It took Ambros an hour, but he reached the end of the tunnel. Forcing himself to move forward at first, then gradually increasing in speed as he healed. By the time he stood at the end of the tunnel, he felt more or less whole. He could do with a bit of food. He just didn't want to stand still in the tunnel. Not trusting it with its doors closing and opening on its own.
He could see across the room. It looked as old as the ones in the hallway. He was starting to suspect he was in some long-forgotten cult hideout. The altar and arnea being the biggest culprits of his theory.
Not that he really cared anymore. If he met any cultist or whatever they were, he would give them a piece of his mind about some of their practices. He put them on the same intellect scale as priests. Why would anyone freely worship another being?
Taking out his mirror, he did a room scan to see if it was clear, and to his relief, it was. He wasn't feeling up for socializing at the moment. He had already had all the brain workout he needed at the moment going through the tunnel. Too many questions.
There were stone benches running around the room, what had once been coats hanging above a few of them, and a lot of ruined slippers. The door opposite the tunnel exit was one of the normal ones, those made of wood, and would hopefully not disappear or lead him to giant arenas.
The middle of the room was clear, so he walked in and used Control Earth to make a wall over both entrances before moving over to a corner and getting out some sausages and bread. It was heavenly. In fact, he would go so far as to say it was divine. Why is there never anyone around to appreciate his jokes.
He would have eaten more, but he was afraid he would fall asleep despite Eku's insistence that he didn't need it anymore. Need? Maybe not. Enjoy? Absolutely.
He would do a proper inventory of the other dimensional bags later. Preferably when someone who could identify the items was around, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. Not that he wouldn't try. Having already removed any spell he found locking or tracking them, he was quite pleased with what he saw in wealth there already. Getting Analyze up in rank was on his list, so he would test it on everything when he was out of this place.
There were three things he would splurge Identify gems on, however. The two-handed sword the human in full plate armor had been wielding and the scimitars of the purple one used to cause such pain to the demons. Sadly the plate armor was far too small for him. It had fancy etchings and everything. He really needed better weapons and armor, but the last part was difficult when no one was around to fit it for him. When he returned to the settlement, he would see about doing some enchanting.
Taking out a gem, he held it to the two-handed sword and sent mana into the gem.
Item: Briarhills Thorn, Unique ( E )
Enchantment: Double strike, Deep wound
This steel greatsword has been passed down for generations among the Briarhills. It has stood as a symbol of prosperity and protection for almost as long as the Briarhill name.
Strange, it didn't have any engravings or similar things he could see. It did look to be a battlefield weapon, a good one at that, so he would keep it for now. If he ever met any of these Briarhill people, he would consider returning it to them.
It reached him to the bottom of his chest if he stood it by its tip. The grip was long enough to give both his hands a place to rest, if just so. It didn't feel right. The balance was a bit heavy on the blade, but then again, he wasn't exactly a master swordsman, more of a slightly trained amateur. Well, by the feel of the blade, he could easily wield it in one hand, so he wasn't sure the term two-handed applied when he wielded it.
Deciding to use it, he unsummoned it and summoned one of the scimitars. It was gorgeous. The gold-inlaid image of a hawk about to catch its prey was so detailed he didn't want to think about how much work had gone into it. It was a work of art.
Giving the blade a slight bend, it had the closest feel of hardness and bend to spring steel. Ambros knew there were more exotic metals being used across the universes, but so far, steel was the best he had seen in this place, and the scimitar probably had the best of that steel he had seen so far.
Sadly it was more like a very long curved dagger in his hands, and the hilt was all wrong for him to use it. It was some sort of knob design that was incredibly uncomfortable to hold, so he put it back. So now he had an okay spear and a very good sword. Both are long weapons.
Ambros flexed his right hand. Guess you will get to do some work again, eh, old pal. Giving his fist a nod. Yeah, he really needed to get out of here, so he didn't go completely nuts…
Standing up his shield and the sword, he gave it a few swipes and stabs. Tried to bring it back behind his shield, using it to hide where he would strike from. Sadly, it brought the shield too far out to be efficient if he met someone close to his strength or stronger than him. This would take some adjusting.
