Chapter 150: First Challenge
"The first challenge isn’t some mythical beast or elemental trial.
It’s just getting past the front door."
Getting out of the low-slung car was a struggle, leaving him breathless and leaning against the warm door frame.
Before him, nestled in a grove of towering, ancient trees with faintly glowing bark, stood the entrance.
It was a massive stone gate, easily a hundred meters tall, constructed from seamless blocks of dark, symbol-carved stone.
Faintly glowing patterns swirled across its surface, pulsing with a quiet, protective energy.
It radiated age, power, and absolute finality.
This monolithic barrier was the entrance to the Eastern Suburbs Medicinal Garden.
Daniel stood before the gate of the Eastern Suburbs Medicinal Garden, feeling utterly, almost laughably small.
The gate itself was a masterpiece of ancient architecture, a hundred-meter-tall arch of seamless grey stone covered in faint, pulsing runes that spoke of immense power and profound protection.
It looked like a doorway for giants, a portal to a realm of legends.