double pov

The sanctuary (8)

"A Once again I almost died"

Despite Gall's diversion, several skeletons pursued me relentlessly through the forest.

The sound of their rattling bones still echoes in my ears, like a macabre symphony that refuses to stop.

Admittedly, I'm much faster than them, but it seems that fatigue isn't in their vocabulary. Losing them was a real pain.

Fortunately, I managed to outrun them by crossing a river. The water currents carried away the skeletons, allowing me to escape. Soaked but alive, I kept running until I found a cave.

After carefully checking that no monsters were hiding there, I decided to rest.

"At last I can rest peacefully," I sighed, feeling an immense relief wash over me.

Just as I was about to lie down comfortably on the floor, a slight tremor occurred, followed by a sharp sting.

"Ouch !" I cried, rising abruptly to discover the source of the pain.

To my surprise, I saw a sign stuck in the ground. As I approached, I recognized the symbol of the sanctuary.

I slowly approached the sign, reading the engraved words with apprehension:

"Due to the fact that you are very far from the stone you must protect, the shrine gives you one week to retrieve it."

"Why ?" said I after reading the warning.

Just why ? Since the beginning of this ordeal, I haven't had a single moment's respite.

I haven't even had a chance to eat something to get rid of the mushroom taste stuck on my tongue. My stomach is screaming and my head is heavy with mental fatigue.

I sit down heavily on the floor, feeling exhaustion wash over me.

"Just an hour, no, just ten minutes would be more than enough for me."

I knew it was a bad idea to hand over the core to those orcs, but what do you expect me to do ? At that moment, I had no choice.

"No, that's not the mentality to adopt,"

I should have known from the start that this world is ruthless. After all, I was part of its creation before I was reincarnated into it.

I took a deep breath, trying to gather my strength. It was no longer just a matter of recovering the stone, but of surviving in this cruel world we'd designed.

"I must remain strong," I murmured to give myself courage. "I must survive."

With renewed determination, I prepared to leave the cave. The shrine had given me a week to retrieve the stone. It was both a curse and a blessing. Time was short, but at least I had a deadline.

However, there was one major problem.

"Where is the stone ?"

I stood there, planted like a tree at the entrance to the cave. After forcing myself to build a mind of steel, here I found myself blocked in my tracks.

"It's hopeless," I muttered as I fell to my knees on the ground, despair overwhelming me.

Just as I was about to give up, I remembered the bag Gall had given me before we parted. A glimmer of hope sprang up inside me.

Taking it out of my storage space, I hurriedly opened it to discover its contents.

"At last!" I exclaimed with relief.

Inside, I found two daggers slightly larger than normal, no doubt because they belonged to an orc.

They were adorned with intricate engravings and looked fearsomely sharp. Wielding them, I felt a surge of confidence.