Aster walked towards a few men who were conversing.

He knew them very well.

They were people that Cecil didn't like talking to. In fact, she usually didn't even glance at them, treating them like trash.

Earlier, he didn't know why, but after hearing what they talked about, Aster had an idea.

"Crap, it's Aster." One of them spoke once he noticed Aster.

"Who?" Another person asked. His question prompted a wave of laughter.

Aster looked at the person who asked the question. He looked more burly, but there were clear signs of losing muscles.

'He doesn't look half bad. Before arriving in the temple, he must have been doing labor. Either for money or hobby.' Aster observed the man.

Meanwhile, the man made sure to look as intimidating as possible.

'Is he trying to provoke me?' Aster thought. 'Actually, why does he look so muscular still? The sacrificial ceremony must have occurred at least a month or two ago. Otherwise, I'd be briefed about it once I arrived here.'

When Aster arrived at the temple, he was greeted by kids and people who were new arrivals as well. People who spent at most a month inside the temple. Seniors weren't as friendly.

And none of them briefed him about the sacrificial ceremony. In other words, it was most likely something that happened only to seniors inside the temple. And knowledge of it was probably only available to the seniors.

"How long were you in the temple?" Aster approached the group. He faked a smile, but it was obvious that his smile was fake.

"Two months."

"Three months."

"Month and a half."

"Two months, more or less."

Were the answers he received. Some of them sounded fawning, while others appeared rude.

None of them dared to be blatantly rude to Aster, though.

No sane survivor was crazy enough to dare to try provoking an explorer.

Even if, by some miracle, they managed to barely beat the explorer, the other explorers would surely deal with them.

No sane survivor, that is.

"Why do you care?" Aster received a rude remark. It was from the person who asked the 'who' question.

"I want to know about the sacrificial ceremony," Aster said. He didn't mind the rude attitude. After all, he had long lost hope in those people.

"Piss off." That was the reply he got.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

Aster looked at the guy coldly. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me?"

"Must I repeat myself?" The guy looked Aster in the eyes.

"Very well," Aster said. He ignored the group and went down the corridor.

"Heh. Told ya, he's just a newbie who rode on the explorers' manhoods. I bet that he isn't actually strong at all." Aster heard a wave of laughter behind him.

'If I deal with him when everyone is looking, I'll be done for socially.' Aster concluded. 'I'll just get rid of him when others aren't looking.'

'Hmm... yes. When I return, the others should be sleeping. I'll let the guy prove how capable he is. Good way to learn why some people are better fed as well.'

Aster didn't even consider the possibility of the man posing any challenge.

Even if, miraculously, the man was as strong as Aster, he would still badly lose. After all, Aster could use Enhancement, and automatically, he'd be much stronger than the man.

It wasn't even a question.

'I am actually overpowered now, am I not?' Aster thought while walking down the corridor.

As usual, he greeted the kids before appearing in front of the outside door.

There, he met a guard again.

"Hey, Aster, my favorite explorer!"

Aster looked at the guard carefully. 'Why does he look so fed? If he is so able, why doesn't he explore in order to find a way out of the castle?'

The only explanation Aster could think of was that the guard was a coward. A coward who wanted to reap the benefits of the courageous.

And as that thought entered his mind, Aster decided to ignore the guard's greeting.

That left the guard confused.

Meanwhile, Aster decided to explore the path forward instead of the right one.

As he walked down that path, Aster wondered. "Is it right? What am I doing? All those people are weak, and I am abandoning them. Was I not weak in the orphanage as well? Did I not hate being abandoned by those with power?"

"What is the right answer…" He couldn't decide. Aster really didn't know.

"Whatever. For now, I'll focus on the task ahead."

In today's exploration, Aster decided to make his way to the first boss's arena.

'I want to see for myself if the body is gone. Maybe the traitor left some traces. Going there and back also serves as a good way of judging my progress. I am much stronger now, after all.'

While walking, Aster dealt with several monsters, netting him about fifteen EP.

[ Aster

Strength: 1.53, Agility: 1.74, Vitality: 1.31, Mana: 1.12 Status: Healthy

EP: 38

Current Quests:

Bird in a cage:

-Escape the Temple of Trickery in 30 days (24 days remaining).

-Rewards: Random Option unlock 1x, Rare Gatcha Ticket 1x.

-Punishments: Mana Blockade (30 days).

]

Right now, he had 38 EP, enough to buy two common gacha tickets and still be left with a spare.

"Huh? My mana rose by a whole point? Is it 0.05 points per meridian?" He guessed after looking at his stats.

"Oh, right!" He felt like facepalming. "I actually have a Rare Gacha Ticket now. I should use it. I wonder what will such a ticket give me."

"System, use the ticket."

He watched the wheel turn rapidly.

As the wheel turned, Aster arrived in the section of ancient murals.

Deciding to ignore the wheel for now, he looked at the ancient murals more carefully. He couldn't do so properly yesterday.

At the time, he had to be careful of being backstabbed, but now, he didn't have to worry as much.

If anything approached Aster, he'd sense it.

The murals depicted a man with a crown walking slowly. Above him was a circular symbol that depicted Fate.

The space beside the symbol of Fate was scratched. Destroyed for all eternity. As if it was meant to be forgotten. As if the person who scratched it furiously hated it with all his being.

Above the man were several holy beings.

'Is it showing a king and gods looking at him?' Aster looked at the drawing.

Below the man were masses of people. The masses were worshipping him with zealous eyes.

The gods, however, looked at the man in various ways.

Some had judging eyes.

Some looked unbothered.

Some were extremely angry, while others even looked jealous.

It was a scene out of fantasy.

A man worshipped by men, and envied by gods.

'This is before the Cursed Epoch? I wonder who that person is.' Aster looked at the mural in interest.

The man's face looked distorted. Even though it wasn't scratched at all, Aster couldn't properly pinpoint the man's facial features.

At that moment, he received a notification.

The wheel finished spinning and Aster received a reward from the Rare Gacha.

"Huh? What's that?" He looked at the status of the object he received with astonished eyes.