Ep. 509 The Temple of Earth Part 3 (Patreon)

Water really isn't my favorite element, here my combat power is reduced quite a bit. Since these seem to all be natural creatures most of my spells are also useless. So my only choice is to just keep going and kill whatever comes after me.

Mostly I am swimming underwater, only occasionally going up for air, so that I can see things coming. I am leaving a trail of blood and corpses behind me, but there isn't much I can do about that. The progress bar is slowly filling and I am getting closer to the goal.

My plan is to head straight for the goal and if the progress bar isn't full I will just swim in circles around it. As I am swimming I keep expecting to run into Godzilla or the Kraken, but it ends up being something else. Swimming towards me is a turtle, a turtle that is the size of an island.

In fact when I bring my head above water there actually are trees and things on the turtle's back. If this was the normal world I would definitely go exploring looking for treasures. Since this is only a test and I won't get to keep anything anyway, I just swim wide around the turtle.

As I do I notice something peculiar, nothing attacks me while the turtle is nearby. This allows me to finally get rid of the trail of blood and corpses I have been leaving behind me. Yet the turtle doesn't seem hostile, so why won't any of the sea creatures go near it?

Out of curiosity I turn back and swim towards the turtle, but it doesn't react to me. Even when I swim right up to it and touch its shell, it doesn't do anything at all. Maybe I am just too small for it to notice, but whatever the case it has proven to be useful.

As I turn and continue towards the goal I am no longer being attacked. If I can avoid getting covered in blood again then the rest of this test should just be a peaceful swim. When I check the progress bar it is about halfway full, but I am fairly close to the goal.

It seems I am going to have to swim around for quite a while if I need to fill the bar up. When I finally reach the area of the goal I find it is another tiny island, but I can't get to it. There is some kind of energy barrier around the island that I can't get past.

My guess is that the barrier will go away once the progress bar is filled. At least I hope so, so I start swimming big circles around the tiny island. In the end it takes two hours of swimming in circles to fill the bar, but as soon as I do the barrier vanishes.

As soon as I set foot on the island there is the usual flash of light and I am back before the temple doors. Now the strange stone has four symbols lit up, but I don't immediately go into the fifth test. Instead I move away from the doors and start to set up camp so I can get some rest.

After all, even though it wasn't with my actual body, the tests still require me to use a lot of energy. Right now I am practically starving and in serious need of some sleep. Of course neither Lizzy or Ekard complain about getting another meal so soon.

Once we have eaten I set up the tent Yui gave me and crawl inside to get some sleep. Ekard follows me in and curls up beside me while Lizzy curls up by the entrance, she won't fit inside the tent. When I wake up, about ten hours later, I am all alone, Ekard and Lizzy are not near the tent.

Suddenly worried, I quickly get up and rush outside, only to stop and smile. Currently, Lizzy and Ekard are playing tag within the ruins, it is a very adorable sight. Little Ekard is laughing non-stop as he chases Lizzy around the ruins.

Since they are having fun I decide not to interrupt them, instead I sit down and start cooking. Even though I ate right before sleeping I am already hungry again. Besides, I know once they smell the food the two of them will rush over to join me.

After we are done eating I return to the temple doors and place my hand on the strange stone. After the flash of light fades I find myself in the middle of a desert with sand dunes all around me. Instantly I sink into the sand up to my knees, this is going to be a pain.

As I stand there, patiently waiting for the preparation period to end, I wonder what this test is going to be. When the timer runs out a map appears in the sky, but this time there is no progress bar. However, on the map are five dots instead of two, meaning I need to visit multiple places.

To confirm one of the dots is me I want to move around, but I quickly learn that once again flying is prohibited. After spitting out a mouthful of sand I start trying to walk towards one of the dots. While I am able to verify that one of the dots is me, I also learn that walking in sand is hard, especially with my weight.

I sink up to my knees with every step and pulling my feet free to move forward is also hard. While I can overcome the problem with pure strength it is extremely tiring to do so. Once my dot moves a little I am able to guess that the four other dots are hundreds of miles apart.

Walking like this for hundreds of miles would take me weeks at least if not a month. As I trudge along I wrack my brain trying to think of a better option, such as shapeshifting. Once I think of that I just need to decide the best form to use for the desert.

Probably the best form for the desert would be a scorpion, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I absolutely hate scorpions, I have hated them since I was a kid, I hate them more than spiders. Even though it would work, I just can't make myself turn into one.

A camel would probably work too, but again I don't really want to turn into one. After all, I am probably going to have to fight things and I can only use shapeshift a certain number of times. A camel can't really fight, I need to turn into something that I can fight as.

Which leaves either a snake or a lizard that I can think of, of the two I'd rather be a lizard. Wait, if I am going to use a lizard, can I turn into Lizzy, or at least her race? She is fast, isn't bothered by the heat, and she can most certainly fight.

Her race would be perfect, if I can manage it, so I start building the image in my mind. It helps that I know a lot about Lizzy's body and how it works since I helped her become a sacred beast. Once I have the image in my mind I activate the shifter skill but as usual it changes the image and makes it black.

Form added: Black Imperial Lizard!

'I wonder, is the original race the imperial lizard, or did the mages change the name after they messed with it?'