Chapter 25: 24. Temple of The Feathered Serpent

Petra's POV:

*

I arrived in this area a couple of hours ago and had been killing monsters non-stop. The fairies said that if I called their names loudly, they would appear in front of me. However, they said that they wouldn’t answer any questions, and their only duty would be to teleport me back to the saferoom if I wanted to.

Of course, that service wasn’t free, I thought. As expected of those greedy bugs.

I followed a path that Jason described to reach the temple he told me about.

The road was filled with goblins of all shapes and sizes, and they were often in groups. I had to fight using two daggers, and use magical skills occasionally. I ran out of mana multiple times and had to run away and hide.

Thankfully, the goblins had short legs and weren’t spectacular sprinters. The more I levelled up, the better my skills and stats became. After reaching my current level of twenty, I became able to take on five regular goblins at the same time.

I followed Jason’s advice and used [Mimic] on Finn’s class, I thought. It might not be the flashiest skillset, but I could use it well.

I invested most of my points in AGI and STR, and some of them in VIT. My build was primarily physical-based, as it was my best option as a solo adventurer. I would’ve liked it if Jason agreed to take me along, but I couldn’t convince him to.

I was getting closer to my destination, and the goblins’ number decreased the more I progressed. I could hear some howls in the surrounding woods, but I didn’t give it much thought until I faced two of the creatures that were making the sound.

Oh my god, I thought. At first, it was goblins, and now these things?

Two creatures were approaching me from different directions. Each of them looked like a coyote, but they didn’t have any fur covering their skin. They growled, and foam escaped from their maws.

I examined them using my [Identify] skill.

[Chupakabra] (Uncommon)

Level: 18

 

[Chupakabra] (Uncommon)

Level: 17

 

[Chupakabra]	(Uncommon)
Is it a dog? Is it a monster? Some even claimed that it was a demon! Opinions differed about its identity, but the only known fact about it was its role; a guardian. Their ancestors have been enslaved by Shamans, and their only purpose is the fulfillment of their duties. Wherever these creatures are found, you can bet that a treasure is close by!

 

They must be the guardians of the temple, I thought. I am truly getting closer.

I kept my distance and raised my daggers in front of me. According to [Discerner], they would charge at me in the span of two heartbeats. It was a passive skill that I got from Finn’s class, and it allowed me to see some possible scenarios that could occur in the next three seconds. It worked most of the time against weaklings, but its accuracy got worse against stronger enemies.

They attacked me in the same trajectories that the skill predicted, so I was able to evade them easily. I used [Mind Flay] on one of them; it was a skill that scrambled the brain of its target. The poor creature fell limp on the ground and white foam escaped from its opened maw.

I turned toward the other Chubakabra and smirked; my victory was within grasp. I went easy against this enemy and took the chance to practice my footwork and my ability to parry attacks using my pair of daggers.

After I felt familiar enough with this monster’s attacking habits, I used [Awe] on it. The skill froze it for a short while, which was enough for me to slay it.

I gained some EXP from the kills, but it was a meager amount because my level was higher than that of my opponents.

Finn’s skillset was useful; he had three class skills with immense utility. The two active skills consumed a small amount of mana, and [Discerner] was a passive skill that didn’t use mana at all.

I kept following the path and met many Chupakabras on my way. They weren’t too difficult to beat, as their attacks were simple and their groups had three members at most.

I increased my pace as I saw a building from afar. The closer I got to the building, the more my eyes widened. I felt relief because the information that Jason provided turned out to be true.

He called it a temple, I thought. It’s more like a tower.

It was enormous; at least forty meters in height. It was built in the same architectural style as that of the Aztec civilizations. It had lengthy stairs that extended to its pinnacle, where a large entrance could be seen. As I moved closer, I could see many statues. Gargoyles, warriors, and serpents were the forms that could be seen often, but a large structure on top of the entrance grabbed my attention.

The statue had the form of a great serpent that coiled around the temple’s entrance. It had many limbs, and each of them was covered with many feathers. Two horns could be seen on the sides of its head, and its opened mouth revealed two sets of fangs side-by-side.

I started ascending the stairs slowly and steadily, as the distance was too long for me to go at a fast pace. I wasn’t optimistic about this place; its rewards must’ve been of a lesser quality since Jason didn’t seem hesitant about revealing it.

He seemed like a mysterious person, and I didn’t know where he got the information from. However, complaining wasn’t the right course of action; beggars weren’t choosers.

It didn’t take me a while before I reached the entrance of the temple; it had two wooden gates and some small statues of serpents on each of its sides.

Here goes nothing, I thought as I pushed one of the gates and entered the temple.

*

I walked around the surrounding location, examining the aftermath of my fight with the Hydra. The grass and trees were on fire, so I extinguished all the flames that I could see using my flame-controlling skill; [Flame-N-Go]. On the other hand, the corpses of the Trolls were mostly fine, asides from some minor burns on the ones that were closest to the battlefield.

I am glad that I decided to fight the Hydra away from the remaining corpses of the Trolls, I thought.

I dismantled all the Trolls on my way as I kept walking, and put each of the items that I got inside my bag of holding.

[Host gains [Troll’s Mana Essence] x42!]

