To the Hidden Temple (2)

"So this is the Hidden Temple?"

I turned in a slow circle, taking in the landscape that had unfolded in every direction — and it was nothing like the mountain we had just left. A boundless prairie stretched away to the horizon, and standing in it felt as though I had been gathered into the very arms of the wild.

"Hey. Are you seriously my master?"

"Obviously, you brat. I already told you."

"No way. There's no chance my master could be this good-looking…"

"Yeah, I know. So knock it off."

I couldn't really blame the White Dragon for saying it. The face I was wearing now could have been called peerless without anyone arguing the point — a high, straight nose, skin as smooth as a child's, dark striking brows, and a pair of eyes that carried a natural charisma. It was a long way from how I actually looked. The most dramatic change of all, though, was the ears. They tapered to long, elegant points, as if I had been born an elf, and they were proof enough that I was no longer human, at least in appearance.

"Still, I'm lucky the skill got an upgrade."

The only reason I could wear this face at all was that the skill I'd once used for Predation Monster Transformation had evolved.

That was Blood Transformation, one of the skills that had changed with the upgrade. Before, I could only take the form of a monster I had fully devoured. Now a few drops of blood were enough to wear another race's shape. A few drops of Elena's blood had given me the power to become an elf, and once I had changed, the same green light she had seen revealed itself to me as well.

A place only elves could see, and only elves could reach. The Hidden Temple. That skill was the reason we had gotten out before the Mushroom King found us, and the reason we were standing here now.

But how the hell did that White Dragon brat get in?

He wasn't an elf, and yet the green light had apparently been visible to him from the start; he had simply followed us in as if it were the most natural thing in the world. One guess was that being a White Dragon made it possible. The other was that he'd been allowed in because he was my pet. He had been staring at that green light even before I turned into an elf, though, so the first explanation felt like the right one.

So this is what they mean by racial privilege, huh?

It stung a little, knowing a human couldn't do what a White Dragon could — but it wasn't as if luck had abandoned me entirely. We had reached the Hidden Temple, and that meant that for the sake of the scenario quest I needed to devour a monster here. I turned a full circle, searching. The prairie ran on and on, empty and windswept, and the hollowness of it was almost eerie. There was nothing. Not a single living thing as far as I could see.

"Elena. Do you sense anything?"

"No. I'm not certain either."

"Is this even the right place?"

A seed of doubt took root. Was this really the Hidden Temple where the elves were supposed to be? The message that had appeared the moment we arrived had been perfectly clear, and yet…

"Hm? What's that?"

Something at the edge of my vision snagged my attention while I was still scanning the grassland. It was far off, and I couldn't make it out clearly, but it looked like a child. I started toward it. As the distance closed, the shape resolved into a young elf who couldn't have been more than five or six in human years — collapsed on the ground, and hurt badly.

"Hey, kid. You okay?"

"Nngh!"

"Eat this first."

I pressed a health potion into his hands. He took it without hesitation and drank it down, and as the worst of the wounds began to close he swept the prairie with a frantic, searching look.

"W-we have to run."

"Sorry, what?"

"I'm telling you, we have to run. It's dangerous to stay here."

A tremor ran through the boy's small frame. I had no idea what had frightened him this badly, but when I looked around there was nothing that even resembled an enemy.

"Elena. Could you calm him down for a moment?"

"Alright."

While Elena soothed the child, the White Dragon and I made a quick circuit of the area. We found no monsters. Nothing at all.

What is he so afraid of? And where did the rest of the elves go?

The Goddess of Job Advancement had said that most of the elves were here. The only elf in sight was this one boy.

"Feeling a little calmer now, kid?"

He nodded. Twice. He seemed to have confirmed for himself that nothing else was nearby, and when he looked up at us again some of the panic had gone out of his face.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"Well, you see…"

The young elf began, slowly, to tell us what he had been through.

"Humans suddenly invaded this place."

"Humans?"

"Yes. I don't know how they got in, but they started attacking us — as if they were after something."

So I wasn't the only human who had found a way in. I had no idea how the others had managed it, but according to the boy they had come in swinging at elves.

"And then?"

"They hit us while our fighters were away. Most of us took heavy losses."

The elves who had been living here had clearly paid a steep price for the invasion.

"Where did the others go?"

"Everyone fled through the portal to get out of here. I was going through it when I got ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hit by something they threw, and— nngh."