He made a mental note to get more training with greatswords and two-handed weapons in general when he returned. He quickly understood how efficient they would be against most creatures and monsters.
Enough dawdling. Making the walls he placed up earlier crumble, he made his way to the door. Trying to open it carefully was hopeless. It was almost stuck to the sides of the frame. Finally getting it open, he saw a hallway in gray smooth stone. Running his hand along it, it felt like cold concrete. Almost modern-looking lighting along the ceiling. Instead of lightbulbs, some sort of flat crystal was used. Using his sword, he tried removing one, but it wouldn't budge.
He could taste and feel that the humidity had risen. The air felt colder, though, so he was not too bothered yet.
The halfway continued for about fifty steps, but an intersection was three steps in front of him. Taking his mirror out, he did his check of both hallways. They just continued for about fifty steps and ended with wooden doors.
Left it is. Making a mark at the corner he took, he continued down to the next door. Unlike the first one, this one opened easily. The musty smell of old books almost overwhelmed him.
Ambos stood almost terry-eyed in his happiness. Looking at the small library. That was the only word he had for it. He could see the far wall contained five bookshelves full of books! There were four desks spaced out but no chairs. One of them had an open book. He saw the side walls contained bookshelves but sadly with many of the books removed. The Arcanist in him was doing cartwheels and opening champagne. An entire room full of possibly rare or never before seen books. It was enough to make him almost forget to check the room with his mirror. He did check though, and nothing but more bookshelves.
Walking into the room was possibly the happiest Ambros had felt since coming to the rift world. He had to stop himself from skipping. Just imagine what ancient formulas and spells could be hidden in this treasure. Ancient secrets not seen for thousands of years.
Making sure to close the door and spending the time to create another eart wall, he was happy to notice his Control Earth went up a rank. It actually allowed him to sense a bit around the area he was controlling with his mana. Interesting find. He could use it to locate things in the earth and even possibly hidden rooms. He felt his control over what he was changing increase too. His wall was denser and sturdier because his intent had been to make a barrier.
Making his way over to the open book, first, he took a long look at the smudged lines. This was handwritten, not printed.
agreed that there would be no more infractions. I well remember his dissatisfaction with the judgment passed, but there was no choice but acceptance. Magnusiudex had spoken. I do find it curious however that the Iteritnterastra did not speak up. They had a wast interest in the outcome, and clearly, it was not in their favor. The Ignisalarumeius did make his opinion known when leaving. What remained of the hosts' forces when he was done expressing his opinion was a sad sight. Luckily the Sororibus were there to intervene or I fear this would have become another barren world in this never ending
The condition of the writing was good enough to read, but when he touched the book, he instantly knew it would fall apart if he so much as moved it. It almost made him howl in rage. Sure, this may be a copy of a well-known book, something that everyone had in their home, but he doubted that was true for every book in here. It was a possible treasure throw of knowledge.
Even more! They were books. The two things you did not mistreat, well, three things, but the last one was on the. You will live but do not do it again list. Not the. You will now die list. Books, children, and coffee. In that order. Those were sacrosanct.
Amros carefully paced in front of the book so he didn't accidentally hurt it by creating a strong gusts of wind.
He stopped and went along the bookshelves to confirm that they were not in a better condition. From what he could tell, they were not. Even more annoying, no one had made a protective enchantment on the bookshelves to keep the books pristine. Ambros would have words with whoever had created this travesty if he ever met them.
Coming to the only logical conclusion to this dilemma, he set about preparing himself. He needed a way to get all of these books with him, and he did not trust any of the dimensional bags to keep them in the same humidity and condition. Even if they claimed to always keep his food fresh.
It had been a bit of a heated topic when he bought his dimensional bag. Ambros had demanded to see the full enchantment to be sure it worked as advertised. The shopkeeper had been scandalized and told him he couldn't do that. Apparently, they were made by the Artificers guild, and the shopkeeper had nothing to do with any of the production. He had been offered a full refund though, if any of his food ever went bad, that was both for the food and the necklace. Ambros had grudgingly accepted.
