Type: Location

Name: Lightning mountain

Fauna: Various harpies, birds, wolves, snakes and other minor animals.

Flora: None

This is it.

This is my destination.

Now, I need to get on top.

Looking at it from here, it really is gigantic.

It makes me wonder, why didn't I see it sooner?

Was it something about the forest again?

Well, whatever...

Now then, the obvious method to climb up is to jump like before.

I was able to reach above the clouds with my best efforts and even hit the border.

...

I won't hit the border this time, will I?

I crouch down and start preparing mana.

[Air blast]

While lowering my weight, I put power into my legs and use wind magic.

My body flies upward through the air and pierces the clouds.

Above the clouds, I can see the mountain extending even higher than I thought.

And at that moment, something hits me and shocks my entire body.

My vertical momentum isn't affected in any way, so I just keep flying upward while my body is stunned.

After a few moments, something hits me again.

I try to look around to find the source, but without any luck.

Eventually, I reach the peak of my jump and start falling back down.

On my way back down, even more things hit me and stun me.

As I approach the ground, I still try to look around to find just what is assaulting me, but then...

...

...

...

I open my eyes.

I'm just outside the forest, looking at the lightning mountain.

So I'm here now, huh...?

Ugh...that went worse than I expected.

Well, obviously, something was attacking me with lightnings.

Was it some monsters on the mountain?

Or maybe it was the mountain itself...?

After all, it's called lightning mountain.

...

Something tells me, I will have to actually climb this thing...

...

After a bit of thinking, I decide to try jumping again.

But this time, I prepare a bit for it.

[Duo enchant:]

[Shock resistance]

[Impact resistance]

I doubt this will do much, but better than nothing.

I squat again, but this time I tilt my jump horizontally a bit more to hopefully land somewhere on the mountain.

[Air blast]

Once again, I fly through the air.

This time, my body reaches the mountain just a moment after I pass through the clouds.

But because my vertical momentum was still too high, I crashed into the bottom side of some overhang.

I cushioned the impact a bit with air magic and the enchantment on my clothes also helped a bit.

But then, I fell down from the overhang on a ledge and hit my right arm.

[Heal]

I quickly looked around while healing it to search for any enemies.

And I noticed a group of yellow furred wolves gazing this way.

Type: Monster

Name: -

Gender: Male

Race: Spark wolf

Status: Startled

Level: 275

Health: 9841/9875

Mana: 6751/6751

Spark wolves...

Based on their level, they seem pretty weak.

But I know better to now judge things based on their level.

After all, I'm almost level 5000 and yet I have problems with three dragons with their level in 700s.

Quickly getting on my feet, I draw my sword and face them.

However, contrary to what I expected, the wolves fled as soon as they saw my sword.

Well, their status did say they were startled.

After that encounter, I take a closer look at my surroundings.

There is still a long way to go to the top.

But it seems like there are subtle pathways and conveniently placed rocks for climbing.

Almost like someone made this path to the top.

How curious...

But if I look at it from here, I could probably cover the rest of that height with another jump.

The problem is, the same thing as last time might attack me.

Even looking up from here, I can't really see what could have been the source.

Hmm...

Squatting again, I prepare for another jump, aiming for the top.

But as soon as my legs leave the ground, something shocks me again.

The enchantment alleviates it a bit, but it isn't enough.

While trying to look for the source, I get shocked again.

My stunned body eventually starts falling and plummets into the side of the mountain and rolls down.

Initially, I try to recover from it by using air magic and stabbing the sword into the rocks.

But at some point, I hit my head on something hard and...

...

...

...

I open my eyes.

I'm just outside the forest, looking at the lightning mountain.

...

I guess I have to actually climb from there.

|= One jump and a bit of climbing later =|

Despite this mountain being so steep, it's not actually that hard to climb.

The pathways and climbing spots help a lot.

Another thing is, that just like in the forest, no monsters attack me.

Just what was shocking me when I was jumping?

It's a mystery.

As I'm carefully treading through a narrow path near the edge, some monsters appear.

They are some bird-like creatures with human head and they start fluttering nearby.

Type: Monster

Name: -

Gender: Female

Race: Electro harpy

Status: Curious

Level: 678

Health: 17754/17754

Mana: 21548/21548

Damn!

This is not a good situation.

Trying not to fall, I start gathering some mana in my left palm.

However, this makes the harpies fly a bit further from me.

...

For some reason, they aren't showing any signs of wanting to attack.

The status said 'curious', so maybe they won't attack me?

I'm can't be sure about this...

I slowly disperse the mana I have gathered and slowly continue walking while keeping my eyes on the harpies.

But they merely kept watching me as I walked.

Always just fluttering a bit further away and keeping their distance.

As I reached the end of this narrow pathway, the harpies seemed to disperse.

...

That was quite strange...

Why didn't they attack?

...maybe they were just observing me?

Maybe they were just scouts to gauge my strength to prepare a strategy against me.

...hmm.

That actually seems likely.

I have never seen such behavior before.

...well, I guess the black treants were a little similar?

No, but those didn't follow me to watch me...

Ugh, I don't know.

With my guard raised, I continue climbing the mountain.

I expected to be ambushed at any second, but nothing happened.

And I didn't get shocked like when I was jumping either.

The higher I climbed, the more uneasy I was.

But then, at last, I have reached the top.

As I stood and looked around, I saw the giant white structure.

