Anna frowned in disgust as she heard Reynard"s words. He, of course, could not see it, but the way her body suddenly tensed and her silence were enough for him to understand her feelings. Nevertheless, he was not bothered at all. His smile even widened."As cold as always, I see." Reynard said, never taking his eyes from her. "Well, I suppose it is fair for you to act like this while you have the chance."
Anna did not answer, but the air around her turned colder. A faint mist spread through the hall and Reynard"s breath started condensing in the air. He raised a brow as he faced Anna, but said no more. Still smiling, he simply shook his head and retreated.
"Have it your way, then." He said, shrugging.
"Believe me, I will." Anna"s voice echoed through the hall, as cold as the air surrounding her as she finally broke her silence. Reynard"s smile faded away and a frown appeared on his face as he looked at her. There was something different about her, but he could not quite see what it was. This feeling made Reynard somewhat uncomfortable.
He opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and closed it again. He shook his shoulders and returned to the place he choose to meditate at before Anna appeared. He sat with his legs crossed and closed his eyes, not bothering anymore.
Anna Hale would not be able to change anything. She was the inheriting disciple of the Noan River Sect, and as such, there were some matters she would never be able to avoid. Their situation was one of such matters. Inheriting disciples had to consider the sect"s circ.u.mstances before their own and, if the Roaring Mountain Sect and the Noan River Sect wanted to strengthen their relationship, Anna and Reynard could only abide to the Sect Masters" wills.
Reynard emptied his mind, forgetting about such matters. He wasn"t worried at all about it. The agreement between the sects meant nothing for him, it was but a necessary burden he would have to bear during his climb, nothing more.
Anna"s att.i.tude, however, made something churn inside of him. Her coldness and her strong opposition to him… he saw it as a challenge. The finger in his right hand twitched somewhat, as if they yeaned for the sword hanging from his back. He could see the line that divided Anna very clearly, and he really wanted to draw it.
He however, knew it was nothing but a personal interest. He liked to defeat strong people, using a sword or not. He also knew that there was no need to do such things. Anna herself was aware of that line, and Reynard could see throughout the years how it had been slowly eating away at her.
Now, however, it was different. It was just a feeling, a guess, but Reynard thought that the line had blurred somewhat. No, rather than that, one side of her seemed to be slowly consuming the other.
With a long breath, Reynard expelled such thoughts away from his mind, and entered a deep state of meditation. In absolute silence, he stood in the middle of the hall, like a rock.
Anna gave him a glance full of disdain and disgust before she walked to a corner and started meditating too. The hall sank into silence yet again, as the distant figures of the two turned unmovable.
At that moment, the door opened for a third time, and a small figure made its way inside. His clothes were pitch black, and his messy hair was of a bizarre ashen color. His golden eyes shone like lanterns under the red glow of the walls, and they quickly moved around as the figure scouted the hall.
"A young man and woman…" Amon though as he looked at Reynard and Anna meditating silently in the hall. They were most likely the two that the beast had spoken about. He gave Anna a more careful look, as the mist covering her face attract his attention.
He stood there in a daze, as if hypnotized, when he felt the air turning cold. His hair stood on end and he saw the girl moving her head. Somehow, he was sure she was glaring at him with a piercing gaze. His ears reddened as he embarra.s.sedly moved his gaze away.
Amon made his way into another empty corner and sat, somewhat distraught. He took a few breaths to calm himself and soon started to meditate like the other two. If both of them were waiting silently, then it made sense that he should too.
What made Amon confused, however, was why they were all gathering in the same place. The h.e.l.lblaze Trials were supposed to be individual, and he had not met anyone else in the h.e.l.lblaze Secret World until now. Was the Trial of the Heart going to be different in some way?
As he was thinking, the door opened for a fourth time, and Jake entered the hall. When he saw Reynard, his eyes blazed with compet.i.tiveness, but he did not utter a word. He gave Anna a glance before turning his head and seeing Amon.
Jake could not hide the surprise in his eyes at all when he saw Amon standing in the same hall with them. Not only that, Amon had arrived before him. This was quite a shock to him.
Nevertheless, Jake"s surprise was a pleasant one. He put on a genuine smile as he quietly approached Amon, sitting not so far from him and entering meditation as well.
The door opened again violently, as if someone had kicked it open, and another person entered in the hall. The four cultivators inside opened their eyes with an annoyed expression as they glared at the newcomer.
The fifth person to enter was the tall youth of the Southern Flame Sect that had been publicly reproached by Baldwin when he asked about the Storm Peak Sect"s members. He had a dark-red hair that made Amon remember the red wine he drank with Daniel, and a solid body barely hidden by a set of fiery red clothes. His features were sharp and defined, giving him a very stout look.
"G.o.d d.a.m.n it, I can"t believe I was the last of the four of us to arrive." He said in a disappointed voice. He looked a somewhat angry as he looked around, but was most likely angry at himself. When his gaze landed on Amon, his brows perked up.
"And who the h.e.l.l are you?" He asked in a surprised tone. His words were disrespectful, but he looked genuinely surprised. At a glance, Amon could see that he was not a bad person, but he surely spoke before he thought of the words he would use.
"Amon, from the Abyss Sect." Amon answered simply, sustaining the youth"s gaze.
"Great! I am Alden Bren, from the Southern Flame Sect!" Alden proclaimed his name almost shouting as he opened his arms. Anna rolled her eyes behind the misty veil and Jake gave a wry smile. Reynard however, was not very enthusiastic.
"We get it Alden, it is you. Now be quiet for once, would you?" Reynard spoke in a cold voice, not trying to hide his annoyance in the least.
Alden looked around and seemed to finally realize that all of them had been meditating. His shoulders drooped and he grumbled to himself as he dejectedly walked to an empty corner to sit at.
Time slowly pa.s.sed as more and more cultivators arrived. Joshua, Karen, Skylar and Evan all managed to reach the third Trial. Daniel too managed to arrive after some time, being the twentieth person to pa.s.s the second Trial. He quietly sat down close to Amon and Jake as they all awaited for the remaining partic.i.p.ants to arrive.
Amon, however, did not see any more of the Body Tempering disciples of the Abyss Sect. This was, however, still a great result. The Southern Flame Sect had no more than five disciples reaching the Trial of the Heart, and the Storm Peak Sect had only three.
The Noan River Sect, however, had eight disciples, and the Roaring Mountain Sect had nine. In total, thirty-one partic.i.p.ants had gathered in the red hall close to the monumental mountain range that lied in the center of that world.
The moment the last of the thirty-one cultivators arrived, the walls of the hall shone brightly and the same voice that answered Reynard before echoed in the ears of all the present.
"Since all of the remaining partic.i.p.ants are gathered together, we shall start the Trial of the Heart." It proclaimed, in a crisp, cold tone that was awfully familiar to Amon.