Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

The door creaked open, revealing what lay beyond. A wide corridor stretched out, with a massive staircase leading up toward the surface.

William wore a half-smirk. "Told you I'd get it open, Turk. Believe me now?"

It wasn't just Turk. Everyone there was buzzing. A few even twitched, itching to bolt ahead and grab any advantage they could.

Turk, and all the other leaders, moved as one to keep things in check.

"William is our leader now," Turk announced, his voice cutting through the room. "But I'm here to back him up. We need to stay calm and controlled. Remember the hierarchy, and we'll be fine."

Greed always showed its face at moments like this. Everyone knew it. Turk had to act, take the reins, and keep everyone on the same page.

It seemed to work. They all held their positions, waiting for the next order. William seized the moment.

He raised his voice, spreading his arms in a gesture that commanded the room. "Name's William. I'm your new leader. We're gonna work together to claim this legacy and change every life in this room."

He paused, letting it sink in. "But first, we need to get out and seal this door. Don't want that bastard Zanyi popping in to surprise us, right?"

William took point, leading the group of roughly seventy people trailing behind him.

Out of those seventy, about forty were capable fighters—warriors from the tribes who'd joined the mission. The rest were villagers who'd come along. Some were farmers, others craftsmen. There was even an herb doctor mixed in with the crowd.

Once they were all through, the door slid shut by itself. A wave of relieved sighs echoed down the corridor. It was proof. Zanyi couldn't follow them, at least not until he got his hands on the key.

William and Turk walked side by side. Turk, now a believer in everything William had claimed, wanted more.

"This lineage you mentioned... you really think we can claim it? What kind of test is waiting for us up there?" Turk asked.

"Honestly? No fucking idea," William replied, keeping it straight with Turk. "But I'll tell you this much. It's a combat lineage. The trials will be physical, and they won't be easy to clear. You think your people can handle it?"

Turk gave a sharp nod. "These people have been through hell already. Trust me, they're not as weak as you think."

Those villagers might have been low-level, but their lives back home were brutal. The attacks from magical beasts had gotten worse every year, and bit by bit, their numbers were dwindling.

People died in those attacks. That's why Turk and the other village leaders had banded together into an alliance, scrambling for any way to get stronger and just survive.

They might have been weak in a fight, but they were resilient as hell. William just didn't know if that would be enough to get them through whatever trial this inheritance had waiting.

The staircase kept going until they reached another door, just as massive as the last. William pushed it open.

A whole new world. A forest, dense and ancient, like it had been growing for a thousand years.

The moment William stepped into the clearing, he knew the place was dangerous. Within seconds, a pack of magical beasts leaped from the undergrowth to attack him.

They were goblins, but pitch-black, as if corrupted by the same demonic energy William used.

Their mouths hung open, strings of saliva dripping. They didn't look rational. They were just there to attack the first thing that moved.

William moved fast, drawing his sword. He intercepted the goblins before they could reach Turk.

A clean slash. The goblins fell, their bodies scattering across the forest floor.

Turk had already started to pull his own weapon, but he didn't need to. William was done.

"Looks like this place is gonna be interesting," William said, kneeling beside the goblin corpses, studying the tainted energy fused with their flesh.

"We'll need to find a safe spot for everyone," Turk said, scanning the dense trees. "Some of these people aren't fighters. They'll just die out here."

William nodded. To explore this inheritance properly, to figure out exactly what they needed to do, they'd need a solid base.

"We could camp out on the stairs between the doors," he said, scanning their surroundings, "but who knows when Zanyi might pop that door open. And nobody wants to be stuck in the pitch black." He turned back to Turk. "You got any solid fighters I can take? I'll scout with them. You stay here, hold the line."

Turk and William were the strongest people there—William by a good margin.

He wanted to be the one scouting. Turk had the ability to protect the group and was a familiar face, which meant he had a better shot at keeping everyone calm. William didn't.

"Sounds good," Turk replied. "I'll talk to everyone. When you find a decent spot, come straight back. I'll get you five solid warriors."

William walked a perimeter while Turk spoke to the others.

It was a normal forest. Nothing screamed demonic inheritance.

The only difference was the sky. Even though it was day, you could see a sort of sun and moon, both of them blood-red, casting a macabre light over everything.

William found a massive tree, about twenty meters tall. He boosted himself from branch to branch until he reached the top.

The view from there was much better. He could see forest stretching for miles.

And in the distance, a barren, shattered stretch of land with banners stabbed into the dirt and soldier's skeletons.

A city. William saw a city. The buildings were made of a kind of black stone. The same material used in other demonic things he knew.

"That's where the information about the inheritance will be," he thought. "But it looks fucking far. We won't be able to set up a permanent camp…"

William climbed down from the tree to talk to Turk and explain what he'd seen from up top. The plan had changed fast.

"Sighted a city," he said, cutting straight to it. "We'll have to move toward it. Nomad style."

"Nomad style? That's dangerous," Turk replied, his eyes scanning the anxious faces around them. "If the attacks keep coming, we'll take losses."

William sighed. "That's the point. This is probably the first part of the trial—the pilgrimage to the demon city. Like I said, combat is key for this lineage."

Turk was restless, but deep down, he'd known something like this was coming. A powerful lineage wasn't something you just picked up without walking through fire. Everyone knew that.

To reach a high level of power, people had to make sacrifices. Hard choices.

"You think we can protect everyone on the move?" William asked.

"Look, it'll be messy because we don't know what kind of enemies are out here," Turk said, laying out the strategy in his head. "But if we keep a tight formation, with the weaker people in the center, we might pull it off."

"That's all we can do," William said. "I'll do whatever it takes to protect you, and I know how."

He had something perfect for the situation. He could summon his creatures to secure the area.

Before he started the ritual, he addressed the crowd.

"Don't be afraid of them. They're here to protect us," he explained. "So am I."

With that, he summoned a host of skeletons and blood golems. People flinched at first, fear flashing across their faces even after his warning.

It was unnerving to have these powerful, monstrous things standing beside them. But they chose to trust William.

As the creatures fully materialized, he mentally commanded them to form a defensive ring around the group.

"They'll be our first line of defense and our scouts," he announced. "Might not even need our own fighters to break a sweat."

Once everything was set, they began to move into the dense forest, heading toward the city William had spotted.

The undergrowth was brutal. They had to carve their own path forward.

Luckily, the golems William summoned were massive, muscular things. They simply shoved aside small trees and cleared a path by raw force, ignoring the terrain problem entirely.

Turk walked beside William, stunned by what he was seeing.

"How can you summon these things?" he asked. "This power… it's impressive. You weren't kidding about being able to wipe us out."

The more he saw, the more confident Turk felt that siding with William had been the right call.

"I'd rather not get into all my tricks right now," William replied. "You'll know in time. Let's focus on reaching that city."

And so their pilgrimage began. William had no idea what creatures they'd meet on the way, but he was ready to do whatever it took to claim his class.

The only moment of peace was the first ten minutes after they started moving. After that, creatures showed up to attack them. Once again, creatures which possessed demonic energy in their bodies.