Type: Structure

Name: Gundar's holy temple

Located in the middle of the mountain's surprisingly flat top side, stood my destination.

But before walking over to it, I noticed someone near the entrance, walking here.

Naturally, I prepared my sword as I observed the figure.

As it got closer, I noticed, it looked like a male adult human with his eyes closed...but he also had white wings on his back.

From here, I can also see, that he is wearing some kind of silver armor and has a weapon sheathed on his back.

Type: Humanoid

Name: ASE-021B

Gender: Male

Race: Angel

Status: -

Level: 34

Health: 90000/90000

Mana: 180000/180000

...what the heck?

What is with that name?

And why is the health and mana so high if he is only level 34?

And...

No status again...?

While I'm thinking about the strange status, the figure finally gets close.

His eyes are still closed and I can't feel any hostility from him.

"...we...meet again..."

...again?

What does he mean 'again'?

Did we meet before?

"You know me?"

"Who are y-"

At that moment my entire body got paralyzed.

...and then was released a second later.

After recovering, I stare at the angel in disbelief.

...

"...you are...the skeleton...?"

The angel nods.

...

The green lightning skeleton merchant from the dungeon?

How could that be?

How did he change so much?

And what is he doing here?

"...follow me."

The ex-skeleton angel turns around and starts walking toward the temple.

I stare at his back for a few seconds before following him.

The top of this mountain doesn't really have any vegetation.

It's all just rocks and pebbles.

The lack of trees makes the temple stand out even more.

Now that I think about it...

This guy...can use lightning magic at high level.

Was he the one, who kept shooting me out of the air when I was jumping?

...

I glare at his back as we approach the temple.

When we finally walk through the entrance, we pass by two other angels standing on each side.

Both clad in golden armor and holding a strange staff of sorts.

Type: Humanoid

Name: ASE-003

Gender: Male

Race: Archangel

Status: -

Level: 500

Health: 20000/20000

Mana: 30000/30000

Type: Humanoid

Name: ASE-022

Gender: Female

Race: Archangel

Status: -

Level: 500

Health: 20000/20000

Mana: 30000/30000

Archangels.

And again, no status and strange names...

Both of them have a helmet on their head, so I can't see their expression, but they don't seem hostile either.

Only their head seems to move as we pass by, the rest of their body is stationary.

From the entrance, we continue down a corridor.

There are some angel statues and carvings on the walls.

These carvings remind me of the ones in the dungeon...

We finally arrive at a huge circular room.

There are three big doors lined up on the other side.

There is some text above each one of them.

In the middle of a room, there is a pedestal.

And on top of it...

Is a chalice.

Type: Object

Name: Gundar's blessed chalice

Materials: ???

Note: Quest item

That's it!

I walk past the angel toward the chalice.

"Stop."

On his prompt, I stop and turn around.

"First...you need to...pass the three trials."

"...then...the barrier...will be released..."

...barrier?

I take a better look at the chalice, but I see nothing.

I can't even sense any mana.

"What barrier?"

The angel is quiet for a second and then points at the chalice.

"...try touching."

I decide to do as he says and go near the pedestal.

However, when I get close, some strange force starts pushing me back.

My legs move, but my body is staying in place.

I start running, but I have barely advanced closer.

[Air blast]

I jump while boosting myself with air magic, only to be repelled back and thrown onto the ground.

...

"...that...barrier."

The angel says, still expressionless.

...

I could try some more powerful spells, but I can't break the chalice.

So, I guess I will have to do these trials.

How annoying...

It's so close...and yet I can't reach it.

I get up and look at the angel.

"So, what trials?"

The angel nods again and points at the doors.

"...these...lead to the trials..."

"...first...pass the left...and the right..."

"...then enter the middle..."

Once again, I look at the doors and read each of the texts above them.

'Endurance' reads the left door.

'Sinless' is written above the middle door.

And 'Patience' is above the right one.

So 'Endurance' and 'Patience' are first?

And what does 'Sinless' even mean?

Hmm...

Now then, which one should I do first?

(Vote in the poll to choose which door Reiza should go with first.)

Bonus:

"Sensei, sensei!"

"I have a question!"

...

Don't call me 'sensei'.

People will get triggered.

"Come on! You're no fun!"

Just ask your question...

"Fiiine..."

"Ahem..."

"Why were these black-leaved treants despairing?"

The cursed forest has many kinds of treants.

You can differentiate them by the color of their leaves.

Reiza met yellow, orange, black, blue and purple kinds.

Each kind of treant has some sort of curse associated with them.

Not only contact with these leaves curses other beings, but the treants are also initially under the effect of that curse.

However, it is an innate part of them, that's why they don't have 'cursed' in their status.

"Ooooh!"

"That means the black treants had some kind of curse, that makes you despair?"

Something like that.

"So what about the others?"

Blue and purple ones were just mentioned as an afterthought, so those are hard to figure out.

However, the orange one might be possible to figure out.

"...wait, you aren't going to tell us?"

Nope.

"...then I'll say it!"

"Did you notice how they exploded more violently than Reiza anticipated?"

"That's because their curse turns your body into a living bomb!"

"If you touch someone's arm, who has this curse, too forcibly, their arm will explode!"

...

Hey...

You are supposed to be the guy, who doesn't know stuff.

"But you weren't going to say it!"

...

We are switching back next time.