57 Expectations vs Reality (1/2)

The mythical land of Easa. A relic of an ancient civilization that had long vanished into nothingness. Few were those who even knew about its existence as some people had done their best to eradicate the mark it had left on history. Yet, over the centuries, the ruling kings of Cestor kept hearing rumors about this legendary place, located deep beneath the surface. This bastion of the past was so advanced, that anyone who got its holds on Easa's secrets could conquer the world. Countless expeditions were sent and, unsurprisingly, all met failure. If the teams didn't get wiped out along the way, they ended up vanishing when they reached the ancient ruins. And yet, on this day, a party of six was about to enter the place and unravel every mystery concerning this old legend.

Joshua looked in disbelief at the city bustling with life in front of him. Far from a city in ruins, he was standing on the outskirts of a metropolis.

'Well…, even I didn't see that twist coming,' he thought.

About a million questions rushed through his mind but before he could start organizing his thoughts, he heard Catherine's voice calling him mentally.

”Joshua? Are you all right? You vanished suddenly!” she asked, somewhat worried.

”I'm fine, don't worry,” he replied, ”I'll be back in a moment after I check something.”

He turned around back in Catherine's direction but she was nowhere in sight either. Actually, the cavern complex had been replaced by a beautiful landscape, stretching far into the horizon. He asked Luna:

”Did I somehow get teleported when I went through the barrier?”

[Negativate, your position hasn't changed.]

Joshua frowned and checked the radar, it was still picking up Catherine's signal, about a hundred meters away from him. The radar also detected a high amount of life forms in the opposite direction, which weren't present before. Luckily, they all appeared to be cattle, there were no humans nearby.

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He stepped forward, traversing the barrier once more. Once he passed through, he was once again in the cave complex, Catherine and the others a short distance from him. He waved at them and they moved toward him.

”It seems the barrier has some sort of illusory effect Luna is unable to pick up,” he explained.

”It's kinda hard to explain, it's probably for the best if you take a look at it yourself. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.”

”I suppose that's the simplest solution,” Eric replied before moving through the barrier.

The twins, Lydia and Cynthia, looked at each other and followed. The giant Boris went next, followed by Catherine and Joshua.

Unsurprisingly, apart from Joshua, everyone was looking at their surroundings with their mouth wide open.

”How… is this possible?” Cynthia asked out loud.

Lydia sighed and replied: ”This feels like some kind of twisted joke.”

”Honestly, I'd even take Lord Joshua's humor over a prank like this,” Boris' voice resounded in their minds.

Boris was mute since his tongue had been ripped out during his time as a gladiator. He used to be only able to talk if Eric established a mental connection with him. This changed recently once Catherine inscribed the Luna Network Rune in his head. Outside of Catherine, he seemed to be the fastest to find his way using Luna and soon began to use the data transfer to have Luna communicate his thoughts. Joshua was overjoyed by this, Luna was designed to help people in their everyday life after all.

Catherine turned toward Joshua and asked: ”What the hell is the meaning of this?”

”That's what I would like to know…” Joshua replied, ”Well, whatever is the explanation behind this, we're in dire need to revise our strategy.”