Anthony sat before the space portal which was meant to cross him over, gasping. He had a dagger in his hand, and his hands were stained with blood, same with some parts of his clothes and face.

He had been ambushed by ferocious beasts on the way and he fought right through them for three hours. Even with his deep trove of stored energy that was released intermittently during the battle, he still felt exhausted.

"Damn you, Lan Xuanyu. You knew they were beasts blocking the entrance of the portal." Anthony muttered, looking at the direction he came from. He was already missing Lan Xuanyu even though it has just been mere hours. However, his journey must continue. Forward ever, backward never.

"It's eleven a.m. I need to go now, so that I can arrive in the other galaxy before nightfall. Space portals shorten the journey by years, so it shouldn't take long. That's if I don't get sucked into the wrong dimension." He whispered and began to wipe himself.

After a few minutes of cleaning up, he sheathed his daggers and returned them to his body. He looked at the blood stain on his clothes which was exceptionally eye catching, especially the area embroidered with silver threads.

"It's nothing, It doesn't matter, I'm not a woman. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Warriors get stained with blood once in a while." He muttered and walked into the enclosure leading to the area with the portal. There were stone statues of different unknown beasts, mythological men with incredibly tall and bulky figures with long hairs, which were often twisted into dreads. As he walked deeper, he began to see normal sized soldiers in various fighting stances, with some in the process of being butchered.

Some had half their necks severed, while some were missing a limb, but still fighting bravely. Each of the faces were different, no two faces were the same. This current area looked very life-like, down to the expressions on their faces.

A name appeared in Anthony's mind.

"Hall of stones. These people in soldier outfit are not merely statues, they are people who were turned to stones when the tragedy that befell the ancient kingdom which transformed it to the perilous lands happened."

He touched one of the statues and memories began to flash in his mind. He screamed and quickly withdrew his hand. A small group of people descended from nowhere and turned the prosperous ancient kingdom of magic into a wasteland, all because of greed and selfishness.

Anthony looked at the statues and sighed.

"Sorry, I don't have time to listen or to explore, I need to cross over at noon. I can't miss the auspicious time." He whispered and quickly hurried forward, refusing to look around or wait a second longer.

After five minutes of hasty walking, he arrived on the main altar where the portal was located. There was a single block of flat stone at a corner, like a table of some sorts, and four bowls were placed on it. On the lower part, there was an area showing signs of fire being made with wood. However it has been so long that the soot was almost obliterated by dust. Three steps led to the altar, and there was a giant statue with a door-like entrance cut out between its legs, up to its belly. There were also some very old materials and spells engraved on the statue, which made Anthony think that the statue could be the heart of the space formation, where everything was connected and programmed.

He walked around the statue to inspect it for anomalies, and see if there was something strange that needed to be upgraded. After all, the reason many people got swallowed by the portal and never came back was still unknown. It could also be the reason the few who didn't die during the period they got swallowed were sent to the ghost realm instead of the nine heavens.

However, after checking for a while using his newly learned knowledge of space formations, he couldn't find anything wrong with the space portal. Although the materials used were old, they were still perfectly functional.

"Wait! Those bowls seem like they were meant for fuel to ignite the space-time machine. If one doesn't add fuel to fire it up, they might experience a free fall for a while, till they enter the realm of zero gravity where they will begin to drift in space, unable to move, till one of the space beasts that are used to the zero gravity or hiding in meteorites eat them up. So, in this case, it's safe to say that seventy percent of people who entered here suffered this fate, and as for the rest, they found themselves in the ghost realm which is not a good end either. That's why this place is considered the most dangerous. However, I will break that belief. No matter what happens, I will arrive safely, and also return home to the people waiting for me."

He walked to the stone holding the bowls and tried to read the engravings on it. However, they were written in an ancient language he had never seen before. He caressed the words, trying to understand it.

"These are the nsibidi symbols. The memory is vague, but I think I'm correct."

"The true entrance will only be revealed to the fated ones. What's that supposed to mean? Does that mean that what I'm looking at isn't the real entrance?" He muttered, and looked back at the mutated giant man statue.

He closed his eyes again and dragged his fingers along the characters written on the stone tablet.

"Wisdom, wisdom, it takes wisdom to avoid the guard and cross over to the main space. The guard is looking at you, but you can't notice him."

Anthony's heart skipped multiple beats and his hairs immediately stood on edge at the thought of something dangerous watching him without his knowledge while secretly waiting for him to make a move.

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