The First Store System



Chapter 1281: Training and Panagea(5)

Screech!

As the heads screamed, Aakesh froze. He immediately broke out of its effect and attacked the heads.

It was a silent scream, and the sound had only rang in his head.

Not long after, Aakesh had several spherical cores in his hand. Following the sequence of the pattern, Aakesh merged the cores and then put it and the remaining ones in his space ring.

Aakesh hadn't even gathered one-thousandth of the spherical cores, and the head's spiritual screams had already reached such an extent.

After the sound of the footsteps disappeared, Aakesh cautiously walked forward. As expected, the ground beneath his feet had turned into stairs.

The way things were going, it was sure to take years before he could even gather the total number of spherical cores and complete the formation of the keys.

Aakesh could only hope that things wouldn't be this bland till he found all the spherical cores. At the same time, Aakesh believed that he had lost the opportunity to gain something from the last survivor's fortune.

He was only one-fourth of the day in Panagea, while the man would still be here.

Time flew by, and several hours passed in the blink of an eye.

After Aakesh touched the mark of fifty thousand heads, he found there was a change in the stairs.

Now, another way had opened for Aakesh to go forward.

Aakesh decided to go down the newly emerged path since his danger sense didn't activate.

After walking for a thousand miles without coming across the flat surface, Aakesh saw a ray of light appear in mid-air.

As he walked forward, the ray of light grew larger. When he got close enough to look, he saw a window suspended in the air.

It was in Aakesh's jumping range, so he put energy into his feet and jumped. The next moment, he was standing at the edge of the window.

He could only see a blinding light beyond the window, so he stepped in. The next moment, his body passed through a membrane.

After walking past the window, Aakesh found himself back in the dark, swampy surface. The change was that he had a three-fork stairway in front of him.

Aakesh chose the one on his right and walked forward. It seemed Aakesh had chosen the right one as after walking for a few hundred meters, Aakesh came across the flat surface.

The sound of footsteps returned. The heads also returned, but there was only one head.

It screamed, and its intensity was severalfold higher than the combined screams of the previous occurrence.

Aakesh only froze for a moment, but he easily broke down from the effects and killed the head.

The next moment, a mountain of spherical cores appeared on the ground. Aakesh found it to be around fifty thousand, the same number as he had gathered until that point.

Aakesh then arranged the spherical cores in sequence, and soon after, he was left with a merged core and several thousand usual spherical cores.

There was a straight path ahead of him, so he proceeded forward and kept at it for some time. The stairs went for several thousand miles before his feet touched the ground.

The sound of footsteps returned, and they were louder than ever. At the same time, a number of heads also emerged out of the darkness.

There were two of them, and each was stronger than the last time. Both heads screamed simultaneously.

When Aakesh completed the hunt, he found a mountain of spherical cores on the ground.

Aakesh believed it would take him years to complete the key, but it seemed he was early in his judgment.

***

[Host, the time for your meditation has arrived!]

Aakesh was climbing down the stairs when the system's emotionless, mechanical alert rang in his ears.

Since it would take months, there was no need to be in a hurry. So Aakesh decided to exit Panagea and return to the store.

If he was in the city, he would have returned to his residence, but in that damp area, he could do nothing of that sort, so he had to exist right there.

The next moment, he disappeared from the Panagea, with silence returning to the stairs.

Aakesh returned to the store with his meditation mat waiting for him on the floor.

Aakesh sat down on the mat in the meditative pose and closed his eyes after taking out the purer, ordinary Sacred stones.

Time flew by, and hours passed in the blink of an eye.

[Host, the sun is about to rise in Thorr City.]

The system informed Aakesh. He opened his eyes and exhaled a deep breath.

***

The sun rose on Thorr and its nearby cities, and its first ray of light pierced through the blanket of darkness.

As the first ray of sunlight touched the ground, the store opened its door.

Aakesh was greeted by a large crowd when he opened the door. Some looked excited for the reward they would receive in Panagea, while others had solemn faces due to things going on in Panagea.

Aakesh didn't let them wait any longer and moved away from the door. The large crowd of customers entered the store like a raging tide.

As the first 38,148 customers entered the store, they were shrouded in golden light. The remaining customers had disappointed expressions but soon calmed down and went their ways. Some went toward other rooms, while others sat down in the waiting corner, passing their time while meditating.

Of the 38,148 customers who had the store cards, they immediately went toward the portal room, while those who didn't have any formed the majority of the group.

"Hello, senior!" Maria respectfully greeted Aakesh and then left the queue, walking toward the portal room.

The second customer in line paid for his six Panagea hours of stay after greeting Aakesh. He then went toward the portal room with an excited expression, since good things were waiting for him in Panagea.

After the man, it was Favan's turn. He respectfully greeted Aakesh as usual.

Time was like a stream that kept flowing. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks. Just like that, three weeks passed in the blink of an eye.