We started off the following morning now that the storm was over. There were puddles everywhere and the humidity was oppressive. Shadow took the lead as usual, carefully avoiding the water puddles. We went out the usual gate into the city but then started heading north. The farther north we went, the more vegetation there was. Thick vines and moss covered most of the structures and trees were starting to grow through the streets.

We moved slower than usual due to the thick undergrowth and the increased number of places creatures could be hiding. The vegetation was a lot thicker than I thought from what we could see from the top of the tower. Lin had us pause a few times when she caught sight of something but so far we didn’t have to fight anything.

That changed when a snake larger than the one I had previously killed surprised us. Even Shadow didn’t notice it evidently. It dropped down from a branch as Ann was walking past. Lux was faster than me and pushed her aside while bringing up his shield. The green scaled serpent smashed into it, but Lux held his ground. I knew from experience that its scales were extremely tough so dropped my spear and grabbed the magic sword.

Lux tried hitting it with his sword, but it barely made a scratch. I quickly infused my sword with mana and struck, chopping the snakes head off with one swipe. Lux helped Ann to her feet as Lin ran back to see what had happened. The whole fight only lasted a few seconds. Luckily everyone was ok and we continued traveling. As the vegetation got thicker, we were forced to use our swords to cut a path.

I hadn’t seen anything like a machete in this world but the swords worked just as well. Lux, Lin, and I took turns clearing a path and slowly made progress. We took a break around noon to eat. I thought we must be getting close but it was hard to tell from all the vegetation. While we rested, Lin climbed a nearby tree and was able to spot the temple in the distance, its domed roof sticking through the jungle canopy.

She estimated we should get there in another hour which I was happy to hear. I was getting tired of slogging through the undergrowth. It seemed like it took longer than an hour but we finally made it. If we took the same path back, it would be a lot faster since we already cleared the way. The temple was an anomaly as the jungle didn’t touch it. There was a cleared area of around 50 feet that surrounded the temple where the vegetation was absent.

None of us knew what could cause such a thing but it made the temple even more mysterious. The angel statues ringing the top of the dome all had a different kind of weapon in their hands with stern expressions. There were large wooden doors situated around the circumference of the temple with carvings of the angels on them so we went to the nearest ones. All the doors were still closed and I was afraid they might be locked as the angels didn’t seem very welcoming. However, when Lin pushed on them, the doors opened with no problem.

I was surprised the doors didn’t even make a creaking noise as they swung open. The interior was dark but as we stepped inside, crystals started glowing brighter and brighter. They illuminated a mostly open interior with something sticking up in the center. Stone columns dotted the open space and as we stepped closer, we could see the center was sunken into the ground with stadium like stone seating surrounding a central alter like structure. The inside of the temple was spotless with no deterioration or even any dust that I could see.

The alter had a pitch black obelisk carved with runes sticking up toward the roof with a stone slab next to it. The runes glowed softly but I couldn’t tell what was powering it. The interior was eerily quiet after the noise of the jungle bugs and birds. The obelisk was ominous looking and I didn’t want to go near it. Ann was more curious however and approached it while we spread out to search the area. On her way down to the center, she called out after seeing something. We all went to see what she had found. When we got closer, I was surprised to see a mummified corpse collapsed on the stone seating. All the other bodies I had seen previously were nothing but skeletons.

The next surprise was that the corpse was wearing Earth like clothing and clutching a cell phone. It looked to be a male but I couldn’t tell the age by the state of the desiccated body. It looked like their leg had been badly injured at some point and their clothes were dirty and torn. There was a bag and short sword lying next to the corpse. I carefully pried the cell phone loose but it was dead as expected. It was an old flip phone model that I didn’t recognize.

I was hoping for a journal or diary in the bag but there was nothing but a knife that looked like it had been picked up in the city, some rags, and a battered umbrella. I wished I could charge the cell phone so I could see what was on it, but I couldn’t even charge my own phone. I looked for a wallet but didn’t find one, so couldn’t even tell what his name had been. My theory that others must have been summoned as well proved to be true and I was doubly glad we had been able to disable the summoning circle. “He was from your world wasn’t he?” Lin asked. “Yes, it would appear so. That could have been me if I hadn’t found you guys.” I replied.

