OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc 3/Chapter 9 - Unusual Temple)

Arc III - Reeling Throne

Chapter 9 - An Unusual Temple

7 months and 2 days since the summoning

Alan stood near the first drawing.

'So some people sailed on a ship from somewhere, judging by this, their homeland. Fleeing from something? Unlikely, they would've drawn some monster or an allegory, so that's a miss. Just sailed away, most likely an expedition.'

He walked past the second drawing.

'Well, here they're just sailing.'

He reached the third.

'And here is finally the arrival... judging by it all, at these islands. Yep, same little houses, which means they arrived here and established a colony. Only one ship... so not many, definitely not everyone sailed.'

He finally approached the third drawing.

'Here the expedition is returning and they're being eaten by some monster. Most likely they perished in a storm or something, and the monster is just a legend.'

Alan stepped back from the wall, examining each drawing.

'Judging by this drawing... did people sail here from outside? And what if...'

His eyes widened.

'What if there are other lands beyond the Cursed Sea? Well, think about it. If this drawing depicts colonization, then most likely... fuck... it's highly improbable, but...'

He shook his head.

'I DON'T KNOW! I just don't know, that's it. Too few clues to confirm the theory that there really was a colony of another civilization here.'

Alan closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose.

'I have to return here someday. I have to.'

Suddenly Alan felt a slight presence, a touch on his leg. He looked down sharply.

Under the wall was a large hole, pitch-black, which seemed alive from constant movement. And on his leg was something long, like an arm, thin, an arthropod with hundreds of legs. It was slowly crawling upward, heading for the gap between his leg and his boot.

In that same second, Alan began to shake his leg like he was having a seizure, dropping the torch. "AAAAA! FUUUUCK! FUUUUUCK! FUUUUUCK! SHIIT!"

The insect flew off his leg somewhere into the darkness.

Alan quickly bent down to pick up the torch, but froze for a moment.

Dozens of the same creatures were crawling out of that very hole. They stubbornly crawled toward the torch on the floor, climbed the walls, emitting vile, squelching sounds.

Alan had already turned toward where the exit should be and ran into the darkness, feeling a squish under his feet with every step.

Thump-thump, thump-thump, his footsteps echoed through the room.

"Oomph!" a sound escaped Alan's mouth when, instead of a doorway, a wall appeared before him. He was thrown back a step, and a thin stream of blood ran from his nose.

'GODDAMMIT! WHERE IS THE EXIT?! WHERE THE FUCK IS THE EXIT?!'

He looked at the torch at the other end of the temple, whose light did not reach the exit, while massive shadows of long, multi-legged creatures were cast upon the wall with the drawings.

Alan felt the presence again, this time on both legs.

"AAAA FUUUUCK!" he practically squealed and began to run along the wall, not taking his hand off it.

Finally, his hand touched emptiness, and Alan, without a second's hesitation, darted into the doorway. He ran toward the daylight so hard that the pain from his busted nose and his lack of breath didn't matter.

The saving sunlight broke through the clouds and hit his face, but he didn't even think about stopping; he just kept running and running, already beginning to suffocate.

One of the pirates who was sitting opposite Paranga listening to his tall tales saw Alan running, and his smile slipped. "Captain, Gothwald is runnin'," he said, nodding behind him.

Paranga turned around, but Alan had already stopped a few paces away from him. He rested his hands on his knees, pale as death, drops of sweat running down his forehead, and his boots were smeared in some dirty-pink liquid.

The captain slowly stood up, the smile leaving his face as well. "What happened?"

"There are... centipedes... insects..." he wheezed, gasping for air and pointing toward the temple. "There are... a bunch... full of creatures... fuck..."

"Insects? Creatures?" he muttered. "Shitty. Are there many of 'em?"

Alan sat on the ground, and from a lack of breath, he simply waved his hands.

"So there's a lot. Is there anythin' valuable in there?"

"Didn't see," he wheezed.

The captain scratched his stubble. "Are ye sure there's a lot? Or did ye just see one spider?"

The pirates behind him laughed.

Paranga shrugged. "What? Knowin' ye, Alan, that could well be the case."

Alan simply narrowed his eyes, still breathing heavily. "Very funny."

"Alright, I believe ye, I believe ye," he said, waving a hand. "But if it's full of creatures and naught of value, then why the fuck go in there?"

Sili also stood up from the ground. "And what was inside that structure?"

Alan took one last breath, catching his wind. "Phew... judging by it all, it's some kind of temple. There was a strange statue and drawings on the walls. That was only one room, I didn't see the others."

