The crystal blue lake appeared before me. After taking off my bandages and clothes and throwing them to the side, I plunged into the water. The cuts and bruises seemed to tingle as they were coated with the bubbles. My body experienced immediate relief; it was still as magical as ever.
When I noticed that the effects were complete, I took in a deep breath of air and pushed myself deeper into the lake using my legs. I dived until I reached the bottom. The wind already told me where the air was entering so I stuck my finger inside. My fingertip felt some sort of mechanism which I promptly pushed.
The ground trembled before sliding to reveal a small opening; it was barely big enough to fit a human. I grabbed the edge of the hole using my fingertips and propelled myself into the passage. The barely lit tunnel was mossy and humid due to the close proximity to water.
I soon realized one of the shortcomings of my exploration. After entering the hole, it was a free fall until I reached the bottom. My buttocks slammed against the stone floor producing a loud thud; I was expecting total darkness around me, but I was wrong. The room was weirdly well lit by flowers which were placed around the chamber.
The space was twice as large as the pond and contained an array of artifacts such as training dummies and other training tools; but most shockingly, there was a corpse in the center. The walls were carved out of the ground and were lined with decorative elements crafted out of limestone.
'Was the holy lake man-made?'
Step-by-step, I edged towards the body while still on the lookout for traps until I was right next to it. The foul odor struck my nose as I closed the distance. The state of the corpse was telling of its age; there were only bones remaining. Coincidentally, this was my first encounter with an orc's skeleton.
The beast must have ranked high amongst the orcs as his clothes looked lavish and luxurious. Even though it was disrespectful to do so, I still inspected the body to find any interesting objects. I found a few things but most interesting of all was the sword that he grasped.
The blade was razor sharp and the hilt was wrapped with tanned leather and was encrusted with red stones.
Using both of my hands, I lifted the weapon. It was heavy but not overly so. The time was not yet ripe to use such an exquisite sword, I had to get much stronger before even thinking about wielding it.
Additionally, I decided to keep a silver plaque that I found; a crest was engraved on it. It may prove to be useful some day.
My attention was redirected towards a chest that was located in one of the corners. The hinge squeaked at the top flipped open. A cloud of dust and smoke suffocated me and burned my eyes. After it had dissipated, my eyes opened as wide as they could. Inside, there were three books.
After flipping through each of them, my amazement increased even further. One of the three contained extensive research on the ten chapters of the orc scripture. He hypothesized about why orcs gain strength from understanding these words and also included how he gained enlightenment. His theorem ended on the eighth chapter, so it was safe to assume that he was on the eighth level, possibly even higher.
The other book was a martial arts book, however, it differed from humans'. It wasn't a rigid fighting protocol but was modular; it only showed the techniques and a few combinations but it mostly encouraged the user to mix the moves up.
Lady luck was still smiling on me as the last book was about the way of the wind! It contained training and meditation methods to become more in tune with the power. All three of the grimoires seem to be written by the deceased orc but he did not leave his name on any of them. He never intended for his knowledge to reach other people, he most probably did not even want anyone reaching this room.
In the opposite corner of the room, was placed a small box covered in dust and cobwebs. After wiping them off, an inscription could be read: Heavenly Pill. I slid the cover off and revealed emerald green silk lining and in the center of the box was a pitch black pill. A strong and dark aura was radiated by the pill, even I could tell that I wasn't ready to consume such a treasure.
This haven ought to be kept secret even from the three orcs, or at least until the time to tell them is right. Even though I knew that I could trust them, greed was a powerful enemy that could detract many.
An important question popped up in my mind; how was I supposed to leave this place? My body rotated to find some sort of mechanism but in vain.
'Don't tell me that I'm stuck here.'
Fifteen minutes later, I managed to find a button that activated the platform to push me upwards back into the pond. I did not want to worry Jasper by being late so I ran as fast as I could back to the cabin. The trees appeared as streaks of brown and green as I approached home and the swoosh of the wind rang persistently in my ear.
The cottage which was only a small dot in the distance a couple of minutes ago now stood before me. I pushed the door with the palm of my hand and rushed inside.
Weirdly Jasper wasn't here!
"Where are you, you big fat ugly orc," I yelled.
My shout received no reply. I still checked the sleeping area to see if he was asleep but the place was empty.
'He must be out somewhere, let's wait for him.'
Not even ten minutes later, Jasper returned but with a surprise guest. Hunter was with him.
"Oh you're back, you sure took your time," he said.
"You left this poor injured child alone and went off to party with your friends," I joked.
"Oh keep quiet," Jasper replied.
"Hunter wanted to check up on you."