Robert rose from his seat, his gaze traveling to his people resting ahead of him. He waved, calling out, "Ellena... Ella... come here..."
The two girls stepped forward in response. They were unmistakably twins. They shared many features, including blonde hair and green eyes. The one on the left wore a red mage outfit, her hair in a ponytail, and had a cheerful expression. Her sister, on the right, wore a blue archer suit, her hair cut short.
Robert pointed to the girl in the mage outfit and said, "She's Ellena," and then to the more reserved girl, "And Ella."
"Hi there," Ellena said, waving her hand at Nathan. Her face was bright and alight with excitement. "I saw your fight from afar - it was really impressive," she added, chuckling lightly.
"Thanks," Nathan replied, smiling. "My name is Nathan."
"Hi Nathan," Ellena replied, placing her hand on her twin sister's shoulder. "This is Ella - my twin."
"Hi, Nathan," Ella said, softly smiling at Nathan.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtEven though they were twins, it was easy to tell them apart. Ellena, a mage, had a cheerful face and was easier to get along with. Her sister, an archer, Ella, was even quieter.
Robert smiled at Ellena and Ella, then started talking again when he saw that they had finished their introduction. He faced Nathan. "It would be better if you saw it in person, Nathan, so I brought them both here."
Nathan raised his eyebrows, trying to understand Robert's words.
"Ellena, Ella, please," Robert then said to the twins.
"Alright, Robert," Ellena answered, then she stepped aside as a dark red grimoire appeared near her. She made a movement with her hand, and an oval-shaped mirror encased in red energy appeared in front of her.
Meanwhile, Ella was holding a bow with an arrow that seemed to be connected to the mirror by blue energy. She pulled the arrow back and pointed it up to the sky at some distance. After a few moments, she released the arrow, which shot into the sky and then disappeared from view after a while.
Ellena stepped closer to Nathan and stood beside him. She then showed him the digital screen inside her mirror, which displayed a video of the arrow Ella had shot before.
Robert smiled upon seeing the same image and stared into the mirror. "Ah, here it is," he said. He gestured towards a peculiar sight — a large, black crack with a red, glowing hue, appearing to hover in mid-air like a dimensional doorway. "A dimensional crack." he exclaimed.
"Hmmm..." Nathan said slowly, trying to recognize what Robert was showing. "What is this? What is the difference between dimensional crack and dimensional door?"
"They have something in common; a dimensional crack is merely a fraction of a dimension that could contain something slated to break soon and emerge in the near future." Robert replied.
He stepped back and crouched down. With a gesture, he formed a circle in the ice layer and indicated the center, saying, "We're right here in the middle of this pocket dimension. What Ellena showed us before is something at the edge of this pocket dimension."
Robert pointed to several points on the circle. "There are ten places that show a similar phenomenon," he added.
Robert stood up once more and said, "What I'm trying to say is that the energy coming from those dimensional cracks is more than we may have anticipated. My concern is that we have yet to face the real challenge of this exam, so we must do something to tackle this situation."
Nathan was silent for a moment, trying to comprehend what Robert had just said. "Are you implying that monsters more powerful than the ones we have encountered may emerge from that dimensional crack?" he inquired, feeling exhilarated by the prospect of being able to hunt bigger games and reach higher levels.
"Yes, that's right," Robert replied, nodding slowly. "And if the battle between parties continues, I'm afraid we won't have enough people to complete this challenge if the game moves on to the next stage."
Nathan nodded slowly. "That sure would be a problem."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Fighting Elite Monsters under level 80 could still be manageable. I'm sure you could handle it alone, Nathan," Robert said with a smile.
"But Elite Monsters at level 90 and above, or even those stuck at level 100, would require more people and a strong team to take them on," he added.
"Especially if multiple monsters appear at the same time. We'd need a lot of people to defeat the weaker ones and divide our strongest forces to face the stronger ones," he continued.
"In the worst case," Robert said with a faint smile, "CEHA could even deploy a General Grade Monster. Monsters of this caliber possess an immense fighting potential that far surpasses the capabilities of the average challenger in this pocket dimension. To face such a monster would be sheer hell!"
Nathan took a deep breath and paused to think.
"Even though what you said isn't entirely true yet, I agree that we need to prepare ourselves for any bigger challenges that may come our way," he said. "My team and I will continue to do our best. That's something I can definitely promise. What then?" he asked.
"That's the reason why I came to you today, Nathan," Robert replied as they both returned to their seats. Robert then explained the mapping of team strength from the top 10 rankings on the leaderboard.
"The Shadow Warriors is a party with dark elves. I believe someone in your party has a higher rank than them. They will be more likely to listen to her," Robert said.
He further explained to Nathan to divide the tasks, spread the news to more teams, and then invite them to join an alliance to complete the challenge together.
"We will use this place as the center of our defense," he continued.
The land Nathan used for camping overnight was wide and open, surrounded by an ancient forest with tall trees stretching toward the sky. This place was especially suitable because it was in the middle of the pocket dimension.
As Nathan was engaged in conversation with Robert, he noticed something peculiar. He noticed that the digital map from Geen's skill had reappeared! He was overjoyed and grateful as he realized Geen was back and had come at the perfect time when he needed it most.