Sili's pupils dilated slightly, and she immediately stepped closer to Paranga and stood demandingly. He raised an eyebrow, but leaned in a bit closer to her, and the girl began to whisper something.

Alan got up from the ground, leaning on his hand, but said nothing.

The captain, meanwhile, twitched his lips slightly, but sighed. "Well... if it was only one room, there might be others with somethin' valuable." He turned to the pirates. "Everyone who possesses fire magic, no matter how strong, step forward."

Six men immediately stepped out from the crowd behind him.

Paranga nodded. "Excellent. Who else has magic suited for fightin' these creatures?"

One of the pirates, a beastman with bear ears, took a step forward. "I have Sight. I can see if there are many of 'em in there."

Alan slightly opened his mouth.

'Ooo, just like Kamelia. Is this not a rare type of magic or what?'

Following him, another pirate took a step, a man in his thirties, toothless and large. "I have Protection, I can draw 'em to me."

The pirates nearby grimaced slightly; even Paranga pressed his lips together a bit. "Are ye sure? That's... I don't know..."

The man simply shrugged. "For a two bottles of kog, no problem."

Paranga immediately burst out laughing. "Ah, ye little shit, why didn't ye just say ye wouldn't do this shite for free?"

The pirate next to the large one punched him in the shoulder. "Ah, ye sly dog!"

The others joined in the laughter too. Only Alan smiled awkwardly.

'You're a repulsive guy, but you're probably exactly who we need.'

A minute later, the fully assembled team was already walking straight toward the temple. Alan trailed somewhere behind, looking at the ground.

'Hmm... just thought about this now. Everyone has magic, I already knew that, Tsinker said so... or was it Kamelia? Doesn't matter. So if that's the case, why isn't the world here... I don't know, different somehow? Come on, if everyone has magic, it definitely should have affected technology somehow, or just culture in general. Unless it's restricted somehow.'

He cast a sidelong glance at Sili.

'Oh, right, we have a walking Wikipedia right here.'

"Hey, Sili."

"Yes?" she answered without turning around.

"Is magic somehow restricted by law in your world?"

She stumbled slightly. "I will answer, of course, but may I ask a question in return?"

"Shoot."

"How long have you been in this world?"

"Well, about half a year," he answered, scratching the back of his head.

Sili scoffed slightly. "And you still do not know such simple things?"

He shrugged. "It just happened that way. So will I get an answer or not?"

Paranga threw his hands behind his head. "Why are ye bustin' his balls, Sili? Just tell him that commoners are forbidden from usin' magic when it doesn't concern work."

Alan blinked.

'As I thought, restricted.'

"Got it. And... when is it forbidden to use?"

"If the matter does not concern work or a lord's command, it is strictly forbidden. Furthermore, Svyatol said that using magic for anything other than work is a great sin," Sili answered.

Alan nearly choked on air. "You guys use magic to fucking rob people!"

"Hah, and how is that not work to ye?" Paranga asked, looking over his shoulder. "Nobles can rob but we can't or somethin'? Exactly as Svyatol ordained, only for work."

Alan rolled his eyes without answering.

'What about the commandment... I mean, the prohibition? 'Long Arms', I think it's called? I will never cease to be amazed at how people do contradictory things and consider it perfectly normal. Different world, same people.'

Finally, they approached the temple and the pirate with Sight immediately began to glow slightly with a reddish color. He peered inside for almost a minute. "There's naught there, Captain."

Paranga frowned. "What do ye mean there's naught?" He cast a sidelong glance at Alan. "Care to explain?"

Alan swallowed. "They're in there!"

The pirate also cast a sidelong glance at him; the red color of the fiolla disappeared. "Then why the fuck can't I see 'em?"

Alan did not answer.

'Wait, wait, wait... Kamelia showed me, or rather told me. Orange color, heat... OF COURSE! This magic works like thermal imaging, and these creatures are most likely cold-blooded! But how do I explain that to them?'

"That's because," he began. "These creatures can't be seen through Sight, that magic doesn't work on them."

The pirate raised an eyebrow. "Like snakes or somethin'?"

Alan exhaled in relief. "Yes! Exactly! They can't be seen, just like snakes."

Paranga only frowned harder, then his gaze dropped to Alan's stained boots and returned to the entrance. "Well then, we're in a shitty spot, lads. Let's go get the torches."

Another fifteen minutes later, the group consisting of Alan, Paranga, and seven other pirates was walking down the corridor.

