Seronia says "Ash, I have a message for you."

"Oh, what's up?"

Seronia says "The girls wanted me to pass on their thanks! Not only for avenging them but also for ending their suffering."

"So, everything worked out?"

Seronia says "Yep! They have been judged and received their reward. When they reincarnate they will have better lives."

"That's great! Thank you!"

Seronia says "You're welcome."

"Does this mean my oops is forgiven?"

Seronia says "No! And it won't be until you go for a while without messing up again!"

"Fair enough."

Lizzy 'What did you do to make Seronia mad at you?'

So, as I search the ruins I tell Lizzy what happened, for it to make sense I tell her about the girls first. Then I tell her about my first experiment with combining the powers. After that I finally tell her what happened at the girl's grave and Seronia's reaction.

Lizzy 'Hahaha, you messed up good!'

'Yeah, I know I did. She should forgive me once we destroy this temple.'

Lizzy 'We?'

'Yes, I summoned you because this is the temple of earth. You will be absorbing the power of this temple.'

When Lizzy gives me a puzzled look I in turn tell her what I found in the temple of wind. I also explain to her what happened when I absorbed the orb of wind power. Once I explain that there should be an orb of earth power in the temple she gets excited.

Lizzy 'What are we wasting time out here for? Let's go to the temple already!'

'I simply wanted to check the ruins first for anything useful.'

Lizzy's only answer is a snort and I can't really argue with her, the ruins are disappointing. While they cover a vast area, there is almost nothing left of the buildings. I have two theories about it, either the dwarves tore it down or an enemy destroyed the place.

That is because what little is left doesn't show signs of damage from a natural disaster. Also, while I have found a few secrets by using the monocle, all of them have been empty. So I pick up the baby and start walking straight towards the earth temple.

'What do you think of the name Ekard for the baby?'

Lizzy 'Huh, that actually doesn't sound bad! Wait! That is just drake backwards! How lazy can you be!'

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

'Fine, let's see you come up with something!'

Lizzy stops and suddenly there is a very serious look on her face. This continues for several minutes, almost to the point that I expect smoke to start coming out of her ears. Then she suddenly gets an angry look on her face and she turns to try and bite me.

'Hey! No biting!'

Lizzy 'Oh, stop whining, you dodged. I can't think of anything better so Ekard is fine.'

"Little one, I am going to name you Ekard!"

As usual when I name something there is a surge of power leaving me. This time it is accompanied by a rumble like thunder and a golden glow around Ekard. He blinks at me a few times then as soon as the glow fades he falls asleep.

Lizzy 'What was all that?'

'I'm not sure, but it used up almost all two thousand of my sacred power!'

Lizzy 'Wait, you have two thousand sacred power?!?'

'Yeah. Why? How much do you have?'

Lizzy 'Barely five hundred.'

'Huh, well I am a higher rank than you.'

Lizzy 'That's true. So, why do you think naming him took so much power?'

'I'm not sure, but it might have something to do with potential.'

Lizzy 'You mean the higher the potential the more it costs you?'

'Yeah, something like that. It might also be tied to race, he is a drake after all.'

Lizzy 'Yeah, both theories are possible. Are we still going straight into the temple?'

'No, let me meditate and recover my sacred power first.'

Once I sit down to meditate, Lizzy curls her body around me protectively. Even though we haven't seen any dangers down here it is still reassuring having her here. While I am waiting for my sacred power to fill I check on Ekard and find him sleeping peacefully.

When my sacred power is full I open my eyes but don't immediately get up. Instead I pull food out of my pouch and feed Lizzy, then pull out more for myself. In less than a minute from the food being brought out Ekard is awake and on my shoulder making pitiful noises.

"You don't need to beg, of course I am going to feed you!"

Ekard says "Yay! Food!"

Once the three of us have finished eating we get up and head for the temple of earth. However, when we reach the temple I find that there is a lock on the doors. It is made of a strange stone and there are ten symbols on the stone as well as a handprint.

The handprint is human sized but I try placing my hand over it anyway to see what happens. Surprisingly, the handprint on the rock grows larger until my hand fits perfectly into it. Once my hand fits into the depression in the stone there is a sudden flash of light and I find myself somewhere else.

Currently I am standing in the middle of a vast grassy plain, what's more, I am alone. When I try summon mount nothing happens, even when I try to summon Bones there is no response. Then suddenly a glowing symbol appears in the sky and I recognize it as one of the symbols on the strange stone.

After watching the symbol for a minute I notice that the glow is slowly fading away. The symbol lasts for about five minutes, then it disappears and I find I am no longer alone. Even though I can't see them through the long grass I can feel presences all around me.

Seconds after they appear I hear chittering sounds and can feel they are all rushing towards me. I quickly draw Blitz and take a combat stance, then I wait to see what they are. When the first ones jump out of the grass at me I get a good look at them.

They are around two feet tall, with wrinkled blue skin, and bright red eyes. The closest one to me has a stone tipped spear and tries to stab me with it once it is close enough. However, when the spear hits my skin the stone tip of the spear shatters.

At the same time several others reach me and attack, only to have the same results. However, they don't stop attacking me after their weapons break. Instead they start trying to bite and claw at me, which still does absolutely nothing.

In fact with cracking sounds those that bite me lose their teeth and those that claw me break their hands. Even after receiving injuries from attacking me they don't stop, they seem completely mindless. I make a light swing with Blitz, which instantly kills three of them.