Rick flanked around to the east of the ruins, he kept to the inside of the treeline with [Sneak] activated. Maneuvering through the vegetation to remain undetected, just another shadow that slipped through the kaleidoscope of sun rays filtering down through the forest canopy.

Out of view from the doorway, his senses directed toward the ruins, He probed the area for any signs of life as he approached the outside wall of the dilapidated structure. Undercover of the shadows veil cast down from the adjacent wall, he vigilantly moved parallel toward the corner adjacent the front entrance.

Before the corner had been reached, he came across a narrow breach tore throughout the ruinous wall. Rick exploited this weathered fracture to scout the interior, he observed a small fire near the far wall that cast an orange radiance across an unkempt tile floor where white crumbled statues motionlessly observed the passage of time.

He attempted to examine all of the partially lit room but still could not ascertain if any enemies hid amidst the shadows far removed from any light cast by the dim flames.

When he Activated [Night Sight], the ineffective firelight and shadows were cast aside to reveal the once shrouded sections for him to reconnaissance. Rick adjusted his view through the narrow breach to discover the room appeared to be free of enemies. Then changing his position slightly closer to the wall to direct his view toward the front entrance that was hard to observe from the current line of sight. With his cheek pressed against the wall, he could just glimpse the area near the entrance.

The activated [Night Sight] skill allowed him to expose a hidden goblin who held a spear silently behind a column. This once concealed monster continuously monitored the doorway, on-guard to ambush the unknown attacker upon entering the ancient ruins.

If I had a better angle I might be able to hit it with an arrow from here. I can just barely see him let alone get a shot off on him though.

All I can do is attack head on from the doorway. If I directly charge his location from the entrance it might be possible to shock him into freezing up for a moment. If it works then I can take him down quickly without a fight.

Crouched down below the crack in the wall, Rick moved on unnoticed up to the corner. Storing away the bow carried in hand, he equipped the spear and shield and crept up to the entrance. With a Choked grip on the spear and a braced shield against his forearm he silently prepared to charge in. Just then, he backed off from the entrance several feet while he had thought of a different approach.

I want to test out a different tactic, instead of a forced ahead on attack why not test out my portal spell.

Rich concentrated on the location he'd seen earlier about ten feet behind the goblin, as he cast the portal spell the black door rose up from the ground before him. He once again adjusted his spear and shield took three steps back and charged through the portal. At a full run, he exploded out the other side charging the unsuspecting goblin from behind.

The goblin then heard Rick's quick footsteps and turned toward him. Rick pulled his elbow back behind him, then threw a punch with the shield that smashed into the green creature's face. The small monster was slammed against the column it hid behind until now. The impact of the shield and column knocked out the goblin who lifelessly slid to the floor. Rick brought the spear back ready to skewer the unconscious goblin when he caught movement to his left. Instinctively, he turned toward the threat of another goblin who had sprung out to ambush him.

The goblin with a dagger held overhead charged at him poised to strike. After a couple strides, the goblin was in striking range for Rick's longer reached attack. He quickly dropped to a one knee stance and threw a uppercut with his shield to strike, and block the smaller creature. The shield drove up into the goblin's chin snapping its head back with an audible crack and blocked the dagger that weakly deflected off the iron shields surface. As the goblin and dagger flew back, he spun around to continue the initial attack.

The first goblin was attempting to stagger to its feet and locate his lost spear. Rick didn't allow him the chance, Rick thrust the spear like a piston directly through the punch-drunk green creature twice.

He turned his head to glance over his shoulder at the second goblin that was now sprawled out on the floor with its head at an angle it should not be able to turn.

That shield uppercut must have snapped its neck.

Rick did a complete scan of the room with [Night Sight] and couldn't locate any remaining goblins in sight.

All the noise from that fight, if any were left it would have drawn them out of hiding.

He began gathering up the fallen weapons and pouches from the dead goblins to store in his inventory. While he calmed down some from the fight, Rick suddenly realized that the medallion around his neck was glowing. Holding it up to view the glow it was emitting, he also felt a slight pull from it. This made him think of the [Iron Scan] skill when used it would pull him toward the iron deposit locations it found.

