[Welcome to the 'Regal Void Expanse' Realm]
"This place is as beautiful as ever, huh?"
Evan spoke as he looked up at the skies, prompting the others to do the same and the sight that greeted them left them awestruck.
"You'd think you'd get used to it after seeing it multiple times but it only gets better each time you do."
His words went in through one ear and came out of the other as his companions were all staring at the sky that held far more stars than any of Aidos' night skies.
The heavens were adorned with a myriad of twinkling stars, more numerous than they had ever beheld.
It was as if the very fabric of the universe had been woven with the finest threads of stardust, creating a breath-taking spectacle that left them spellbound.
For a moment, they forgot all their problems or worries and surrendered themselves to the enchantment of this starry night sky.
The next, their breaths felt slightly constricted, snapping their attention back to their surroundings as they finally realised one major difference.
The ambient concentration of energy here was at least double that of Aidos, and it took them a few minutes to get used to it.
"Even the gravity here is close to 1.5 times higher. Try walking forward and you'd notice it's a tiny bit more difficult."
Though the gravity in this realm was higher than that of Aidos, which was in turn higher than Earth V's, the group's physical bodies strong enough that they could easily bear it.
If they used their energy internally to resist it, then there'd be no difference for them.
"Hey, wait up."
His girlfriend's voice rang out as she lightly struggled to catch up to him, while the spirits returned to their spiritual bodies and followed the duo.
Using the map from the Archive, Evan navigated the group through the massive forest in front of them.
Thankfully, the forest didn't seem to have any dangerous or powerful monsters lurking around, and the only real danger was them getting lost.
But thanks to the Map, they didn't have to worry about that.
"Where did you get a map of this place from?"
"Artemisia."
"…you and the goddess are really close, huh?"
"We have an…agreement, between us."
Evan replied after a short pause, not really knowing how exactly to explain his relationship with Artemisia as Eliza felt it was more than just a Hero and the goddess who appointed him as such.
Although Evan guessed her thoughts, he didn't bother commenting further and instead focused on their destination, which when Eliza asked, was given the answer she and the spirits least expected.
"A restaurant…? In the middle of this forest?"
"Yep.
We'd probably be the only customers though. This place is apparently a myth, even to the people of this Realm, so there's a low probability of there being others."
He replied as he looked around the colossal, blooming forest, around them. Its canopy was dominated by tons of birch trees, and their crowns allowed for beams of light from the sky to descend for a motley of plants to grow in the grassy ground below.
"Good. We're here."
After speaking, he moved forward, escaping the high and lofty birch trees and into a massive artificial semi-clearing.
They had arrived at the centre of the forest.
In front of them were more than a dozen massive trees Evan recognized as Sequoias; known for their enormous heights and widths in comparison to other trees.
These ones here were so tall that they seemed to peek into the clouds, prompting Eliza to let out a gasp of awe.
It was then that she noticed multiple presences approaching their location, and not with her life force sensing, meaning whatever was approaching them was not 'alive'.
As she was in a place far removed from her home, Eliza never dropped her guard and had already begun rousing her energy for combat when Evan placed a hand on her shoulder and told her to calm down.
A moment later, two people, a man and a woman wearing waiter uniforms appeared in front of the group with a light bow.
"Welcome to the Garden of the Stars."
They simultaneously gave their greetings to the quintet, while Eliza was wondering why she still could not sense their life forces despite the fact that they looked perfectly normal.
"They are Automations.
I told you there would not be any 'people' here, didn't I?"
In the game, for the period of the Event, this area was bustling with players in the top 1000 rankings as they had all come here for the powerful benefits that this place gave.
Well, they didn't come here with their main accounts but their Smurf accounts that were lower than level 500 as players higher than that did not receive the benefits.
'That may have just been a restriction Artemisia put in place for game balancing though…'
With those thoughts, Evan walked up to the two Automations in front of them and held up five glowing orbs that none of his companions recognized.
"We'd like a table."
"For you and the lady alone, or with your spirit companions."
Milena was lightly surprised that the Automations could sense them, but Kuro and Kayla were surprised for another reason.
And that was because the two of them could tell the Existence Levels of the Automations.
'At least Transcendent!'
They had the same thoughts as they looked at the two Automations in front of them who led Evan and Eliza to a teleportation circle.
After stepping onto it, they were teleported to the top of one of the massive Sequoia trees, or rather, one of the massive tree stumps.
pandasnovel.com Despite being cut off, these trees were still alive, perhaps because of the high energy concentration both in the atmosphere and in the soil.
Evan could not care about that though, as he was feeling like a kid on a picnic as he stared at the very familiar-looking set-up.
They were standing at the top of a massive circular tree stump more than twenty yards in diameter, high enough that they could see low-altitude clouds floating around them.
'At least 6000 feet in the air…'
With those thoughts, Evan walked up to the centre of the stump, where a wooden table lay. It had elaborate decorations scarved around the edges, but the top was perfectly smooth.
"This thing could block a full-powered attack from Hydran without a scratch…"
Evan jokingly remarked as he remembered the scene where a Level 900 player in the game had an altercation with someone here and the other party used the table to block the attack that came flying.
Of course, the two of them were promptly suppressed by the automations and taken out of the area.
Five wooden chairs were arranged on all sides of the table, one of which was modified for Kuro who was in cat form.
Atop the table were five wine glasses, five sets of silverware, and the same number of white plates. At the centre of the table was a candelabra, the candles unlit.
Upon sitting down, the candles lit up and two automations appeared on either side of the platform they were on, different from the two they met upon entry.
"Welcome Guests, and Congratulations on Discovering the Garden of the Stars."
"As this is your first time here, would you like a brief introduction?"
The two spoke respectively and after turning to Eliza and the spirits for their opinions, Evan had them give the introduction.
"The 'Garden of Stars' is a secret area of the 'Regal Void Expanse' realm; a naturally occurring treasure-filled domain with rewards for those whose stars of luck, fate and destiny align and let them discover it.
A reward awaits all those who discover this garden, there's a low probability of having an Audience with the Master of the Regal Void Expanse."
'Now that's something that wasn't in the game…'
Evan thought internally as the Automation continued with her little introduction, after this, she then decided to offer a little service.
"You seem to be quite exhausted, perhaps from a battle on your way here.
Allow me to relieve you of your fatigue."
As she spoke, she clapped her fingers twice and a large six-ringed magic circle appeared under their feet, shocking Milena and Eliza.
'Sixth Tier Magic with a mere gesture?!'
Their bodies were wreathed in white light, and after a second, they found that all their exhaustion, physical and mental had been washed away.
Their energies had been recovered to their maximum values and they were returned to their peak states.
"This…amazing.
…thanks."
"You are welcome, Lady Eliza."
"Huh? How do you know my name?"
Eliza certainly hadn't told them her name, neither had Evan called her by it, so her confusion was only natural.
But the Automation only just held up her palm and showed Eliza a skill description she found familiar.
"Ohh…Full Appraisal."
"That is the case."
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