Tok tok
"Enter."
A young man entered a large office.
Behind the desk sat a man, completely unbothered. He was tending to some papers.
He did not immediately attend to the visitor. Instead, opting to let the silence linger to build up tension.
The young man looked fidgety and anxious.
The longer he waited, the deeper his unease became.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of waiting, he lifted his head from the papers.
"Noah..."
"Y...Yes, father, you called?"
"You know why I called for you?"
"I-I might have an idea." He stuttered.
"Why is the boy still alive, Noah?" The duke calmly asked.
"I already hired an assassin, the problem is, it has been difficult for him to get a clear sight on Kyle, he has not even left the mansion grounds since then."
The duke frowned, clearly unhappy with the answer.
"Is that all you have to say? Excuses?"
Kyle's brow perspired with sweat now.
"No, father, I will see to it that he does not live to see the next day, soon."
"Do I need to remind you, I am not the one who wants him dead, Noah, I couldn't care less about lesser beings. What I'm worried about is you and your inability to complete simple tasks. Tasks that you set out for yourself, I worry for the future of this house when it's in your hands."
"Fa-."
"What's even worse, you embarrassed yourself and the house when you were pinned down by a weak mortal."
"Father, I don't know h-"
"Enough!" The duke interrupted. "Excuses as usual! The Ravenshade mortal will come here next week for your duel. I have given you the perfect opportunity to do what must be done. And do not dare fail. I do not know why everything must be handed to you on a silver platter."
"Y-Yes, Father, "Noah nodded anxiously.
"Now, leave me."
Noah hurried out, not letting the moment linger. He closed the door behind him.
'Useless, assassins!
He had failed again.
Noah walked through the halls of the sprawling estate, his footsteps echoing off the marble floors.
Any servant he came across steered clear of him. Noah's face was twisted in anger, into an almost unsightly expression.
That was a sign for anyone who dared to come close. The young master was about to go on one of his rampages.
Once inside his room, Noah slammed the door shut, his face contorted with rage.
He flung his jacket onto the chair, its buttons scattering across the floor, then kicked over a small table that held a vase filled with fresh flowers.
The glass shattered, sending delicate petals fluttering to the ground.
He paced back and forth, his hands clenched into fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"Damn it!" he growled. "How dare that mortal humiliate me? How dare he raise his hands against me?"
He grabbed a nearby book off his desk, hurling it against the wall. The pages flew out, some landing on the floor while others stuck to the wall like paper butterflies.
With each act of destruction, his anger only intensified. "I will have him dead! I will have his head on a spike outside my front door! I will have his balls thrown out for the dogs to feed on!"
His rant continued for several minutes until he was out of breath. He looked towards the bed, panting heavily.
There, a familiar trio of women lay naked, looking at him with frightened gazes.
Noah stared at them for a full ten seconds and then walked over slowly, getting rid of the rest of his clothes.
He smiled, a sinister smile, grabbing onto the nearest woman, who only complied silently, letting him pull her into position.
Moans and whimpers echoed in the room for the rest of the day as Noah ravaged the trio into submission once more.
...
Back in the hidden realm.
Kyle and Nuna reappeared in an expansive, dark cavern. Kyle was immediately struck by the oppressive atmosphere.
His senses were immediately overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, and energies of the new environment.
Kyle frowned, scrunching his nose up.
The air was heavy with a noxious, corrosive energy that made his skin prickle.
Luminescent fungi and glowing mosses clung to the damp, rough stone walls, casting eerie shadows that danced in the flickering light.
The humidity hung thick and heavy, making it hard to breathe.
"This place reeks of corruption," Kyle remarked, his nose wrinkling. "I can barely stand the stench."
Nuna nodded gravely as they proceeded down one of the passages.
"The ambient Qi here is toxic. Many cultivators who've attempted to practice in such realms have suffered severe damage to their meridians, dantians, and cores, rendering them useless.
I advise against any cultivation attempts while we're here. If you spend too long in a hidden realm with corrupted Qi, you might also suffer the same fate. So if you do find yourself stuck in one for a long time, block your pores and meridians."
Kyle's eyes widened at the warning. 'Wow, this makes me second-guess using information from Heavenly Paradise to my benefit. The novel was incredibly vague on some things. This was never even mentioned.'
He thought.
He had read of cultivators ruining themselves by misusing or succumbing to tainted energies, but never thought he'd encounter an environment like this firsthand.
The mere idea of exposing himself to such dangerous currents sent a shiver down his spine.
"I'll keep that in mind," he said, his voice tight with unease.
"It's such a shame, though. I can feel how dense the Qi in here is, almost five times as dense as outside. Cultivating in here would have been beneficial."
"There are some hidden realms that contain pure Qi; those are incredibly rare, only two exist currently, both under the control of the royal family. The only way a person can gain permission to enter is either if they are granted access as a reward for doing something, or by serving our world for centuries. The privilege is usually given to old foggiest on the cusp of a breakthrough to higher realms."
"Oh..."
They moved cautiously down a passage, the furthest to their left, the only sound being the faint echoes of dripping water off to their sides.
The walls seemed to close in around them as they walked.
The passageway was incredibly dark, but the luminescent moss did a good job of giving them a modicum of lighting.
After walking in silence for a little over five minutes, Nuna spoke.
"We should be approaching some kind of a clearing soon," She said softly, her voice barely audible over the silence. "Stay alert."
As if on cue, the passage began to slope downward, and the air grew cooler.
Suddenly, they emerged into a vast, natural amphitheater, surrounded by towering stone walls.
The center of the space was taken up by a massive crystal formation, its facets reflecting the dim bioluminescent light.
"Wow," Kyle breathed, awestruck by the sight. "That's incredible."
Nuna smiled, seemingly pleased with his reaction. "This place is indeed beautiful," she said, her eyes scanning the area. "But let us not linger too long."