A fresh light shone on the streets and alleys of the town, painting the gray, gloomy air of the morning with a glorious gold crown. The usual crows of cocks in the morning called for everyone to wake up. However, it came as annoying for those already awake and those still in bed, albeit for different reasons.

Aydem kept stepping forward, following the old man in long white robe, who firmly held a hefty tome under his arms. The streets didn't have so many twists and turns; there were narrow roads lengthened from the east to the west and north to the south of the town. Other than that, one had to use the rough terrain of the meandering lane to get to their destination.

As he made the small steps of a child, the man in white robe walked with ease and no hurry. His goal was the west, right at the edge of the region. The town being small in scope, it didn't take long before they arrived at their destination.

The man stopped before a huge building painted in black and white. Its base was round, paved with shiny slabs, supporting a round body that extended in height ten times the size of a normal, rural house. The building's shaft resembled a tower, but much bigger in breadth. A roof—spread on top of the building and its surroundings like a high crown—cast a deep dark shadow upon the base. He couldn't clearly see what it was made of, as only darkness made it past the shallowness between the body and the upper covering.

He could see an average-sized door working as the entrance to the building. Although similar in shape and size to the entrance of a rural house, its shade was deeper and darker, hardly comparable with the faint brown color of a cheap door. It had no cracks or breaks, being completely smooth while perfectly reflecting the sun's light.

After hearing a series of steps, followed by a deep creak, he noticed the door getting open to the inside. The man stepped on the stone base and moved forward to enter, as Aydem followed him. Meanwhile, he recognized a figure holding the door from the inside, slowly getting to see more as they got closer.

The figure's face came into the light as they reached the entrance. The face belonged to a man, much alike the young priest that he had previously met, but having a hair shorter in length and lighter in shade. He also wore a robe, which was exactly similar to that of the priests.

"Welcome back!" the young man holding the door said, and then he continued with a phrase which Aydem hadn't heard before. The old priest also responded in a language that he failed to recognize. They continued speaking in a language that he knew nothing about.

Moving in, Aydem stepped on the shiny, yet dark floor. This place was the only temple in the town, created by the people through diligence and devotion to the gods.

Upon entering the temple, the first thing he saw was a glittering statue that situated far at the end of the hall, facing the entrance in a straight line.

Stepping further inside, he noticed two rows of statues, one to the left and one to the right, that encircled the place. All of them, including the one located far away in the middle, were made of silver, possessing unordinary details and holding a magnificence that inspired admiration upon the first look. If he were asked to describe their shape, he would find it difficult to come up with the right words.

The figures that those statues resembled belonged to no ordinary people, although all of them were depiction of a human form taking some sort of a stand; the beautiful twists and curves paved on those hard surfaces implied the hard work of the workers behind it, but more importantly, the final work showed features that had come from the legends and died in the legends. They reminded Aydem of the Ancient Greek Sculpture that depicted their gods, but they were much less crude in showing nudity, as the figures here were protected by different gowns, robes, and garments coming in various shapes, forms, and styles.

As Aydem began to examine them more carefully, his eyes took a glance of the walls behind them. Paintings after paintings could be seen covering the walls, coming in colorful shades and attractive shapes. The pictures had all sorts of rich content, from azure skies to grasslands and farms, majestic castles and crowded cities, including men and women of all types and ages, coming from all classes and ranges, some looking at the sun in the heaven and some staring at the moon reflected on the river.

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He could go on watching the rich contents of the pictures on the wall, but his eyes once more took a glance at another brilliant work. Aydem stared at the far-flung, endless ceiling, which emitted a soothing radiance, that of golden shade and warm light. It also possessed colorful paintings as that of the walls, but it had a dazzling light that shone through its every single piece, brightening the lower surroundings, visible even from where they stood on the floor.

During these 3 years as a child, he had never visited the temple even once. Perhaps, it was mostly because his parents, albeit religious, didn't have the time to participate in public religious activities. Xander worked almost every single hour of the day, with a few hours of rest every now and then. Emine also had to take care of Aydem as a child and perform her other household duties, while also going out to purchase what they needed.

On the other hand, the temple was closed to public attendance every day of the week except for Tuesday mornings, where the people would gather for prayers. Therefore, it was difficult for his parents to fit their schedule such that they would be ready at those hours. However, no matter how busy one's mortal life is, someone who truly wished to participate in public prayers would find the time to do so.

Aydem always found his parents to be religious in heart rather than the type who consistently practiced it in public. They prioritized simple matters in life, like working to get coins, and going to get food and water, those sorts of things. Before starting to eat, Emine would always pause a moment and show gratitude, perhaps as a religious gesture, but she never made a fuss out of it, or teach Aydem to do the same.

He was in awe and admiration of the arts in the temple, but it grew into depression and guilt, as he thought about his mother in this world, Emine.

When he was reincarnated in this new world, he viewed it as a game, and the people in it, including Emine and Xander, as nothing but pawns, those that are supposed to help him shine in this life. After all, the goddess herself promised him a life of prosperity in ways that he had wished his entire, unsuccessful, previous life.

He was supposed to be the player, the main character, and every other person would be regarded as a tool. Their purpose was to elevate the main character, like a ladder, being stepped on to provide opportunities for him.

However, those views, which he initially had, grew weaker in his mind by that time, as Emine's affections as a mother shattered those thoughts, her sacrifice dealing the final blow.

A feeling of guilt, mixed up with depression, lurked beneath Aydem's mind, prepared to strike at any moment to disturb his mood. Where was it coming from? Did that pure heart of his, given to, or more accurately, forced upon him by the goddess herself, cause all of this? Or was it actually his own conscience as a human being? No matter how much Aydem thought about it, at the end of the day, whichever it was, he had no way to know.

"Hey! What are you doing, boy? Get here fast!" the old priest said.

Aydem realized he had spent so much time swimming in those thoughts. After hearing the priest's call, he began stepping on the smooth floor of the temple using the rough wooden clogs, which he used to wear all the way from the home walking up here. They were tight and extremely uncomfortable. His feet felt cramped, being crushed in every direction any moment he would start walking with them on.

The old priest stood next to a staircase in a narrow space, located to the left of the big statue but outside of the hall. Seemingly, there existed a small space between the hall and the building.

There was another staircase to the right, with the same features as the one in the left side. He could only see the base of the staircase and a few stairs from where he stood, as the next ones vanished behind the walls.

Looking up, the ceiling seemed to be far from reach, indicating that it extended all the way to the whole building's top. If that was the case, where did those stairs lead to? How could there be any other floors?

Aydem followed the priest moving in the narrow space between the hall and the whole building, using the circling stairs to go up. Here and there, some windows could be noticed that allowed him to see the outside view, which also functioned as a way to lighten up the space. It was strange since he couldn't recall seeing any windows before entering inside.

Sooner than expected, the priest stopped, and so did Aydem. The stairs continued even higher, but there was a door to their left, which came to be lighter in color compared to the other ones in the temple. The priest pushed it inside with ease and entered the place.

Aydem followed him into the room.

"This is going to be your room from now on," the man said.

Only a bed placed in the corner came into view, along with a small window, and nothing else. Everything was plain and simple.

"There's a metal bar you can slide left and right to lock or unlock the door. It's down below so you won't have a problem reaching it. I'll be gone then."

Forcing his tired body forward, Aydem lay on the bed after taking the clogs off. Unlike the one they had at home, the bed's surface felt rough and rugged, but he was too tired, both mentally and physically, to care about such inconveniences. All he cared about then was to take a break.

The overwhelming pressure behind his lids slowly closed them over, as he fell into the realm of the dreams.