Chapter 28 - Marith City (2)

I pinned the insignia to my shirt, the small metal emblem gleaming in the light. As I looked back at the lady, I asked, "Oh, are there any gates available for my rank?"

Her expression turned slightly perplexed, her eyebrows furrowing in surprise. It was clear that requesting a gate on the first day of registration was unusual, but she cooperated nonetheless.

"Let me see," she murmured, tapping away at her computer. The soft glow of the screen illuminated her face, casting a pale light on her features.

After a moment, she nodded, "Ah yes. There are a few available rifts. But most are scheduled to be closed tomorrow."

I nodded, intrigued by the inner workings of the explorer's association.

Their process was a well-oiled machine, with teams dispatched to secure newly opened rifts.

They would fight their way through the monster-infested portal, subduing the boss and claiming the rift as their own.

For the next seven days, the team would remain in the boss room, holding the line against the endless tide of monsters.

On the seventh day, they would kill the boss, preventing the outbreak that would otherwise occur, sealing the portal and securing the rift.

Rifts were a rich source of income and resources, yielding precious crystals, valuable monster body parts, and other treasures.

Many noble families, as well as the royal family, possessed personal portals, which provided them with a steady supply of resources and wealth.

These private portals were a symbol of their power and influence, and were often used to further their interests and ambitions.

She handed me a piece of paper, its surface adorned with intricate, handwritten script.

The words danced across the page, revealing the details of a portal that seemed to whisper promises of adventure and danger.

"Ah, here's one for you," she said, her voice a gentle accompaniment to the rustling of the paper.

As I scanned the information, my eyes widened with interest.

The portal's name, "Wolf's Den," seemed to evoke a sense of foreboding, while its grade, "Black," hinted at a manageable challenge.

The active days, was three, suggesting that the portal would be closing in four days and hence time was of the essence.

I nodded, my mind racing with the implications.

The grades of the portals, I recalled, mirrored the grades of the crystals – a hierarchy that ascended from black to white, with each step representing a significant increase in power and danger.

White portals, the rarest and most feared of all, were the stuff of nightmares.

Their appearance was a harbinger of doom, a catastrophe that could bring entire nations to their knees.

The memories of past white portals were etched into the annals of history like scars.

There had been only a handful of instances in the three millennia since portals first appeared, that there had been a white portal, and each time, the consequences had been devastating.

The empire's formation had not immune it from the threat of white portals, and thirty years ago, one such portal had appeared, wreaking havoc on a scale that was almost unimaginable.

It had taken a combined force of the regional dukes, the church's forces, the royal army, and the explorer's association to bring the portal down, and even then, the cost had been staggering.

The reason for the white portals' formidable reputation lay in the beasts that inhabited them – sovereign rank creatures that roamed the portal's depths like gods.

The grunts, level 9s, were the equivalent of dukes or generals in the empire, and they were merely the foot soldiers.

The true leaders of the portal were usually demi-gods, and in the worst-case scenario, a pseudo-god might even make an appearance.

As I finished reading the information, I felt a shiver run down my spine. The Wolf's Den portal, with its black grade, was tame in comparison to the horrors that lurked within a white portal.

As I accepted the Wolf's Den portal, the lady's fingers danced across the keyboard, her eyes flicking toward me with a nod of confirmation.

She handed me another insignia, this one bearing a simple, yet powerful, word: "pass."

I assumed this was the key to gaining entry into the portal, and I tucked it into my pocket with a sense of excitement and trepidation.

The lady's next question, "Will you be going in now?" was met with a decisive nod from me. I was ready to face whatever lay within the Wolf's Den portal.

As if summoned by my response, two imposing figures emerged from the shadows.

They were massive, muscular men with chiseled features and an aura of quiet intimidation.

Their suits seemed to stretch across their broad shoulders, accentuating their formidable physique.

The lady gestured toward the men, saying, "They will lead you to the gate to take you to the portal."

The guards nodded curtly, their eyes boring into mine with a silent command to follow. I trailed behind them, my senses on high alert as we navigated the winding corridors.

As we walked, I couldn't help but reflect on the aura I had sensed emanating from the guards.

It was a palpable energy, one that spoke of power and discipline. 'They were definitely at least Level 5,' I thought to myself, my mind whirling with the implications.

After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at a nondescript door. The guards pushed it open, revealing a room that seemed to defy the laws of reality.

Inside, a shimmering, iridescent portal pulsed with an otherworldly energy. The air around it seemed to ripple and distort, as if the very fabric of space-time was being warped and bent.

The portal itself appeared to be a small, glowing gateway, no larger than a doorway. It seemed to lead to a tiny, self-contained pocket dimension, one that was separate from our own world.

The guards gestured toward the portal, their hands pointing the way. I took a deep breath, feeling a thrill of excitement mixed with a dash of trepidation.

I reached out a hand, hesitating for a moment before stepping through the portal.

As I did, I felt a strange, tingling sensation, like my molecules were being rearranged and reassembled on the other side.

I pushed my hand through the portal, feeling the familiar sensation of my skin passing through the shimmering energy.

Next, I inserted my leg, the portal's energy enveloping it like a warm, liquid embrace.

Finally, with a deep breath, I stepped through the portal, my entire body disappearing into the glowing gateway.