The entrance and first room of the temple were decorated with faded ancient writing as well as carvings. When we got inside, I could directly taste the dust in my mouth, and the sounds of our footsteps echoed through the corridors.

We found ourselves in a massive chamber; its walls were decorated with carvings of a seemingly forgotten ritual of the worship of a certain deity, most probably Goddess Unaeszara.

We then settled onto a relatively clean area within the room. I quickly turned my attention to Gareth’s wound. The cut shouldn’t have been deep enough to cause any trouble.

However, his condition said otherwise. Gareth’s breathing grew heavier and his skin burned with fever. Not to mention that the area where he got the cut was swollen and inflamed, with clear signs of infection.

"I'm not the best when it comes to Rejuvenation Magic I admit, but I believe that I have enough first-aid magic to purify the poison from your circulation. It might take a while, though."

When I took a glance at him, Gareth offered me a weak smile, "I trust you, Eric," he reassured me with a voice barely above a whisper.

“You wanna hear another joke Gareth?” I offered him another light-hearted, to which he responded, “When you’re done tending to my wounds, then you deserve to tell me one of those crappy jokes”

I was still glad that he still could respond to my questions somewhat normally. Drawing upon my limited knowledge of healing magic, I took a small vial of mana from my inventory and drank it. Under normal circumstances, I would never drink this garbage artificial mana vial.

Then I summoned my staff into my right hand, knowing that proper preparation was essential for even a basic-intermediate rejuvenation spell.

"I should've been more serious in my study of this branch of magic," I silently chastised myself for not being more dedicated to my studies in this branch of magic as I started the process of removing the poison from Gareth's body.

I used and directed my healing spell at him. However, I needed to concentrate on my mana release much more than when I used my flame spells. Slowly but surely, his wounds started to get better and his breathing got less strained. As he got exposed to the radiating light of my healing, his fever also got better.

I couldn't help but marvel at Gareth's resilience toward the poison. The poison coursing through his veins was far more potent than I had initially suspected; had I been the one afflicted, I might not have survived. It was such an unexpected situation resulting from our encounter with mere goblins.

Now that I was done taking care of his condition, he rested peacefully next to me. I myself needed to keep my mind busy to ease my mind off of this dire situation. I wondered if we should wait until morning before attempting to reach the town. The relentless rain outside showed no sign of abating, but at least those pesky goblins could not track us as well in the rain.

This was undoubtedly one of the worst experiences I'd faced in a while. To think that it had all been sparked by a band of goblins seemed almost laughable in its absurdity. I grinned ironically at the thought; next time I would surely bring a healing magic caster.

Yeah, I don’t know how many times I had said that over the course of our missions, but finding someone that could fit in our party proved to be more challenging despite Gareth’s relatively better look compared to even good-looking guys.

Regardless of my racing thoughts and uneasiness about the situation, I still was able to drift into sleep. When I realized it, I saw a familiar building; it was the old house where I grew up. Memories flew back to me as soon as I saw it. However, for some reason, I didn't focus on the details and only focused on the door in front of me.

But when I got across the door into the room, I felt that something was different. It only looked and felt the same from the outside. I tried to venture deeper into the next rooms when I felt the air grew colder and dustier.

Suddenly there was a source of voice from the other end of the room. I wasn't sure about who it was or what it said, so I tried to get closer to the source.

"E-Eric," the voice whispered, barely audible above the whisper of the wind. "H-help me."

My blood ran cold as I recognized the voice as Gareth's. Without hesitation, I raced towards the source of the sound, my heart pounding with a mix of fear and determination.

As I rounded the corner, I found myself face to face with a shadowy figure cloaked in darkness. Its eyes gleamed with malice, sending a chill down my spine.

"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice trembling with a mixture of fear and anger.

The figure chuckled, though I was not sure what he found so funny. "I am your worst nightmare, Eric. And I have plans for you and your friend."

"NOW DIE!!!" before I could react, the figure lunged towards me and tried to attack swiftly.

I jolted awake. Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, Gareth's hand connected with my cheek in a stinging slap. His expression was grim as he gestured towards the entrance of the chamber, where a horde of goblins was already in this structure quickly chasing us.

