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Ep. 518 The Temple of Earth Part 12

Luckily, I am pretty sure I don't need to kill the boar to complete the test. All I need to do is reach the spot on the map, which I am guessing is the center of the island. So all I really need to do is get past the boar and avoid it long enough to reach the dot.

Since that is the case, I will try sneaky first and if that doesn't work I will try crazy. So with that in mind I start to slowly and quietly circle around to the far side of the island. Then once I am on the opposite side from the boar I move in and climb onto the beach.

About halfway to the center of the island the boar suddenly turns its head and looks at me. Then it lets out a snort and starts charging around the island towards me. As soon as it does I start running the opposite way around the island.

The boar may be faster than me but I have a much tighter turning radius. The center of the island is raised, much like a volcano, so I am running around it and climbing at the same time. The boar quickly realizes it cannot catch up to me so it stops and waits for me to come to it.

However, I am not stupid and stop at the same time as the boar does. While it stands there waiting for me to run around the center of the island I am instead climbing straight up it. By the time the boar realizes what is happening I have made it to the top of the island.

After letting out a roar at the boar I jump into the caldera at the top of the island and experience the flash meaning I've won. The flash passes quickly and I find myself back in my normal body standing in front of the temple doors. The ten symbols on the stone are all glowing and after a few seconds the stone starts to break apart.

The sight of the stone disintegrating makes me a little sad, looks like I won't be able to keep it. That means other than being able to open the doors I didn't gain a single thing from all those annoying tests. If I could I would totally find whoever made that stone and punch them a few times.

Before opening the temple I go eat and rest with Lizzy and Ekard. Then the three of us together go to open up the temple, only to find that behind the doors is simply a giant room. There is no maze or traps or anything, just one big room inside the temple.

Even standing in the doorway I am able to look across the room and see the altar. Other than the altar there is nothing else in the room except for some boulders scattered around the room. Well, that and the huge orb of energy floating above the altar.

'Lizzy, that orb is the energy you need to consume.'

Lizzy 'Alright, got it.'

With that I lead the way into the room, but as soon as I do I sense something wrong. Looking closely I can see strands of power connecting the orb to all of the boulders. As soon as I take another step into the room the boulders all start moving.

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Ekard says "Mama?"

"Ekard, hide in the shadow pocket. Lizzy once I have that thing's attention go for the orb."

Ekard says "Okay!"

Lizzy 'Huh? That's a thing?'

'Yeah, if my guess is right it should be an earth elemental.'

Lizzy 'Can you handle it?'

'Not sure yet, but I should be able to keep it busy while you sneak past.'

Lizzy 'Understood! Be careful!'

'Aren't I always?'

As Ekard disappears into the shadow pocket Lizzy just snorts at me. Then I leave her behind and move towards where all the boulders are gathering together. As I was expecting the boulders are merging together into a humanoid form.

Once it is complete it stands twenty feet tall and fifteen feet wide at the shoulders. Its appearance is fairly rough, like a mud doll made by a child, but it reeks of power. As I move closer to it it turns to face me directly, even though it doesn't have eyes it seems able to see me.

Luckily, all I have to do is distract it, once Lizzy eats the orb of energy the earth elemental should collapse. With that in mind I move forward to confront the elemental, only to jump back when it swings. Its fist leaves a crater in the floor and for the first time I realize that the elemental is actually stronger than me.

Luckily, it is big and slow, because I am not sure if I would survive getting hit by it. After dodging two more punches I move in quickly and punch it in the waist. While my punch manages to create some small cracks in the rock, at the same time it breaks all the bones in my hand.

'Lizzy, go now! I have its full attention!'

Out of the corner of my eye I see Lizzy turn into a blur as she moves at top speed. The elemental starts to turn in her direction but stops when I punch it again. As I dodge its return punch I see Lizzy reach the altar and begin absorbing the orb of energy.

About a minute later the elemental suddenly stops moving mid-swing. A glance at the altar shows that Lizzy has been able to fully absorb the orb. I quickly move away from the elemental, just in time to watch it return to a bunch of boulders.

Once the boulders stop bouncing around and everything is still, I let Ekard come out of the shadow pocket. While he starts exploring I walk over to Lizzy, only to find her curled up in front of the altar. She doesn't respond even when I touch her, by that I am guessing she is absorbing the energy.

It will probably take her a while to absorb all that energy, it took me days. Since the wind orb gave me wings I am excited to see what changes Lizzy might go through. With nothing else to do I walk over and break open the altar and then smash the gem inside it.

*DING*

Congratulations! You have completed a quest!

Destroy the Earth Temple!

Earth Temple Destroyed 1/1

Reward: 100,000 Exp

'Huh, that's not a bad chunk of exp!'

When I turn around I find that Lizzy has been covered by a cocoon of what looks like rock. She basically looks like a big, odd shaped, boulder. Seeing Ekard sitting next to her looking worried I quickly explain what is going on to him.

Ekard says "Evolving?"

"Yes, that's right."

Ekard says "Me too?"

"Ah, not right now. You need to grow up first!"

Ekard says "Okay!" and goes back to exploring.

Since Lizzy is likely to be in her cocoon for days I go out and move the campsite into the temple. Then I spend some time playing with Ekard before cooking some dinner. The next day, while Ekard is exploring, out of boredom I take out the book that Great Mother Wolf gave me.