Whisper had almost been on the floor laughing at that point. He expected his contentious attitude during the discussion to be part of why she managed to haggle it down so far. Food was important, so he wasn't taking any chances. He hoped she was doing okay.
Food was food tough, and books were books. He did not trust the enchantment with possibly priceless books. That was most books to his mind. No, he would need to research and create his own spell, but for that, he had to enter his Sanctum. He was just afraid to be gone for a month or for his body to die from dehydration while he was there researching. This would have at least a smidgeon of the precautions he normally would have taken.
Summoning a mattress, he sat himself down and started using Control Earth while eating and drinking as much as he could hold. Hopefully, his digestive system was efficient enough to not create too much waste product at this point.
The box of stone slowly rose around the mattress. He made it high enough to stand in and added breathing holes that were angled away from him.
Laying down, he closed his eyes and followed the familiar feeling of his Sanctum. It was difficult to explain. It was both in his mana pool and in his brain simultaneously. The last time it had only been in his brain. Before he could ponder this change, he had arrived.
Standing in front of the bottom of the first of several connecting basalt towers placed on a large black circular platform floating on a blue mist. Determining their height was difficult. Things like time, distance, and speed were more of a suggestion here than hard rules.
Looking around, he was surprised to see the blue mist surrounding the entire platform now, just not the bottom. It was standing inside a snow globe. Tearing himself away from the temptation to explore, he ran a fond hand along the gargoyle's wing sitting to the right of the entrance as the door opened.
He was about to enter when a feeling was sent at him. Chuckling to himself, he also ran a hand along the gargoyle's wing sitting to the left of the entrance for a moment before going into the tower.
The first floor of the first tower was mainly full of defensive measures. Even beings claiming godhood supposedly weren't supposed to survive there without Ambrose's blessing, so when he saw a tall coffee table with a bottle and a letter, he knew it had to be Gramps.
Using his will, he brought the table to him or him to the table. It was difficult to tell if he had moved the entire tower or himself. Either way, he found himself in the middle of the room, looking down at the familiar writing of Gramps.
Athanasius Mardux
To Ambros Mardux,
welcoming hall,
the Ambros Sanctum
Picking it up, he could feel it was mostly, if not fully, made from cotton, and even worse, it was signed by Gramps actual name and not Ethan, as he was better known for. In other words. Gramps was having a laugh. Quickly ensuring it wouldn't turn him blue or pink, he opened the letter.
Congratulations, son. I can not express how proud I am of you for taking your first steps as a proper Arcanist. Even though I have always known you would manage it, I must admit seeing it with my own eyes has truly been a blessing. You have made this old man proud.
I remember the young boy standing at my doorstep with his backpack on. It had a lighting-shooting creature as I recall, I could never pronounce its name. Far too much luggage stood by his feet. Bravely and defiant, that young boy looked up at me, and I knew from that moment that raising you would be a difficult endeavor. It truly was.
It was also one of the most giving and wonderful times I have had for a very, very long time. During all of your escapades, you managed to bring light and laughter into the life of a very old man.
There are many actions I have taken that I regret. Taking you into my home was never one of them. You would have made me proud even if you chose another path to walk in this life. As your parents will be when they return.
Ambros remembered that day well. It was just windy inside the tower. He just got a bit of dust in his eye. Okay? He told the gargoyles sitting around the inside of the tower, looking down at their master.
The part about his parents being gone and every old geezer on council knowing more about it than him had long been a thing of contention. He eventually came to accept that there were certain things they were not allowed to speak to non-initiated about on the pain of death. Despite that being a sacrifice Ambros was willing to make, they didn't seem to think giving up their life was worth giving him the information he eventually would get anyway. Ambros continued reading.
Now to the practical matters. Unless we all are too far gone after the celebration of your rise to Arcanist, most of this should be known to you already, but I will start with the parts that you are unlikely to have cared about.
