinging towards the nearest Hell Beast.

Despite its focus being diverted, it was clear these Hell Beasts were used to such surprise attacks, so it almost immediately raised its sharp claws to catch the blade.

However as the sword came into contact with its claws, it was clear that this wasn't a regular attack, the blood-red flame immediately traveling from the sword onto the Hell Beast, slowly crawling up its arms.

With an ear-shattering howl, the Hell Beast began flailing in a useless attempt to rid itself of these flames, but it seemed the flames were imbued with some sort of special property that made them exponentially harder to put out compared to regular fires.

Using this window, the first guard continued his attacks, constantly assaulting the Hell Beast, causing the flames to spread even more.

Enraged, the Hell Beast's eyes went deep red, ignoring its pain completely as it jumped towards the guard with an open jaw.

Stepping back, the guard just barely dodged the bite, quickly changing his stance from offensive to defensive as the Hell Beast went crazy.

Exploiting the Hell Beasts poor state of mind, the guard kept stepping circles around it, slowly exhausting it as his special flames sapped away at its vitality.

Soon enough, the creature collapsed lifelessly, though the strange part was that as it fell and the flame disappeared, its body was still completely intact, as if it hadn't just been burned.

The other's couldn't help but look at this with shock and interest, but Minos knew this was the guard's Aptus at work.

Rather than being a physical flame, the guard's Aptus was a spiritual flame, one that burned a person's soul instead of their body, which was why it was so effective against the Hell Beast despite its innate resistance towards fire and heat.

With the first Hell Beast dead, the guard attacked the second, killing it in much the same way as he did the first.

By this point, the third Hell Beast had wised up, so with a fierce growl, it sprinted back into the darkness, disappearing completely.

Relieved, the first guard unsummoned the blood-red flame from his sword before gathering the group and continuing the march.

With deterrence asserted, the group's journey was relatively safe for the rest of the day, the Hell Beast's having some become aware of their strength.

But as the next day arrived and they headed deeper, their deternance slowly faded, a new group attacking them.

Fortunately this time it was only two Hell Beasts, which were even easier to handle then the first time, so they were quickly dealt with.

Finally, as the last two Hell Beast's were dealt with, the group crossed the last stretch, a strange massive cube becoming apparent from the distance.

"There it is! The Eternal Enigma!" Hyth exclaimed excitedly, running up front.

"Relax. You've been patient this long, you can last a little longer." The guard said as he grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar, stopping him mid-sprint.

Seeing Hyth's awkward face, the others couldn't help but laugh, the mood suddenly returning to normal as the most dangerous part of the journey finally came to an end.

Of course the guards knew full well that the danger wasn't over yet, but they didn't say anything, not only wanting to spare the atmosphere, but also, the more calm their clients were, the easier their job was.

With a little more walking, the large Eternal Enigma was finally face to face with the group, Minos reaching out and rubbing his fingers across the strange material that made up the cube.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Hyth asked from the side.

"It really is…" Minos replied as he looked up at the surface covered with esoteric symbols that glimmered with a soft green light.

"No matter how many times I make this journey, it's always just as fascinating, and as nerve wracking." Hyth laughed.

"Well it's a good thing we're here now. Let's not waste any time and get right to work" Jylum said.

"Alright, then let's all take a minute to give it an inspection. We'll talk when we're ready." Kendra said.

Nodding, everyone split up, taking the Eternal Enigma in at their own pace and seeing if they could understand anything from it.

With the other's focused on their own examination, Minos finally got a moment of silence, his heart rushing slightly as he activated his Omniscient Eyes and glanced at the Eternal Enigma with them for the first time.

As his eyes came in contact with the strange stone, a massive wave of information instantly assaulted his mind, the vast majority of it indecipherable to him, but a few bits and pieces passing through.

Clutching his head, Minos stood back for a moment as he slowly absorbed everything, sorting the things he could understand from the things he couldn't.

The fascinating thing about his Omniscient Eyes was that it was capable of turning all information into something he could comprehend.