The boy's wounds, which had never fully closed, split open again. The potion hadn't been a particularly good one, and pushing him any further looked like a bad idea. I gestured for him to rest, but his eyes were on Elena, and even as he caught his breath he kept talking.

"Nngh… Lady Elena? It's you, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right. You know who I am?"

"Of course I do! You're our Elder's granddaughter!"

Elena was the Elf Elder's granddaughter. Whether that title carried real weight among the elves or not, the boy still found the manners to greet her properly, injured as he was.

"I'm sorry, Lady Elena. I'm hurt, so this is the only greeting I can offer. My name is Leyton."

"It's alright. You don't have to push yourself like that."

"I'm sorry."

Elena gave Leyton a look that told him, gently but firmly, to stay still.

Elena is the Elf Elder's granddaughter…

She wasn't just a key to the Hidden Temple, then. There might be more hidden in her than I had realized. But this wasn't the moment to chase that thought. Understanding the situation in front of us came first.

"So where are those people n—"

I was about to ask Leyton where the invaders had gone when it happened.

Pop.

"A… a human?!"

The transformation had run its course. I was back in my own body, and the moment Leyton saw it his face went white and he started to scramble away. Elena caught him and talked him down, explaining what had happened, but the look on his face said he still couldn't quite believe it.

"How can a human turn into an elf?"

"I transformed with a skill."

"A skill?"

Having to drink blood every time I changed was a drawback, sure, but it was a lot more forgiving than having to devour a monster whole the way I used to. Being able to take the shape of another race — not just a monster — was a genuine advantage besides. From Leyton's point ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of view, though, it was apparently something to be afraid of. If another race could wear your people's face, there was no telling what they might do while they were wearing it.

That was when the White Dragon, whom I had sent to take another look around, came racing back as if he had found something.

"Hey! There's movement over that way!"

"Where?"

I followed his gaze. Far in the distance, someone was moving. They were too far to make out clearly, but they didn't look like elves.

The ones who invaded this place?

Anyone who could force their way into the Hidden Temple. There was a decent chance they were the same people who had been scheming something back in Gopchang Alley. They had seemed to be after a key to this place too, and if they had found something other than Elena that could get them in, reaching the temple wouldn't have been impossible.

"Where do those bastards think they're going?"

People who had come here hunting something. I hoisted Leyton onto my back and started after them, keeping low, trailing them in secret. I needed to know what they intended to do in this place.

We followed them for a little while. Then they stopped in a particular spot and seemed to be checking something.

"Wait. That's—"

"You know that place?"

"They really shouldn't go near there…"

Leyton clearly knew something about the ground they had chosen to stop on.

"What is it? Why not?"

"There's a pretty powerful monster down there."

"A monster?"

I was still talking to Leyton when it started.

The earth began to shudder, a deep vibration rolling through the grassland, and a sound like distant thunder swelled with it. In the same instant, a staircase opened in the ground where the invaders were standing, a descent into the earth. They went down it without hesitation. Whatever they were after, it was apparently waiting for them below.

"Serves them right! Go in and die!"

Leyton watched them disappear with a look of vicious satisfaction. That, more than anything, told me how terrible the thing waiting down there must be.

The scenario ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quest said I had to devour a monster in this place…

I had no idea what was down there. But if I wanted to finish the quest, I was going to have to follow them into that hole.

And I need to find out what those bastards are doing.

They had been plotting something since Gopchang Alley. I needed to know what they were after — and whether they were the same people we had run into at Ulsan Station, or a different group entirely.

"Elena. Could you look after Leyton here? I need to go in there."

"Will you be alright?"

"Of course. Don't worry. If it gets dangerous, I'll run."

I had no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠idea what kind of monster was waiting below. Taking Elena and Leyton with me was out of the question.

"Hey, hey! You're taking me too, right?"

"Yeah. Come on. I can't leave you here."

"Hell yeah!"

"Keep it down."

"Obviously!"

I would have been just as happy to leave the snarky little White Dragon behind. But there was no telling what we would find down there, and two was still better than one. Besides, he was a White Dragon. He might actually know something useful.

"Let's go, then."

"Okay."

Together we approached the place the invaders had gone down. A staircase dropped away into the earth, so dark that I couldn't see a single step ahead.

Alright. Let's go in.