When you start your Grand Tour across the tributary worlds, you will come in contact with something that is known as the System. The first initiation will be painful, but your guards will be there to help you adjust and give advice. I strongly suggest you also take martial training from them after the initiation. It will serve you well during your life. Michael and Tresis are exceptionally skilled and have been part of the System for a long time. They will serve you well as both guardians and hands.
The second part of the System you need to understand is that it is one of several ways to achieve power. It is, however, a very well-made training program, so please do use it. It will give you a leg up in other parts of the multiverse. I have come to believe it is not sentient, since I know you will ask, but run by a species called the Hoste, or so I have been led to believe.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Thirdly, and this is the most important part. You will come in contact with something called Energy or The Energy. You will need to integrate this into your body, together with some strengthening and refinement done to your body. Your guardians have already been instructed and given the proper material for you to consume.
Do not mistake this Energy for mana. They are two different sources of power. You can consume Energy and turn it into mana, but you can not, as far as I am aware, turn mana into Energy. You must open something called your Meridans and Dantians before you can transform and combine the two. The exact instructions are with your guardians.
And do start compressing your mana. You want it so dense you can't make it any denser before you transform. It should at least have the consistency of liquid crystal. Ask your guardians if anything is unclear.
Yes, I have gone through the same process, but the universe was much younger then, and I'm told there have been some changes since my time.
Finally, I left you a bottle of daiginjo as a motivational tool for you to learn how to bring things between the mundane and the Sanctum.
Best wishes, Gramps.
Ambros reread the letter and then the second part again. Okay, Huston… We've had a problem here.
Going by the letter, something may have just gone slightly wrong. Just slightly, mind you…
There was too much there to deal with at the moment. Time was ticking. He needed to get himself to the libraries. Putting the letter gently down, he looked at the bottle and almost burst out laughing. He found himself in a strange mood and had no time to deal with it, so he swore he would bring both the letter and the bottle of sake to the mundane world one day soon.
Willing himself into his spell repository. It was still a barren floor with a dome covering the walls and roof.
His spells stood out against the smooth surface of the dome, almost like stars. It had grown some since his last visit, though. He calculated that he could have five more simple spells engraved now or two intermediate and a simple spell. Trying for an advanced spell would be futile at his current power. His mana couldn't hold together a construct like that yet. Five more spells were more than he had expected.
Feeling quite happy with himself, he traveled to the floor of the spell library. He currently had access to the first four parts. It would have to do.
Standing in the middle of the domed library, Ambros reached out his right hand and took a dark orb resting on a marble pedestal. The moment both of his hands touched it, an internal light started shining out like the sun trapped behind dark clouds.
Leaning back, he was met with blocks of basalt that fitted to his body and gently lowered him into a sitting position. They were soft and springy despite looking like a rock.
Reclining the seat, he had a good look at the dome as it came alive with flashes of light shooting their way in different patterns across the length of the room while he held the orb between his hands.
Ambros lost himself for a while, looking through possible spell construct parts, existing spells, theories, and lectures that existed there. After some time, he gasped and started heaving for breath before going still again. Someone watching would have thought he was on the brink of drowning.
His eyes, completely black, were wide open and staring into the infinite as a myriad of spell patterns started appearing on the dome. Some were discarded as fast as they came, some staying in the construct, others being put to the side for further consideration.
Different patterns were put together and discarded so fast it was like watching lightning in the night sky. Slowly ever so slowly, the spell parts and constructs that stayed grew. Bit by bit, the three-dimensional construct was being built up in the middle of the dome, hovering above where Ambros lay as if dead.
Finally, a spell construct appeared. Its outer form looked like six hexagons going into each other and expanding again, sometimes folding into one and other times only meeting at a corner. Except for one point, they never stopped moving. Looking into the lines making up the geometric shapes, there was a neverending script of spell script. Even as the frames moved apart and reemerged, the overlap would create part of the script. It was by far the most complex spell Ambros had ever created, he thought as his eyes opened and the orb dimmed to black.
