Thariel held her dagger with one hand. She twirled the weapon in a steady spin, letting go and catching it just before it falls from her grip.

She's been practicing this little technique for a while now, and she's learned a few things because of it.

For example; her reflexes and muscle memory were very adaptive towards everything she physically practiced.

In hindsight her first, actual spear shot hit her intended target with little to no miscalculation regarding the trajectory so she should have figured this out already.

That goblin hybrid would have had a harder time if she just chose to fight with her spear instead of throwing it. And she in turn wouldn't struggle around here as well since she'd still have her primary weapon.

Strange as it may sound, Thariel genuinely thought that she would have stood a chance against the Thostasaurus if she had her spear back then.

... Or maybe not.

Just as Thariel finished thinking that, she saw one of the titanic dinosaurs crash out of a treeline in a planned ambush and snap its jaws around the neck of some boar-looking herbivore.

The herd uselessly dispersed in reaction while the Thostasaurus, having caught its meal successfully, went back to hiding behind the trees. Its white camouflage was so perfectly suited for the snow that Thariel couldn't spot it after it did so.

Thariel decided to no longer walk in that direction. It wasn't worth the trouble.

Also, she's now back to believing that she couldn't beat a Thostasaurus. Spear or not, there's a reason why those things are- most likely, - the local apex predator.

And if there's a creature that's some how above them in the food chain..?

Yeah, Thariel didn't want to imagine something like that exists. It was simply too inconceivable. She refused to believe that there's a deadlier organism than the Thostasaurus around here.

More walking later and Thariel came upon a large crater with hundreds of geothermal veins and hot springs on the bottom. She could feel the heat they spewed from here.

Naturally, there were creatures here as well.

Thariel managed to recognize a few of them as Thostasauri- there are entire families of them here even, - but the rest weren't so familiar to her. She never saw this kind of ecosystem in the game.

She internally debated if it was worth it to go down there and clean herself but decided that no, she's not going to have a sauna party with a bunch of dinosaurs.

She wasn't going to risk her life for a potentially deadly hot spring that'll boil her alive if she takes a dip in it.

... But the creatures taking mudbaths looked so happy though-

Ah screw it!

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Thariel hopped down the slope and began a slow slide down to the bottom of the crater. Flocks of birds began to circle her from above as she made her way downward.

Scavengers?

They didn't do anything thankfully, and she reached the bottom without needing to fight off a bunch of vultures.

The first thing Thariel did upon getting down was figuring out which of the hot springs here lacked creatures and a quick scan with her eyes was all it took for her to quickly spot an unoccupied hot spring she could use.

Thariel headed towards it while avoiding the other creatures and once there, she bent down to check the temperature with her fingers and it was exactly the right amount of heat.

She flinched when she touched it first sure, but after realizing that it didn't scald her hand Thariel quickly began stripping off her clothes before taking a skinny dip into the steaming water.

Thariel groaned as the heat loosened the tension in her muscles.

She needed this.

Thariel washed herself clean after relaxing for a bit and left the hot spring feeling invigorated.

It was a bit awkward to change in front of a bunch of dinosaurs at first but she got used to it. The spare set she brought isn't as protective as her chainmail and leather armor but also not as muddy and grimey.

Thariel threw on a cloak on top of everything for the cold and then she left the crater using the pathways the visiting animals have long since flattened during their many trips to the crater.

With the cold air at her back and her muscles feeling youthful, the journey up the crater had been refreshing instead of straining.

She then continued on her search for the shrine.

Thariel made sure to avoid anything she thought as either suspicious or dangerous.

She didn't go near suspiciously lonesome balls of snow in the middle of nowhere, groups of trees that might hide a Thostasaurus, and even herds of herbivorous animals since those things can be worse than carnivores when they feel threatened.

And honestly, Thariel didn't feel like she wanted to mess with animals who defended themselves against Thostasauri in a daily basis.

The constant back and forth across the snowy land barely affected Thariel's stamina as she spent most of the night searching for the Silent Shrine and her search couldn't have ended sooner.

With how it was the only thing in sight with actual grass on it, Thariel safely assumed that the hill behind the strangely hexagonal walls growing out the ground is the Silent Shrine she's been looking for all night.

She couldn't see the Soul Pagoda yet but she's confident that she'd be able to convince the blind saint to allow her access to such an important location.

Her knowing about the future should be enough of an argument to make the saint agree to her request.

Thariel hastily made a beeline for the shrine and when she walked past the only gap in the hexagonal walls, she got greeted by an autumn-like warmth. It was like the harsh winter outside got completely cut off in here.

This wasn't shocking though.

A complete mastery over temperature and atmospheres wouldn't be that strange to see when it comes to the beings who built this shrine but you know what would be?

A weird taste in robots.

Thariel didn't know the exact reason for why the blind saint had its eyes gouged out but they were.

And despite its name, the automaton could actually see just fine. Its sensor tech is way too advanced for it to just be blind after all.

Besides the saint's gouged out eyes, it also has the face of a newborn infant complete with a bulbous, hairless head, stuffy cheeks, and a button nose. Its body was "malnourished" and it had four, gangly arms and two spindly legs.

Knowing that everything about the automaton are just there for aesthetic, however ugly and gorey they may be, Thariel bravely approached it and bowed in respect.

It spoke before she could introduce herself.

"I have been expecting you, Thariel, welcome. I have never seen other worlders for millennia now."

Okay, now that was creepy.

Thariel's smile cracked, "excuse me?" Thariel chuckled nervously, "other worlder? You're calling me one?"

"My creator, eccentric it may have been with its aesthetic tastes, built a device which takes souls from other universes to power its society," instead of answering, the saint began to explain.

"It was broken, naturally." The automaton put on an unnerving smile, "however, it seems to still function and an error occasionally manages to pull a soul from somewhere but with no device to power, souls such as yourself instead merge with the existing ones here,"

"Uhuh..." Thariel looked at herself, "you mean the original is still in here?"

"As much in the same capacity as the alien soul within you exists in that body yes," the saint replied sagely, "I presume the resulting egodeath led to you believing you are one person but in truth, you are not."

"Explain in much more simple terms?" Thariel begged. She really didn't get any of this.

Like before, the saint droned on about some random explanation instead of giving her a straight answer.

"You bear the instincts and skills of an alchemist who has practiced for a long time and the knowledge of a world not of this own, yet uncannily familiar to you at the same time and vice versa."

"Uhuh," Thariel stepped back, she didn't want to have an existential crisis right now. She'd rather continue with her previous plan and forget about all this, "can you help me? I want to get at least a droplet of spirit water from here,"

"I can do you one better," smiled the saint, "in some sense, it is my responsibility as my creator's remaining creation to hold the weight of your transfer here, as compensation, I will grant you this,"

Thariel looked at the ethereal object that emerged from the saint's open chest with widened eyes. She wordlessly gulped.

"But first, a quest. Specifically an extermination based one."

Cold water got poured on Thariel's fiery excitement and slapped her back to reality.

"There are only dinosaurs here though?"

The saint only smiled in response. Thariel thought it was more unnerving than all the previous smiles it wore.