"Again? What makes them so persistent?" I muttered to myself witnessing this uncharacteristic behavior of our goblin adversaries. Was I missing something? or did I just not pay attention enough in our journeys? Regardless, I needed to fend off this situation in the most efficient way.

Unfortunately, I used a lot of mana trying to heal Gareth, (again, due to my incompetence in rejuvenation spells). I didn't have other options; it seemed that I needed to use my magic staff for this confrontation.

"Gareth, be a good guardian and hold them off for as long as you can," I instructed him with urgency in my voice. "Don't push yourself too aggressively towards them. remember what they could do with their poison. Leave the attacking to me."

Gareth nodded in reaction to my command. Though he's just as expressionless as ever. With a swift motion, he stepped forward to meet the oncoming horde of goblin warriors, he summoned his shield to deflect the incoming attacks from the goblin.

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Understanding the severity of the poisons in their blades, Gareth now took them more seriously and cautiously.

With a weary sigh, I summoned my magic staff from the depths of my inventory and prepared to cast my spells. Limiting my mana output to only using the staff was weird to me to be honest since I was used to blasting my mana mainly from both of my arms.

"Let the flames of destruction be my weapon," I started chanting the arcane words. Then I extended my staff, poised to release my spell into the air.

Two goblins closed in from Gareth’s right, their serrated blades gleaming in the dim light. With lightning reflexes, Gareth pivoted, his shield intercepting the first goblin's strike. At the same time, he sidestepped the second goblin's lunge with precision and knocked the goblin back as he jumped back.

Meanwhile, three more goblins advanced from his left. Undeterred, Gareth spun on his heel, his shield becoming an impenetrable barrier against their frenzied attacks. He deflected their blows, though as he agreed, he didn't use a more aggressive approach for dismantling them.

As Gareth kept the goblins busy, my chanting was done and I released a concentrated blaze pearl bigger than usual, hovering several meters above us. With a focused mind, I imbued the spell with the command to target anything moving without my trace of mana within a 30-meter radius, ensuring Gareth's safety.

"Gareth, retreat now!" I shouted at him while he deflected and avoided the blows from the goblin to buy me more time. He swiftly disengaged from his opponents, bashing them aside with his shield before joining me at a safe distance.

Now that everything was ready, I unleashed the power of this blaze pearl, showering the goblins with smaller blaze pearls. Small explosions erupted as the projectiles found their marks, engulfing the goblins in flames and sending them sprawling to the ground.

I couldn't help but smile at the sight, seeing all these explosions and those wretched monsters wailing over the explosions I created surely brought joy to me. But my joy was short-lived. Some goblins were running toward the entrance while trying to avoid the same fate that befell their comrades.

Unfortunately, when the projectiles hit those running goblins, the explosions caused by my spell tore through the ancient stone structure, sending debris flying in all directions, and crumbling the entire entrance to this structure. My smile faded away in an instant and I started cursing my luck.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! what’s wrong with my luck tonight?” I said it in disbelief dropping my staff to the ground.

“You had one job, Eric,” Gareth made fun of me screwing up our escape route. He was busy collecting the weapons that he dropped before.

"Uh-huh? A job well done in my book," I retorted, not accepting the fact that I screwed up my calculation.

"Sure it was. Now all we've got to do is find a way to move these boulders out of the way so that we can go—," Gareth paused, reconsidering. "On second thought, the remaining goblin forces are still out there. This might actually work in our favor."

"Yeah, that's my plan all along," I replied, trying to sound confident, even though it wasn't my plan at all.

"I think there's only one way to proceed now—deeper into the temple and try to find the back door," Gareth suggested.

Gareth was right. We didn't have any other option for now. Our only option was to proceed deeper into the temple.

We slowly made our way deeper into the temple. As we navigated the temple's corridors, we marked the dead ends cautiously. There might be some traps or other dangerous stuff; we needed to stay vigilant all the time.

The reliefs and ornaments on the walls reminded me of the stories of the followers of Unaeszara. A cult was a better word to describe them than a religious group.

