Chapter 16: First trial.
Chapter 16: First trial.
As for how he’d explain locating said item, he believed he’d come up with a story for that later, for now he needed to find the item first.
’ I should finally be able to reach the temple by day break...’ Osborne thought as he let out a relieved sigh.
While he’d never said it, this 5 day journey had really tested his mind, lasting so long in the wild alone wasn’t a simple feet, but thanks to Rebecca and Rachael’s influence, each time he felt like he couldn’t go on, he would pull through at the thought of what those two had done to him.
To make sure something like that never happened again, he knew he had to complete this self assigned quest of his.
*******
When the morning came, Osborne was already on the road.
And after a few hours journey through the vast snowy landscape.
He finally found what he was looking for or at least it seemed that way.
After spending hours traveling round the bases of several large snow covered mountains.
Osborne stopped his carriage at the base of a particular one.
At the base of the mountain was what looked to be a lump of snow 10ft tall, shaped irregularly.
" This has to be it." He said to himself. He jumped down the carriage, before heading to the back and coming out later with a shovel in hand.
Under the freezing atmosphere, he began digging out what was hidden beneath the large mound of snow.
Even as his hands hurt, and his breath threatened to freeze over, he continued to dig and dig.
After digging out a portion of the snow and seeing something which resembled a stone wing, Osborne began excited and quickly sped up his pace.
Some time later, all the snow had been moved aside and what remained was a nearly broken down stone statue of a winged angel kneeling with it’s hands clasped in prayer, its head lowered in worship.
The statue looked like it had weathered through the ages, and yet one couldn’t help but feel an instinctive sense of holiness upon witnessing it.
’ Now how do I get in again.’ Osborne stared at the statue while trying to recall how the protagonist once got into this secret place again.
He knew he had to do it quickly before those following him caught up and entered along with him.
While he enjoyed being secretly protected, that didn’t mean he wanted anyone entering with him because of the nature of the place he was entering.
The place he’d been trying to enter all this time was a forgotten temple of a god of light known as Ariel, the god who would soon come to be known as the protagonist’s backer in the story.
And within this forgotten temple was a treasure Osborne wanted to claim that would’ve been obtained by said protagonist in the future.
The sword of radiance.
A blade created by Ariel himself, built to protect its weirder and grant them unmatched battle prowess the more they unlock its hidden potential.
If he could just obtain that sword, Ariel believed he’d be able to rapidly increase his strength as well as his fame within the kingdom.
" Maybe this should help." Osborne suddenly noticed something at the base of the statue.
He squatted down before using his fingers to trace the words and read them.
" To all those who wish to enter the temple of the most radiant, you must first pass this test..."
" Before you lie’s a servant of the most radiant, in order to gain passage into the temple of the most radiant, you must first allow this holy one the chance to witness his splendour once more...."
" Witness his splendour... His splendour..." Osborne muttered to himself as he began to think.
SHING~
" Huh?" Osborne coincidentally noticed the shovel in his hand glisten within the corner of his eye.
’ Wait... Ariel is a god of light, and it says to let the humble servant witness his splendour, so perhaps.’
Osborne held out his shovel, which glistened in the sunlight.
By adjusting its angle, he gradually redirected the sun’s light along the statue’s body, before eventually bringing it to its eyes.
RUMBLE~
The next moment, the area around him began to shake uncontrollably.
Osborne unconsciously took several steps back because the shaking was coming from the statue itself.
He watched with astonishment as the kneeling statue slid off to the side, revealing a hidden underground stairway that led deep beneath the mountain.
Not wanting to lose the opportunity, He hurried to the carriage before grabbing some essentials like his packed bag, a sword and some knives and a shield, before heading down the stairway.
As if waiting for this moment, the earth trembled once more as the statue gradually slid back into place.
’.....’ Osborne who expected this much was fortunate enough to remain calm as he was enshrouded in darkness.
But right after.
VWOOM~ VWOOM~ VWOOM~ VWOOM~
Magical torches mounted along the walls came to life, illuminating the stairway.
With light returned once more, Osborne began his descent down the stairway.
Osborne walked and walked till he wasn’t sure just how far he’d walked below the mountain.
To him, he could only see the faint light of the torches up head, due to the spiraling nature of the stairway, his vision was limited.
But one thing was clear to him, the farther he walked, the colder his surroundings seemed to become.
While his surroundings looked no different than before, inwardly, he felt an ever growing chill that seeped deep into his very bones.
At a point, he couldn’t walk a step without seeing his own frozen breath in front of him.
" Just how much farther do I need to go?" Osborne wondered, his brows furrowed in worry.
At this point he began wondering whether he’d done something wrong, he wasn’t exactly sure since it wasn’t stated how the protagonist got the legendary sword, only that he found it around the base of these mountains.
Luckily for him, after walking for who knew how long. He finally saw the end of the stairway.