The next day came, and only then did Jake open his eyes. As he fluttered his eyes open, he was shook by the scene that he was looking at.
There were so many in front of him, putting on their armor. The sunlight from outside was just barely enough to shine through the church windows.
But it was not enough to light up the church like it was. The most light came from right behind Jake. It was the statue of god that was emulating sunlight itself.
"It is… morning?" Jake muttered. He looked to the top right, and could see on his clock that it was already six in the morning.
pa(nd)a novel "I dozed off?" Jake was confused.
And then, the memories of the last night returned. The sword that was stronger than before, and the sudden sleep spell. Someone forced him to sleep.
But Jake had to admit, it was refreshing now. The few hours of sleep that he got gave him enough energy to be jumping around for the next few hours non stop.
He had run a whole marathon to catch up to the caravan last time, and that drained him the previous day. But now, with some rest that seems as good as sleeping in real life, he could think clearly.
He got up from the bench and looked at everyone. They were busy working on their own armor and their own robes to be worried about the weakest of the bunch.
Jake straightened the clothes beneath the armor, and his pants before turning around to face the statue of god.
The shining eyes seemed to stare back at him, like they were looking only at him and no one else.
"Ummm, some help today please? I guess?" Jake asked as he took out his sword from his inventory, brandishing it.
And the moment he did, everyone suddenly seemed magically ready.
"Alright. It looks like everyone has woken up and got ready. It is time for us to get ready. We must enter the holy grounds." Ganshin said with a loud voice.
He was at the very front of the church, in front of the doors, looking at everyone with one sweep.
Jake also took a quick sweep of the place, trying to look for the people he knew. For some reason, Father Joseph was nowhere to be seen.
"Alright. Now, Father Joseph, can we please request your help? We will need your help to enter the Holy Grounds." Ganshin looked to side, at a man with a black beard and a head full of hair.
This wasn't Father Joseph. It had to be someone different.
And yet, the similarities were there. Sure, this could be his son, or maybe him from a few decades ago. But this wasn't the same man that Jake talked with last night.
"Ah! There must be a few who are confused to how l look." Father Joseph smiled. He then shook his head.
"This is not something that you should concern with though. Let us think of this as a simple gift that god has given me. A blessing that all of you might receive as long as you complete today's task to perfection." Father Jospeh said.
Everyone looked at each other, and then back at Father Joseph. If the reward for this was the ability to beat Father Time, then who the hell wouldn't want to risk it all?
"Well. Now that everyone is awake, we must make haste. The light that you see right now is the most that you can expect. The Evil God has made sure that the sun will not shine in the Evil Lands. But even this light weakens the evil beasts significantly."
"First, we must enter the Holy Grounds. But when we do, we will all be in a difficult situation. The Holy Grounds are like a separate realm of their own. That means that return stones do not work over there."
Jake was a little surprised. The last day, he regretted not taking the return stone with him, and yet, it seemed like even bringing it wouldn't do him any good?
Another thing seemed to catch his ears. A separate realm? Like the secret realm that Jake went into? But didn't that mean that they would be stuck within the realm for seven days until they found the exit?
Jake had a time limit to his quest. He couldn't afford to spend all of his time in the secret realm. He had to give a generous two days to return to the adventurer's guild.
"Now then, it will take some time for me to open the Holy Grounds. But when the realm does open, there will be many problems. The Holy Grounds is a space that was tainted by the presence of a devilish rock. Before any damage could be done to the world outside, Saint Ester sealed himself and the holy grounds."
"When we open the holy grounds, the evil that is within will also be released, and many, many beasts of terrifying power will be attracted by this evil energy. They will come here from miles and miles away. We will have little time in our hands to find the true cause of the evil."
"After we find the devilish rock, we must make sure that it is purified and put away. Every single priest and priestess will work with me on this." Father Jospeh said.
His instructions after this were clear and precise. They had to go in and come out as swiftly as possible.
The worry about the exit was unfounded. There would only be one entrance and exit to the holy grounds, and it was going to be perpetually open.
"Now, I have to find the goddamn rock and have it purified." Jake thought to himself.
"And, yes. Everyone will be suppressed to the first tier as we enter the realm, so please be prepared for that."
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