Rick began to follow the direction the medallion relayed to him while taking everything in around him. The few standing statues left are worn and decayed many lay shattered across the floor. He came across skeletal remains strewn around the room mixed with rusted spear tips and swords weathered beyond use even for lowly goblins who dismissed them.

I wonder if these people died from the goblins? It looks like they were human and maybe ten of them, guessing from the bones left behind. There would need to be a good number of goblins to take down ten armed guards.

Removing a bolt of white cloth from his inventory Rick cut off a section and spread it out on the floor. After putting the cloth away he gathered up the bones, corroded weapons, and decayed uniforms scattered around the area and laid them upon the white cloth.

Wraping up the remains in the cloth, he carefully carried them outside the temple,

Under a large tree beside the temple Rick used his shovel to dig a grave. He arranged the bones and equipment of the fallen guard neatly next to one another. Standing up he came to attention with his hand at the salute he spoke out.

"On this grave, the rain shall fall from the eyes of a glorious goddess. Rest now, your mission has been accomplished!"

Rick then covered the grave leaving it unmarked for fear that any returning goblins desecrate it.

With a final glance back Rick walked back into the temple and continued his search of walking along looking into every dark corner for enemies or possible temple relics.

A glimmer of light then caught his eye from a pile of debris against the wall. Under the pile of small stone chunks branches and leaves, he found two elaborately crafted gold Candelabra that only had a few scratches.

I can polish these scratches out and display them as relics in the temple one day. It's a shame that the statues are too far gone exposure to the elements over time must have destroyed everything in here.

The medallion's ability continued to grow to direct him to the back temple wall.

There he found a faded mural painted on the large wall of a life-sized woman who dressed similar to the goddess Faith and wore a medallion like the one around his own neck.

This should be a painting of Faith, but it is quite faded now. The hair color and style look like Faith's and the clothes are similar in design. How did they know what she looks like maybe they have seen her in their dreams? The books I read told of how the lesser gods lead their people through dreams, maybe they got that from Faith?

As he was drawn toward the mural the medallion around the painted woman's neck began to glow brighter the closer he got to it. Rick stopped directly in front of the woman and reached out his hand placing his finger over the glow from the painted medallion. He then felt where he touched the mural it had a circular raised surface. When he rolled his finger over it, he felt a slight give to the protrusion on the painted surface.

He lightly applied pressure and found the painted medallion concealed what seemed like an enchanted button of some sort. Rick pushed the button in a good inch and heard a muffled clunk noise from behind the wall. When he released the button a long crack appeared as the wall slowly swung open to reveal a hidden door. Behind the door was a staircase going down into the darkness below the temple.

Before he descended the stairs, Rick to a look back around the temple to investigate the room. He wanted to make sure nothing walked in while he had been near the back wall. Once satisfied, he equipped his sword then activated [night sight] and [sneak]. He stepped through the door and examined the opposite side for a way to open it from the inside. Located in the center of the door was a lever that when turned would extend and retract iron bars similar to that of a safe. He closed the door behind him turned the lever and the iron bars slid into the wall once again concealing the door to anyone outside.

Rick drew his sword from the scabbard on his hip as he continued to make his way down the staircase. When he reached the bottom he found himself in a large room with a couple doors along the far wall. The room was pitch black but with him using the [Night Sight] he could see every detail of the room.

As he investigated the room he found crates, clay containers, and shelves of books and scrolls on his end of the room. The room had a beautiful wood desk on the front panel was an ornate carving of the temple's original likeness. Each panel depicted lifelike scenes of landscapes and religious ceremonies. The panels and edges had all been inlaid with decorative gold patterns. Rick walked around the desk astounded by the craftsmanship put into it. Then he noticed the chair that was carved in the same style as the desk so that they matched one another.

