The Mountain Shrine

They continue their journey through the slopy terrain of the mountain forest, heading to the Raskiel Ancient Shrine. On the way, Oria crafts those rozferul flowers she picked and turns it into a beautiful flower crown.

"Look at this, Faruk!" she showed it to her master.

"Hoh-ho... that certainly is an alluring piece of art. Did you make it yourself?"

"Mm!" she nodded happily. "Here, here! I've made it for you!" she reached the top of the floating iron ball and crowned it with her handcraft.

"H-Hey..." Surprised he is, but he didn't avoid her at all. Now, the Observer ball has a flower decoration on it.

"Heehee. It looks kinda off, though... but oh, well!"

"...*sigh*... please don't stray your focus away from the road, Oria..."

Faruk could only sigh. "(...Her childish personality is showing even greater than before. Even bothering to make a crown from those rozferul flowers... and she gave it to me. I don't need it, to be honest. But... somehow, she looks happy after doing this crafting. *sigh* Whatever. If it made her happy, then it's best I exercise caution not to tear apart her creation.)"

Eventually, Faruk decided to keep the flower crown, although it bothered him.

They journey through the monster-less forest—which, thanks to Faruk's dragon body's [Intimidation] skill—and finally, with Faruk's guidance, they reach somewhere near a bottom of an incredibly high cliff.

"Whoa..." Oria looked up, trying to find the top of the cliff. "A-Are we going to climb...?" she then asked reluctantly.

"After knowing you're not careful when climbing those roots? In your dreams. We're not going anywhere upwards anymore," Faruk stated.

"Phew..." Oria let out a relieved breath, knowing that her fears weren't true.

"Step aside, Oria."

"Eh?"

Oria walks backwards as Faruk approaches the rocky wall of that cliff. Then... The eye of the Observer shines brighter than the sun but flickered quicker than a dying fire. A second later, runes of magic appeared on the cliff wall in front of Faruk. Almost immediately, a small quake shakes the ground, surprising the little girl behind him.

"Uwaaaah! Faruk, earthquake...!" she cried as she nearly lost her balance.

But Faruk does not reply. By the end of Oria's cry, a portion of the cliff split in half, sliding away as it reveals a hidden entrance within the cliff. After the steep rock stops moving, Faruk turns his eye on Oria, who's mesmerized by the sight of what the cliff just revealed to her eyes.

"W-Wow..."

"We are here, Oria. The Ancient Shrine of Raskiel Mountains," he declared.

The double door in the cliff screams ancient all over the place. It is made of white stone, and it has floral decorations and crystal orbs adorning it with a mystique-looking lock protecting the door from being opened. Without further ado, the Silver Dragon approaches the otherworldly-looking lock and say:

"Transfer Mana: Divine Argent."

"Transfer... Mana...? I-Isn't that... h-huh!?"

Before Oria can say anything further, the locking mechanism spins like a cog while the crystal orbs are shining in response to the mana transfer that Faruk did. Few seconds later, the double door creaks open, causing dusts to wake from the ground as it sweeps the floor.

"Come inside, quick. We do not want villagers of Fred find out about this secret shrine."

"U-Uhh, right! I'm coming!"

Oria rushes inside, following the flying Observer from behind. As her legs shuffled into the ancient shrine, the stone door closes, and the tiny seismic waves ensues again, followed by a deafening sound of the split cliffs coming together again and hides the entrance once more.

"Uwah... t-that scared me..." Oria said. Her hand is clutched to her heart as it beats crazily.

"Is it the first time you experience earthquake, hm?" Faruk asked.

"Y-Yes... it's really horrifying when the ground beneath you shakes like that, haha..."

"Well, fortunately for me, I don't feel the small quakes since I'm in this flying ball. And flying doesn't feel earthquakes."

"I-Is that so... it's really good to be able to fly like that..."

"Hmph. Anyway, we're here. I did tell you the name a few times already, but anyway, welcome to the Ancient Shrine of Raskiel Mountains."

Oria looks past the pathway, leading to a large chamber. The white walls have decorations comprised of motifs; the floor might be made of stone, but some are made from pure glass where beneath them reveals a calm flow of bewitchingly luminous blue water. There are twinkles in the water, coming from strange-looking lotuses with white orbs on top of them.

The air is cool and humid. Oria can feel the temperature strikingly different from outside. She can smell an aroma that awfully smells strange. She can see clearly of how high the ceilings above her, despite having no torches or lamp to enlighten the shrine. She cannot fathom of how grand the place she's in right now. It totally awed her, who mostly saw dimly lit mossy prison cells of the slave camp and forests for half of her life.

"..."

"It feels like we're in a different dimension, no?" Faruk asked the awestruck girl.

