The air in the grotto didn't shiver, and the moss on the cave remained still on the walls.
But then, dreleon's heart gave a sudden, violent thud against his ribs.
Then another.
Within seconds, his pulse was racing like a panicked animal, yet he hadn't moved a muscle.
Then came the weight.
It wasn't a physical weight; as the dirt beneath his feet didn't cave in, and the tattered rags of his clothes didn't flatten.
Instead, it felt as if his very spirit was being bent in half. An invisible hand was pressing down on his mind, pushing his consciousness toward the floor.
"Kid, if you can't even take this much soul pressure, then what can you do?" Elder Genbu's voice was no longer gentle; it was sharp with disappointment.
"This is merely early High Level pressure. You are technically on the same level as this aura. It is depressing that I have to hold it at this starting level just so you don't pop like a bubble."
Dreleon tried to snarl, to tell the turtle to go to hell, but his jaw was locked.
"Oubb..." was the only sound that escaped his throat.
The Elder sighed, a sound like a landslide.
"I may change my mind, Perhaps I should just increase the pressure and kill you right here. It would be a mercy to end your story before the real monsters find you."
As if to prove his point, the pressure spiked.
It reached High-Level Peak.
Dreleon's vision blurred, The world turned into a haze of grey and black.
He was pinned to the cold stone floor, his face pressed against the grit.
He couldn't even lift a single finger, every time he tried to activate his Space Telekinesis, the pressure simply crushed the energy before it could leave his body.
He was a high level pacter who couldn't even use his power because his soul was too small to carry it.
"Hah... as expected. Humans truly cannot take this weight," the Elder mocked. He sounded bored now, which hurt Dreleon more than the pressure.
"I don't understand what the King saw in you. To allow a weakling like this to tie his life to the Princess... it is a waste of a royal bloodline."
Dreleon felt a surge of humiliated fury, but he had no strength to manifest it.
"You are a disappointment," the Elder whispered.
With a careless blowing of his serpentine neck, the elder tossed him aside like a piece of thin polythene.
Dreleon because of the training he has gone through just now, was unable to help himself.
Thus,
He flew through the air, his body limp and useless, until he hit the surface of the neighboring Black Pond with a dull, heavy splash.
The cold, ink-like water swallowed him instantly.
As he sank, the darkness became absolute, He saw nothing; it was a pitch-black void that seemed to consume the very concept of light.
But he knew it wasn't an empty void, because he could feel the water, it was heavy and viscous, more like melted slime than liquid.
He tried to kick, to reach for the surface, but his limbs were stationary, the slime water held him fast, encasing him like a fly in amber.
The turtle elder's voice resonated through the deep black water.
Dreleon was not hearing through the ears but more like absolute hearing, like the words turtle said were meant to be heard no matter where—no matter in what condition.
"Hahahaha... Kid, let me tell you," the laughter was cruel and filled with amusement. "The Ghost Pond is where I keep my dinner. So, if you don't want to become one of them, find your way back before it's night."
The silence that followed was terrifying. Dreleon was sinking, slime black water swallowing him like never to give him chance to see light.