Chapter 165: Choice
Around the end of the corridor, there they were, two totally different-looking doors.
The group was still pretty far from them yet they could still be seen very clearly.
"Don't tell me this is a choice..." Jerry said grumbling over the fact that there seemed to be a choice now.
"What do you think?" Lucas looked at John for some advice as the situation seemed to have become weird again.
"Well... the dungeon did tell us that this was all about intelligence, that we have to now use our brains," John stated while they still went toward it yet this time slowly.
Everyone had a single idea in their brain that had some similarities to each other, they all needed time to relax which didn't seem to be possible.
Lucas finally halted in front of the two doors, he looked at them from the side, the front, and surprisingly, the back too.
"A dead end here." Barney said from the back of the two gates where a wall was stopping them all from moving further.
"What do we do now?"
"We gotta do something"
"Yeah, we can't stay here forever."
Lucas observed the two gates in calmness.
While the one to the left had a design that mostly looked like flowers, the other had slashes on them as if a sword was used to make the design.
His instincts told him that there was significance to these designs, something beyond mere decoration.
Lucas didn't dare touch these doors thinking that it was akin to choosing one of them.
"I don't think this is a solo decision, we might need to have a group decision for this," Lucas said making many looks at the gates in awe and a new light.
Lucas sighed and kept looking at the doors from the back of the group while they all looked at the two doors with various emotions.
"The designs on them might hold the key," Sarah muttered slowly while looking at the flower design of one of the doors.
Bill chimed in, his analytical mind at work. "So, the flower design and the sword slashes... they both seem to represent something, we just need to brainstorm what they are trying to tell us."
John smiled, appreciating his insight. "Exactly. The flower door might symbolize harmony, growth, or life-affirming qualities. The sword door could be about strength, bravery, or combat prowess."
Barney spoke up from behind them. "And we have to decide which path to take based on what we think suits us as a group?"
"Are you even sure what you said is right?"
A debate started as to what they had to choose yet Lucas was past all that.
After making up his mind for a few seconds, he activated his perceptive eyes to look at things with better perception.
He saw two different auras on the gates, one red in color and the other blue.
His voice cut through the growing confusion. "Wait, everyone. I think I've got something."
Lucas said after he deactivated his perceptive eyes, to be exact, he had to force himself to close than as the pressure on his eyes was still very high.
He was fed up with all the blood coming out of his eyes and it also made him dizzy, while Ella was fast with her healings, she still couldn't regenerate the cells of the body or the blood quickly, for that she needed time which they didn't have for now.
The corridor looked safe but everyone was still on their high horse, they couldn't take the fear out that something would still come there to hurt them in a whole new way. The darkness had already scarred many.
"What is it?"
"I saw two colors with my skill, the door with the slash design has a bluish aura while the other flower design one had red. This is the second time I am seeing the aura of a gate so I think there is something that we can find through this."
"Hmm... interesting." John muttered, his hand on his small beard caressing it like an old man thinking about something like a saint.
Another debate started after Lucas gave the intel that he had just got, he kept thinking but connecting some of the dots was a bit easy yet he didn't want to just come to the conclusion so recklessly.
"The colors... red and blue. They're not just random. They represent something. Red often signifies danger, action, and challenges. Blue, on the other hand, can symbolize correctness, wisdom, strategy." John said, jos eyes still on the gates.
"Yeah, now that you say that, I know that the red wires in a bomb are always red flags, blue are said to be the one that is correct." Another spoke with general knowledge.
"But we can't just assume that the logic with the bombs will work here too, what if the red is actually the one that is better?"
For the first time, haley spoke and everyone seemed to think that she had a point. Many times, the group had been defeated when it came to thinking about the logic behind stuff. Enjoy new adventures from My Virtual Library Empire
This time was no different, everyone had strong opinions, and while one thought that getting the red was right, the others thought that the blue gate was better due to the color significance they had when they were back on Earth.
Amid the chaos, Sandra kept looking at the gate with the slashes, her eyes unblinking and creepy.
"Alright Alright, whoever thinks that we should go in the red move to the left, and the others move to the right."
The group first looked at each other and then at the doors, some had confident eyes while some just made decisions according to the masses without any strong opinions.
John, Ella, Barney, and Sean, the whole family were standing to the right, where the blue-colored aura gate with the slash was present.
Jerry and Bill went to the red thinking that going there would be safe as it was a game of using mind, so a simple misdirection trick was an old technique they were clearly familiar with.
Mike went to the right, Haley did the opposite and soon, only three out of the whole groups were left.
"What do you think, Sarah?" Lucas asked with a mild smile in order to help her not put a lot of pressure on herself.
Yet he had no need to and Sarah only gave him a calm smile and then she went to the right after looking at the gate for a few seconds.
One could see some hesitation on her face regarding her decision but Lucas was happy that she made it on her own and did not wait for him to choose and just go with him.
Lucas's gaze fell on Sandra who in turn was looking at him, Lucas felt confident by looking at those eyes, as if she already knew what the right door was.
"I don't know why but I feel some sort of danger lurking behind the left gate." She stated and moved to the right when finally, everyone had already chosen making Lucas the last person.
Lucas looked at the strength and got to know with a single gaze that the right had won with better numbers which he was positive about.
He already wanted to vote for the right and had the intention to even make them all listen to him again if they all had chosen the left gate.
"So the right one wins, let me open the gate..."
His declaration was met with thoughtful nods and murmurs of agreement from the others.
The others on the left looked at Lucas and then at the numbers on the right, Jerry just snorted in response thinking that they were doing wrong while Bill had already admitted defeat.
Sarah was happy that Lucas's team won as she had chosen on a whim according to her instinct.
Lucas went toward the gate to the right, when he reached it face to face, he could tell that the gate was about 7 meters in height, and so was the other one.
The group remained silent for a few moments, their eyes locked on the two doors. The tension in the air was palpable, a mixture of uncertainty and determination.
As they moved closer to the right door after Lucas, there was a subtle shift in the air that did not go unnoticed by the whole group.
The door seemed to emit a faint, warm glow as if responding to their choice. The group exchanged glances, a mixture of anticipation and apprehension.
Lucas who was already at the gate took a deep breath and finally touched the gate, it was rough to touch and felt worn out.
The gate also seemed to be made out of stone.
The door did not creak or anything and swung open, a soothing breeze came through, carrying the fragrance of something good.
Lucas stepped into a new place, the atmosphere looked to be peaceful at least.