The All-Temple was huge.
The building I had been raised in at Zeb was a two-story building which was larger on the inside than it seemed because it was built into the side of a slope, so the upper floor was half at ground level. It had also been very simple, a rectangular shape without any decorations or articulate structures.
This building had massive white columns in front and if I had to guess, just by looking at it from the parking lot, it was at least three stories, if not four, tall. There were shaped trees all around the parking lot and a playground off to the side that was bigger than the one at the public park back at Zeb.
We had to park near the back of the parking lot due to the size of the RV. The parking spaces were designed for regular sized vehicles and not the RV, which was easily twice that length.
There were people walking in and out and I felt out of place in my leather armor while surrounded by so many well-dressed people.
Aelin was having the time of her life, skipping and gushing, though I hadn’t heard her make a full sentence since we got out of the RV.
When we got inside, it opened up into a cathedral ceiling that was decorated with scenes of various battles that I assumed depicted historical events, but I had no idea what they were. There were statues and potted plants scattered around the edge of the room and desks with clerks guarding each door.
I was trying to take it all in when I realized that Justia was walking towards a desk that read Dungeon.
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“My name is Zelex Harror, how can I help you?” The cheerful brown-haired man behind the desk asked.
“Justia Publian.” She held out her wrist with the crystal band on it. "Party of five to enter the Dungeon.”
“Party of five?” The man began entering information. "Ah! I see you here. It does look like Tre…” His eyes bulged and he swallowed. "Trent Vowler has already registered you.” The man looked us over. "We do have first years inside, but they should all be near the entrance. Please try not to disturb their lessons.”
“Yes sir.” Justia nodded as he opened the door behind him.
“The gate will open for you, and you can all go inside once I have finished scanning you in.” He turned to Aelin, who held out her crystal band for him to scan. Once he had, he nodded for her to follow Justia into the room.
Ether motioned for me to go next and I offered him my wrist. He scanned it and smiled at me nervously, then motioned for me to follow the other two women.
The room was very bland compared to the outside. Actually, that was an insult to the outside. This room had white walls, was poorly lit, and had nothing in it except for the dungeon mouth with a gate over it.
I looked at Justia. "Have you been here before?”
The green Healer shook her head. "No, but my parents, Uncle Paul, and Aunt Dacine Showed me and their kids a recording of them walking through the first floor.” She looked around the room. “They wanted to give us an idea of what the dungeon was like.”
“What did you think?” Aelin was taking in the gate when Ether walked in.
“It’s different from the Cathedral.” Justia looked like she was thinking. "The floor we were on was a bunch of tunnels. The ones they went down were wide enough for the five of us to walk through.” She shook her head. "It’s got its own lighting, so it's going to be hard to tell what time of day it is, but otherwise, it was pretty dull.”
Rix walked into the room and I nodded at the gate. "Aelin, have you figured it out?’
The blonde looked at me and made a face. "It’s ready for us, we just have to walk in.”
I looked at the rest of my team. I put my arm around Ether. "Then let’s go.”