Sitting on top of the desk was an open book covered with a layer of dust. When he blew off the dust he, noticed the book was written in ancient human. He sat down in the chair and began to read the open pages.

The Temple of Faith

To any brother or sister of the Temple of Faith, We have come under attack again from the barbarians of the northeastern mountains. Our temple guards could not stand against their numbers this time. It seems that the mountain tribes have joined together to raid us this time. Most of us have retreated to this underbuilding while some of the guards held back the savage tribes who attacked. We fear that we can no longer stay in this region with the increasing attacks, and must abandon our beloved temple, our home. We have decided to travel through the teleport platform Created by the founder so many years ago to Godshome Island that our predecessors once discovered that is located north of the mainland. Goddess Faith guides and bless you and join us in our new home when you can.

(Signed by Cleric Denholm)

I see that explains the bones and weapons I buried upstairs. They must have been the guard who stayed behind to allow the rest to escape into this hidden cellar.

All this stuff down here seems to of held up over the centuries. It is dry without any humidity or light so it is almost like they just left here, excluding this thick layer of dust covering everything.

Time to start storing all this into my inventory. I can use all of this for my new lands, then I want to see this teleport platform. This book says it is an island north of the mainland if it is big enough I could find some land to buy away from the players who will join in a couple days.

Rick took the desk, chair, and everything in and on it. He took ten bookshelves filled with books without reading them and three racks of scrolls.

Stacked against the wall sat four large sealed wood crates and various sized clay containers that he stored away without viewing their contents. A long table surrounded by chairs sat in the center of the room with silver engraved goblets, pitchers, plates, and utensils.

On the far back wall, he found a tapestry of Faith sitting on a throne in a temple reading a colorfully artistic book, while holding a sword in her other hand with the blade leaning against her shoulder, and the pommel rested on her thigh.

This tapestry is incredible I can tell this is Faith, the details are done so well I can almost read the text on the page she is reading. This is perfect for her future temple.

After the tapestry was safely in his inventory he made his way across the room, and opened the first door to find a large bedroom.

This bedroom furniture looks as expensive as that of the suite I rented for the week. He took a large canopy bed, small desk, wardrobe with outfits, large rug, and two chairs.

The next room had ten single beds, ten nightstands and ten trunks at the foot of the beds. He glanced in one of the trunks before storing them and found a small leather case that contained a comb, razor, and scissors. A pouch with a few silver coins, two small books, and a few temple outfits. With the contents of the room in his inventory, he entered the last room.

In this room, he found a square stone platform with a circle and strange symbols carved into the top. The only other item in this room was a framed painting of a Map.

This must be the map of the island from the scale of it the island must be enormous. I see that they marked two tribes that also lived there. I will need to scout out those tribes and find out if they still are there and if they might be hostile.

I see a great open spot at the end of this main river near the coast that would make a great spot to build, farm, and raise livestock. It has a sheltered bay that might work as a harbor if deep enough and that river must be fresh water which flows out of these mountains to the north. It has a forest close to the east for lumber and a large mountain north to cut stone and mine ore.

I'm excited now! Please, Faith let this teleport pad work still!

Rick put the map away and walked up the steps onto the stone platform and stood in the center of the circle and strange symbols. He stood looking down for a few seconds and started to grow nervous that the teleport was dead. Then the runes slowly began to glow a light blue color and a notice window opened before him.

Temple of Faith Teleport Do you wish to use the teleport to Godshome Island? >>> YES NO

Yes!

When Rick chose yes the blue light from the runes around him grew brighter and surrounded him in what appeared to be a magic shield bubble, then he vanished leaving behind the empty cellar room.

Rick found himself in a room with three walls and the sunlight slightly blinded him with his [Night Sight] still on. He turned off [Night Sight] and checked that he still had [Sneak] on. Opening his inventory he equipped his shield in his hand, while the other gripped tight the sword handle prepared to strike. This building was obviously the other Temple that they had escaped to, but this temple was in much worse shape. Good portions of the walls and ceiling had collapsed in this room alone.

