Going to Baturaja Temple

Zal had some ideas about what to do with the paper full of binary numbers. Before that, he turned to Ellen and, with a curious smile, asked, "Say, Ellen. What do you think these numbers mean?"

Ellen scanned the paper through Zal's eyes, her systems processing the binary sequence. "Standby. Analyzing…" She paused before continuing, "Analysis error. Unable to decode. Apologies, I encountered an unusual error. Allow me to retry… Analysis error. Strange. I cannot seem to decode them."

Zal chuckled, amused. "Leave it to me, then."

He focused on the set of 1s and 0s, his mind running through several possibilities. What could they mean? Maybe they could be converted into decimal or hexadecimal, a hidden message, or perhaps something else entirely. He decided to start with the basics.

Skimming through the numbers, Zal began converting the sequences into decimal and hexadecimal. As he worked, his internal interface displayed lines of output—gibberish, just random numbers with no clear meaning. He frowned, clearly getting nowhere with this method.

"I'll try a different approach," he muttered to himself, looking at the binary with fresh eyes. Instead of numbers, he tested converting the binary sets into letters. As he did so, patterns started to form, and the message began to make sense. One by one, the letters aligned until they formed a coherent sentence:

"I love to bake cinnamon cakes, especially if I made them with bunny ears. They look cute, even Madam Ryza loves them."

Zal blinked, then let out a small laugh. It was an adorable message, totally unexpected. "Well, Ms. Ina isn't just some oddball after all," he said, amused by her playful side. He quickly wrote the decoded message onto a piece of paper and tucked it into his pocket for safekeeping.

With the binary mystery solved, Zal decided to pass the remaining hours until sunrise by reading from Eddie's collection of books. He absorbed various topics, enjoying the quiet ambiance of the shop. When the first rays of dawn began to seep through the windows, he left a note on the counter, thanking Eddie for letting him stay the night. Eddie was still fast asleep, snoring loudly in the back.

After quietly exiting the shop, Zal wandered through the town, taking in the peaceful morning atmosphere. As he neared a small garden, he spotted Tia helping the elderly tend to their plants. Her bright, cheerful demeanor immediately caught his attention. When she saw him, her face lit up with a smile.

"Oh, Mr. Zal! Where've you been?" she called out, waving excitedly.

"Minding my own business," Zal replied, smiling as the townsfolk began flocking around her. She was clearly well-loved by the locals.

Tia winced apologetically. "Ahahaha… Sorry, I didn't think it'd take so long! Are you heading somewhere?"

"I'm planning to go to Avaros," Zal said, glancing at the sky. "But the ride's not available yet. I can technically walk there. But nah, it'll be a total waste of time."

Tia's eyes widened in disbelief. "Walk? It's not just simply a total waste of time, Mr. Zal, you'd be dead before you got halfway there!" She laughed, but her tone carried genuine concern. "The distance is one thing, but the monsters roaming the fields? That's another."

Zal, slightly taken aback by the mention of monsters, kept his composure. He hadn't expected surface creatures to pose a threat. Ellen, sensing his surprise, chimed in. "Monsters do roam the surface, but they are significantly weaker than that of the ones in dungeons. You can easily decimate them just fine."

"I suppose so. Though, I'd rather avoid unnecessary fights, Ellen."

"Affirmative. Noted."

Zal nodded thoughtfully, playing it cool before responding back to Tia. "Yeah, I guess walking isn't the best option. I was thinking about exploring the nearby forest, maybe checking out that Baturaja Temple."

Tia tilted her head. "Baturaja Temple? Why do you want to go there?"

"I like to explore," Zal said simply, avoiding giving away too much. Tia, to his relief, didn't pry further.

"I see. If you're heading there, it's better to go during the day. The monsters around there get quite quirky and dangerous at night," Tia advised.

Zal nodded. "Good to know. I'll head there now."

"Oh, I'd love to accompany you, Mr. Zal. But as you can see…" Tia said, gesturing toward the gardening work she still had to finish.

"Swamped yourself with requests, huh."

"Yeah… I'm really sorry I can't join you at the moment. I can catch up with you once I'm done here, though."

"No, no. It's okay, young lady. I'm fine by myself."

"Are you sure?"

Zal shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine—I'm not some frail old man." His tone carried a hint of nostalgia, referencing his human past.

"I see. Well, okay then. Happy exploring, Mr. Zal!"

With a final wave to Tia and the villagers, Zal made his way toward the town's gate. Just as he passed through, a figure entered from the opposite direction—Tareth, the A-rank rover. The two crossed paths without even a glance at one another.

Tareth hummed to himself as he strolled through the neighborhood. As he neared a group of children playing rattan ball, one of the kids misfired a kick, sending the ball careening toward the masked man. With fluid grace, he intercepted the ball with his foot, performing a quick acrobatic move before returning it to the children, much to their amazement.

"Woahhh!!!"