Standing up, he studied the spell with his eyes and not his mind. It bordered on advanced spell construction, so he would not be surprised if it took up three of his open slots and not two, but it should be within his capabilities to cast with the help of energy stones.
He had deconstructed an advanced spell called Stasis Dome, taken only the parts he needed, and created some new connections from scratch, and what he had should serve his need to store the books safely for a while.
Willing the orb to return to its pedestal and the recliner to go down into the floor again, he moved to his spell repository.
Creating the spell construct without filling it with his mana, he forced it into the dome. There was a moment of resistance, but the construct merged as if pushing through a layer of ice.
His had been right. Sadly, it took three of his five remaining slots, but he now had the Stasis spell if in a limited form. He would need to upgrade it later if he wanted it to keep up with his spell power later, like with all of his spells.
Ambros didn't want to think about how much time had passed, he only knew that he was still alive, but there was one last thing he wanted to try before his mind couldn't take it anymore. The toll had been heavy, and it kept increasing.
Standing outside the towers, he looked at the mist surrounding the platform. Reaching out with his will, he took hold of some of the mana and forced it together. He stood there a while, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, he released the mana, and it dissipated back into the mist. Well, he hadn't expected it to work on his first try, but he needed to know if he could manipulate it from his Sanctum.
Laying down on a patch of grass that had suddenly appeared under him, he closed his eyes and forced himself out of the Sanctum.
With a dry gasp, Ambros woke up in the world of the living again. He felt like a mummy, so he immediately summoned water from his dimensional bag and slowly drank until he didn't feel like a husk.
It didn't feel or smell like he had soiled himself, to his relief, but the smell of his armor was overpowering the musky smell of the books. It was not pleasant.
He continued to drink and eat while he opened a hole in the side of the box he made around himself. As far as he could tell, nothing had changed outside. The wall he had placed on the door was also intact, so he finally tore down the box and stood. Stretching had never felt so heavenly. He could feel each pop as he reached higher, well tried to as he had to fold his arms to stretch further up.
Looking around, he could confirm that everything was in the same place as when he had seen it last, so he unsummoned his mattress and made his way over to the table.
The book would be a tricky one since it was already open, but he felt it was a worthy test subject. Emptying one of the signet dimensional bags into another, he didn't remember who it had belonged to. He had to make sure nothing would disturb the precious cargo.
First, summoning a fist full of rice-sized Energy stone in his left hand, prepared to cast Stasis on the book. His mana almost bottomed out instantly, and he started forcing the Energy from the rice grains into his mana channels. When he had expended his mana pool and twelve of the Energy stones, the spell was finally ready, but he gave himself a few moments since his mana channels were on fire and he was about to faint from the lack of mana in his system,
This was going to take a while, Ambros thought as he cast the spell construct on the book. It took a moment, but like liquid mercury, a layer of silver material slowly made its way up the book until it was entirely covered, and then the coating turned rigid.
Gently he pushed at one side of the cover, and the book started slowly sliding across the desk. Setting his hand down on its path, he stopped it from sliding further. This was awesome. Noticing that a few drops of blood were on the page closest to his hand, he could see the corner of a page had managed to pierce his hand. He hadn't felt a thing.
The wound had already closed as he put the book in the dimensional bag, now dubbed Book Ring. The spell should keep it safe for almost two months unless they were put under outside force by something. Then it could be anything down to seconds, depending on the force. He would have to renew the spell or find a way to copy the books. Maybe he could even fix them somehow. He would ask Eku if he had any clues. Looking at the shelves around him, Ambros got to work.
He had lost track of time, run out of grain-sized Energy stones, and was on his eleventh energy chip when he was done. Four hundred and fifty-seven scrolls, folios, tablets, and books now waited to be rescued in the Book Ring that now hung on the same chain as his own dimensional storage. He would guard this ring with his life!
He was also quite happy to have found a lacquered box under the second to last scroll he put in status. It was sitting in front of him now, the size of a jewelry box, and had the dark gray color of aged, almost petrified wood. Summoning the key he had found at what seemed such a long time ago now. He inserted it, and it both fit and turned the lock. He had already checked for traps, so he gently opened the lid only to see a box full of dust.
