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There were not many structures surrounding the Southern Art Gallery. Either there were pavements made of old but polished stones, or parks filled with grass, flowers and trees.

The scenery was marvellous as it already was, but stars and the moon decided to add to the sonority with their lights.

Instead of using their powers to dash to their destination, Xavier and Eulene decided to have a walk to the hill. They needed a bit of time to recuperate from their recent confrontation.

Eulene, who was wearing a silver mask, cleared the blood from it. She had used majority of her Qi and concentration to prepare the devastating attack. The decision to call it back came at a cost. Though the internal injuries she faced wasn\'t much, it needed time to be healed.

Xavier, on the other hand, was not an exception when it came to facing the consequences of a mana void. He had to use twice the mental energy of forming the \'stellar core\', which was already monumental enough, to revert the massive hall of energy back into mana.

His mind and brain were utterly exhausted after that display, especially after the high precision task of creating two clones. Moreover, the effects of the mana void was still there.

Nevertheless, it was nothing he could not fix- especially since he was in an \'inhuman\' state. The closer he went towards the gallery, the more the red smile on the black mask\'s face seemed to glow.

After a few minutes of walk, they reached the foot of the hill. Before them, were stairs- hundreds of them. A zigzag pathway of stairs made from rough stones trailed through the barren hill.

The masked Eulene could feel a strange aura from the hills- especially the stairs. But she felt one thing familiar from that otherwise obscure feeling- Yin.

"I am too tired to walk up the stairs," she said as she looked up. "See you up there."

"Sure."

Eulene could swear she witnessed that eerie smile on Xavier\'s mask widen. But she threw such thoughts to the back of her mind and jumped.

She set her feet of the top of the hill and the scenery changed. She looked around. The masked Xavier stood with a red smile which now seemed mocking.

She was back at the foot of the hill!

"We meet again!" Xavier said.

Eulene could feel from his voice that he had the same smile on his face as that on his mask.

She snorted. "What happened?"

"The Paranormal\'s haunted zone starts from the first step of these stairs," Xavier began to explain, "\'Haunted Zones are separate worlds where the haunter makes the laws. And we, as the guests, of this world must follow these rules. Even you cannot break it."

Eulene clicked her tongue. "Say these things earlier, will you?"

"Has Miss Maisel not told you that self-learning is the best form of learning?" Xavier slightly tilted his head. The red smile on his mask slithered up and formed a question mark- emphasising his \'confusion\'. "But you don\'t have to be scared. I, like the great mentor I am, will be there to guide you when you mess up." The question mark tabled back to a smile; this time, it did not have any sharp edges, making it look like a genuine smile full of kindness,

Eulene gritted her teeth behind the mask. She was beginning to miss the sane Xavier. However, she ignored him and stepped on the first tread of a stair.

She felt a heavy pressure befalling her. But it mattered little to her. After all, she was a martial artist. Such increase in weight was nothing.

As soon as she made the second step, the pressure increased again.

Xavier had already made it onto the initial step by then. The upward red curve on his face turned into a disappointed downward curve. "Gravity enhancement on stairs," he said as he shook his head, "how cliche!"

The duo walked through the stairs with ease. Eulene was considerably faster, while Xavier was more relaxed. The gravity on the topmost stairs were tens of times higher than normal, but they were normal to beings like them.

Xavier finally reached the top, where Eulene awaited.

"We meet again!" This time, it was Eulene\'s call. She had a smirk behind her mask.

"Indeed!" Xavier said, the benevolent red smile on his mask widening.

He did not say anything else, but his relaxed smile wiped the smirk from Eulene\'s face. She failed to get back at him.

"We walked through the first test," Xavier said. "Let\'s see what else they have in store for us."

Xavier snapped his fingers. A droplet of water formed in the air before him, along with a mini tornado. The barren earth below him gave rise to a small model of castle-like gallery, and a small sapling beside it.

Eulene watched everything with intrigue.

"Oh my!" Xavier exclaimed. The red smile regained its original sharp corners. "Looks like the Curse we are after has high authority."

Eulene did not want to ask anything to the insane bastard, but her curiosity prevailed. "What do you mean?"

"Curses- Paranormals in general- have powers we term \'authority\'. All the crazy stuff that defies the laws of physics depend on the level of their authority. And this Curse we are facing- is one with high authority. Hence, it has greater control over this haunted space and can enforce stronger laws. The stairs we just crossed was a test. We can expect two or three more tests before we can finally reach their roots."

Eulene nodded in understanding. "How do you know it has high authority?"

Xavier pointed at the four objects- the droplet of water, the tornado, the sculpture, and the plant. "Can you guess anything from the scene?"

Eulene knitted her brows and contemplated for a second. "Fire, light and lightning- they are missing."

"Correct!" The red smile turned into a green tick mark before reverting back to a smile. "Paranormals are weak against fire, light and lightning- in your terms, the Yang elements. The fact that it was able to ban the use of all three in this space means it has high authority." The red smile on the mask widened. "Besides, did you feel anything?"

"Yes." Eulene turned to the the marvellous piece of architecture.

"We are not the only guests here."