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The girls both hugged me while Lux scowled. I offered a silent prayer to my fellow Earthling and we continued looking around. Lin, Shadow, and I went to check the alcoves that seemed to be spaced around the outer wall of the temple while Lux accompanied Ann down to check out the alter. The alcoves turned out to be small rooms. Some held beds while others seemed to be storage rooms.

“Look, I think this is a food pantry.” Lin said excitedly. I followed her into another room filled with shelves of jars and sacks. The jars held preserved food and the sacks appeared to be flour, sugar, salt, and other spices. We had been out of spices for a while now, so it was a welcomed find. I wasn’t sure what kinds of foods were in the jars but they all seemed to be intact.

“That is a good find, see what you can fit in your bag.” I replied, still looking at the items on the shelves. Shadow was sniffing some of the sacks and sneezing which made me smile. Lux and Ann came back after not finding anything. The stone slab didn’t have anything on it and Ann couldn’t make out the runes on the obelisk but could tell it was radiating mana.

I didn’t like the sound of that so urged everyone to hurry up so we could start back home. They continued exploring the other rooms while Lin started putting jars and the smaller sacks into her magic bag. Soon I could hear Ann squealing in delight so Lin and I went to see what she had found. We entered a larger room than the others and saw what looked like a library.

Books lined the walls and shelves that ran down the middle of the room. “No wonder Ann sounded so excited.” Lin commented, smiling. Ann was eagerly going from shelf to shelf looking at the book collection. She looked like she was in heaven. I wasn’t sure if their bags were large enough to fit all the books but I’m sure Ann would try. Lin went back to join Shadow in the food pantry while Lux continued to explore the other rooms.

I stayed with Ann as I was interested in the books as well. I scanned the shelves and could see books on history, magic, and the sciences. There was also a section on adventure and romance stories which I thought was strange to be in a temple if that’s what this was. I stopped short upon seeing books on summoning. There were only three of them and I grabbed them right away.

The first book was very thick and was on how to summon people and things. I flipped through it but didn’t understand much. There were a lot of sketches of runes in the book and I wondered if there was a separate book about runes that would let me understand them. My main question was could I get back to my previous world. I would have to study it more but if the answer wasn’t in the book, then I would need to destroy it as I didn’t want anyone trying to summon someone else.

The second book wasn’t as thick and pertained to the summoned. Detailing the powers granted to them during the summoning and how to make use of them along with the best way to train. This was exactly what I needed, and I looked forward to going through it. The last book was even thinner and detailed how to control the summoned and how to dispose of the summoned once they were no longer needed or if they got out of control. I was shocked at the contents of this book and it put the kingdom into a whole new light. It looked like it was a good thing no one was around when I was summoned, or I would have been made into a slave.

I slipped the three books into my bag. I decided not to show anyone the summoning books before I had a chance to go through them. “Did you find something good?” Ann asked from across the room. “Oh..yeah..there is a section of magic books over here.” I replied, pointing at the magic related books. “There are some over here too, isn’t this amazing. I’ve never seen so many books in one place before. This might even rival the library of the magic academy.” Ann said, still excited.

“I’m not sure you’ll be able to fit all of these books so you’ll have to pick the most important.” I cautioned but Ann seemed to think between all their magic bags that they would be able to take most of the books. It was a shame we had not found a fourth magic bag for me to use but it couldn’t be helped. Lux returned without finding anything else of interest and Lin finished up with the food and returned with Shadow.

We all attacked the library and shoved books into the magic bags. Lin’s was already half full of food items so wasn’t able to fit that much more. With all of us working, except Shadow of course, it didn’t take long before the shelves were nearly bare. There was a pile of accounting and record keeping type books that Ann wasn’t interested in that were left behind. Otherwise, the rest of the collection was split between the three magic bags. It really spoke to how much stuff the bags could hold, especially Ann’s.

Now all we had to do was get back home with our loot. Ann was excited to start going through the books after we got back. I kind of wanted to bury the mummified body but we didn’t have a shovel so decided to leave it as it was. I said another silent prayer for the departed and we headed out.