Grimacing at the sight, he knew there had to be something here. People didn't hide keys for nothing. Gently pouring the content over the table, he heard the sound of stone hitting wood. That's more like it, he thought.
Gently blowing away, the dust revealed a large blood-red gem with flecks of black running through it. Picking it up to see if Analyze had something to add to the discussion, a system prompt appeared.
The contender is offered a bloodline.
Do you wish to accept?
Quickly sending a negative to the system, he summoned a cloth and wrapped it around the gem, put it back into the box, and straight into his dimensional bag.
Ambros didn't know much about bloodlines, but he knew the beastmen had once been humans that had acquired a bloodline that turned them into what they were today. Even if they were quite happy with the outcome, he didn't want to chance walking around with an ostrich head or spider's body.
A group to the north of the Free Cities had a bloodline that allowed them to turn into wolves or beers at will. Fun as that sounded, he wasn't about to start messing with something that could change his species. What if he turned into a cat girl… No, he was not messing with any bloodlines today. Thank you very much.
Feeling tired but a bit stir-crazy, he decided to get going. There was nothing more to do here. He thought as he proceeded to dump the empty book chases into one of the dimensional bags.
Removing the wall, he had created in front of the door, he opened it carefully and confirmed that nothing was in the hallway before returning to the intersection, this time going left again. The door was a bit difficult to open as if something was blocking it on the other side, but he got it done.
Ambros was looking at some sort of throne room. Humanoid bones littered the floor, and on the throne sat a skeleton that had been cut in two at about chest height. The rest of the skeleton would be behind the throne, together with the top half of the stone throne that also had been cut in two by the looks of it. The walls and floor were coated in old, dried blood. This seemed cozy.
He carefully checked the sides of the room with his mirror, but there was just more of the same. Was this some sort of cult suicide pact gone horribly wrong?
Walking in, he couldn't avoid stepping on bones, and the sound of them snapping sent shivers down his back. This had obviously taken place a very long time ago. The bones were dried out, and there wasn't any flesh or organic material he could see.
Taking careful steps towards the throne with his shield raised to protect and the sword ready to stab, he could finally see behind it. He had been right. The skeleton and the top of the throne lay behind it. There was an alcove with a basin in it that caught his attention. Walking over, he could see the stone had been stained by blood over a long time. Looking up, he saw grooves running from the holes in the ceiling and down into the basin.
He fired off Arcane bolts into that basin until there only was dust left, then he used a water summoning rune and threw it in. He lowered the temperature until it turned into ice, and he saw cracks around the basin floor. He set all of his mana into heating it up until the rock exploded. Hearing the pings against his shield was beautiful. Looking at the now ruined stone that used to be a basin, he nodded to himself before leaving the throne room. If there was something there, he hadn't seen it, and he didn't want to have anything from the throne room, even if there was.
That left one door, and again Ambros went left. The door opened easily, and he looked straight at another pillar of light going up into a large crystal in the roof. What was behind it is what gave him pause.
Dragging an axe as tall as Ambros was a Minotaur. No, not a Minotaur, he realized after a few moments. This was a walking giant bull with opposable thumbs, smoke coming from its nostrils. Even with one of its horns broken halfway up, it looked intimidating. There was nothing human about this thing.
The monster took a few deep sniffs before turning towards Ambros and bellowing. While withstanding the deafening sound, he saw that it had serrated teeth. This wasn't gonna be like any of the trips to a farm when he was a child, was it?
Ambros almost retreated back into the hallway with the bull monster lumbering deceptively fast towards him but realized he didn't want to get trapped in there with the thing. It would be better to try and slay it where he had room to move, and move he did.
Running at a diagonal to keep the pillar of light between them, Ambros quickly realized he could change direction faster than the hooved monster, if not outrun it. He had to slow down its momentum somehow.
