Cosmic Peak

"The path in front of us is riddled with traps and blessings both. So...who among you will go first?" Lamila said as she looked at Aren and others.

At this time, Aren's group and Reto's group were standing in front of a five steps wide path inside this underground cave.

"I will go first," Aren spoke with a grimace as if he had just gathered some courage and spoke out.

Reto grinned as he looked at Aren, "Boy, you are the only man in their group, hehehe. Did you bang any of them yet or not? Hahaha, don't die early or they'll become lonely."

Luna, Quinn, Aren's mother, and Hemila clenched their fist while Aren also frowned but didn't say anything and just walked forward.

Aren looked at the broad path in front of him and focused hard, 'Please work.'

Right after a second, He started to see hazy glowing sparks on some places in front of him.

'Rocks...wouldn't work on such mystical traps, right?' Aren thought as he picked up a rock.

Seeing that, Kozark sneered while Reto and Lamila shook their heads.

Indeed, Aren threw a rock at one of the sparky places, and nothing happened.

"Boy, just move forward. This is the first section, and it will end at that grey rocky ground at the end of this path which is a safe zone. Come on, move, move." Lamila said as she urged Aren to move forward, "Also, don't go straight ahead and move while changing positions if you don't want to die early, hehe."

Aren took the first step and then the second as he slowly started walking,

'I have to make a plan to escape from them, but first, let's cross this hurdle.'

He avoided the sparky areas that were half a meter radius size and safely walked to the flat ground at the other side that is a supposed safe area, according to Reto and others.

When Aren turned back after reaching the safe area, he was shocked!

The sparky things moved from their spots and changed positions.

Aren greatly held himself back from changing his expression as he contacted Lorain and others spiritually.

Aren--'Everyone, do not be surprised and act naturally while I am speaking to you. Got it? Do not be surprised! Now listen, I can actually see the traps with my Astral-X eyes, and once I crossed to the other side, the traps changed their places. So remember to follow my instruction since they will likely tell you to move forward if they know of this mechanism.'

Lorain and others were surprised, but they didn't show it since they were prepared.

"One of you! Come forward and start moving to the other side. Hurry up." Kozark spoke in a raspy tone.

"I-I'll go," Lorain spoke with a slight stammer as she moved forward and started walking.

Aren kept giving her instructions on how to move and safely cross to the other side.

Aren also noticed that Reto had turned silent with a serious expression on his face as he kept his gaze focused on the path, 'Why is he so focused? Does he want to remember the pattern of moving? But...that's useless.'

Once Lorain arrived beside Aren, the traps once again changed their position.

"Wow, hahaha. You two sure are lucky," Lamila sneered while Reto was still in his focused state.

Kozark once again told someone to move forward, and this time, Quinn and Luna volunteered at the same time. Hemila also said, but she was a bit late.

But Kozark tsked as he pointed at Hemila and said, "You! Start moving."

"Y-yes...," Hemila nodded with some fear as she started walking.

After a while, she also safely crossed the trap path. But this time, Aren was surprised to see that the traps didn't change their positions. What's more, the traps greatly decreased in number as only three traps remained in the whole path on which people likely wouldn't step since they were at the corners.

At this time, Reto grinned and said, "Follow me."

Lamila and Kozark smiled as they followed Reto. Lamia turned to Luna and Quinn and said, "What are you waiting for? do I have to give an invitation to follow us?"

'Bitch...,' Luna and Quinn both cursed her inside their mind while outside; they nodded and acted naturally as they followed Lamina, Kozark, and Reto.

Once all of them arrived at the safe zone, Reto looked at Aren, Lorain, and Lamina with a wicked grin on his face, "You three sure are lucky and unlucky both. You didn't encounter any trap nor any blessings, hahaha. Keep it up, keep it up."

Aren found something strange, 'Reto seems to know that the traps will decrease after three people pass, but then why was he so focused?'

The safe zone stretched for ten meters as they walked forward in this sizeable underground cave.

At the end of the safe zone, the second trap area started.

Lamila told Aren, Lorain, and Hemila to move since she felt that these three were very lucky.

Aren went first as he avoided all traps and then led his mother and auntie Helima to the safe zone as well.

After Lorain and Hemila passed safely, the number of traps again decreased greatly as Reto told others to follow him.

"Reto, did you sense any blessings?" Lamila asked while walking towards the safe zone.

Reto shook his head, "Nope. Let's continue. According to information, we will definitely get some blessings since we need them to clear this hidden dungeon."

They spoke in a low voice such that others couldn't hear them.

Once everyone arrived at the safe zone, Reto couldn't help but look at Aren, Lorain, and Hemila as he asked in a surprised tone, "Do the three of you have luck-related abilities or special luck traits? Because you sure are lucky, hahaha."

"Anyway, let's continue moving," Reto said after laughing.

After walking for ten meters, they saw another trap area path.

As usual, Aren walked forward, but this time, he was surprised to see an unusual area where hazy golden sparks hovered, 'What is that? The other sparks are dark blue while this one is golden? is it a more powerful trap?'

He had removed the notion of blessings since he felt that it was just a lie to give them hope.

Aren moved forward as he avoided the traps and reached the other side.

After Lorain and Hemila crossed the trap path, Aren saw that the traps decreased greatly as usual, but the hazy golden sparks at the place remained.

Reto once again told others to follow him, but when he neared the golden sparky area, he paused as a slight gleam of golden passed through his eyes.

He turned to his left and walked three steps before touching the hazy golden sparks.

Aren was surprised, but he kept it to himself, 'What's going on? It felt like he was purposefully walking towards it...Could it be that he was searching it when he focused the previous time?'

On the other hand, Reto was enveloped in a golden brilliance that none of the people could see except Aren.

But Reto didn't stop moving as after taking the blessing, he continued moving forward towards the safe zone while others followed him.

'Hmmm, as expected, these blessings are temporarily granted to us to clear the dungeon. But this one suits me since it is an offensive flame-based blessing, hehehe. Though that brat and other two are strange...how come they didn't encounter any trap and die yet?'

Kozark and Lamila looked at each other with excited expressions as since Reto moving like that means that he found a blessing.

After reaching the safe zone, Reto looked at Aren and grinned, "Boy, could it be that....you can actually see the traps?"