Michael looked up at the old staircase that was built from ancient stones and his heart skipped a beat.
His curiosity was piqued when he saw the arched entrance of the temple. The entrance was more than twenty meters high up in the air above him, and only dozens of steps separated him from entering the temple.
Intrigued by the wonders of the old temple, Michael took the first step on the staircase.
The moment he stepped on the ancient stone, Michael felt as if the surrounding environment changed drastically. The pressure exuded by the temple intensified suddenly and strange information flooded his mind.
Instinctively, Michael stumbled backward. The temple's imposing pressure returned to normal, and the strange information seemed to be lifted from his mind.
'What was that?'
He looked down at himself to see if he sustained any injuries before he calmed his raging heart as well as suppressed the various emotions bubbling inside him as he returned to the first step of the staircase.
The intense pressure returned, and so did the strange information that flooded his mind earlier. It was as if the gravitational force weighing down on him had increased several times. The situation was harsh, but Michael could barely endure the intense pressure and keep himself upright.
He was about to take the second step to see if the pressure weighing down on him would increase further when the strange information settled down in his mind.
'What language is that? This doesn't seem like the Origin Tongue?' Michael thought at first.
'There are only a few lines. It should be a warning or a question…or it is a task I have to fulfill to disperse the pressure weighing down on me…?'
Michael had heard and studied quite a bit about old temples, and other treasure troves such as the burial grounds of royal families, forgotten cities, ancient ruins, and so on.
Most had challenges to pass successfully to obtain permission to enter these unique places.
Unfortunately, it was impossible for Michael to decipher what he was supposed to do.
That annoyed him a little bit, even more so because Fenrir's Memories made his senses tingle wildly.
There was something special about the old temple, but Michael couldn't find out more about the temple because of the language barrier.
It was also way too dangerous to enter the old temple if he couldn't decipher the unknown language. The strange information in his head could be anything – even clues. There might be quizzes to solve inside the temple or clues that would help him to survive. If he was not able to understand the quizzes, or the clues, the old temple would be a hundredfold more difficult to conquer.
'Looks like I found a treasure, which I cannot have just yet,' Michael thought, feeling a little disappointed.
He figured that the old temple was a treasure trove, but also that it was deadly dangerous in multiple ways. First of all, wherever there was danger, golden opportunities would almost always present themselves. Only by overcoming the danger and taking risks would one be able to stake a claim on golden opportunities.
However, that was not the most important thing right now. The moment someone finds out about the old temple and the news spreads, the entire Untamed Jungle would be turned upside down. Meanwhile, his little territory would be bulldozed and razed to the ground without anyone bothering to throw a second glance at him.
'Keeping the old temple a secret wouldn't be a problem for now. Nobody except me found out about it, either way.' Michael tried to calm himself.
However, his train of thought continued to assume the worst, dragging his good mood down, 'But what if someone finds out about the old temple? Should I just detonate the tunnel leading to the underground ecosystem before anything goes wrong? Sealing this place should be the best…but what to do after that?'
Michael knew that the Elves and Xiltra were not far away from his current position. He was also fully aware that it was miraculous and his luck of how nobody except the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had found him and his territory. Even they had found out about his territory only because of their coincidental encounter at the Gogi territory.
'What if the Elves told their guild about me? That might cause trouble sooner or later!'
Various 'what if' questions flashed through his mind at this point. He slapped his cheeks to clear his head and stepped back from the old temple. Even if the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team told anyone about him, there was nothing he could change.
His worries about the territory's safety intensified now that he had a ticking time bomb only a few kilometers away from his territory. It was also a treasure trove, but Michael couldn't enter and raid it just like that. Thus, he felt that it was more suitable to consider the old temple a ticking time bomb and a magnet for trouble.
'I should change my plans…' Michael told himself, with firm determination gleaming in his eyes.
He returned to his people in the next half an hour, told them a few things about the old temple, and returned to his territory.
Michael knew that it was time to experiment a little bit. He had many questions about his Soultrait's limits and now was the perfect moment to find out what they were!
He dissected the lizard corpses when they had returned to the territory and stored them inside his War Rune's spatial space. Afterward, he conjured the Runic Gate to return home.
Like always, Michael messaged his brother after he emerged back home.
He hailed a shuttle, took a shower, and researched a few bits of information on his way to the Central Trading Hall.
The staff of the House of Witchery was familiar with Michael so he was led to the appraisal room immediately after he entered the shop.
"What do you have to sell today?" The clerk asked with a bright smile on his lips.
Michael smiled seeing the hospitality. It felt great to be treated politely and with respect. It made him feel as if his time in school was just a bad dream.
"Two Tier-2 Lizard corpses and a few Lizard corpses ranging from Low to Peak Tier-1," Michael responded with a bright smile.
The clerk had been the one to complete the formalities when Michael sold the corpse of the Lizard mother and the corpses of the Black Bear and the huge Frenzy Deer. Thus, he could maintain his professional smile as he conversed with Michael.
"That's great. I hope you didn't lose many Soldiers when fighting with those mighty monsters!" The clerk said sincerely before he cleared his throat.
"If you're in a hurry, I can quickly prepare some goods for you. That way, my colleagues can complete the paperwork while we finish our business in the appraisal room."
Michael thought about it for a moment and nodded his head. The Clerk's suggestion sounded reasonable.
"I want to purchase the corpse of an extra-terrestrial Adventurer, an untouched monster corpse, and a recently killed monster, Tierless, and Tier-1 respectively. It would like to use the appraisal room with the corpses for ten minutes to conduct a little experiment if that's possible."