Roland was resurrected on the ritual table in the temple of the Life Goddess, naked once again, but he felt much more exhausted this time than the previous one. He opened the system menu, only to discover that he had a two-hour weakness debuff.
In a regular game, the debuff would've only resulted in the decline of attributes, and the player could wait it out. However, it was not the case in this game.
At this moment, Roland did not feel like moving at all. He breathed hard on the ritual table, and he finally got off after he caught his breath.
Nobody was in the temple. Roland wandered inside the temple, only to feel even more exhausted. He had to sit on a chair and take a rest. Soon, he fell asleep.
After a long time, the gate of the temple opened, and Falken came in with a set of white clothes. He was not surprised to see naked Roland again.
Roland was woken up by the noise. He subconsciously covered his private parts, but he was relieved after discovering that it was Falken.
Falken cast Language Proficiency at Roland and handed the clothes to him. Then he said, "Put it on, son."
Roland took the clothes. It was a long robe, with bright blue stripes of light vaguely flowing on it. It was definitely extraordinary. He couldn't help but comment, "This must be a magic item."
"Yes." Falken smiled and said, "It was my suit when I was a mercenary. It can slightly improve the effects of spells. Though it's a magic item, it's not very valuable. I'm only keeping it as a memento."
"I can't accept this." Roland shook his head.
Falken smiled. "But you don't have any clothes, do you?"
Roland realized that he had a point. So, he accepted the robe and put it on. It fit him perfectly. After he put on the clothes, he felt dizzy again and fell back to the chair.
"What's wrong?" Falken could tell that Roland was not well.
"I'm weakened due to consecutive resurrections," said Roland bitterly.
Falken was silent for a moment, before he said, "Thank you for saving the kids."
Roland said in surprise, "You already knew?"
"Why else would I come here?" Falken smiled. "The three kids ran back in tears. Although their accounts didn't make a lot of sense, they managed to tell us how they were accidentally cornered by a giant spider and how you saved them only to get yourself killed."
Roland found it odd. "The territory of those spiders is not far away from Red Mountain Town. Why don't you try to remove them? There may be dire consequences if they break into the town."
After a brief silence, Falken said bitterly, "Those giant spiders are monsters. Ordinary people can't defeat them. Also, there are too many of them. Only professionals can kill them. But the problem is that I am the only professional in Red Mountain Town, and I'm better at healing than fighting."
The old man seemed rather helpless. Actually, there were a dozen cases of giant spiders assaulting human beings every year, and most of the victims were children. Adults ran faster and could usually escape from the monsters, but little kids were not as lucky.
"If I could use magic, the battle wouldn't have been so hard." Roland was rather angry that he failed to crush the giant spider when he was capable of doing so. "Mister, can you teach me the tricks of magic?"
Falken stared at Roland for a while and smiled. He had the same determination when he was young, but his ambition couldn't make up for his aptitude, which was too humble. The young man, however, was different. He could tell that the guy was smart and had a decent education.
"There are three types of spellcasters. I'm a Priest, you are a Mage, and there's also Warlocks. I can't teach you sophisticated things; after all, I'm only a low-level professional myself," said Falken slowly. "However, I can teach you some of the basic knowledge. To cast a spell, a Mage has to connect magic nodes. The faster you connect, the less time it will take for you to cast a spell. You can begin with the fundamental spells, so that your head will not explode due to magic recoil even though your attempts fail."
Falken pointed at his own head teasingly.
Roland could only chuckle. After all, it was a rather embarrassing experience.
"You should go out and eat something. You can consider magic later." Falken pointed at the gate and said, "Usually, people feel weak when they are hungry."
Roland did feel like eating something. He was truly hungry. This game was quite real and had simulated the feeling of hunger. However, he smiled bitterly and said, "I don't have any money."
"If our great hero starves, it will be a shame upon Red Mountain Town." Falken helped Roland to his feet and dragged him out. To Roland's surprise, the old man was rather strong, although he seemed to be on the verge of death.
After they left the temple, Roland discovered in shock that a small cottage had been established to the left of the temple. It was not spacious, but he saw a bed, cabinet, table, chairs and other furniture from the window. On the desk was hot food on wooden plates.
A dozen people of different genders and ages were waiting on the way down the mountain. There were three kids who looked rather familiar. Roland recognized them and waved at them. Suddenly, all of the villagers bowed deeply at him. The three kids bent so hard that their heads almost hit the ground.
Roland was somewhat stunned.
Falken patted Roland's back softly and said, "You've earned this."
"They are all poor people who do not have much money. The only thing they can do to return your favor is to build a cottage and cook some food for you. Don't be picky."
The sun was scorching at noon. Roland did not know how he should describe his complicated feelings. He tried to smile while holding back his tears.
After paying tribute to him, the villagers left the mountain road. Falken helped Roland inside the cottage and onto a chair, then took his leave.
Roland gazed at the food on the table, which was still steaming hot. It was not until a long time later that he finally said helplessly, "No chopsticks… I'm really not used to forks and knives."