"You know what's been bothering me, Eric?" Gareth broke our silence.

"Those relentless goblins?" I guessed, knowing full well that their behavior had been weighing on both of our minds.

"Yep. It's uncharacteristic of them to show that level of coordination," Gareth agreed. Both of us were munching on our favorite snack, dried beef, as we discussed the situation.

"I agree. Also, the goblin mage that we encountered before. He created quite a high-level frost trap, even bypassing my mana sensor," I added, recalling the encounter with that goblin mage.

"Let's not dwell on it for now. We'll report everything to the authorities when we reach Silverbrook." Gareth suggested, hesitated before adding, “By the way, how's your mana circulation?”

"Yeah, not good, but I'm recovering," I admitted, still feeling the strain from my extended usage of the healing spell before.

"Why don't you just drink another mana vial? You still have one of those, right?" Gareth asked, concern evident in his voice.

"No, constant reliance on artificial mana can stunt your natural mana growth. I need to train my mana to its limit and let my body replenish it naturally through nutrition each time." I explained, continuously eating while doing so.

Before Gareth could respond, the floor beneath me crumbled, and I tumbled into the darkness below. It seemed there was an underground room beneath the temple after all.

As I landed with a thud in the darkness below, a wave of panic washed over me. I struggled to regain my bearings, my heart pounding in my chest as I assessed my surroundings. Gareth's concerned voice echoed from above, but I could barely make out his words over the sound of my own heartbeat.

"Eric! Are you alright?" Gareth's voice echoed through the walls.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I called back, my voice echoing off the ancient stone walls. "Just a little shaken up, but I think I'm okay."

I pushed myself to my feet, wincing as I felt a sharp pain shoot through my ankle. But it was nothing serious, just a minor sprain.

"Stay put, Eric. I'll find a way down to you," Gareth called out, his voice tinged with urgency.

"No, don't worry about me," I replied, my tone more confident than I felt. "I'll see if I can find a way out on my own. You focus on keeping watch up there."

I took a deep breath and surveyed my surroundings. The chamber was dimly lit, illuminated only by the faint glow of bioluminescent fungi clinging to the walls. This underground structure was less intricately decorated than the temple on the surface.

I quickly cast a recovery spell over my sprained ankle without forgetting to use my magic staff to help me convert my mana to rejuvenating magic. At this point, I was mostly only using my staff whenever I was healing someone.

I cautiously made my way through the chamber, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. Every shadow seemed to dance and shift, not to mention now I don't have company by my side. But I pressed on knowing that this was the only way.

I entered one narrow passageway leading to a grand chamber. Suddenly, I felt uneasy. Any sense of mystery was quickly replaced by dread resulting from a strong stench of blood. "In Erra's name, what foul stench is this?" I muttered, instinctively covering my nose to shield myself from the intense odor.

My mind raced with grim possibilities of what might lie ahead. Should I press on alone or go back and retrieve Gareth? I hesitated, weighing my limited options.

"Why did I even act tough before?" I chided myself silently. "Clearly, two people in a scary place like this were better than one," Regret gnawed at me as I reflected on my earlier decision.

In moments like these, I couldn't help but question my luck. What had I done to deserve such misfortune? It seemed unreal, almost as if some unseen force were orchestrating it all. Was this karma coming back to haunt me?

"O Lord, I promise I will start visiting your shrine more often to pray!" I muttered under my breath. But deep down, I knew that no amount of praying could change my current situation, only my own strength.

Breaking from my reverie, a haunting cry echoed from behind the closed door, piercing through the eerie silence of the chamber. At first, I dismissed it thinking that my mind was playing tricks on me.

Yet, the voice persisted—a delicate, trembling plea that stirred a flicker of compassion within me. Drawing nearer, I strained to discern the words exchanged beyond the wall.

"Why have you done this?" a woman's voice, laced with desperation, pleaded for mercy. "Please, release me. I swear, I will not breathe a word of what I have witnessed here, my lord.

Gripped by a sense of duty and curiosity, I pressed my ear against the door, intent on unraveling the mystery that lay concealed within.