The marked location wasn't too far from the capital, and was actually near the center of the Plains. When we reached it, it was a thicket of bushes and vines.
"What's this?" Sora asked as she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know," I answered as I walked towards the thicket. "Let's find o-ahhh!" I went to force my way through the thicket, but ended up falling straight through it. I landed with a loud oof. "What the—" I stood up as I looked around.
Under my feet was sand, and ahead of me was a beautiful lake around the size of a small village. The sun shun on it, making the clear water sparkle as the waves lapped on the shore line. Not too far from me was a house.
"Kichi?" Sora called out my name.
"Yeah, step through the thicket, it's an illusion," I said, but my voice was distant as I stared at the beautiful sight.
They all stepped through and I heard them gasp.
"What is this?" Sora asked in astonishment.
"It's a secret area," I replied. "And an illusion was hiding it, though I don't know why." As we were speaking, Han was walking towards the house. "Hey," I called out to him. "What are you doing?"
"Checking to see if anyone lives in the house," he looked at me incredulously.
What was with that look!? "Well, we'll come with just in case you get jumped, or something," I muttered as I followed him. The girls followed behind me as we made our way through the sand.
The house had stairs and a patio made of smooth brown wood, and with each step it would creak.
The door was white and had a small screen window that you could see through. We were able to see some of the inside as we peeked.
The furniture looked old and worn, with some rips in it. Dust covered nearly the entire room and cobwebs littered the corners.
"Should we kno-" Sora began to speak but Han was already opening the door. It hadn't been locked and opened with a weak squeak.
"Hello?" He called out. "Anybody home?" We waited for a moment, but no reply came. We walked in and took note of everything.
The house was obviously old and had been abandoned for quite some time. Yet it's like whoever left this place took nothing with them. All the furniture and silver ware was still here.
"Hey, guys. Check this out," Patora's voice called to us from down the hallway.
The hallway itself was dusty and filled with cobwebs. I swatted some of them out the way as I made my way to her. She was standing at the end, looking up at something. My gaze followed when I reached her.
We were both looking at a staircase that lead to the second floor. We both looked at each other. "Guess I'm going up then," I said after a moment of silence. The stairs creaked with each step, and I braced myself for them to break under my weight, but they never gave.
I slowly made my way up until I reached the top. I was in another hallway that lead to a window at the end. As I walked down the hallway I noticed doors to either side of me. I slowly opened one of them.
It was a bedroom. It had a bed, desk, chair, and a window. My eyes widened and I began checking the other doors. They were all bedrooms, except for two of them, which were bathrooms. There was a total of five bedrooms and two bathrooms. Both the bathrooms were identical to each other. All the rooms were identical as well.
Hey, Yue. What is this place?
The location in my HUD at the top left read Cerberus's Lake but that wasn't on any map of the kingdom.
"It's a forgotten lake. Thousands of years ago, this place was famous as a tourist attraction. Adventurers would come here to relax, but one day, it was lost and forgotten, hidden from the world. The hero, Glenda, had cast a large-scale illusion over the place. This house once belonged to her and her party."
So, basically, I just found a long-lost area. Awesome! Now this world is starting to work in my favor! I may not be a strong fighter, but I sure as hell was getting some useful skills. Observation was good for finding my enemies weakness's, so I was able to plan and strategize a way for my party and I to defeat them. Scan was just OP for treasure hunting and stuff, it could even pin enemies for me so I could never get ambushed unexpectedly. Skill connect was powerful too, but I didn't like using it because how cheap it was.
I know. I complain about being weak but have an OP skill. But that's completely different from being strong yourself. It's like if you were playing a game and fighting someone way weaker then you, but they kill you with their super last second before they die.
So, instead, I would reveal the weakness of our enemy by observing it, then my party would finish it off. That's been our strategy ever since I got the skill. I, of course, fight too, but I usually act as an aggro character and draw its attention so the others can attack and kill it.
"Kichi?" Patora called to me from downstairs.
"Yeah, this is a house guys. Abandoned for years. In fact, this entire area is inside an illusion, meaning no one knows it exists! The perfect place to relax!" I quickly made my way down the stairs and into the living room. "There's even five rooms, perfect for all of us."
It's true. It's like this world had just given me this house, all because the skill that woman...gave...me.... Wait a minute!? Glenda's house? Glenda's skill? Wait a minute! That woman in the dungeon was one of the heroes of old, Glenda!
I had a skill from one of the old heroes, and if what Yue told me a while ago was true, and I was also a hero chosen by one of the Gods, I had two skills that were from different Gods!
Yue!
I had to confirm this.
"Tch. What? You're always so loud," she complained.
What skills do I have that are bestowed onto humans by one of the Gods?
"You're Calm Mind skill and Observation. Those are skills that the Gods bestow upon their chosen hero. Calm Mind was given to you by your God, the God of Love. Observation was a skill given to Glenda, which she gave to you, by her God, the God of Knowledge."
Thanks, Yue.
So I was right. I had two skills from the Gods. Damn, that's cool! Maybe I'm not that weak after all.
But then there are the other heroes in this world, which could crush me like a toothpick.
"What about the furniture though," Han spoke as he touched one of the couches. "It's old. Maybe we did find a house, but the furniture is...not good. The house could fall apart at any second also." He made a fair point.
This furniture was old, and the entire house was a mess. We couldn't exactly go buy furniture. If people delivered it here, they'd immediately want to come to this place and word would spread like a forest fire, taking away our haven.
I was about to give up, but Rubellia spoke.
"Um, I think I can do something about that," she sounded anxious.
"What do you mean?" Han asked. We all gave her a look that asked the same question.
"Remember that scroll that woman gave me. Well, when I first got it, I couldn't understand it. But as we leveled up more I tried again, and found myself able to read it."
"What's that gotta do with furniture?" Sora asked.
"Well, the scroll taught me a spell, a spell called Déjà vu."
"What does it do?" Patora asked. She hadn't been there for the dungeon crawl, but we told her of it and the rewards we got.
"No way!" I exclaimed. "With that skill she could return this place to how use to be."
"How'd you know that?" Rubellia asked. "I never told anyone about the skill."
"Déjà vu could also be defined as 'already seen', meaning it was seen before by someone. That means if you use that skill, you could return this place to how it was seen by others long ago."
"...Yep, you really are something else, Kichi," she puffed her cheeks. "Steeling my thunder like that. I at least wanted to surprise you," she mumbled.
"What was that?" I hadn't heard the last part.
"Nothing, I'm going to cast the spell now." She closed her eyes and we all fell silent as the incantation started. "Goddess, hear my call. This place is no longer what it once was." As she was speaking the incantation, a circle surrounded her feet. It looked like one of those magic circles you'd see used for summoning in video game or anime's. "The warmth of familiarity, the beauty of its structure. All has been forgotten, lost in an ever expanding sea called age. I ask you to return this place to its former glory, to how the people of old once saw it. Déjà vu." As she finished, the circle grew twenty times in size, covering the entire house. It started pulsing white, getting brighter and brighter until we all had to shield our eyes.