chapter 7: Black temple

I screamed even louder than I had screamed on the day I just appeared in this world.

This time, the pain was accompanied by oppression, oppression that I would never use this foot again in my life, that I would never walk again...

I looked at the culprit, a transparent snake with devilish green eyes. It was huge, standing 5 meters tall. It swallowed my feet and retreated in one second, making me think it had disappeared. In a moment of oppression, I pulled out the magical firearm.

It was a machine gun used by the Starhold family soldiers. I pulled the trigger, and dozens of shots came out in one second. The snake moved quickly, avoiding bullets despite its colossal size .I was lying down while screaming in pain. The snake tried to approach me, but I skillfully prevented it.

The adrenaline helped me make a fast choice, which is using the only skill I have.

A skill that consumes stamina and exhausts the mind instead of using mana, the former Cassian spent to much time to obtain this skill before completely secluding himself. I realized the situation and shuddered with terror.

I held the machine gun in one hand and lifted the with the other, throwing it away, praying that I would be lucky just this once. I don't know if it was the effect of skill, adrenaline, or whatever.

I succeeded in my goal. The snake didn't consider the necklace a threat and didn't avoid it, so it fell on him and got stuck in the middle of his body. I don't know when, but the snow had returned a while ago, and the was glowing now more than ever.

I returned the machine gun to the storage ring and closed my eyes. It's time to rest. Either I will wake up, or I will not. I will leave the decision to fate.

I don't know which I wanted more...

***

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I don't know how long it's been, and I hope I haven't slept all day.. .I put my hands on my head and tried to get up. Oh, right, I don't have my feet... I sighed as I looked at the snake's corpse in the distance. The had disappeared, and the entire upper body had been eaten.

After eating several tons of snake meat, the Yeti is ready to sleep again. Maybe he went into a cave and won't come out for at least the following week. I'm still kind of surprised. Yetis usually take the remains of their victims to their sleeping places.

Anyway, I got lucky this time...I acted impulsively, neglecting that I was on the border of Yeti territory. If I hadn't activated , I wouldn't have noticed, and perhaps I would've been the Yeti's prey...Am I forgetting where I am? I laughed as I crawled toward the snake corpse, wishing my feet were still in one piece.

Since the snake doesn't chew his food, I wasn't too worried.

Did he eat it? I took a skinning knife from the ring and tried to cut to see inside the snake.

"..."

I looked at the broken knife in my hand and couldn't find the right words to express my feelings. Its skin is callous. I had no other solution, so I crawled to the other side, where there was a small opening towards the stomach.

The Yeti ate half the snake, after all. The opening was extensive, and a strong smell came out of it. Regardless of my will, I entered to find my feet. Three minutes later, I found it somewhere, slightly decomposed but still in average condition.

I placed it where it was before, checked several times that it was positioned correctly, and then took out the best potion in my inventory. I requested a few good potions, of course. How couldn't I? I must wait for it to connect now Unfortunately, it won't return to normal unless I take a better potion.

Well, I can't do a thing about it. I will just stick to his limp foot for now. I lost the , but I still have the .This means that my caution must be increased. There is no way to detect danger now. I sighed. I need to maintain this position for at least ten minutes and spend them all inside the snake's body, surrounded by the stench. Just so my leg get connected.

I've never smelled anything like this before...'Hmm? What is happening?' I felt the snake's body rise slightly as if someone had placed it on its shoulder.

'Impossible..' I shuddered at the reality of the possibility. Luck was on my side? What a joke! I looked up to where the hole was. I saw the tip of the Yeti's ear; it had already placed the snake's corpse on his shoulder...

'I knew that! Yeti can't leave its meal on the ground! He probably went to get some Stone Children! 'Well, there is still some hope. Since the Yeti has already eaten to its fill, the snake's corpse will just be a for emergency.

I'll wait for him to sleep and then go out. Only a nuclear bomb will wake him up. I might be in the safest place on the mountain now. It's hilarious. My breath stopped suddenly when the Yeti started moving at its actual speed. You don't think he'll keep up with his pace of one step per hour, do you?

Every step he took was hundreds of meters. He jumped, ran, and walked for half an hour before finally stopping.

