Talented Martial Hero novel Chapter 249

"Roar!" The sound of the cave resonated and echoed far beyond the distance. Slowly, each brick started to melt, one by one, as if it were a volcano. What did the cave hide however?

Surprising all four of them, the cave before Darren collapsed, and a light gate appeared. They closed their eyes because the light was too bright, and slowly one by one they reopened their eyes as they adjusted to the light of the gate.

Swiftly, Bowen, Norris and Quinn flew over to Darren. Seeing the intensely impressive scene, they were deeply overwhelmed. More than that they wondered how powerful Darren was.

Darren examined the faces of his three astonished companions as he readied himself to go through the light gate. He looked around to make sure the space they were about to step in was safe and then said to his three stunned companions in order to enter the next space with a simple, "Let's go." Darren called the stunned three to enter the next space.

The three heard Darren, but they moved slowly and awkwardly, nodding as if in a trance, staring at Darren as if he were some kind of monster and not their friend. A multitude of questions circled around in their heads, perhaps to be answered, and perhaps not. Nevertheless, they were extremely excited about this next space Darren was leading them into.

In the distance, there was a slight rattling of stones which they paid no attention to. However, as they were about to step into the light gate, the stone guardian suddenly came back to life again. It seemed like he was an impenetrable wall of bricks, and he was very tall with red piercing eyes. He was fearful.

Bowen, Norris and Quinn were shocked and paralyzed in their spots with fear. Their faces flushed and their pulses quickened from the veins in their necks, and their hands started sweating as they tried to rub them dry on the clothes. Their eyes widened in horror and they were speechless. "Eh? You must want to die once more!" Unfazed, Darren shouted with his eyebrows furrowed.

"My challenger, you are really powerful," said the stone man to Darren. He seemed to admire his opponent's strength. In his deep strong and sturdy voice, he said to Darren, "Since you have passed the test of the second space, this is your reward. I'm certain you will need it." The stone man's tone was no longer cold. Slowly, he took off his suit of armor which gradually shrunk as he slowly approached Darren.

Surprised by the stone guardian's present, Darren composed himself and addressed the stone man by saying, "Well, thank you for the gift. I like it." Looking at his new suit of armor with pride, he turned around and held it up for his friends to see who were all mesmerized by the entire exchange between the stone man and Darren. Then Darren put the armor away.

Subsequently, Darren led the three others towards the next space. However, to his surprise, barring him the other three were all denied entry. He was puzzled and thought something was seriously wrong.

He asked the stone man, "Why did this happen? Do you really want to be killed again?" Darren looked back and stared at the stone man.

"You can enter the next space because you have passed the test. The truth is you did it alone without their help, so they are not qualified to enter the next space unless the three can defeat me," the stone man explained.

Upon hearing the stone man's explanation, the three others sighed woefully and forced a bitter smile. They found themselves languishing in an abyss of disillusionment about brokering some type of bargain of entering the next space. Regretfully they were out of ideas, so they retreated back into the distance and slouched down on some stone rocks as seats.

Then the stone guardian also pointed out that even if Darren helped the three others to defeat him one more time, they were still not qualified as passing the test. The only way for them to be allowed to enter the next space was they personally killed the stone man without Darren's help. As if reading the disappointment in their minds, the stone man assertively announced, "Those are the rules here and there is no use changing them."

Disheartened, but nonetheless proud of his friend, Bowen said encouragingly, "Darren, you should go first. Don't worry about us."

"That's right, Darren. I hope you can reach the eleventh space. We are not as powerful as you, so we can do nothing to help you, but rather, we will drag you down. So you just go ahead," Norris echoed as he tried to hide the distress in his voice and the disappointment in his heart.

Looking intensely at the three, Darren thought to himself, 'So be it.' He felt he had no other choice. However, this little voice inside of him did not want to abandon his warrior friends, so he shouted to them, "Well, don't give up! I believe you can make it. Bowen, your talents are no less than mine. Have faith in yourself." With these words, Darren stepped into the light gate and disappeared.

The words Darren said to Bowen were more than encouraging. Apart from the ability to assimilate, Bowen's talents were extremely close to those of Darren's.

Suddenly, Bowen felt a strange warmth engulf him; inside him, a flood of emotion surging high. Inwardly, he had sworn to himself that he must pass the test in the second space.

"Let's go to hunt more magic herbs!" Bowen cried out and set out first.

...

Upon arriving in the third space, Darren killed the defenders and promoted his realm all the way. In just the last three months, he had cut his way through the eighth space. He was proud of his effort, but knew he still had a long way to go and that nothing could distract him.

"Whew! Finally here I am," Darren sighed as he finally reached the ninth space.

The view was quite different from those of the other spaces. Before this, Darren could obtain nothing but magic herbs good for his cultivation base or some martial skills occasionally, though being of little use to him.

While in the ninth space, a river flowed before Darren's eyes, and it had distinct views on both banks, for there were endless blades and swords. He found this so extraordinary.

It seemed that the blades and swords were inserted into each side with no end.

'What does this mean?' Darren thought to himself, quite puzzled at the image before him.

Since he practiced blade and sword skills, he thought his cultivation must have something to do with the blades and swords in this space.