World Online

"What did you just do? Shouldn't the second round be choosing between the two options? Why did you flip the coin a third time?" Ganshin asked.

"The second option got two turns. That isn't fair, and it makes sense to go by predetermined rules. I guess right now, we have to do this again. Choosing between three different routes completely randomly is a little tough, actually." Jake said.

"What if we had a multiple to three to go by. What if we had a die?" Ganshin proposed.

"Do you have one? A die, I mean. I don't usually go carrying one around." Jake said.

"Ah. Why would you need to carry a die around, when you can just make it." Ganshin chuckled.

He bent down to the ground and picked up a fistful of dirt.

Then, he started clenching his fist, compressing that dirt all into one small ball. As he opened it, Jake's eyes popped open when he took a look at the surprisingly smooth and rock like ball.

Two thin and gleaming lights suddenly appeared.

The ball changed. It was in the shape of a cube.

Jake could see, in the corner of his eye, that Ganshin's sword was slightly ajar. He just used it.

"Damn this. How strong is he?" Jake felt a sweat behind his back. This man was someone that he couldn't afford to offend.

Ganshin tapped on one of the sides, and the side suddenly had one dot. He started turning the die, and slowly, each side started getting forming.

Within a few more seconds, the die was ready. A rock like die that looked nothing like a normal die, but was certainly a die.

If Ganshin wasn't here, Jake was sure that he couldn't do what Ganshin did.

"I hope that the gods bless me like they did you. But I can't rely on that. Here, the die is yours to roll." Ganshin handed the die over to Jake.

Jake solemnly nodded.

"I am not completely confident if what I am doing is right, Sword master. Until now, I might has well have just been insanely lucky, Who knows when it will run dry?"

"It has worked so far. That is a better track record than what I have. Go ahead." Ganshin shook his head and chuckled.

Jake sighed as he looked at all the paths that laid before him, numbering them one to three, left to right. He then crouched down to the ground and rolled the die.

The rock die started rolling on the ground, spinning a few times, before coming to a total halt in front of Ganshin's feet.

"Four. What do we do for four? The left entry?"

"That is right. We go left. Into the Labyrinth. Either the gods are telling us that this is the final path that we must take, or the labyrinth has just been playing with me so far." Jake said.

p "Never underestimate the gods. They will always be there to help you when you need that help the most." Ganshin said.

Jake gulped nervously as he willed his heart to ask the next question.

"Umm… you were from this place before, right? You were here before. You knew the church, you knew the way, and you seem to have been in this holy ground before." Jake asked.

"Yes, that is right." Ganshin nodded.

Clearly, he wasn't offended by what Jake said.

"But the place, it was taken over almost fifty years ago. And for you to clearly remember every thing, you must have been at least seven, eight years old. But you don't look fifty eight years old."

"Ah! That? You have seen Father Joseph's glow up, haven't you? Mine is a little similar to that." Ganshin said.

All of a sudden, his face seemed to fall down. He was reminded by something that wasn't so nice to think about.

"I knew that I shouldn't have asked him about it. But damn, that question has just been plaguing me too much." Jake thought.

"I was there." Ganshin broke the awkward silence that had settled in.

"The day that the evil lands were about to invade us, I was there." He said.

"When all hell broke lose, and demons from the depths of hell, evil beasts so terrifying that even the strongest city guards were falling like ants, I was right in this place. In the holy grounds, sitting right next to Saint Ester, listening to what he was saying." As Ganshin was speaking, his eyes were a little moist, as if thinking about something.

"You were here, next to Saint ester when that happened?" Jake was surprised.

"This place here, it fell because of me. In a moment of weakness, he decided to protect me instead of doing what was necessary. He should have let me go and protected all the other thousands that needed him. Instead, he sent me away, and in that split decision, he lost his life." His voice started breaking up.

Jake didn't interrupt. He didn't dare. This was also something important, something that could be some useful information maybe, as the quest progressed.

"I will regret it to this day. That is why I must at least let him rest in peace."

Jake nodded, but his eyes went past Ganshin as they locked on to what laid ahead of them.

The path stopped. It wasn't a dead end though. It was a door, an opening. Very similar to the one that led into the labyrinth in the first place.

Ganshin saw this too, and his sword was unsheathed.

Jake didn't have time to marvel at the sword that Ganshin took out, but a single glance told him that it was an Epic Grade weapon, very much similar to the other equipment that he was using.

"Get ready. I can sense them. Those vile beasts."

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