Avan was still making his way out of the woods towards the direction of the Oracle’s light. He wondered how much farther it was going to take to the temple and hoped that he was not going to get lost. If he missed the chance to gain entry into the temple, who knows how long it would be before he would get the opportunity again. Though, if he heard from his sources right, following the Chosen would lead him to other ancient ruins where he would have further access to. With a small rush of excitement at that thought, he continued forward with renewed motivation. 

However, rustling in the bushes ahead of him caused him to halt in his tracks, and Avan reached down to the hilt of his weapon, a one-handed staff with ornate jewels embedded at the head of the weapon. “Who’s there?” he said, narrowing his eyes as he took on a readied stance. A howl answered back as well as the sound of pawpads making their way towards him. “Shoot, monsters?” Avan cursed, fully drawing his staff in front of him as soon as a white and green beast suddenly jumped out of the thick patch of bramble. It made a pathetic-sounding noise, a frightened whine, and rushed over to Avan’s side. 

“H-Hey, what are you…?” Avan muttered, looking dumbfounded at the beast’s scared whimpers. Not a threat. It was canine in appearance, but it was [i]way[/i] larger than an ordinary dog. At least as large as a pony. Plus, it’s ears were enormous, reminding Avan of a rabbit. “Ah, s-stop that!” Avan finally snapped as he felt the beast press its flank against him, pushing him forward. Though moments later, a couple of monsters sprang from the bramble the white and green beast emerged from as well. His eyes widened at the undead corpses, one resembling a skeleton and the other a zombie. 

“Jeez, what a pain. Hey, move back unless you want to get caught in this.” Avan said to the beast, pushing it back in return. Surprisingly, it understood him and darted back a few meters, hiding behind a tree. Avan ducked as the skeleton holding a sword swiped at him, its movements slightly faster than the the zombie trailing behind it. The terrain was somewhat narrow, surrounded by trees and bushes, so there was not enough room for Avan to run around. However, he used the trees around him for cover, ducking behind them when the skeleton continued to swipe its sword at him and dodging the zombie’s acidic vomit. 

[i]Damn, this thing isn’t leaving me much room to cast…[/i] Avan thought as he clicked his tongue in frustration at the skeleton. The clattering sound of its mouth and joints sent shivers throughout his body, but he forced himself to move once the blade missed his head. The blade lodged itself on the trunk of the tree and that gave Avan enough time to finally cast. 

The red orb near the base of the head of the staff then began to glow and a faint red circle appeared under his feet. He uttered an incantation for four seconds and then flung his arm forward at the skeleton, shouting, “Fire Ball!” at the end of his spell. The skeleton managed to pull free, but it was then rammed with three medium-sized fire balls, causing it to collapse in a heap but not quite defeated. Though, before Avan could cast another spell to finish it off, he quickly jumped back to avoid the zombie’s arm swipe when it was close to him.

Avan positioned himself quickly, giving enough space between him and the zombie to be able to cast again. The skeleton was recovering, managing to get on its knees at least and reaching for its sword. Avan readied himself again, summoning up his mana and focusing on the offense. This time, the magic circle at his feet glowed brighter than the first, red in color and slightly larger. Casting was going to take just slightly longer than his initial Fire Ball, but it was stronger and hopefully enough to down these two monsters. His incantation took him six seconds, the monsters closing in the gap, but Avan managed to unleash the spell in time as he thrust his staff in hand above his head.

“Eruption!”

The ground underneath the corpses suddenly erupted with fire, burning them and sending them high into the air. The flames then faded away and the monsters crashed onto the earth, motionless. Having this small victory, Avan let out a deep sigh and slumped against the nearest tree, closing his blue eyes for a few seconds. He did not often use mid-level spell that often, but he figured it would do the job as multiple novice-level spells would faster and be just as taxing. “A little break, then I’ll continue on...eh?!” Avan’s eyes shot open when he felt something wet swipe across his face. The white and green canine was in front of him again, barking in appreciation as it nuzzled Avan’s arm. Its ears twitched and it howled in a playful manner, its face looked like it was smiling at him.

“Ah...you’re welcome, I guess?” Avan said, putting his staff back at his waist and reached to pet the creature. Even though it looked nothing like a dog, but it sure did behave like one. It hummed when Avan scratched it behind an ear, but then whined when the Half-Elf pulled away from it. “Well, I’ll be heading off now to the temple. Don’t get into trouble with monsters again.” He said and began to head toward the Oracle’s light again.

[i]Bark! Bark![/i]

“Huh?” Avan then turned to look to his left, seeing the canine again and barking frantically at him. It gestured for him to follow. He gave a skeptical look, but then gave in when the canine came and grabbed hold of his shirt sleeve in its mouth, tugging Avan in its intended direction. “Do...you happen to know the way to the Martel Temple?” the canine whined, still holding onto him. “And I’m talking to a dog...fine, lead the way.” It finally released him when it knew Avan was following and led him out of the forest to open plains. A dirt path was in front of him and some distance away at the end of the path was the light, shining up into the sky from the Martel Temple. The canine barked happily, still remaining by Avan’s side as he moved to walk down the path toward the temple.