He started shrinking the circle as they ran around and around the light pillar. It was starting to look like the chair game, if you were playing against had a horror show. When he passed the monster too closely, he threw his shield up to ward off the fire the thing spewed from its mouth. He could hear the sizzling sound from the chainmail heating up. Quickly summoning a jar of wine to pour it over his back. It would only improve the smell of his gambeson at this point.
Making another turn, he realized he had almost caught up to the monster at the same time as it realized it. The thing raised its axe to strike, but Ambros was already inside its range. Running by, he managed to slice into its thigh while avoiding the monster's attempts at trampling him. The backswing of the axe did catch on his shield, and sent him tumbling.
Dizzy and confused, Ambros tried to find his shield and sword as a shadow loomed over him. Rolling over on his back, he was just in time to see the axe come down on his left arm. They say it doesn't hurt as much if it happens fast. Ambros screamed in pain when his left arm was severed. They lied.
The monster didn't say anything, Ambros did know if it could, but he could see its eyes shining in sadistic glee.
He was dizzy and sick from the pain. The blood loss was making him faint, and he was fading out. What was the use of two hearts when there was no blood to pump around?
Looking up at the beast that ended his life, it just stood there enjoying the suffering it had caused, the life it had taken. Ambros felt himself fading further into darkness. There was no light to walk towards, only the echoes of his thoughts telling him he had failed.
Then a tingling heat started. He found himself jolted awake, held up by the monster that had taken his arm. It was bringing him towards its mouth. The look in its eyes as it realized Ambros was awake, was something he would remember for the rest of his life. The spear point he thrust as hard as he could into its mouth and up in its brain was just a bonus.
The creature fell like a log. Ambros managed to untangle himself before getting buried under it. Looking around, he spotted his severed arm a hand away from his shield. The sword lay a few steps further away. He held up his left arm, flexing it and moving it around. It was his, no question about it. It was identical to the other one that lay on the ground. Revitalize was amazing. He wondered if they could reattach the chainmail still wrapped around his severed arm.
Picking up his shield and sword, he approached the monster and finally acknowledged the system prompt.
Battle Award
20 000 Exp
1 000 000 Sp.
Do you wish to loot the corpse?
He most definitely would.
To his disappointment, he was given three platinum coins, an Energy stone the size of a large marble, and one of its gigantic horns, the whole one. He liked the horn, but the rest wasn't very exotic. Not that he was going to complain about more money, and he had no idea what an Energy stone this size was worth.
Sadly the monster went up in smoke before he could cut some steaks from it, so he turned towards the pillar of light. He saw a familiar handle sticking out of the ground.
If he squinted, he could just about see that the light continued far into the earth, but it was too painful to keep looking, and his mana channels were fried enough already without adding more damage to them by going closer to that Energy geyser.
Checking the handle for traps before pulling it. Again there was a delay before that grinding noise started. This time he was prepared, however. He had a torch ready. To his disappointment, the room didn't turn dark this time, but rather a red light came from all of the walls, and it certainly gave everything a nice hue, if you enjoyed red.
A pillar had risen in front of the far wall, so he walked over and started inspecting it. Not that there was much to look at. It was a pillar with a square stone button on top. Why did they keep doing this to him? He could never resist an unsupervised button if he was very likely not supposed to be touching it. Quickly hitting the button, there was another grinding sound before he heard an explosion. Then a door opened before him, and he heard stones falling on the ground. Some large by the sound of it.
Running fast as he could up the stairs as the ground was shaking, with segments of the walls and the sealing kept getting torn loose. Ambros was nearly blinded when he exited the stairs and stood in daylight again.
System reward for destroying a temple of Moloch
10 000 000 sp
That was a nice bonus. So, you got system points for pillaging temples? He was all for that.
Looking around, he realized he was standing on the opposite side of the plaza where he had entered the temple, the entrance now being rubble, which did make him feel better. It didn't make sense to him how he was back where he started, but he wasn't about to start complaining about things being easy. At least he didn't end up in another world this time.
Summoning a link of sausages, he started eating as he walked towards base camp.