Oria cannot express her thoughts by word, so she simply nodded.

"Hm. Though it is ancient, the work of water and wind magic prevents this place from being soiled by age. The mana concentration in here is the highest among all places in Raskiel Mountains. It is the perfect place to hone one's magical skills."

"We're going to train magic in a place like this...?" she asked slowly.

"Hm. But the real place for our training is a bit further. So, come!" Faruk hovers ahead of her, leading the way.

"W-Wait for me!"

Faruk leads her through the ancient architecture, where she can see pillars holding the shrine ceilings are lined up beautifully. Finally, they reach some sort of a long trap door that has trims of blue crystal.

"This shrine is dedicated to the Great Hero, who had saved the world, Oria. That hero trained in this shrine through different levels of difficulty. And this door..." Faruk turned to the long trap door beneath him.

"...is the easiest one to accomplish."

"H-Huh..."

"We will journey through a dungeon. Monsters invest the place, so be sure to ready yourself before entering it."

"W-What? Monsters are in there?" she asked in a scared voice.

"Hm. It is, after all, a training course for mages. There are different levels of dungeon in here, but... I suppose you can clear the first level for now."

"Oooh... what if I couldn't finish the training?" she asked, worried.

"You have to. It doesn't take longer than five hours to finish this level. Come on, Oria. Gear up. Bring that brown pouch in the bag, too. ...And most importantly, your weapon and your wand."

"Okay..."

Oria takes her knife, wand, and the brown pouch. Faruk told her to put her bag by the entrance, since it will hinder her in her training. After dropping the bag, she then realizes something.

"...But what if I'm in need of water?"

"Worry not. There's a clean water source that you can drink. ...That is, if you can reach there."

"Erk... oh, I can't hold my knife and my wand at the same time, Faruk... I need both hands to use magic."

"Hm... In that case... I think I remember Dux put some sort of a sheath in the bag. Go check it."

"Sheath?" she asked as she fished through the contents of the bag.

"Yeah, it's something where you put weapons like knives, daggers, and swords."

"O-Oh."

Naturally, after being told that sheath is for knives, daggers, and swords, she immediately searches for an object that looks like a knife. ...And she's right. She found a black sheath fitting for the small knife in her hand. But...

"I can put the knife, but where do I put the sheath? It might fall off if I put it in my pocket... what should I do, Faruk?"

An idea has come to light upon the Silver Dragon.

"Hm. I leave it to you to find out."

"What?"

"Hey, now... You can't rely on me to find answers forever, Oria. For this instance, I want you to solve this riddle of 'where shall you put your knife sheath?'."

"No... uhh..." she looked flustered, feeling helpless to do it on her own.

Faruk looks at his struggling protege, who's trying to find out where's the best place to put the sheathe on her body. Eventually, the Silver Dragon decides to help the pitiful protege of his.

"*sigh* Fine, I give you but one advice."

"Wah?" she smiled widely when she heard that.

"Don't look so happy as if I'm going to tell you the best spot! You're still going to find out on your own!" Faruk thwarted her thoughts of having him help her.

"Nnn..." Oria pouted.

"Anyway... my advice is this: how do you draw your knife to attack immediately?"

"How do I draw my knife...? I usually swing upwards from below... it's the fastest move I have..."

"Hm. And since that's your fastest move, pray, tell, where's the best place to put your knife if not in your pocket?"

"Erm... (the best place where I can take the knife out to attack immediately...) can I give it a try, Faruk?"

Faruk nods, "Go ahead. The training can wait."

"Thank you!"

Oria rushes to the middle of the wide chamber, posing in her knife-wielding stance. She does some practice with the knife-drawing attack, trying to find the best spot for her small knife. She tries drawing her knife from her waist, but it doesn't feel right. She tries again, this time from the hip.

"Oooh... it still doesn't fit right... below, huh...?" she said to herself.

Meanwhile, Faruk is watching her by the entrance of the dungeon. Then, Oria continues practicing. She holds the sheath by her right thigh and tries to draw the knife in a quick strike.

"Woah! T-This is...!"

She found the comfortable spot. But... it still doesn't sit right. So, she tries drawing from her other thigh. And this time...

"This is it... I feel I can attack as quickly as possible from this point..." Oria, with her starry eyes, looked upon Faruk in her biggest smile.

"I found it, Faruk!"

Faruk chuckles as she called him, "Hmph. She CAN actually find her own answer, huh?"

Then... comes the final question for her.

"Umm... how am I going to stick the sheath by my left thigh? There's no rope or anything that can stick it. Faruk, any ideas?" she looked at him with a begging gaze.

Faruk freezes in midair.

"...*sigh*... oh, boy... (I need to be careful not to make her reliant on me...)"