"Hm," I hummed with a slight frown, my gaze fixed on the worn brick wall before me. It looked exactly as the novel had described, yet something about it felt... off. A little too generic, perhaps.
"Let's go," a soft voice murmured beside me.
I turned my head slightly and found Ariana clinging to my arm, her grip firm yet oddly reassuring. Her sharp, watchful eyes darted around the dimly lit alleyway, scanning our surroundings with practiced caution.
"Yeah," I replied, though my focus remained on the wall.
Ariana took a step forward, her fingers trailing along the uneven surface with deliberate precision. She moved with an ease that suggested familiarity, pressing certain bricks in a specific order. Then—
GRRRRRRRRRRRR!
A harsh, grating noise scraped against my ears, and before I could fully process what was happening—
The wall vanished.
Literally disappeared into thin air.