Chapter 162

“This one’s working,” Nick said with certainty.Rhea turned to him, a surprised look on her face. “How could you possibly tell? There isn’t a difference in the amount of ambient mana.”

“He’s correct," Elia murmured, staring directly at the dilapidated building. “I sense it as well."

With that settled, they cautiously began to get closer. Nick pushed to the maximum, searching for hidden spots and cracks in what little remained standing.

He found nothing, and that, more than anything else, told him there was something.

The temple wasn’t particularly large. Before its destruction, it wouldn’t have been larger than the Crowley home. There were signs that it once had a secondary building on the side, but it was completely gone except for the foundations.

However, even though he knew that there had to be air below it somewhere, since such destruction couldn’t have left the ground intact, he couldn’t sense it.

It was a peculiar sensation that reminded him of the Compass of Interesting Times. His senses failed to pick up anything, and that void made him certain there had to be at least a basement floor.

“We should look for a latch. I’m pretty sure there is something below us,” he said. Even as he continued to search for any such thing, Nick stared at the few columns that still stood. Carved into the stone were images of a frolicking fox and scenes from villages that welcomed the animal and received gifts after its stay.

Another column showed the town rejecting the fox, which returned disguised as a merchant, promising riches but delivering only tricks and retribution.

It wasn’t like any other temple he’d ever seen. Trickster gods were a thing, sure, but even then, they usually preferred to have their greater deeds narrated in their places of worship.

That realization aside, Nick was surprised to see almost no genuine religious iconography. This was likely more of a community center with a somewhat worshipful feel than an actual temple.

“Why is it called the Messenger’s temple?” Rhea abruptly asked.

Elia blinked, looking away from a collapsed section of the ceiling she was sifting through. “This is where people from different communities came to leave letters or presents they wanted to be sent elsewhere. Beastmen haven’t always gotten along with each other, but there have been contacts and even friendships between the various sub-races and communities. Here, the spirits would take a small payment and bring the goods all the way to the other end of the continent.”

Of course, if the letter was important enough, like in the rare cases where the Royal administration needed something from the Captain, then a dedicated messenger would come. However, this was the first instance since the time he spied on Alexander’s conversation with the Bishop that Nick saw evidence of better methods.

“Huh, so they had dedicated post-mages but in spirit form?” Rhea muttered.

“What’s that?” Nick asked, receiving a huff of laughter in response.

“Sometimes I forget that you guys have only ever been in Floria. Post-mages are an important part of a Magic Tower, which you can find in just about any city worth putting on the map. They send messages and even packets throughout the kingdom to any place with another tower to receive them.”

Before he could ask any more questions, however, he felt Elia pass her hand through something he hadn’t noticed before. A ripple in the air was all he felt, but he felt it nonetheless. “Stop! There is something there.”

The foxgirl froze on her knees with her hand extended, touching a seemingly innocuous part of the stone floor.

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Nick quickly got there, and despite not seeing anything different, his senses kept insisting that Elia was touching something that shouldn’t be there. “Do you feel it? This section doesn’t look different, but the moment you touched it, I sensed something weird.”

She exhaled before closing her eyes. When she opened them again, a familiar fire burned within them. “Yes, I can see it now. This is the temple’s true entrance.”

“Indeed,” a new voice rumbled, and all three jumped back.

Standing just inches from where Elia had knelt was someone. They wore a luxurious white and red robe adorned with images of frolicking foxes, much like those Nick had seen on the columns. Their face was painted so thickly that no defining features could be discerned, except for the swooping red lines that mimicked the markings found on a fox.

“Who are you?!” Rhea yelled in shock, palming a bubbling yellow vial.

“The guardian,” Elia breathed in surprise.

“Indeed,” what Nick was fairly certain was a kitsune spirit repeated.

With a flick of their hand, they revealed a colorful fan adorned with red foxes, alternately baring their teeth and laughing. Despite Nick feeling no air displacement at all, when the spirit moved the fan, its hair stirred as if there had been.

“Welcome to the temple of Heralds, where the messengers of the gods once dwelled.” There was something dangerous in the spirit’s eyes. Nick had yet to feel anything from it, but it took only a moment to allow loose, peering between the layers of reality to reveal its true form.

A massive silver fox stood before them, as large as a thunderhoof, with a long, swishing tail behind it. Its eyes snapped to him, and Nick knew he had been found out.