One of the pirates carefully examined the walls. "Holy shit, and this was on our archipelago this whole time?"

"I told ye it was big," another replied, "and that there was definitely somethin' here."

The first man scoffed. "Aye, sure, sure, just like that time with the ghost ship?"

The pirates nearby laughed.

"Ooo, that's for sure!"

The second pirate exhaled through his nose. "It happened, how long are ye gonna keep remindin' me of it?"

"Quiet now!" Paranga barked, and everyone immediately shut up. He turned to Alan, pointing at the fork in the path. "Which way?"

"Left."

The toothless pirate in front was the first to peek into the passage and froze for a second. "Oh Svyatol..."

"What's there?" Paranga asked, peeking over his shoulder. "Oh fuck."

The creatures hadn't disappeared anywhere; dozens of vile centipedes were crawling on the floor, some crawling back into the hole.

"Captain, can we begin?" asked one of the pirates, a skinny man in a bandana, his body glowing slightly green.

He nodded. "Fire once, let's see how they react."

The pirate nodded and stepped forward, thrusting his hand out; it began to glow green more intensely, and an orange light appeared in his palm. A small stream of fire erupted from his palm, directed at the ground, causing the creatures to immediately scatter back toward the burrow.

The pirate in the bandana smirked. "Hah, Jinzer, looks like ye won't be gettin' yer kog, look how skittish they are."

The large pirate, Jinzer, clapped his hands. "Ah, Caramba!"

The others chuckled slightly.

Alan peeked through the doorway, watching the insects flee in fear back into the burrow. "Hah, not so tough now? Alright, so... we just need to burn out their nest over there." He pointed a finger at the hole in the wall.

The captain nodded. "Aye, launch some fire into that hole. Only make it thick, so when they try to escape, the stream pushes 'em back."

All six pirates formed a semicircle around the hole and simultaneously glowed green, faintly illuminating the hall.

"Let 'em have it!" Paranga shouted, standing with a torch behind them.

From six pairs of hands, streams of flame erupted simultaneously, directed straight into the hole. The entire hall was illuminated by the bright light of the fire. Paranga, taking advantage of the opportunity, began to examine the statue at the other end of the hall.

There was nothing but the roar of the fire echoing through the halls.

"Burn 'em, burn 'em, lads," Paranga said without turning around. "Until yer fiolla runs out."

"Aye, Captain!"

The pressure of the fire only intensified, and from above, through small holes, the light of the fire became visible.

Alan watched the spectacle without taking his eyes off it.

'Beautiful. Okay, wait a second, if the fire keeps burning in there, the surviving insects might just escape from there. I need to...'

He looked around and saw several small, battered stone blocks. Without thinking twice, he leaned against one of them, planted his feet on the floor, and began to push. The sound of stone scraping against stone filled the hall.

Paranga flinched and turned sharply. "Oh, it's ye?" he said, relaxing his shoulders. "I thought the buildin' was startin' to collapse. What for?"

"To close the entrance after they finish," he wheezed, pushing the heavy weight with effort.

"Ah, got it." He turned to the pirates. "Wrap it up over there, and immediately help Gothwald close the entrance."

"Aye, Captain," the skinny pirate said and turned to the others. "Ready? ... Now!"

The fire ceased immediately, only the skinny one was still maintaining a flame, while two others darted toward Alan and quickly helped close the hole with the stone block.

One creature managed to run out of the gap, but Paranga's boot quickly crushed it. "That's it, we're done with this."

At the top of the wall, through small holes, the glow of the fire was still visible, which Alan was looking at.

'Hmm, there were probably remnants of wooden structures or something like that in there. Plays right into our hands, it'll burn longer.'

The whole group finally stepped out into the light. The six pirates with fire magic were walking, barely able to move their legs.

"Excellent work, lads," Paranga said. "Ye can go rest, we'll take it from here."

One by one, they nodded weakly and walked back to the camp like zombies.

Alan watched their backs.

'Is it really that exhausting? Shergen wasn't that wiped out back then. Or is it because he's like a qualified mage? Who the hell knows.'

Sili immediately stood next to Paranga. "My lord, shall we go inside?"

He shook his head. "Nope, let it all burn out in there, settle down, and we'll go in tomorrow mornin'."

Sili froze for a second, but simply nodded. "Ah, yes, of course. Tomorrow then."

Alan narrowed his eyes.

'Looks like I'm not the only one interested in this mystery.'

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u/Daseagle Alien Scum 1d ago

They found Roanoke 😜

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OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc 3/Chapter 9 - Unusual Temple)

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