At the same time that Yianiss and Gonzo’s group reached their respective destination, Yu-Han’s group landed on the northern continent, within the Unified Country. They spent the night in a few cabins near their objective.

  The dangerous Apalacide Mountains.

  The next day.

  “Alright, boys… this is where the Apalacide Mountains begin,” Yu-Han said, pointing toward the entrance as Damien and the others observed.

  Before them stretched an immense mountain range, covered in vegetation and gigantic trees. The grass extended as far as the eye could see, with no clear end.

  “Damn… this place is huge,” Damien said in awe. “It doesn’t look like it has an end.”

  “Interesting… but here at the entrance, I don’t feel anything paranormal, like Master Gonzo said,” Yulian commented, intrigued.

  “These mountains are enclosed within a dimension,” Yu-Han replied. “Or rather, the supernatural atmosphere is.”

  “How does that work, Master?” Edward asked.

  “It’ll be easier to explain once we go in.”

  They took only a few steps forward, and everything changed immediately. The environment became heavy, a cold breeze swept through the area, and a constant sense of alertness settled over them.

  “What the hell…?” Damien muttered. “We took like four steps and everything changed all at once.”

  “This is what I meant,” Yu-Han explained. “Normal humans would only feel a slight chill running down their spine. But we’re Thaumaturges… we notice how the entire environment is affected. There’s a dimensional wall containing this mountain. Not to contain the mountain itself, but the supernatural energy.”

  “That’s pretty confusing…” Yulian admitted. “So why doesn’t it cross the dimension like we do?”

  “And another thing,” Edward added, growing more curious. “If someone dropped a huge bomb that erased this place, would the dimension stop it?”

  Yu-Han nodded slowly.

  “One thing at a time, because it’s a complex subject. Yulian, the dimension was created specifically to contain the supernatural atmosphere of this place, and only that. The creatures inside follow the same rules as we do, or any other being. Edward, no—a bomb capable of erasing this place would do so without any problem. The mountain would disappear… but the supernatural atmosphere would remain here, trapped within the dimension. Unless it’s something that can cross dimensions… or something adimensional, as we usually call it.”

  The explanation was long, but satisfying.

  “Well… I guess that explanation is enough for now,” Damien said, rubbing his head. “Thinking too much hurts.”

  They continued forward, surrounded by overgrowth that seemed to expand with every step and trees that, at times, felt as if they had eyes.

  Suddenly, Damien noticed a small creature floating nearby: a tiny sphere of light.

  “Hey, Master… what’s that? A cryptid or a fairy?”

  “Hm… those are luminaria,” Yu-Han replied. “A kind of mosquito, but with small glowing bodies. They’re a very good example of what I mentioned earlier: adimensional beings. Watch.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The master created a small, transparent Koa box, just slightly larger than the creature.

  “Alright, boys. Look at what happens if I try to use a Koa attack from inside this box.”

  Yu-Han launched the attack… but nothing happened.

  “As you can see, it has no effect. From the inside, the box is another dimension, even though we can see through it. Now watch what the luminaria does when you irritate it a little.”

  Yu-Han provoked it gently. The creature released a small burst from inside the box. This time, the Koa it released did have an effect outside.

  “That’s an adimensional attack,” he continued. “It passes through—or rather, ignores—dimensions and hits all of them at once. Luckily, they’re pretty small, huh?” he said with a grin. “Though they’re scattered all over the world.”

  Damien and the others understood what the master meant and continued walking.

  “Master,” Yulian said, “as far as I understand, we have a mission here. What is it? I doubt it’s just exploration.”

  “In fact, we have two missions,” Yu-Han said with a smile.

  “What’s the first one?” Edward asked.

  “That you explore on your own.”

  The boys froze with startled expressions, but before any of them could speak, Yu-Han interrupted:

  “Edward, attack Yulian and Damien with poison. Now.”

  The order completely caught them off guard.

  “Master, but why?” Edward asked hesitantly.

  “Just do it. And you two—defending yourselves is forbidden,” Yu-Han ordered, his tone much harsher than before.

  “Explore on our own? Endure a venomous attack?” Damien growled. “Did the atmosphere of this place mess with you, Master?”

  “Master… I don’t know what you have in mind, but I trust your wisdom,” Yulian said, preparing himself to receive Edward’s attack.

  “Edward, stop wasting time. Attack,” Yu-Han ordered again.

  “O-Okay… I’m sorry, guys!”

  Edward released his serpent Koa.

  “Rattlesnake Fang.”

  His hands glowed with a greenish hue as he struck each of them.

  “That’s enough, right, Master?” he asked worriedly.

  Yulian and Damien immediately felt the effects of the poison.

  “Good. This is the first part of the training,” Yu-Han explained as he sat down beside a tree. “You need to build resistance to all kinds of poison. I asked Edward to attack in my place because his power is closer to your level. If I used mine, you could die. Focus your Nature Koa on eliminating the poison. Take your time. If you can’t do it, I’ll heal you and we’ll repeat the process until you succeed.”

  Yulian recovered faster than Damien.

  “Master… but won’t becoming highly resistant to poison put us at an advantage against serpent Thaumaturges like Edward or yourself?” Yulian asked.

  “Yes, but every Thaumaturge is trained to endure poisoning. Not doing so puts you at a severe disadvantage. Besides, poison is usually used more against non-human beings. And remember—the serpent isn’t just poison. Good… it seems you’ve managed it. We’ll repeat the process several more times, until your resistance increases.”

  “The advantage this bastard has just for being a serpent and having immunity…” Damien grumbled as he was poisoned again.

  “Hey, stop complaining,” Yulian said. “It’s for our own good. I imagine he’ll do the same to the others when we regroup.”

  “That’s right. Everyone has to go through this process,” Yu-Han nodded. “Alright, Edward, go ahead.”

  They spent a large part of the day like this. With each repetition, their resistance improved, though the constant use of Koa left Edward, Yulian, and Damien completely exhausted.

  “Good work. You did great,” Yu-Han said. “We’ll rest in a cabin a few meters from here, and tomorrow I’ll give you the final dose myself. Recover.”

  Inside the cabin, the boys tried to rest, but outside—beyond the wind and birds—they heard strange sounds: growls, roars, even voices that sounded almost human. The atmosphere grew heavier as night fell.

  Damn… this place is different at night, Damien thought, peering through a closed window.

  Through it, he saw a creature standing atop one of the enormous trees. It was about two meters tall, thin, a disturbing mix of man and insect. The creature stared back at him, then suddenly took flight at incredible speed and vanished.

  Damien felt curious about why it had been there, but when he turned his head slightly to observe the rest of the area, he noticed something worse: that creature wasn’t the only one watching them. There were many—various species he could only describe as cryptids—surrounding the cabin.

  He thought they were about to attack, but he was far too exhausted to use Koa to defend himself.

  “Relax,” Yu-Han said. “This cabin has a high-level thaumaturgical repellent seal. Supernatural beings with bad intentions cannot come close.”

  When Damien looked out the window again, he saw the creatures slowly dispersing back into the forest.

  Before going to sleep, Damien finally understood Master Gonzo’s words.

  The Apalacide Mountains were on another level. They were something he had never seen before.

  And he and his friends would need every tool available to explore them safely… even if that meant enduring poison again and again until resistance became second nature.