UNLIMITED SPEED

Noah felt the world around him stretch, then he found his environment drastically changed from the burning landscape the formerly beautiful prairie had become. A location he still didn't know.

He and the other three found themselves in a gray hallway leading to a room in the distance. Exchanging gazes at that sight, the group of four began their slow walk down the plain path, and soon a room unfolded in their sights.

A small room actually, but it featured five individuals who welcomed them with wide smiles.

"I am Drecus Nimiog. You must be the group from the great guild; Divine lightning, sir Von told us of your arrival." A man who looked to be in his late forties bowed deeply. He had deep yellow hair that he combed behind his ears and had a pair of reading googles on.

The expert who stood at the realm of the higher stage of tier 3 had a silver-colored garment on, lined with golden stripes. His attire looked identical to the other four individuals.

The four exchanged glances at that point and proceeded to introduce themselves.

"I am Williams, a member of the Divine Lightning guild, it is a pleasure to meet you, sir Drecus. I hope you handle us with care," William's bowed utilizing the most polite tone Noah had heard him produce.

"I am Liam." Liam bowed.

"I am Illiana," she bowed also.

"I am Aiden," Noah bowed.

"It a pleasure to meet you all," Drecus smiled. "Come, we have your rooms prepared," the expert ushered them to follow him, while the four individuals walked behind them.

The door at the right end of the room opened even before Drecus could touch it, and the four of them walked behind him, on a single file.

They entered another hallway, but this one featured the two colors evident on the clothes of Drecus and his group and many doors.

Silver walls, golden ceiling. Those two colors stretched as far as the eye could see, but no one placed too much focus on those details. Noah almost didn't notice the golden ceiling, he had seen too much gold in his months of staying at the Divine Lightning guild, that the color had stopped becoming spectacular.

He had even gazed at structures far stunning and resplendant than that hallway.

The man brought them to a spot far from the room they had exited and four doors featuring their names and were face each other in pairs of two.

Noah immediately knew his room and saw that Illiana's stood directly facing his.

"This will be your rooms, and these are the keys. You will all be teleported back here as long as you have this key on you. This is for when the tournaments start," Sir Drecus explained while four identical keys floated and landed on their outstretched palms.

The black cylindrical objects only about two inches in length featured their names written with golden lights.

Noah found the hole for the key and didn't hesitate to push it in, even if the Drecus man was still there.

"You will all receive announcements five minutes before you're asked to step out of your rooms, so please prepare. But for now rest. I heard an incident occurred on your journey here," Drecus explained saying the last sentence as if he truly cared.

Noah expected someone to spill information for the seemingly caring man, but surprisingly no one replied his hidden question, Williams who had experience about such situations simply gave more thanks forcing the expert to say his goodbyes and leave them to their businesses.

"There will be a knock on your door to deliver food," the man said as he left with his silent group of four.

A sigh exited the mouths of all four experts at that point.

"He tried to milk us of information right there," Williams shook his head and spoke in a whispering voice.

"We can't trust too many people since a tier 4 cultivator was involved. It might be something of dire consequences," he explained placing his key into the hole and opened the door.

"Its been a long couple of days, we should get rest. A challenge probably more greater than what we just experienced awaits us in two days. We have to make our guild proud," Williams declared walking past the door and shutting it.

The others quietly did the same and soon Noah found himself alone in a simple looking room. A bed bathroom, table and chair filled the insides of the silver painted room with a golden ceiling.

Laying on the white bed, he fell into a series of thoughts while relaxation and a sense of safety spiraled into his consciousness.

The event with the tier 4 cultivator and the fact that they were hunting down humans had forced him to recall his time in the Dragon's claw city.

He recalled what the mercenary leader Brenard had said about a ritual, but failed to see its connection to what had happened to them. After all those times were months ago, surely they had done whatever diabolical thing they wanted to do.

Nevertheless he couldn't rule it out of the options. Notwithstanding, he found a safe spot in the whole charade. With existences in tier 4 participating, he wouldn't be needed to do anything.

'It's not my problem,' Noah concluded immediately switching the subject to what he would do now.

Fortunately a knock rang on his door and he immediately knew it was the person who was to deliver his meal.

A tray of fine delicacies soon found itself on the table within the room, and he didn't hesitate to indulge himself in it. After the satisfying meal Noah visited the bathroom and took a long relaxing shower.

Returning to his bed, Noah took out his soul cultivation manual and began to stare at it until his eyes couldn't take anymore of it. The rewards of those short training sessions weren't much but they helped anyway.

He would need to undergo another dungeon dive or enter a long seclusion before he could see exponential benefits, but he didn't care. At least currently.