Chapter 61

Milica couldn't help but smile as she watched the expressions on her disciples' faces.

Her four disciples didn't know what to say. Each of the aforementioned Forbidden zones seemed insurmountable to them, and each one seemed more absurd than the previous one.

Who or what created these dangerous places?

"Calm down, it's not as bad as you think," Milica finally said, having thoroughly enjoyed the reaction of her disciples.

"You should have noticed the specifics of each zone by now. There are places among them that fully correspond to a certain element. Valley of Stones is the land. Ice caves is ice. Valley of Lightning is lightning. River Maze is water. Lava Lake is a fire. Wind Cliffs is the wind." As Milica said, they really noticed this pattern.

Only three zones were not associated with any element: Forest of Doppelganger, Lake of the Dead and Caves of insect Swarm.

"Over the years of the Adventurer Guild's existence, and thanks to the efforts of many outsiders who were desperately looking for a way out, many patterns have been revealed. I myself have made a significant contribution to this cause. At the moment, most of the Forbidden zones have been more or less studied," Milica continued. Then she turned her gaze to Eulalia.

"I asked you to explore the Forbidden zones without going into their central part, so that you would acquire practical skills and be ready for today," she said.

Eulalia was under Milica's leadership the longest, and they shared information about some of the Forbidden zones that appear near the third city. That's where Milica sent her for research.

Eulalia had already realized that her master had been preparing for today for a long time. She didn't give up, and all this time she was waiting for the right people. Realizing this, she glanced at her three younger companions.

The first was Nemo. From the moment he appeared, Milica had already started her plan, preparing Eulalia and Nemo for it. However, the appearance of Idan and Arabel completely changed her plans, but this only increased the chances of success. Eulalia was sure of this, because Milica had changed a lot since this couple appeared. Even Nemo's appearance didn't have the same effect on her as this couple.

"The main patterns are as follows: with each reset, the location of the Forbidden Zones changes, as does their internal structure. Therefore, it becomes more and more difficult to study them, as the paths and terrain that you already know become irrelevant. And the most important rule that applies inside the Forbidden zones is the rule of the strongest. Simply put, the rank of all monsters and creatures will not exceed the rank of the strongest creature that has entered the Forbidden zone."

Milica paused for the disciples to understand what she had said. Seeing how their expressions changed in turn, she continued:

"Yes, I think you understand what I mean. If the four of you enter one of the Forbidden zones, the rank of the strongest creature inside that zone will be limited to the rank equal to the strongest of your group. And this will correspond to Eulalia's «platinum» rank."

That was a completely different conversation. If Milica's words were true, then they had at least some chance.

"Don't worry, not all the creatures inside will be platinum-ranked. Only the strongest will match the rank of the strongest candidate. The rest will be one or two stages lower."

"Candidate?" —Idan immediately caught this phrase in Milica's words.

"Yes, candidate. The Adventurer's Guild and everyone who tried to explore the Forbidden Zones came to the conclusion that they were not created by nature, but artificially. Their characteristics are very similar to the test areas. I've come to the same conclusion myself after many attempts."

Although many came to this conclusion, no one could say with certainty that this was the case. No one has been able to conquer any of these Forbidden zones yet, and no one knows what they are hiding.

"Not only me, but also some outsiders from the higher realm have reached the central areas of some Forbidden zones. What we saw and learned there allows us to say with confidence that whoever conquers or passes through the Forbidden zone will have the opportunity to leave Limbo."

"And what is in the center of the Forbidden zones?" asked Idan. Not only him, but everyone else was eager to find out what Milica and the others had seen, which made them so confident that the key to getting out of Limbo was hidden there.

After a short pause, Milica uttered only one word: "Temple!"

"Temple?" Eulalia asked again.

"Yes," Milica confirmed. "There is a small but majestic Temple in the heart of the Forbidden zone. Everyone who has ever seen it, including me, could sense a strange presence emanating from the building itself. No one knows what is inside this Temple, and no one has ever been able to go there and see everything with their own eyes. And even more so, to get to his gate."

Having said that, Milica recalled with a bitter smile all those moments when she managed to reach the center of the Forbidden zones and see the Temple.

"After numerous attempts, we found that with each «Reset», three of the nine Forbidden zones randomly have a Temple. This means that there are only three Temples, and their location among the nine Forbidden zones changes every time a «Reset» occurs."

Everyone carefully studied the Limbo map, which marked nine places where Forbidden zones arise. From Milica's words, it became clear that the Forbidden zones are constantly changing places, and among these nine appear three mysterious Temples, the location of which is random.

"At the moment, all the research seems to have reached a dead end. No one has yet been able to find out what is hidden inside these Temples. The difficulty lies in several factors.

First, it is necessary to determine in which of the three Forbidden zones Temples will appear. Secondly, the path to them is very dangerous and difficult. And finally, even if you manage to find out where one of the Temples is located and somehow get to it, then the Temple Guard stops everyone before entering it."

Just the thought of the Temple Guards sent a shiver through Milica's body. "Each of the three Temples has its own Guardian who does not allow anyone to enter it."

All four of them—Idan, Arabel, Nemo and Eulalia—felt the fear in their master's words very acutely.