Journey Of A Legend

"No."

"..."

"Huh?"

The moment Russ gave his answer with a cold look, Greg and Joe on the side froze up instantly, not quite believing Russ's answer.

"Umm... Sorry?", asked Greg with a wry smile, while small drops of sweat started to form on his forehead.

"Are you deaf kid? I said I won't help you.", said Russ with the same cold expression as he did a second ago.

"..."

Greg didn't know how to react at all.

The only thing that he believed in was Russ's and Wayne's help. That is why he didn't use his wish to ask Zane's and Eliana's help back then because he thought the two before him would be kind enough to help him.

But it seems he was totally wrong.

"I shouldn't have thought that they will help me at all.", thought Greg and after looking at Russ he asked, "Why is it... If I can ask?"

Russ looked at Greg and after a small sigh, he said, "Don't misunderstand me, but we don't want to help because we don't want to, but because we can't. Or at least not now."

"Why? What happened?", asked Greg confusedly.

Russ looked at Wayne on his side and after seeing his nod, he started to explain.

"I will be honest with you. We happened to find a usage error in the Passage to The Unknown and we need to search the cause of it. So, unfortunately, we can't help you currently. That thing is insanely essential for all of us and also to all of humanity, so it's our top priority to repair it no matter of what."

"Passage to The Unknown? What is that?", asked Joe on the side with a slightly raised eyebrow, not understanding what that name was referring to.

Hearing Joe's question, Greg looked at him and asked, "Can you remember that huge door back on the tournament?"

"The ancient-looking gate which annihilated that creature, which wanted to kill you?"

"Yes.", said Greg with a nod and continued, "That gate is called the Passage to The Unknown. It can protect humanity from low- and middle-ranked creatures."

"Low- and middle-ranked creatures? But... that devil was..."

"Yes, I know. That creature was on the God rank. I was also surprised when I heard it that a God rank creature was called like that, but just as Russ said, our cultivation won't stop after the Evolution Step. It is only the beginning."

With a nod, Joe looked at Russ and asked, "Then how much time will take you to repair that gate?"

However, instead of Russ, the one who started to talk was Wayne.

"Because earth had no natural Restriction Gate, we needed to create one. It took us almost 3 years just only to establish the frame of it, but after several times we could finish it. However, as I said, because it is not natural and is only a prototype built by us, it could easily show errors and mistakes. Also, this was the very first time we used it against creatures, so it is not a surprise it has shown misconception."

After thinking for a while Wayne looked at Joe and said, "If you ask me, I don't know neither. Because we don't know yet what the error is, I can't tell you a specific time. However, if it's just a minor fallacy then I think we can correct it under a few days or even a week, but if it's a huge one... Then it could take us several months to find the error."

"Holy... That long?", asked Joe and Greg in unison with visible shock.

"Yes.", said Russ with a nod and said, "So I need to apologize, but we can not help you. I hope you can understand this."

"Of course I can.", said Greg and after thinking for a while he said, "We still have two days until teleportation, so I need to hurry."

As he said that he looked at Joe and asked, "I know it's another selfish request, but can you help me then?"

However, Joe hearing Greg's question just laughed and said, "Of course. Friends help each other no?"

Learning to this Greg smiled slightly and turned toward Russ and Wayne.

"Then I hope you can repair the gate as soon as possible. Until then, I'm off to go."

With that, Greg turned around and with steady steps, he started to walk away toward the bridge in the distance with Joe following him on the side.

***

"How much are we going to walk?", asked Joe calmly while small sweat drops were flowing down his cheek as he looked at his surroundings.

He was following Greg from close behind, while all around him what he could see were huge and oversized rocks.

However, this wasn't why Joe asked his question, but because they were currently walking up on a mountain's side, while the sun was intensely shining down on their head. And to top it off, Greg didn't say a single word since they started to walk.

They have walked for almost 3 hours without rest and talk which made Joe a bit confused. This small amount of walking in itself wasn't the reason why Joe was a bit confused, but because they would have easily reached that mountain's summit with that Typhoon Beast power, so he didn't quite understand why Greg choose to walk on feet.

While Joe was thinking about reasons why Greg was like this, suddenly Greg stopped and pointed before him.

"There. This is the perfect place."

Joe looked forward and what he could see was a huge flat surface with average-sized rocks lying motionlessly here and there randomly.

However, the most eye-catching sight out of this was the small gap that was visible on the stone wall in the distance.

It was exactly like a small cave, but with the only difference that it was only a few meters deep.

Seeing this, Joe frowned and asked, "This? Do you want to break through inside there? But what if your powers go out of your control? You will be buried inside there alive!"

As an answer, Greg just smiled and after shaking his head he said, "I won't go inside there. The one who will go in there will be you."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes, you.", said Greg with a nod and started to explain, "Because creatures are rare on top of mountains, I won't be in danger if everything goes perfectly. However, if creatures do appear and try to attack me, they won't be ready for your surprise attack from in there."

"But even if I go in there, my sight will be limited. Enemies that come from above or the side, I won't be able to react in time.", said Joe calmly.

"And this is why we will do this.", said Greg and summoned the fairy and the Typhoon Beast before him.

The moment the two appeared before Greg, they started to look around curiously, however, they needed to stop their act because Greg started to talk to them calmly.

"You will be outside on my side and help me lookout for enemies. However, if you find any, you won't attack immediately, but make a signal to Joe. Understood?", asked Greg with a serious expression.

"Yes..."

"Grrr!"

Both of Greg's Soul Creatures nodded and started to look around with sharp eyes.

"Perfect.", said Greg and said, "They will be your eyes, so the only thing you need to do is look at their reactions and behavior. If they act hostile, you know what to do. Also, they will help you too, so you won't be alone."

"I see.", said Joe and without further questions he turned around and started to walk to the cave, however just as he took a few steps, suddenly Greg's voice sounded.

"And also... Thank you."

Turning around, Joe just waved his hand and said, "It's nothing. You saved my life several times, so it is only natural for me to do."

With that, Joe walked into the cave and inside the darkness, he sat down onto a small rock, while he made his presence weaker without hesitation.

The moment Greg saw this, he looked quite surprised and thought, "Interesting! It's like he isn't there at all."

After inspecting Joe for a few more seconds, Greg grinned and turned around.

"Well... Everything seems perfect, so let's start my last breakthrough."

With that in mind, Greg walked into the middle of the flat surafce and sat down in a lotus-like position.

Instantly as he did this, the Typhoon Beast stepped to his side and stayed on guard, while the little fairy sat on top of his head and started to create almost invisible Wind Silks around Greg's body as a way of protection.

"Smart.", thought Greg with a compliment as he watched the little fairy, but still, not wanting to waste any more time he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

After exhaling the air from his lungs and making his body to relax entirely, Greg straightened his back and thought calmly.

"Let's do it then."