 

[Host gains [Troll’s Blood Essence] x38!]

I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of a rare drop like last time, but my mood improved after I took a look at the number of essences in my bag of holding.

The total number of essences exceeded my expectation, I thought. Monopolizing the permanent potions would increase my net worth exponentially outside the tutorial!

I knew that my mood could improve even further today, depending on what I got from dismantling the Hydra.

I went to the area in which the boss’s corpse could be seen, and touched it with my right hand.

“I would like to use [Dismantle] on this corpse,” I said. Suddenly, the body started disintegrating as if it was an asset inside a video game.

You are reading story System Dilemma at novel35.com

A system screen appeared in front of me.

[Condition of the corpse: 72% intact.]

[Host gains three drops!]

 

[Host gains [Eye of the Hydra]!]

 

[Host gains [Lernaean Vitality]!]

 

[Host gains [Hydra’s Mana Core]!]

 

I converted the mana core to points, as that was the most profitable way of using it. It gave me eight thousand shop points, which wasn’t bad for an (Uncommon) Boss.

I was more interested in the other two items, so I bought basic information on them for ten shop points each.

[Eye of the Hydra]

(Uncommon)

They might be seven heads, but only one of them has control! Besides its eyes’ incredible visual acuity, they could see through lies and deception, and they could instill fear in their targets. This might not be a known fact, but every Hydra was once a regular lizard! -Raw consumption of this essence gives the user a permanent increase in DEX (+50). -Raw consumption of this essence by a suitable target allows it to turn into a Hydra.

 

[Lernaean Vitality]	(Uncommon)
The legendary lake had an incredible concentration of regenerative mana; this allowed the Ancestor of Hydras to gain incredible regeneration. It was a formidable enemy, each of its heads regenerated after being cleaved. It took the pain and bravery of a strong demi-god to end its life. -Raw consumption of this essence gives the user a permanent increase in VIT (+50).

I grinned as I read the descriptions; I was on cloud nine.

Many plans started popping inside my head, and my goal was to use them in the best possible way.

I put them inside my spatial bag and was about to use [Zoom] when I noticed my lack of clothes.

Oh shit! I thought. I have to get flame-resistant equipment when I get outside of the tutorial.

I equipped my cape and crown, and used [Zoom]; my destination was the area close to the safe room.

As soon as I arrived, I started looking for Petra and the fairies. I didn’t find anyone outside, so I entered the room.

Besides the fairies, I didn’t see anyone except for two humans. A bald man was whimpering in a corner and a woman was comforting him.

Ah right, Marla and Chris didn’t have any tutorial points, I thought. Anyway, I don’t think Chris would’ve been able to fight in his current situation.

I felt a little pity for them because they reminded me of my past self, but that wasn’t enough for me to go out of my way to help them. I tried to ignore them and kept walking; my priority was to talk to the two fairies.

Suddenly, I heard some footsteps and the voice of a female behind me.

“You!” said Marla, “It’s you! If not for you, this wouldn’t have happened! Everything I worked for… Everything! Gone!”

Her eyes were red and her business clothes were wrinkled and worn out. Her shirt had holes that showed some of her skin, and her skirt had a small rip on one of its sides.

She must’ve suffered for a while, I thought.

She advanced toward me; her footsteps were hurried and her heels made loud thuds as she moved. She raised her right arm and tried to slap my face; I remained in position, waiting for her strike.

I smirked, knowing that the fairies didn’t tolerate violence inside the safe room.

Phillian appeared between us and raised his left hand toward her. She instantly flew away from me with a high velocity; her body got smacked into the wall with a loud thud.

“Thank you, man,” I said, smiling, “your strength is amazing! I bet you’re one of the strongest fairies around!”

Phaella’s frown implied her disapproval of my remark, but I didn’t care.

“Oh, no problem!” he said as he smiled and rubbed the back of his neck, “I am just doing my duty! Besides, I’ve sensed your flames from afar. You’re even more incredible for a beginner!”

He has the personality of a child, but it’s helpful to have good relations with the fairies, I thought. They could be useful contacts outside of the tutorial.

“So, Phillian. The truth is that I want to buy access to another area,” I said. My goal was to visit the temple in Petra’s area, so I had to pay to be able to teleport there.

The negotiations proceeded smoothly, and he asked for fewer tutorial points than what Petra had to pay. However, he didn’t agree to teleport me close to Petra. He said that it had to do with protecting her in case I had malicious intentions, which I understood considering how a group might make use of this to bully someone.

He touched my forehead and told me to nod whenever I decided upon my exact destination. I thought for a while, then nodded, telling him to teleport me as close to Petra as he could.

The disorientation didn’t feel as disgruntling as it usually did; I was getting used to teleportation.

As soon as we arrived, I looked around. I could see the temple right in front of me, and Petra was next to its entrance. I felt the blood draining from my face; this temple was similar to dungeons as it wouldn’t let anyone enter if a living person was still inside.

“Petra!” I screamed and started ascending the stairs as fast as my regular body allowed me to.

This isn’t happening, is it?

You can find story with these keywords: System Dilemma, Read System Dilemma, System Dilemma novel, System Dilemma book, System Dilemma story, System Dilemma full, System Dilemma Latest Chapter