Infinite Realm

"A little more and you would have been a goner. Congratulations, Chosen Ones. You've passed the test."

[[System Notification :

Trial of the 'Achievers'

Mission Rating : A

Mission Detail : Defeat the selected 'Achiever' or survive 6 strikes from it. Failure is only permissible 2 and at the 3rd time, the participant would die and officially fail the mission. (1/3 chances left) 

Mission status : Completed ]]

The Achiever's long-sword was just 50 centimetres away from his head when Sato heard those words. Without a doubt, if the Sato's sword had taken much longer to make a hit, even by just a second, he would have died an instant death. 

Nonetheless, despite the strike being canceled so suddenly thereby saving Sato from the threat of death, the leftover force from it still made it's way towards Sato. The sword intent and terrifying pressure from the sword had suddenly been dissipated but the violent sword wind from the strike still made its way towards Sato. In order to prevent the unintended from happening, the Achiever let go of the seal on its strength, releasing an overbearing pressure that dissipated the sword wind, turning it from a highly compressed wind capable of cleanly slicing a van into two to a gentle beach wind on a regular summer afternoon. 

From this, Sato realised the difference between himself and the Achiever once again. He had just faced the grey statue at 7% but just the sword wind of the Achiever, which could slice him apart over and over a dozen times before dissipating, was easily eliminated by an outburst of its aura. What was even more interesting was the fact that Sato felt that the pressure it had used to dissipate the sword wind was a lot weaker than its original self. It most likely did so because Sato wouldn't be able to bear the full brunt of its pressure.

'Scary…' Sato inwardly sucked in cold air.

"Wait, what did you say?!"

Due to the pressure from the looming sword above him, it took Sato a while to process the words that the old man had said, leading to his surprised state.

"You've passed the test. You now officially have access to the Great Hall of the Grey Chaplains also known as the Hall of Achievers." The old man said with a warm tone that had a hint of servitude in it. The old man then clapped his hand 3 times and the grey statue of the swordsman Achiever made its way back to its original post as if nothing had happened.

"The Great hall of the Grey Chaplains?" Sato asked curiously as he glanced at the Achiever before shifting his attention to the old man. Xue Yan also returned close to him as there was no need to stay far away any longer.

"Yes. The explanation is quite long and it would involve the history of my former masters, the Caventry. To summarize it better, you could say it's one of the physical locations of the Grey Chaplains." The copper-tinted old man answered with a servile tone, completely different from his mysterious and creepy personality.

"Your former masters? The Caventry?" Xue Yan was surprised.

"Yes." 

Sato rubbed his chin in thought before asking "You said we've passed the test and so now have official access to the hall right?" 

"Yes." 

Sato went on to stroke his chin as if in thought but in reality, he was actually glancing at the system interface, specifically the reward section for the mission. In that section, there was a statement about the knowledge of the Ancient civilization that dwelt here before. 

Having been playing IR for a while now, Sato discovered that some mission rewards wouldn't just show themselves blatantly in front of the players. Sometimes they would appear in the form of privileges or authority just like now. If it were before he had completed the test, Sato wouldn't be able to receive any answers to his questions from the old man so there was no way he could learn any information about the ancient civilizations, after all, even the mural barely had anything about them. Unless Sato could somehow find a mighty empire that had existed for as long as the ancient civilization had or possibly had some clues about them, there was nothing he could do, and even the two mentioned options were just possibilities. It was highly likely that no existing power knew much about the ancient civilization like the copper man in front of him. 

Due to the scarcity of this, it worked well as a mission reward but unlike other games where if the player passes the mission then the information would suddenly be given to him through the interface, IR doesn't make things so easy but adds in that 'real' feature. For missions like this, the player was required to interact with the supervising NPC for his/her rewards and that was what Sato needed to do now.

"Does that mean you will answer all our questions?" Sato probed.

The old man didn't answer immediately but smiled.

"It depends on the nature of the question. As long it doesn't go beyond what was specified in the regulations, then yes."

"Then what are the regulations?" Sato asked with interest.

"Anything that touches the origin." The old man smiled mysteriously.

Sato frowned hearing this. Rather than making things easier, the old man had just complicated the entire stuff, frustrating him. Having talked with him for a while now, Sato could roughly guess how the old man thought. He knew that once the old man smiled like that, all should be forgotten. The smile was the copper old man's way of saying 'I ain't talking no more but I don't mind frustrating you with esoteric terms'.

Sato sighed and simply decided to ask his questions.

"First of all, who or what are you?"

"Oh, that's true. I haven't introduced myself properly to you two." Performing a 90 degrees bow like an average butler from the Victorian era, the old man continued,

  "I'm Saimon Magistris, the current guardian of the Great Hall of the Grey Chaplains and the humble servant of the Caventry civilization."

"Saimon…you aren't human, are you? Are you one of the Caventry? Sato asked. At this stage, Xue Yan kept quiet and left all the asking to Sato while she paid extreme care and attention to all that Saimon said.

Saimon answered, "I'm neither human nor Caventry. You could say that I'm a puppet but at the same time something else. My kind was raised by the Grey god to serve his direct descendants and people, of whom the caventry are a part. We live and die for the Grey so, in a way, you could call me a puppet."

Sato was surprised and confused because he was never expecting such a reply but that didn't stop him from asking a follow-up question.

"Who is the Grey god? Who are his descendants and people?" 

"That's against the regulations so I can not answer you." Saimon smirked.

'As I had expected...' Sato sighed but Saimon's next words comforted him a bit.

"However, while I can't answer that directly, I can still give you a satisfying answer that's within the rules." Saimon looked Sato in the eye.

Sato hesitated at Saimon's stare but eventually nodded, "Let's hear it."

Saimon nodded in return as if commending Sato for his choice before speaking, 

"The Grey side. What comes to mind when you think of the word 'Grey'?"

Sato thought for a while before replying to him, "Something neither good nor bad, neither black nor white."

Saimon nodded, "Yes. And that's who the Grey god is. HE is the one who lies between good and bad, neither good nor bad. Between white and black, but neither white nor black. All HE exists for is to maintain balance in the world; true balance. For this, while he is neither black nor white, good nor bad, in other to achieve true balance, HE can be either at a time but not forever. As for HIS followers and descendants, they are the ones who abide by HIS will, acting as HIS instrument for balance." 

  Having gotten a workable answer and knowing he couldn't get more than that, Sato then asked the question that had always been in his mind.

"What are the Caventry and what is this place meant for?" 

"The Caventry are descendants of the Grey god. As descendants of god, they were special beyond regular comprehension. They possess strength and physique beyond the average races. However, the heavens were fair and made it so that reproduction was a very difficult task for them. Nonetheless, the abilities, physique, and aptitude they possessed made them one of the top races back then. For this, they were envied, feared, and ostracized by most. With time, these negative ideas and thoughts had multiplied beyond suppression, leading to the point that the other races had ganged up on them, including the human race. While the Caventry weren't eliminated, they were forced into hiding; living in mountain caves and underground cities. But having already lost a lot of their numbers together with the difficulty of procreation, they inevitably became extinct." Saimon sighed.

Listening to his words, Sato matched them with the murals back at the corridor and reached the conclusion that what Saimon said was true.

"As for the purpose of this facility. It hides both the inheritance of the Caventry and functions as a seal.

"Rather than just this building alone, the entire 'Back Grill's Cave' as you all call it, is a huge seal.. As for the sealed object, it is the Demon God's Son."