Anom found himself surrounded by a turbulent current. All around him was chaos; he didn't even have a way to recognize the direction. Fortunately, he was covered in a formation that led him in a certain direction without the need for him to do anything.

This chaotic journey continued for a few moments until Anom felt the formation coming to a stop. His surroundings became clear as he found himself in a large stone hall.

The floor covered with colorful tiles was cracked, and the majestic walls with intricate carvings had holes, allowing wild vines to enter and cover the walls. The roof allowed streams of light to pour in from outside. Overall, the hall had an ancient feel to it. All the factors came together to tell the story of its glorious past before its abandonment.

Is this what she meant by a peaceful place? Just as Anom was about to walk forward and take a better look at his surroundings, he felt his head spinning and fell to the floor.

He felt as if a vacuum within him was being filled. His soul shivered joyfully, just like a child getting the candy it always wanted.

Della had already warned him about this phenomenon, so he was not so surprised. He kept his focus on the feeling when his soul came into contact with the energy in his surroundings. Della had warned him that this would be his best opportunity to become familiar with this feeling, as it would help him immensely while controlling energy in the future.

Anom was lost in this feeling for a few minutes as the energy swarm weakened, and eventually it ended.

Anom opened his eyes and stood up. He moved his body but didn't feel any changes.

It looks like there's no special bonus for first timers. He thought as he walked towards the only gate in the room.

Outside the gate was a small passage that led outside.

Anom continued walking as he passed through the door. He covered his eyes due to the sudden increase in brightness. As he recovered after a few moments, he took a look at his surroundings.

The hell! Anom speechlessly looked around. All he could see in front of him were small trees, tall trees, and more trees. He was surely in a forest. For a second, he even thought that Della had mistakenly sent him to the planet he had previously observed. The one dominated by wild species of plants. He shivered at just the thought.

Now that I think about it, I took a look at various other planets, but I forgot to take this one into account. Damn it!

"Well, no point regretting it now. Let's try to find a human settlement first." Anom muttered as he walked forward.

Around him were some more ruined buildings, arranged in a row on both sides. Pieces of walls and other structures were scattered everywhere. The forest was on its way to conquering this place, as all the structures were either covered with vines or had trees jutting out of them.

Just as he walked out of the building complex, he noticed a small stone block outside the last building on the right side. It was noticeable because of the various colorful things on top of it.

Anom walked closer and found them to be fruits and flowers of various different shapes and colors. There was a damaged stone statue inside the building. Anom had a feeling that this was the statue that was supposed to be present in the main hall where he first arrived. And this statue surely depicted Della, as this was her temple.

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So these are offerings? Anom thought as he picked up one of the fruits. He concluded that the fruits were placed here recently because they smelled fresh. The one he picked up was the only one he recognized. He ate a similar one when he was at Della's place. Its flesh was juicy and tasted like grapes.

As he was considering having some fruit for lunch, he heard a rustling sound coming from behind.

Anom acted quickly. He put the fruit back and got behind the building without making any sound.

"Chi Chi Chi…" Soon he heard what sounded like mice squeaking and birds chirping. The rustling and squeaking continued for a while. The rustling stopped soon, but the squeaking sounds were coming closer.

Anom took a peek from behind the wall but didn't see anything. Just as he was about to go out, he stopped. He saw the fruits and flowers placed on top of that makeshift stone altar tumble down. That was not all. He saw new fruits and flowers being placed on that altar. It would have been had there been someone present at the scene. But Anom clearly didn't see anyone.

Della didn't tell me that she even had ghosts among her devotees. Anom nervously thought about what to do.

Chi Chi Chi…!

Suddenly, the voices became chaotic, as if the beings there were agitated for some reason. Anom took a look, and to his surprise, he found the fruit he had picked up moving around randomly as if it were being passed around.

Chi Chi… A sound loud enough to suppress all the other noises sounded, making all the other squeaks vanish.

Chi Chi… All of a sudden, Anom felt as if something was approaching him.

Shuu!

"Chi…" Just as he turned around and was about to run back to the temple, he found himself surrounded by a group of small creatures.

They looked like cats with fluffy tails and shiny eyes. But the creatures were small enough to fit in his palm.

Anom was both stunned and relieved as he realized that these small things were behind the spooky scene he had just witnessed.

"Hello! I was just looking around. Don't mind me." Anom was a lot more relaxed, but he still kept his guard up. He didn't know what these creatures wanted, and he was not one to look down on their small sizes. Even the Earth had its fair share of small, deadly hunters, not to mention this unpredictable world where he had just traveled through space and made out with a goddess.

Just as he was racking his brain to analyze the situation, the group parted in two, as if making way for someone.

In front of Anom's eyes, five creatures materialized out of thin air.

The four on the sides were the same as the others but looked older, with their fur a lot less glossy. The one they surrounded in the middle was someone with features distinct from everyone else's. Its fur was also black but had a purple hue to it. Similarly, its eyes were purple, unlike the others, who were black from top to bottom.

Maybe it's their leader or something. Anom thought as he and the creature he considered the leader kept looking at each other.

Chi… The leader made a sound, and a small group consisting of five of them moved towards the altar. They quickly came back, carrying the same fruit that Anom had touched.

Chi Chi… The leader continued squeaking as they placed the fruit in front of Anom.

Anom looked at the fruit and then at the leader, wondering what they wanted, when the leader came forward and took a sniff of the fruit. Then he made his way towards Anom. The other creatures looked nervous, but the leader fearlessly got near Anom's foot and sniffed it.

Chi Chi Chi… It turned back and shouted back to the group. The group was silent for a while before erupting in a squeaking celebration. Yes, celebration. Although Anom couldn't tell what they meant, he could clearly feel the joyous atmosphere that came into being after the leader reported something after sniffing him.

Maybe they can tell by smell if someone's hostile to them or not. Well, I was the one who got spooked. They had nothing to worry about anyway.

Chi Chi Chi… The leader ran back to the group and squeaked again. The group turned around and started walking towards the dense part of the forest. The leader turned to look at Anom and squeaked at him. From what Anom could tell, they wanted him to follow them.

Anom didn't see any harm in following these cute little creatures as he followed behind them.

Oh, the fruit! He quickly turned back, picked up the fruit, and got back to the group, walking with them into the unknown depths of the forest while munching on his fruit.