Keys To The Gate 8 Improving Progress

"h.e.l.lo Lady Medium..."

"You want the dice?" came the prompt reply.

"..."

"100,000 dollars. Come tomorrow and no bargaining." the medium replied immediately before going offline.

Inside the tent the medium sighed. "Teacher's prophecy has indeed come true. Oh well, I never was able to understand the power hidden within that object any way."

The next day Tristan quietly exchanged the dice for 100,000 dollars with a blank look. The frosty aura had again started to crystallize around his forehead and cheeks, so he asked for a box to keep the dice inside and took it with him.

Back at home, Tristan didn't say a word. What he had read in his status on touching the dice had frightened him.
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[Frost Essence]

[Absorb? Y/N]

[Dragon Bone Aura]

[Absorb? Y/N]

"Dragon Bone Aura... this dice... is the bone of a dragon? Absorb both." Tristan muttered.

Soon a chilly liquid dispersed within his body as if he was being cooled from the inside and at the same time a terrifying aura began rampaging chaotically through his body as well. But the chilly liquid managed to heal the insides that were hurt. Tristan coughed out a little bright red blood, but nothing more. He felt fresh and even a little powerful, like his body had been strengthened. He wished for his status.

[Race: Human]

[Evolution: None]

[Progress: 89%]

A huge 45% jump from one object told Tristan how powerful it was. The dice had disintegrated into dust as well after all the energy within it was absorbed.

"11% more to go before I evolve." Tristan thought to himself. He was looking forward to the ability he gained.

The time for the final exams had arrived. Tristan had worked hard in the past couple of months and with his heightened cognitive functions felt that his performance during the exams was fairly good.

He had also sent in his application for Eastern University, which was also one of the nation's elite universities based in Coastal City.

He now had two months off and was planning to use this time to do some missions and evolve after completing progress.

At this time, he found a news posted on the Vast Expanse. An official trade as well as an auction would be held in joint collaboration of several powers including the government as well as the Vast Expanse among other organizations. Items could be traded with money as well as credits.

Tristan was hopeful that he could potentially find a treasure to complete his progression. The auction was most probably impossible for him to even enter. The auction was next week, so Tristan decided to look up some mission in the mean time.

He checked out Vast Expanse mission board to look for any missions in the Coastal City area or around the district. There weren't a lot of level 1 missions within coastal city available, the missions were probably taken up by other members.

He then looked around in the forum to see if any level 1 team up missions were available. Surprisingly he found one. A group of Level 1s were planning an expedition to a foreign world and looking for one more level 1 member. Tristan applied.

Within a group chat of a few level 1 members.

- Hey, we have a new level 1 who contacted me about our exploration into the shattered world fragment.

- White Star, 2 missions completed, c.u.mulative credits 370 points! How is this possible?

- Bonus points per mission, most probably. He might be new, but he seems reliable. Let's include him.

The next day, Tristan walked into a meeting room in an office. He was wearing a black sweats.h.i.+rt and black pants, a black baseball cap hid his hair and a mask covered his mouth.

"White Star?" One of the four people in the room asked. Tristan nodded. The four checked White Star out. They felt a powerful domineering aura ready to burst out of him, giving them a sense of threat. The leader had a slight perspiration on his neck. "White Star is not ordinary. Probably the son of a scion or powerhouse family." He thought to himself.

"Welcome White Star. The four of us together have a small mercenary unit called Blue Beetle. We needed another person for this mission amd so sent out an invite. Today our goal is to enter the Shattered World Fragment. This is the fragment of a foreign world that was destroyed in an ancient war. We are going primarily to explore and try our luck. One information we have received in particular is about the golden fruit. It is a mysterious fruit that improves strength of the body."

The group of five then left in the Blue Beetle's car. After a two hour drive, they arrived at the outskirts of the city, where a teleportation portal was set up. Tristan was surprised that something like teleportation existed. After paying 2000 dollars each, they were teleported to a remote cliff which seemed to be heavily guarded. Behind the guards was a huge alloy door. The material seemed impenetrable.

The leader of blue beetle discussed some things with the guards and then each person took out 10,000 dollars more as payment. Tristan was already regretting taking this job.

Soon the alloy door opened and behind it was a bright white void that cut through s.p.a.ce. The group of five carefully stepped into the void and walked into the Shattered World Fragment.

Once they entered, Tristan saw that the world had changed drastically. The sky was purple, there was no sun and the area looked like a large gra.s.sland. The temperature was warm and dewy, but Tristan's body temperature was lower than ordinary people due to absorbing the frost essence and wasn't affected by it.

"What was the name of this world?" Tristan asked coldly.

The head of the Blue Beetle looked around as he spoke. "This is a dead fragment from a world known as the Battle Body World. The members of that world only believed in cultivating the body in the extreme and nothing else and constantly use war to temper themselves. This fragment split from their true world because of one such war."

The group head took out a map. It had some basic locations listed in. "The golden fruits can be found in the north. Let's go in that direction." The others nodded and followed. Tristan had the feeling of being watched and so kept his vigilance up.

The group of five walked carefully and came across a river. The color of the river was yellow and it was emitting a pungent smell and bubbling fumes.

"This is a river made of acid." Tristan commented. "Be careful, it seems extremely virulent."

"Any ideas how to cross this river?" One of the four mercenaries asked. The blue beetle leader shook his head before wondering. "The map makes no mention of this. White Star, what do you think?"

Tristan thought for a bit. "Perhaps the river wasn't an obstacle for the map maker, but then the map maker might've marked the river at the very least. So I suspect there was probably no river when the map was made."

"A river suddenly appearing...?" The others fell into thought. Tristan thought for a bit and said. "We should check out the source of this river, if it is new, it probably means it is unexplored and we are more likely to find a treasure."

When the others heard that, their eyes lit up. The group didn't have a means to cross the river anyway, so they followed the river while marking directions on the map so that they could find their way to the golden fruits later.