He snuck up to the door he assumed led into the main temple hall and peaked out looking for any enemies camped out inside like the other temple. The roof out there had completely collapsed in and the entire hall was filled with large chunks of the broken stone slab. There were no people or creatures and anything of value had been buried long ago under tons of stone.

This place seems safe for now from the looks of it this temple is to far gone, even for monsters to move into.

Before I leave here and start exploring those engraved runes that started glowing on the teleport platform seemed to cast a spell or enchantment.

I should record them to memory to study later.

Rick walked around the platform using his Photoreading to store all the symbols to memory.

Should I leave this teleporter here now like this? I really don't have a use for it now that I'm here my portal spell can get me back and forth. I am worried once thousands of players start running around everywhere will someone find the teleport in the temple's hidden cellar. I would rather make it as hard as possible for other players to find this island.

After thinking it over Rick decided it was best to keep the island a secret. He opened his inventory and took out his pickaxe and turned the platform into rubble.

It seems like a waste but I don't have to worry about a group of players sneaking in here for some time. In the future, someone will make a boat and happen upon this island but I should be well built up by then to control the situation.

Rick turned around and climbed over a low section of collapsed wall to go outside the ruins. Taking out a hammer and stone chisel, he began removing stone blocks from the wall. He recovered a large pile of the blocks and stacked some of them up to make a quick small forge. He then took out the anvil, smithing hammer, and one iron ingot. Once the forge had a good coal base with a nice hot fire, he dropped the ingot into the coals and flames until began to glow. With the hammer and chisel, Rick cut a quarter inch slice from the ingot. While the slice he cut off was still hot, he began to cut it into 3"x1/25" inch iron spikes. He hammered half of the spikes ends flat and pointed the other end making blacksmith's nails. The rest of the spikes he repeated the process but then used the tap & die to thread them and used a small chisel to make an inverted (x) on top making Philips head screws.

Now let's check to make sure I made enough to get recipes for them. I have had a few notices still from before the temple I've also been putting off.

Skill Increase: Field Dress: Level 5 (Beginner 11%) Skill Increase: Sneak: Level 1 (Intermediate 71%) Skill Increase: Archery: Level 6 (Beginner 63%) Skill Increase: Night Sight: Level 5 (Beginner 87%) New Skill Notice!

New Skill Learned!

Shield Bash: level 1 (beginner 16%)

The ability to use your shield as a blunt weapon.

Higher level increases allow for more greater damage and knockback.

New Level Notice!

You Gained a Level!

Level 3

You have five unused points to distribute.

New Level Notice!

You Gained a Level!

Level 4

You have five unused points to distribute.

I will just make their names simple "Blacksmith's Nail" and "Philps Head Screw". New Recipe Notice!

You Learned A New Recipe!

Blacksmith's Nail

This recipe will allow you to instantly create a blacksmith's nails.

New Recipe Notice!

You Learned A New Recipe!

Philps Head Screw

This recipe will allow you to instantly create Philips head screw.

Since I have the tools out I might as well make one more tool. While the ingot sat in the forge heating up Rick began to whittle a wood handle 4"x1.5" inches. He used a file to smooth and round it out the handle to fit his hand. With tongs in hand, he pulled out the ingot and cut another 1/25" slice off and hammered out the slice into a 4" long round rod. Using a chisel cut an into the tip and fit the handle to the tipped round rod to have a completed Philips screwdriver to use with his screws.

New Recipe Notice!

You Learned A New Recipe!

Philps Head Screwdriver

This recipe will allow you to instantly create a Philips head screwdriver.

While he waited on the forge and ingot to cool off he made 200 hundred nails and screws which were instantly made thanks to the new recipes. Then he sat down and began to bury his fingers into the soft ground and sent his mana into the earth until he finally linked his mana to the earth's mana. Rick started to cycle his mana into the earth while drawing from the earth for over an hour until he received a notice. New Affinity Notice!

New Affinity Learned!

