Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

William still couldn't be sure if it was the same Jinra he knew, but even so, he wanted to confront the man to find out why he was lying to him.

If he hadn't told him that, well, it was safe to say that there were other things he was hiding, and William didn't like that at all.

"Actually, I wasn't sure if it was his," the man said. "I only became sure now after seeing the paintings. You know, without being here it's impossible to know. Often people make things up, right?"

The way the man spoke seemed to be true, but William couldn't be sure.

"Even so, you already had a hunch, so you should have told me," William said. "How do you expect me to trust you if you're hiding things? Is there anything else I need to know?"

The two were together on that quest to get the treasure. William wasn't so fixated on the treasure itself. He wanted more of the man's help to break the barrier around the ship.

"Well, I don't believe so," the man said. "Maybe there's the fact that a famous creature might be hibernating here, and there's the chance of us waking it up unintentionally…"

"Famous creature?"

"The Kraken."

"You're kidding…"

William had heard the stories of the Kraken. It was a very high-level creature that usually hibernated and occasionally woke up and wreaked some havoc in the oceans, destroying several ships.

"Well, but the chance of us waking up the creature is very low," the man said. "From what I know, it's deep down. We're not going that deep."

As much as the man said that, William wasn't comfortable knowing that the possibility was still there. What if the Kraken woke up after all? Their chances of dying were very high.

"Let's forget about that for now," William said. "The best thing is for us to look for a way to continue before they advance too far."

As angry and apprehensive as William was, they had to keep going, as messing around there would only mean wasting time.

The fish-men and the pirates were already advancing, and they had to do the same.

William and his unknown partner split up to look for more places, both looking for any kind of clue that could help them continue moving forward.

During the search, something caught William's attention. In fact, what he saw made him a little emotional, and he had to hold back the tears.

In the middle of the paintings, he saw one that was separate, as if it had greater importance. The painting in question was a painting of a small cabin, a barn, and on the grass near that cabin there was a man and a young man. It looked like the two were training.

William knew very well what that painting represented. He had been someone important in Jinra's life to have that painting.

'That old man taught me a lot… But why am I sad? I can always go to the past and see him!' William thought, wiping the tears with his shirt sleeve.

But that painting made him think about something else: how his presence in the past was already altering some things in the future. Wouldn't he have to be careful with his appearance?

What if he saw some painting from the past showing his face? Wouldn't people start asking who he was?

The chance existed, but William felt that he didn't need to worry about that yet, but the wisest thing to do was to plan ahead and not wait to do things at the last minute when everything was already going downhill.

As important as that painting was, it wasn't a clue to opening the statue's secret passage. They still needed to search more.

William searched for a long time, but found nothing that was useful. The other corridors only led to places with items from Jinra's life that had some importance, such as the paintings and some items from his home.

No valuable artifacts were there, obviously. The artifacts would certainly be inside the tomb's location where the treasure was.

Now, after being sure that it was the same Jinra that William knew, he wanted to get the treasure for himself. Yes, for himself. He didn't even want to share it with the man who was helping him.

Jinra's things couldn't end up in the hands of strangers. William would not allow that. Jinra's memory and honor were at stake.

Thoughtful about how to get past that part of the tomb, William went again to the statue that he had to move.

'The fish-men opened this somehow… How can I do it?' Discover stories at My Virtual Library Empire

It was clear that they had more information about the tomb than the man who was with William. They already knew a lot about the traps, the items that could be inside, and of course, how to get past most of the puzzles.

As for William, completely lost. He touched the statue, and sent his mana to it, trying to feel something. It was at that moment that a voice appeared in his mind.

"If you are hearing this, it means that you are William, my disciple and also someone I welcomed as a son… This tomb has some secrets, and I will reveal them to you now, listen carefully…"

The voice was a little different from Jinra's normal voice, which was to be expected considering he was much older when he made that message.

William listened carefully, remembering all the details Jinra wanted to convey to him. Jinra told about the entire layout of the tomb, and explained how William could take shortcuts and go through various parts to get to the treasure as quickly as possible.

That information was precious. With that, William would be able to reach the treasure before everyone else, and more importantly, he was confident that he would be able to get there alone, shaking off the man who was with him.

But was that a good idea? He needed the man's help to remove the barrier from the ship, but at the same time, he wanted to ensure that no one touched Jinra's treasure.

'I'll take a chance… I believe there will be something useful in the things Jinra left behind, maybe I can destroy the barrier alone!' William thought.

After the message ended, the statue moved to the side, opening the passage. The man was nearby and saw William open the passage.

"How did you do that?" he asked, looking suspiciously at William.

William obviously wasn't going to tell him what he knew, "I think I'm lucky. Come on, before the passage closes."

The man was very suspicious of William, as it was simply too unlikely that he could open the passage by luck, but he said nothing and went ahead with him.

The two went down a spiral staircase, and went deeper into Jinra's tomb. Now that William knew everything about the tomb, he was no longer afraid or anxious.

He already knew almost all the passages and also the creatures they might encounter along the way.

After going down the stairs, they met again in a kind of corridor. But this time the corridor only had one path. There were no other doors or adjacent corridors that would lead to other places.

They moved on. William already knew what was coming: Jinra had built a small village down there.

From what William knew, this village was where Jinra had lived. There was his cabin and also the barn where William slept many nights.

Of course, the village wasn't there when William was there with him. It was something that was built a few years later. The most amazing thing was that the village was built very close to Willow Creek, but in totally different times.

The man who was with William, however, was very surprised when he saw that village.

"Wow!" he said, his mouth half open. "This place is incredible. How did he build something like this down here? Look, the sky looks real!"

Indeed, that place was incredible. Jinra used his vast knowledge of magical formations and enchantments to create a place that looked a lot like the 'real' world.

The starry sky was present, the vegetation, the forest, and even the river that passed near Jinra's house. Everything was very real, almost as if they had been transported there after passing through the door of the last corridor they were in.

"Where should we start?" the man asked. "There are several houses here."

William already knew where to go, but he also knew that he would need to shake off the man who was with him, and he knew exactly what to do.

"I think we can start with the smaller houses," he said. "The fish-men and the pirates certainly went to the main house, the biggest one, and we don't want to meet them yet, right?"

The man, despite being suspicious of William, agreed with that. It made sense to him.

And indeed, the fish-men and the pirates went straight to the cabin where Jinra lived, as it was the main point of that village. William knew that the way to continue to his treasure was in that cabin, but he also knew that there were other ways, and some shortcuts that he could take.

William would not let Jinra's treasure fall into the hands of the catfish and pirates!