11 Welcome to Kynar (2/2)

<Ding>

With both of his eyes closed and his hands across his chest, James listened to the system's countdown within his mind.

By the time the system said there was only five seconds left, his body involuntarily tensed up as cold sweat formed all over his body. By the time the system announced that it was only three seconds remaining, something extraordinary happened to James's body. At that moment, a gray light shot out from his head and opened a portal below the approaching James. Since he closed his eyes, he did not see this strange phenomenon. But, he felt as if something lifted a weight off his shoulders. Before he could react, his tensed up body entered the opened portal. The moment he went through the portal, the portal also disappeared from the emptiness of the gorge.

The same moment James disappeared, something opened another portal on the floor of an illuminated room. On closer inspection, the room looked as if it spanned more than a hundred meters on either side. The walls of the room, however, were identical to each other. In the sense that, they had a radiant white gemstone embedded in it. Which served as the illumination source for the room. In the room, the bodies of several unconscious youths littered the floor. From the appearances of these children and the clothes they wore, one could tell they came from different places within the Continent of Skyhaven.

The moment the portal opened on the floor, James's figure emerged a minute later. And, the portal disappeared in the same mysterious manner it appeared. Meanwhile, James still had his eyes closed. But, he sported a wry smile on his face. His chest heaved up and down while different parts of his body twitched. He had flirted with death, and he did not like it at all.

'So, that old man played me for a fool till the end. Who would have believed he spoke the truth? His Mana saved my life… I don't think I would have survived that…' James said within his mind. He did not believe the old man earlier that was the reason he did not expect the portal to emerge. From his point of view, the old man did it on purpose.

As James laid on the ground, the sound of the system's notification echoed in his mind.

<Ding>

Mana Restriction disabled!

No foreign Mana is in the user's body!

Scanning...

Scanning Completed!

The user is amid several Targets whose Level's range from: Level 18-28.

Number of Targets: 230!

Occupation: Sorcerers! Warriors!

Path: Light (170), Darkness (160).

Odds of the user eliminating the weakest target: 90%

Odds of the user eliminating the strongest target: 9%

Warning! Warning! Warning!

An Item is hypnotizing all the Targets.

Name: White Rose Light.

Rank: Good

Effects: Light from these flowers can force the user into a coma-like state.

The user will enter a hypnotic dream.

Excessive exposure will lead to the user developing a faulty brain.

Limitations: Existence with no means of light absorption are immune to its effects.

Title - Grim Reaper, is immune to its effects.

Item - Damned souls, is immune to its effect.

Warning! Warning! Warning!

The user will fall into a coma-like state in approximately: 5 minutes.

Will the user like to use the Item - Damned souls, to deflect the hypnotic effects?

Warning! Warning! Warning!

It will destroy item - Damned souls, if summoned.

The user can still transfer the effects to the Item within the Inventory.

Will the user like to use the Item - Damned souls, to deflect the hypnotic effects?

<Ding>

'Yes!' James said. The new development frustrated him. He had jumped from the frying pan to the fire. Not only was he placed in a room full of sorcerers who were stronger than him, someone could gather all of them in one place made him uneasy. As for the hypnotic White Rose, he already knew about it through Blay De Tovar's memories. If not that it would destroy his damned souls, James had the intention of turning everyone in the room into his personal Exp farm.

'System, can you detect anything or anyone outside this room?' James asked.

<Ding>

Scanning…

Scanning Completed!

A similar barrier to that of the gorge is covering the room. Because of the user's Level, I cannot detect anything beyond the barrier!

<Ding>

James could only sigh in defeat. His Level has been the source of most of his troubles, and he could not wait to level up to the next rank. Although he was not under the effects of the White Rose, he played along, and laid on the floor like the others. He was 100% certain someone gathered everyone in the room for a purpose, and if they could subdue people stronger him, he would look for trouble if he stood out. With this thought in mind, James laid on the floor like a log of wood. He did not dare to open his eyes to check his surroundings because he did not know if someone or something observed the room.

About 30 minutes later, the radiant white light within the room dimmed. At that moment, an annoying ringing sound reverberated. A few seconds later, the bodies of the youths except James's, shook as if they were going into shock. While some of them muttered gibberish, too.

'System, what the hell is happening?!' James asked.

<Ding>

The targets are recovering from the effects of the White Rose.

The targets are trembling because their bodies is trying to adjust to reality from the hypnotic dream.

Some users will utter gibberish, too, because they believe they are dying in their dreams.

Estimated time until they regain consciousness: 3 minutes!

<Ding>

'I can't be the odd one out. Whose knows if someone or something is watching this freak show,' James mused. As this thought entered his mind, he opened his eyes a little, and mimicked the actions of those nearby. His acting was not exaggerated or forced, he looked no different from the other youths.

A few minutes later, the youths woke up one after the other, and they each had a disoriented look on their faces. James who was still lying on the ground, opened one of his eyes to observe what was happening in the room. The moment he saw that the youths were awake, he assumed a sitting position. While having a dazed expression on his face, but he used his eyes to scan everyone in the room, hoping to find out what was going on. While all this was going on, the ringing sound continued to echo. By the time 90% of the hypnotized youths were awake, a silver glow assaulted their eyes. It came from the ceiling of the room. Because of the intensity of the light, most of them squinted their eyes in response.

They were not to be blame too because they had been asleep for a considerable amount of time. Some youths suffered mild headaches from the sudden illumination. To James's surprise, none of them had said a word to each other since they woke up. He did not know it was part of the symptoms of White Rose. Because, Blay De Tovar was clueless about it, too.

'System, does the light have any negative side effects?' James asked.

<Ding>

Scanning…

Scanning Completed!

Light is from a normal Illumination rock! It has no effect on the user!

<Ding>

'That's good. I thought my shitty luck would… Huh?' while this thought drifted into his mind, a loud rumbling sound reverberated within the room. Drawing the attention of the youths, and they all stared at the same direction. In this section of the room, the wall rumbled while slowly shifting to the side. As the wall moved, the ringing sound in the room ceased.

Everyone within the room had cautious and curious looks on their faces while they maintained a safe distance from the parting walls. Although they attempted to see what was on the other side, the radiant silver glow prevented them from doing so. Unlike them, James could see what was behind the wall.

'Is that… Wow! What sort of place did that bastard send me to?' James mused with his brows furrowed.

Seconds later, a melodious voice drifted into the ears of everyone within the room, ”Young ones, I welcome you to Kynar.”