The First Store System

Chapter 1124: The Palace(1)

Time flew by, and both Lily and Aakesh were sitting in their chairs.

Aakesh didn't have his usual smile on his face while Lily was detailing the scene and how things played out in her territory. Lily's voice shook slightly at first, but soon it turned calm and cold like ice.

"Are you sure you don't want me there?" Aakesh asked after Lily stopped talking.

"Yes, I am sure," Lily replied. At first, her voice didn't sound confident at all, but by the end, it was filled with determination.

Aakesh nodded, accepting Lily's opinion. He wanted to help Lily and also vent some of his anger. But he also wanted Lily to grow and become strong on her own; otherwise, there was no point in him giving up large commissions to the system over allowing Lily to be a native as well as have the revival characteristics of an adventurer.

They then talked for some more time, and after that, they disappeared from the selection area and returned to the store's hall.

Lily summoned the door to the room, and not long after, stairs connecting it to the floor emerged. Lily nodded toward Aakesh and then stepped up the stairs.

With a sound, the door automatically closed after Lily stepped inside the room. The next moment, it and the stairs disappeared, waiting for either of them to call it back.

Aakesh's calm face turned indifferent as he turned around and proceeded toward the portal room. After entering the room, as usual, his eyes fell on the two leaderboards. Seeing that there was no change in rankings from yesterday, he moved his eyes away and went toward the nearest virtual portal.

It looked beautiful as countless stars shone like a galaxy. Aakesh then touched it using just the tip of his finger, and the next moment, he was sucked inside Panagea while the shining stars turned gray, announcing that the portal was filled.

After entering Panagea, Aakesh was surprised to find that the location he had left yesterday had changed.

Yesterday, he had unlocked the door and was in front of the endless majestic palace, but now, he found himself standing in front of the closed door.

It was the first time his logging out had influenced his position in Panagea. He then asked the system about it.

[Host, exiting Panagea means vanishing from here completely so higher level beings wouldn't capture adventurers using their soul's presence.]

Aakesh understood what the system meant. Since he logged out yesterday, his presence vanished from the palace, and so his unlocking the door also turned into nothing.

If Aakesh had known this earlier, he would have stayed until he had accomplished his goals in this location, but given how things had turned out, he didn't feel disappointed.

He took the wings out and repeated the process from yesterday.

Aakesh's body had become somewhat accustomed to the pressure and weight of the ink and brush, so it didn't take him that long to form the pattern of rebirth.

Aakesh found the process to be worth it as his strength and agility had grown when he checked his status panel.

As the pattern became complete, a blinding light appeared. Aakesh had no choice but to close his eyes, and when the surroundings had returned to normal, he opened them.

Similar to yesterday, Aakesh found himself in front of the palace with the closed door behind him.

The majesty and beauty of the palace awed Aakesh like yesterday, and he took a step forward. His right foot had only just landed on the valuable pavement made of Eternal Stones when suddenly a wave of intense pressure hit him.

Aakesh would have almost exploded into a blood cloud immediately if not for the pattern he drew on the gate, which appeared in front of him and faced the pressure head-on.

Aakesh took another step, and the pressure attacking him grew, causing cracks in the pattern. He could see cracks appearing, and then they restored themselves.

Aakesh heaved a sigh of relief that each stroke he completed was perfect. If there were even a slight imperfection in the stroke, it would have become a matchstick that would have burnt the entire box into ashes.

With every step, the pressure increased, and with it, the number and length of cracks. But every time, they would restore themselves, making Aakesh steer clear of the pressure and explode into a blood cloud.

The pavement was several thousand miles long, and as Aakesh approached the palace, the awe in his eyes grew.

Finally, after crossing the distance of 11,000 miles, Aakesh reached the entry gate of the palace. The pattern around him remained the same as ever as the pressure attacking him disappeared.

The pattern then suddenly exploded and melted into Aakesh.

[Level up!]

The next moment, an alert rang in Aakesh's ears, surprising him. The quest already had a reward of five levels. He could only imagine what kind of rewards were waiting for him to gain since only the first step rewarded him with a level.

Aakesh then took a deep breath and decided to step inside.

Boom! Boom!

Aakesh had only taken a step forward when a booming sound rang in the area.

He looked up and found two gigantic armored creatures descending at a rapid rate.

THUD! THUD!

It didn't take long for them to land, and the resulting force from it created an airwave that attacked Aakesh, attempting to knock him backward.

Even though Aakesh was standing in front of a storm of airwaves, he forced his foot to the ground and wasn't thrown back.

The two armored, gigantic creatures raised their eyes in surprise when they saw Aakesh standing without moving even an inch.

The two creatures were made of stones and weren't natural creatures, but puppets. Yet, Aakesh didn't dare underestimate them. He could feel the strength hidden in the two puppets.

"Halt, creature!"

One of the puppets spoke and then raised the spear in its hand.

Aakesh seemed unfazed even though the spear only stopped a millimeter away from his throat. One slight movement from the puppet or him and his throat would be crushed, killing him instantly.

His eyes turned cold, and he stared at the puppet in response, chilling the two puppets despite their higher strength.