The forest was massive, so much so, that Michael was not able to find a single one of his classmates, let alone the bandits.
No monsters either…
‘Did I get lost?’ Michael was seriously starting to consider that.
He had been walking around for the last 3 hours, yet he could not find anything, no traces either.
Though as he had lost all hope and prepared to head back, he noticed something far off in the distance.
The outline looked like some sort of a temple, however Michael was not completely sure.
As suspicious as it might have looked, he still decided to investigate.
You see something suspicious and walk towards it?
‘Yes’ Michael got tired of arguing with the system, in the time he was looking for the bandits, it had nonstop been annoying him.
How immature of you.
Michael rolled his eyes and finally arrived at the temple, it looked massive from a distance, however now that he was here, it didn’t seem as big.
He couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong, though it wouldn’t really surprise him, why would a temple be out in the middle of the forest?
As he approached the steps of the temple, he suddenly appeared at the very top, right in front of a stone door.
It startled him, however, he still proceeded forward, placing his hand on the door.
The moment he did so, he was once again transported, this time, however, it was in a place he could not recognize, it looked way too spacious to be the inside of this small temple.
Though with the amount of magic he had seen thus far, it might not be that impossible.
Looking around, all Michael could see was small embers of flame, covering as far as the eyes could see, with but a single place lit up, where he was currently standing.
“Welcome” A voice startled Michael as it resounded right behind him.
Quickly turning around he saw a woman sitting on a throne, however, he couldn’t make out her appearance. It reminded him of his past encounter with Meph.
‘Fuck.. another one of these beings that defy all logic? Just great, why couldn’t it be some sort of a treasure trove instead?’
“Another one? who else have you met?” The woman questioned with a small chuckle.
‘You can read my mind?’ Michael was a bit surprised, could all high level beings read minds?
No, you are just unlucky.
“Oh, you also have someone else inside your mind? Fascinating” The woman’s words cut through Michael’s thoughts as she suddenly stood up and walked towards him.
She placed her hand on Michael’s head, he couldn’t move a muscle to avoid it, it seemed strange as he didn’t even feel any pressure.
“Hmm… what sort of a parasite is this?” She seemed a bit confused.
All of a sudden, Michael felt a sharp pain inside of his head, however, just as fast as it came, it went away.
The invisible pressure seemed to go away as he could now move around, swatting her hand away from his head.
“Who are you?” He said without showing too much hostility, he didn’t want to die by being arrogant.
Though as he looked up at her, he saw long flowing golden hair, her green eyes looked like crystals.
She was beautiful.
“My name is Freya, the goddess currently inhabiting this temple” She said with a small smile and pointed at him mischievously “And you are?”
“Michael, you said you are a goddess?” Michael asked suspiciously. He had a feeling gods and other beings existed, however, Freya herself? That seemed a bit far fetched.
Freya chuckled and sat down on her throne, looking back at Michael “I get why you might be suspicious, after all, you are much like him in that matter.”
Michael tilted his head in confusion “What do you mean?”
“You are inheriting his legacy yet you don’t know? I guess that parasite has not told you anything at all..Tell me, why do you think you were chosen?” Freya asked, her voice laced with seriousness.
All the while Michael was trying to process what she was even talking about.
‘Inheriting whose legacy? And chosen? Is she referring to the time back in the alley?’
Freya seemed a bit surprised “You have not even gone through a single trial yet?”
“No..I have no clue what you are talking about” Michael replied honestly.
“I see, come here for a moment” She said, gesturing for him to get closer.
He saw no reason to resist, it might be the first time he will get some answers.
The system hid a lot more from Michael than he initially thought. He was inheriting someone’s legacy? Since when?
Once Freya’s hand touched Michael’s forehead, his vision went blank for a moment, then suddenly he found himself standing on some sort of a grass field, a stark contrast to where he had just been.
‘Where am I…’ He looked around, seeing a small city in the distance, for some reason Michael, didn’t question it at all and went straight towards it.
It felt odd, he didn’t hesitate at all in his steps, his body felt weird as well, as if it was not his own, however, Michael merely chuckled at that thought.
He arrived quickly and seemingly walked right to the very center.
The city was completely empty as far as the eyes could see, there were houses, but it felt lifeless.
As he was engrossed in looking around, his head suddenly turned to the distant sky, it was getting darker, quickly.
Soon the darkness completely engulfed the city, Michael still did not understand what was happening but decided to just look around, however, the moment he tried doing so, something stopped him and instead, he moved towards the source of the darkness.
‘I can’t willingly move my body, well that’s fucking great, hey system you there?’ Michael asked while involuntarily walking towards the ominous darkness.
However, no response came.
‘Did the parasite refer to you?’ He did feel a bit sour that the system up and disappeared, though maybe it was always meant to be, the system did start acting a little strange ever since he started attending the academy.
‘No point in dwelling on that, I will find out soon anyway’ He thought as he finally stopped, in front of him was some sort of a black tree, spreading the darkness from its leaves.
Every time a leaf fell, the sky got darker.
As he was thinking about what to do, his body once again moved on its own, heading straight for the tree.
Michael tried resisting as much as he could, however, it was to no avail as he had no control over his body.
His hand landed on the bark of the tree and suddenly, a portion of the darkness seeped into his arm, however, it didn’t feel like it was doing anything, it was definitely not moving anymore.
The body suddenly started emitting a glow, much like his physical enhancement, except this time it was a golden yellow color surrounding him.
Michael pulled his hand away from the tree and sent a wave of mana at the darkness.
‘Mana Projection?’ He wondered as he watched this scene unfold, the wave of mana he just cast looked eerily similar to his Purify skill, the only difference being the color.
However, it did the same job, just way faster.
The moment mana came into contact with the tree, it expanded instantly and the darkness faded away as if it was never there in the first place.
The darkness covering the sky also scattered, revealing a bright golden sun.
‘Why was it so big?’ Michael wondered as he stared at it, the size of the sun was abnormal.
Though he soon found out why, as in the next moment, an eye appeared in place of the sun, it had a golden color, much like his own eyes.
You are not supposed to be here.
With those words, Michael’s vision once again blanked out, he found himself back in front of Freya who had a smile on her face.
“So? Did you meet him?” She asked expectantly.
“I saw some giant eye, it told me I was not supposed to be there or whatever”
“Huh? Why..” She sounded both shocked and confused.
Michael took a glance around and saw that the surroundings had changed, the fire embers had disappeared, he was now in an actual temple.
White decor, all sorts of statues, and the single throne on which Freya sat upon.
“Can I ask what you want from me exactly? I don’t understand why you even brought me here or why you showed me whatever that was.”
Freya turned to look at Michael with a serious look “Would you like to get stronger?”
His ears immediately perked up “You suggest training me?”
“Yes, I am going to stay in this place for another 2 years, since I won’t be doing much, I could train you to become stronger, what do you say?” She asked while tapping her fingers on the throne.
‘2 years.. that’s a long time’ Michael thought as he tried seeking the system’s opinion, but alas it never came.
Freya noticed Michael’s hesitation and reassured him “You don’t have to worry about the time outside of this place, I can make it so the 2 years equals to 2 days on the outside.”
“I see…I will take you up on that offer then.”
