Chapter 157: The light.

Chapter 157: The light.

The next morning, I woke feeling well-rested. Thankfully, no bugs had gotten curious and entered our little chamber while we slept, because that might have resulted in an unfortunate accident.

Emeri, on the other hand, looked like she hadnt slept a wink. Purple bags rested beneath her eyes, she looked haunted.

Are you okay? I asked hesitantly. Had the idea of sleeping in a nest made her uncomfortable? She had been the one to suggest this in the first place, though.

m fine. I got in response, along with a shrug. I sighed. This was going to be another rough journey, huh

A few minutes later, we departed the hive, in search of our goal, the first temple. The desert sun shone harshly, but the monsters in the area were calm, thankfully.

Over the next few days, we slowly trudged through the dunes. To combat the monotony, we would travel through movement skills occasionally. That would lure the nearby monsters towards us, which made for good practice and a fun fight. Well, as fun as fighting a pack of worms could be, I guess.

Throughout these few days of travel, Emeri recovered a bit. She got some necessary rest when we camped out for the night. Unfortunately, she still wasnt giving away much when it came to her new knife.

So what is it? I asked for the umpteenth time.

I told you, Arthur. I think its just an ordinary knife. My answer wont change, no matter how many times you ask. She responded, frustrated.

I chuckled. At this point, I was only asking because she looked funny when she was mad. Still, she was acting awfully shifty about an ordinary knife. I told her as much.

Look, I dont know what it is, okay! I just get a strange feeling when I look at it. Now stop asking! she said, pointing a finger in my face.

I lifted my hands in surrender and smiled, which seemed to calm her down.

She refused to talk for the rest of the day, though. A cruel punishment indeed.

-Scene Transition-

A few days later, we finally saw it. There it was, on the horizon. Three sharp towers rose into the sky, surrounding a domed roof. Emeri and I had made up over the past few days, but that didnt mean I was prepared to see her jump up and down in excitement once we reached our goal.

Do you see it? Its there! she said happily, still bouncing up and down.

When there were only a few hours left till sundown, I retired to the room in the inn I had recently rented, to look at my mental space for a little while. Thankfully, the parasitic plant I had removed recently hadnt returned. Still, there was a lot of work left to be done. Nonetheless, my little forest was starting to expand again, and other plants were filling up the underbrush. Some were even starting to climb onto my cabin, which I wasnt sure I liked yet. For now, I let it be and focused on repairing some of the fences I had put up a while ago. After that, I patched some holes in my roof. It never rained in here, but if it ever did, I wanted to be protected.

Not wanting to spend too much time defenseless, I opened my eyes again. Through our week long journey, I had gotten another three levels, so I allocated the points and spent some time practicing some skills indoors. Eventually, I went in search of Emeri. The sun had already gone down by the time I reached the temple.

The place was deathly silent, and even as I entered, I couldnt see anyone else there. Had Emeri left already, following the other pilgrims?

Unsure, I headed deeper into the temple and felt the door close behind me. It was a cloudy night, so I wouldnt have been able to see a thing without my dark sight. Emeri was not where I had left her, so I moved back in the direction I had come from, until I heard a small sound on my right. I moved to investigate, and found a small bench on the side of the temple, with a single occupant. Sure enough, under a thin blanket, Emeri was sleeping.

I sighed and approached her sleeping figure, shaking her awake.

W- wha? she mumbled quietly.

Emi, its me. I think you fell asleep. Its already nighttime.

Her eyes widened in panic.

What? But I only closed my eyes for a bit! she protested until I shushed her. That only caused her to redden even more.

You must have been more tired than I thought.

I guess so she grumbled back, reluctantly getting up and wrapping her blanket around her.

I turned to leave, when she spoke up. Art she began quietly, I cant see she said, hiding her face in her blanket and holding a hand out in my direction.

I grasped her offered hand and led her passed the statue, though for some reason we were both sweating a lot. Something about this situation was making it hard to breathe.

Our little moment was suddenly interrupted when Emeri started to shine. Or rather, something in her pocket did, along with a crack in the base of the statue.

Our tense mood turned into one of curiosity and Emeri hesitantly pulled out the shining object. It was the dagger. As if in a trance, she approached the statue and the shining crack.

Emeri, dont! I shouted, but it was already too late. She inserted the dagger into the crack. It fit like a glove. It wasnt a dagger at all. It was a key. Then, everything went white.