"Hmph. Be more careful next time," Tareth said, grinning underneath his mask.

One of the kids exclaimed, "You're just as good as Uncle Zal, mister!"

Tareth's curiosity piqued. "Uncle Zal?"

The kids eagerly shared their story. "Yeah! He played with us a while ago. He was really nice! Man, I hope he plays with us again soon."

"Hoh… That's interesting."

"Yeap! Oh, and he has these strong-looking iron arms. He's so cool!"

"Iron arms? Hoh..."

Tareth's eyes narrowed in thought. He's been in Batustone for some time now, but he never saw anyone matching the kids' description. It can't be… No, it has to be it, he thought. He found Tia's story of returning from the Iron Grave dungeon all too fishy. He had a hunch that she had some helping hands on her way up. Otherwise, the girl would've been long dead. With this information coming to light, Tareth acknowledged it as the missing piece from Tia's whole story.

"Mister? What's wrong?"

Chuckling softly, Tareth patted one of the kids on the head. "Nope, it's nothing. You kids should be careful not to trust strangers too easily. Who knows whether he's a bad guy."

"He's really fun to play with."

"Yeah! How can he be a bad guy?"

"He looks nice to me."

Tareth nodded, humor in his eyes. "Ah, is that so? Sounds like a fun guy, huh."

As he walked away, his mind lingered on the man named Zal the children spoke of. Unbeknownst to him, he had already crossed paths with Zal just moments ago. Tareth decided he'd keep an eye out for this mysterious figure, intrigued by what he might uncover next.

…

..

.

***

I made my way along the forest road, pulling out the map that Ms. Ina had given me. My eyes scanned the lines and pathways she had drawn with such precision. Suddenly, my vision flickered as something synced with the map. In an instant, a mini map appeared in the corner of my HUD, taking shape in a square. It wasn't just any map either—it displayed the areas I'd traveled before, from the Iron Grave dungeon to the small, sleepy town of Batustone. And now, thanks to Ms. Ina's map, it expanded to show the route toward the Baturaja Temple.

"Well, this is convenient," I muttered to myself, grinning. "I think I owe an apology to all the map-makers of this world."

Ellen chimed in from her usual spot inside my mind. "I just unlocked that feature. It was inactive in your systems until now. Conclusion: I activated it for better efficiency in our future endeavors."

"At this rate, you're going to turn me into some super creature," I joked. "You keep discovering things I didn't even know were hidden inside me."

"An automaton that doesn't use its built-in features is a failure of a design," Ellen responded flatly. "Consider it part of our mutual relationship. After all, it will prove useful in the long run, especially in solving my case."

"Haha. Fair enough."

With a chuckle, I accepted the new mini map, marveling at how easily she made my life more efficient. The walk continued for about an hour, the forest around me dense and alive. I was nearly at my destination when something caught my eye: a hulking creature, about twice my size. It was that same tri-horned boar I'd seen earlier, back when I was trying on new clothes.

It looked more energetic now. The moment our eyes met, it lowered its head, snorting, and charged.

"Really?" I sighed.

As it barreled toward me, I leaped into the air, my automaton body moving with ease and precision, clearing the path of its charge. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I responded by sending a firm push to the boar's side. The impact wasn't supposed to be much—just enough to get it out of my way. But when I looked up, I saw the boar flying through the air, slamming into a line of trees with a series of loud cracks before hitting a large rock formation, which crumbled under the pressure. The debris buried the boar beneath it.

I stared for a moment, blinking.

"That… was unexpected," I muttered, glancing at my hand as if it had a mind of its own.

"Ellen, what the heck just happened? I wasn't that strong when I fought those Mantidoxes back in the dungeon."

"You weren't wrong," Ellen replied casually. "According to my recent analysis of your body, it seems the overdrive mode you used caused some parameters in your body to remain elevated. Your power hasn't reset to its original levels. In short, you've grown stronger."

I took a deep breath, or at least I mimicked the motion. "Great… at this rate, I'll be scared of my own strength."

The thought lingered as I continued my journey, deciding to avoid any more confrontations with the forest's inhabitants. I didn't want to leave a trail of destruction behind me, so I skirted around most of the monsters that crossed my path. I'd rather reach my destination without flattening half the forest.

After another hour of travel, I arrived at a clearing. The dense trees parted, revealing something awe-inspiring in the distance. My eyes widened as I took in the sight. A massive temple stood at the heart of the clearing, its structure both ancient and majestic, towering over the land. The multi-leveled stone architecture, the intricate carvings etched into the rock—everything reminded me of an ancient place I once visited long ago. It bore a striking resemblance to the Borobudur Temple, only more overgrown with nature, as if it had been forgotten for centuries.

"Wow," I whispered, genuinely amazed. The sheer craftsmanship, the thought put into every detail of its design—it was breathtaking.

"Now, to find Ms. Ina," I muttered, letting my gaze linger on the temple for just a moment longer before setting off to explore its depths.