But the direction he indicated wasn't back the way they came.
It was forward.
Straight into the 1,500-mile forbidden zone.
A place that had always existed as the final boundary.
A place where no one returned.
A place where death didn't send warnings.
For a moment, a deep silence settled over the camp. Then came murmurs, gasps, the shuffling of feet. Some stepped back in fear, others froze.
Because everyone knew what stepping into the forbidden zone meant.
There were no guarantees.
No return.
Not even the knowledge of how—or when—you'd die.
But the geniuses of Valora Continent weren't ordinary.
They hadn't come here to cower on the edge of danger.
They came to chase it.
Most of them had already decided to explore two to three hundred miles deep into the forbidden zone in search of fortune, enlightenment, and opportunity. And Old Man Grey's warning only sped up the inevitable.
Crown Prince Aelric stepped forward, his expression sharp, his eyes blazing with resolve.