“Now that is rude. Has no one ever told you you shouldn’t look past someone’s makeup?” The fox asked, its eyes taking on a much more sinister look. “But then again, I wouldn’t expect someone who flaunts the rule of equality so openly to care about politeness.”

Nick grimaced. First contact was going much worse than he had hoped. “I apologize. We’ve been attacked too many times on the way here; I wanted to make sure you were what you appeared to be.”

Elia whirled on him, her eyes still blazing. “This is an Honored Ancestor! Behave!”

Blinking in surprise at her heated tone, Nick took a step back. “Alright, sorry again.”

The fox waved him off with the fan, “Oh, don’t worry so much. It’s not like it was a real prank. I would have shown my true form soon enough anyway, given that this little two-tails wants to take on the Trial of Dedication.”

Elia turned back, bowing lightly, “I do, Honored Ancestor. I have received the blessing of the elders and believe I could serve the gods well.”

The spirit regarded her for a moment with a critical eye before showing real emotion for the first time. It sighed, shoulders slumping in what had to be a very deliberate movement, “It’s not like there is much else to choose from. You are the first one to try to become a Miko this side of the Frozen Range in almost a century.”

“So you will accept me?” Elia asked, almost vibrating in place.

“You will face the trial. If you succeed, it will be because you were the right fit. The gods may no longer have a strong hold on this land, but that is no cause to slacken their requirements.” Was the reply, and Elia nodded firmly in response, clearly having anticipated as much.

Nick was still stuck on this being a real spirit of divine origin. He would have greatly liked to get a better look at it, perhaps even take a few samples… Unfortunately, they needed the spirit to be as cooperative as possible if they wanted Elia to pass, and asking for a lock of hair would have been detrimental.

“Alright, where do we enter?” Elia asked, as fire began licking at her form.

“We?” The spirit asked in amusement. “I suppose you could take the little alchemist with you. She might be useful as a snack if you get stuck between trials. But the boy will stay here with me.”

“Wha—Buh—” Elia sputtered, “Nick is my friend! My best friend! I consider him an equal!”

“Hmmm, so you do.” It replied, “But he’s not, is he? Beyond what the Heavens think of him, he’s already shown you how strong he is. Would you really consider yourself equal to him in power? Would it be a fair trial if you had him there to save you every time you were about to fail, like during your fights with the frenzied beasts on the way here?”

Elia froze, clenching her fists. After a moment, she bowed her head. “No, it wouldn’t.”

The fox nodded, its expression becoming kinder. “I have watched over your journey since you left your hometown, kit. I’ve seen every battle you’ve been through. I know that he’s your dearest friend, and that is why I will still allow you to take part in this trial despite him coming along, but he will not join you.”

That was all well and good, but Nick had almost stopped breathing when it revealed it had been watching them. The way its eyes slid directly to his side, where he held his dagger, told him it had really seen everything.

The one good thing was that he hadn’t performed any ritual during this trip. The dagger might be enough to incriminate him before Sashara’s followers, but he doubted the guardian of a decayed temple cared all that much about how he killed trolls. Still, this showed that he’d been far too careless.

In the meantime, Elia had received instructions on how to enter the subterranean level, which could apparently be accessed through a hidden latch just a few feet away from them.

Nick watched as she and Rhea heaved the stone up, revealing a staircase that plunged into darkness. The girls turned to look at him, evidently hesitant to leave him behind, but Nick smiled, forcing himself to be present for them in this moment. “I believe in you. Any fair trial you are put through will see you come out victorious.”

Elia smiled tentatively before squaring her shoulders and plunging into the dark. Rhea waited a moment before turning to him, “Try not to get killed in the meantime, will you?” With that last cheeky remark, she followed her friend, and the stone panel closed behind them with a final boom.

It was interesting to note that while the door had been open, Nick had finally glimpsed what lay beyond. A series of interconnected chambers, all filled to the brim with what felt like magically charged mist, awaited the girls. Nick didn’t doubt it would be an intense experience, but as long as it was all illusions, he believed it wouldn’t be fatal.

That done, Nick turned to the spirit, which had been patiently waiting for them to say their goodbyes. “Don’t you need to guide them through the trials?” he asked, and the fox shrugged.

“It’s really not that hard to understand what needs to be done. You just solve the problem in front of you and move forward. If she makes it to the end, I will deliver her to her fate.”

Then its eyes took on a much more predatory look, and the neutral air it had cultivated disappeared all at once, leaving behind a suddenly very dangerous being. “Now, shall we talk about what you are doing here, infiltrating the most sacred places, Heretic?”