I felt my internal organs being crushed throughout the trip, and believe me, that feeling is worse than dizziness. The Yeti was similar to a bear. It lived in a cave and was peaceful when it was full, but it would not hesitate to kill anyone who entered its cave or threatened it outside.

I looked at the clock. It was already nine-thirty. It had been two and a half hours since I had come here, and I had already encountered three predators and lost a foot. I was so tired that I fell asleep inside the snake's corpse.

***

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I stretched a little and looked at the clock. I slept for two more hours already. I crawled out slowly and carefully. Even though I wanted more sleep, I didn't want to risk it now. Maybe another day. My feet also hurt when moving it, so I crawled outside while looking around.

The cave was so vast and dyed white by the snow. It was snowing here. Will I catch a cold? I hope it doesn't happen. I'd rather lose my leg again than that. Anyway, will I get to the end of this cave anytime soon? Am I stuck in a loop?

I was worried, but my anxiety became apparent when I saw the fog in the distance .I forced myself to stand up when I entered the fog, regardless of the pain. Then I took out the lantern again and continued heading north.

**

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My pace became very slow, I wouldn't be able to run if a presence threatened me, but I didn't worry about that since I was still in Yeti's territory .I knew he was asleep, but the other monsters wasn't...As much as I wanted to get back to crawling, it was too slow, and I wanted to pass this mountain quickly.

Mist was the first trial; Monsters were the second… I still have 4 to go. I shuddered a little thinking about it, but the rest of the trials weren't physical at least. I didn't even know what the trials were. I was bored at the time and wrote the description before I went to do something else .I have to thank Yeti, who saved me several hours of travel.

I looked at the black temple through the mist, the third trial finally beginning...I suddenly felt heavy breaths on the back of my neck. Before I could react, a hand hit me hard, a hand the size of my entire body. 'Didn't he sleep? 'I heard the sound of my bones breaking and felt paralyzed for a few seconds. I flew towards the temple through the door and crashed into the inner wall.

I tried to get up quickly, but failed miserably. My hand slipped and fell on my nose, crushing it completely. I raised myself a little, then ended up vomiting on the temple floor. My breathing stopped. I simply couldn't breathe, no matter how hard I tried. I don't know how I even vomited.

I beat my chest like a gorilla, trying to breathe but to no avail. I've already drank four potions today, so I won't be affected if I drink another one now... I hurriedly took one out and stuffed it in my mouth, then choked more.

I pressed my chest hard, trying to breathe, and my struggle finally ended after twenty seconds of struggle. I slowly stood up and looked at the Yeti from afar, and it seemed to be stuck at the temple entrance.

It looked at me as if I had killed its parents, then hit the transparent barrier with unparalleled force. It doesn't seem that the barrier will hold up any longer, as it cracked with only two blows. I looked around hurriedly; I must figure something out... I must survive after going through all this!

I looked around and saw a giant door made of black obsidian, the hardest type of stone. to the right of the door was a stone tablet on which some symbols were written.

—----

Turn right and left. Reflect the sky often. Change your tongue to understand When the stars align The curtain is revealed

—---- 

'Damn, what a puzzle!' I did not expect to encounter something like this at the door; I never designed anything like this! I looked at the barrier blocking the Yeti from entering, and anxiety spread through my mind. 'It will last a couple of minutes at most,' I thought with concern evident on my face, and I did not hesitate to activate .

I have to solve this puzzle urgently. Next to the stone tablet were three handles numbered from 1 to 3. Above the gate were illogical symbols. My mind went through dozens of possibilities in one second. That was the magic of skills. My eyes moved around the room repeatedly while analyzing everything in my field of view.

After a minute and a half, I finally got it. I turned the first handle to the right to change the arrangement of the symbols above the door.

Then, I lowered the second handle to completely reverse the order. I returned to the first handle and moved it to the left side, then moved the second handle again. I halved the first handle, then changed the 'tongue' across the third handle.

The strange symbols above the door turned into readable words, and I did not hesitate to say them out loud. "Unity is formed in diversity!" The sentence was meaningless, in my opinion. I didn't think much about it when I saw the colossal door opening. I didn't hesitate to jump inside. I looked at the Yeti, who had just stormed the temple angrily and raised my middle finger at him.

"F*ck You!"