Earth Affinity: Level 1 (Beginner 0%)

The magic ability to wield and resist an affinity.

Higher Levels increase overall control and resistance.

Two Affinities learned about eight more to go that I still want. Before I start on that I have some traveling to still do. I have that shipwright skill and could build a decent sailboat to travel the lake and river but then I would be here for days building it. I want to get down the river fast and check out that spot on the map I liked. The fastest way I guess just make a raft? He packed up the stone blocks and tools to the inventory, then took out the ax and saw. He began walking over near the lake shore and cut down a large tree to make a raft. Then the tree trunk was split into sections, he rolled four six foot long sections of the trunk side by side then he sawed out some planks and nailed down a deck to the top of the four logs. Cutting a 4"x4"x7' long square beam he secured and braced it to the center of the raft as a mast. Rick took out some of the heavy cloth and sewed it together to make a sail. Sawing out two 1"x1"x6' wood poles Rick sewed them horizontally into the top and bottom of the sail and connected these poles holding the sails to the mast. Then the last thing he did was make a 2"x2"x6' pole and screwed a wood fin for a back rudder and made a bracket for it to rest in on the back of the raft. It took a little effort but the raft finally was in the lake and he turned the sail to catch the wind gliding slowly across the lake in search of the southern flowing river.

Now I have some time to kill this ride should take awhile. I have all those books from the temple I could read to get some INT & WIS or possibly learn a new skill. Rick took out a chair and nightstand and set them on the raft behind the mast. He gently sat down in the chair opened his inventory and began to search through the book titles. The first book that caught his eye was written in Ancient Human and translated to "The Language of Power". What caught his attention was the other marking on it that looked similar to the runes engraved in the teleport platform. The Language of Power

The teaching of our goddess Faith. This language was taught to the founder of The Temple of Faith during the founding of the first temple as a reward for our devotion. This runic language can be used to combine words that have magical effects. The book contains thousands of runic symbols that must all be learned to understand how this language and properly draw out the magic it possesses. Only a handful of our brothers and sisters ever memorized the vast amount of information in this book to wield the runic symbols, most that did learn it took them most of their lives to accomplish.

That description alone explains why they never used this Runic Language to protect themselves against those mountain men. If I didn't have Photoreading I wouldn't even attempt to try and learn this. This book must be an easy six inches thick just to normally read it would take a long time but to memorize it all seems impossible. I would think the original founder had all this downloaded into his head by Faith somehow to remember and record it so well. Rick then opened the book and began [photoreading] every page to memory as he crossed the large lake, and found his way into the current of the river heading south. Drifting with the current and occasionally adjusting the rafts direction he floated down the river while it cut through the mountains toward the southern plains. After three and a half hours he had read the book twice to make sure he didn't miss anything in it.

Time to check out what I learned now. New Skill Notice!

New Skill Learned!

Demigod's Dialect: level 1 (Master 16%)

The ability to use the ancient magic runic language gifted to the mortals by a goddess.

Higher level increases allow for more variation of applications.

Rick suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head as the new skills knowledge was absorbed. With a scowl on his face, he used his fingers to massage his head until the pain gradually vanished. All those words, symbols, and combinations rapidly downloaded into my brain...so much information...uhhg. At least for this pain, I achieved a master expertise, but I wonder why it didn't max out? Maybe not enough practical application experience or there is still more than this book to learn?

Rick put away the chair and nightstand, laid down on the raft while watching the shore roll by until he saw an interesting sight. Sitting up not believing his eyes, spread out along the bank was a large herd of horses drinking from the river. Holy crap look at all of them if I [Tame] a bunch of them I can create a cavalry division. I wonder what else is out on these plains? Once I learn how to make a saddle, and bridle I will be back for one of you! He yelled out at the horses laughing. They looked at him like he was crazy, and continued on with drinking and grazing. After the raft left the horses behind he found the area of land, he was interested in surveying, He directed his raft up onto the east shore and lowered the sail. Once on shore, he began walking south, parallel with the river to find where his kingdom would begin.