Exploration Begins

Time seemed to stretch into a century after Dago entered the vortex. In truth, only an instant had passed.

The moment his feet touched solid ground, he felt a slight fatigue. It was probably an aftereffect of touching the Temporal Secret Poison.

He opened his eyes, eager to see what lay inside the legendary core secret realm of the Mirror Forest. But when he saw it, he froze in surprise.

Before him was a small room, perhaps seventy or eighty square meters in size.

Just a plain little room.

There was no one else in it.

Outside the secret realm, the last wizard vanished into the vortex, and the vast whirlpool on the lake slowly disappeared.

The broad expanse of water grew calm again, but the green-robed witch kept casting. She began another long, strange incantation. As she chanted, the mental power of a formidable Late Third Circle wizard surged forth, and dozens—perhaps hundreds—of translucent ripples appeared in the air above the lake.

The ripples spread, and images formed within them.

Each image contained a figure. A closer look revealed the young wizards from the four factions who had just entered the secret realm.

The official rings handed to everyone before the expedition did far more than store items. They also showed scenes from inside the secret realm and, at the same time, monitored the explorers' actions.

In the images, which resembled water mirrors, some wizards stood in bedrooms, others on strange mirrored staircases, and still others in empty corridors.

Every one of them was cautiously surveying their surroundings, curiosity plain on their faces.

When two happened to meet, their separate water-mirror images moved together and merged into a larger one.

"Phew—"

The green-robed witch exhaled softly. With everything done, she seemed to relax.

"Of the three entrances discovered in