The Gate we stepped into was eerily quiet. I cast detection magic, but nothing showed up. Expanding the range didnât help eitherâstill nothing.
"Letâs keep moving."
We continued forward until we reached a point where we had to stop.
"Itâs a crossroads."
"A four-way split."
Before us were four branching paths. It seemed a bit too obvious, so I checked, but communication devices and even the necklace Elisier had given me werenât working. In short, unless the paths merged later, we wouldnât be able to communicate with each other.
"So, what do we do? Do we pick a path and all go together, or split up?"
"We should split up. Iâve seen this kind of setup in Gates before on Earth, and sticking together is just a waste of time. This Gate isnât so tough that we couldnât handle it separately."
"Got it. You guys pair up then. Iâll go on my own. Just be careful once we splitâthere wonât be any way to communicate."@@novelbin@@
"Understood."
For a brief moment, there was a flicker of disappointment on their facesâmaybe some of them had hoped to pair up with me. But no one was truly disheartened; they knew I preferred to go solo rather than send someone else off on their own.
The disappointment passed quickly. They had gotten used to this from their time as guild leaders. Without a word, they quickly paired up: Priscilla with Nika, Rosaria with Leona, and Elisier with Latina. Latina, who was the least experienced in this sort of thing, stood awkwardly for a moment before Elisier pulled her to her side.