Sorath's journey in finding the hidden treasure was a smooth one.
Nothing was stopping him on his sprint session to the marked location on the map.
However, when Sorath arrived at the location, he didn't find any sign of the treasure around. It was just an ordinary flat ground, a perfect place for setting up a camp, with nothing worthy of a place to hide a hidden treasure.
After spending a half hour checking the area, except for a suspicious stone altar that served no purpose, he didn't find a trace of the treasure. Then, as he was resting under the maple tree, a fraction of the forgotten details surged through his mind, reminding Sorath of the treasure's whereabouts.
"Shit..." he massaged his head. "It's supposed to be the underground!"
Armed with new information, Sorath retraced his way back to the temple ground, specifically the northeast outside the temple.
Unfortunately, his journey this time was not as smooth as before. On the way, a tree monster ambushed him while he was sprinting at his speed limit.
...
Noticing the movement from a tree 50 meters in front of him, Sorath reached for his torch hanging on his waist. Then, as he passed it, the tree's seemingly solid branches and roots turned pliable.
The branches stretched like rubber, trying to catch and strangle Sorath. Meanwhile, the roots creeped out from the ground, chasing him like a dolphin, emerging and submerging from the earth.
They were moving faster than Sorath, catching up to him in no time.
Just as expected from a small tree monster, it didn't have enough intelligence to measure how far its branches and roots could stretch. As a result, when Sorath was out of their reach, they couldn't do anything.
Sorath smirked.
"A mere tree dares to ambush me?"
Pulling out the torch, Sorath lit it immediately, or specifically, it ignited by itself.
"Consider your debt is clear with this."
Before the tree could retract its branches and roots, Sorath had already burned them to a crisp. The flame, fortunately, attached to its body and refused to spread even further to the nearest tree or the fallen branches, engulfing only the tree monster as though it had its own consciousness.
Once the flame finished consuming the tree, in its place, an orb the size of a tennis ball glinted from the sunlight.
Retrieving the orb, Sorath held it with his palm while a smile appeared on his face.
"Well. It looks like I can focus on searching for the treasure now."
Sorath put the torch back on his waistbelt but kept the orb in his hand because he didn't have a large pocket to store it without getting uncomfortable.
He tapped his waist and looked down, staring at the torch.
"I never thought the torch's flame was so strong that it could burn the tree monster quickly," smiling, he continued. "Anyhow, I'm glad I can bring this guy with me."
...
More or less two hours later.
Sorath had finally arrived at the northeast side of the temple outside area.
The time it took for him to reach this place was only two hours. However, for ten minutes straight, he had spent his time doing nothing but roaming around the strange formation of stone pillars.
It was as if he was trying to solve something. A puzzle, perhaps. Anything related to that so he could find or open the secret door in this area.
"Ah. So it like that!"
He ran toward the center of the stone pillar formation and looked at each of the eight pillars encircling him.
There was a peculiar pattern in their arrangement. Each pillar seemed to bear a unique symbol etched into its surface. Sorath had examined them earlier, realizing that the symbols were not random; they held a hidden meaning.
Through his previous ten-minute observation, Sorath had also deciphered the hidden code of the stone pillar formation. What he needed to do now was to put his theory into practice.
Taking a deep breath, he began to touch and trace his finger on the engraved symbol of the pillars in a specific sequence; the crescent moon, the enchanted key, the guardian serpent, the whirling vortex, the blooming lotus, the elemental balance, the celestial triangle, and the infinity knot.
After Sorath touched and traced the final pillar, one with the infinity knot symbol, a subtle magical sound echoed through the area, enabling the magic circle beneath him.
Repositioning himself at the center of the formation, the magic circle produced a radiant, ethereal glow that quickly enveloped Sorath's vision in white.
At that moment, he felt as light as a feather. The burden his body carried was relieved momentarily.
Then, the moment his vision returned, he was already inside the underground of the temple. Just like the Goblin Labyrinth, it was dark. So he pulled the torch and illuminated the surrounding area.
"Oho. This is the complete opposite of the temple's upper floor."
It was just as Sorath said. The difference in setting, vibe, and mood between the temple's underground and upper floor was like heaven and abyss.
While the upper floor was seemingly lively because of the trees and plants growing there, the underground space was a place where the dead were likely to come back alive.
Apart from the broken constructions, there were also thick roots spread and dominated the underground layout, giving it an eerie feeling.
"These roots... they seem like they belong to the large tree from the above."
Indeed. The roots that covered half of the underground were originating from the large tree Sorath had seen this morning. It meant that if he wanted to have an easy exploration in this dark, abyssal place, he would need to follow the roots first.
At that point, he could pinpoint his location and start heading toward the treasure's location without worrying about getting lost.
However, it seemed like the lady of luck was favoring him today.
Sorath was surprised when he looked at the map of Velniz Temple. It was supposed to have a drawing of the temple and its surrounding layout, but now it had changed into a map of this very underground space.
Sorath couldn't hold his chuckle.
"Haha. I think I need an extra pair of eyes on the back of my head."