It didn't take more than a thought to make me move again towards the ruins. I needed a place to stay and rest and everything was better than the forest. 

I arrived at what looked like the outer wall or to be more precise, what was left of it, in less than twenty minutes. It was mostly destroyed or decayed to the point that it was barely recognizable. Just a bunch of rocks surrounding the whole place. 

Stepping past it and looking further, it was clear that the structure was abandoned for a long time. At least the main building was still standing somehow. 

 Vegetation reclaimed most of what should have been the main courtyard, some trees scattered around, grass growing in between what looked like a pavement made from huge rock slices. Mostly, what would happen with anything abandoned long enough. 

’Creepy or not, it's still better than back there.’ I hardened my resolve once again and followed the rocky path to the main building. 

Looking closely, even that was so ruined that it had a lot of holes in the outer walls and seemed to miss a good chunk of the roof as well. At least, the structure was made mainly from roks and other such materials. 

The place gave me a temple vibe of some sort so I decided to refer to it as such. It was still too little for a proper castle but too complex to be a random building. Not to mention that it was in the middle of the forest.

” What in the world am I doing here...? ” I shook my head from the useless thoughts and stepped in. 

The old and creepy building would not bite me. The wolves would pretty much do exactly that if they decided to follow me. 

As expected, a lot of the roof was already destroyed. Just the west part of the structure had some roof still standing so I decided to take a quick look to the east side and let the good one for later. 

I strolled through the building but there was nothing of note besides garbage and fallen rocks. Some of the walls had holes in them, some were completely missing. It made me wonder how the thing was still standing...

Outside of the multitude of small rooms, there was also a big one that resembled a hall of some kind. The walls looked like they were painted at some point but then again, too much time had passed for someone to understand what was their purpose. 

Letting my eyes wander, I could see that in a remote corner was something resembling a destroyed statue. I could not say what it represented but it had a humanoid shape. That was a good sign.

’Lest hope the west wing is in a better condition...’ After all, it still had a roof. There should have been a bit of a difference between a place with a roof and one without. 

I snuck in through what was left of a huge double door. At least the interior was not that bad. There were still holes in the roof and the walls but overall, a lot better than the eastern wing. 

*shriek*  *flap*  *flap* 

The high-pitched noises of the bats sent shivers down to my spine. 

” Of course that a desolate place like this can't miss those little shits... My poor ears. ” I muttered to myself, half expecting some kind of vampire to pop up from somewhere... It would have been fitting for the setting. 

’Better not...’

I looked around the place to see all kinds of rooms and what was left of the furniture it once had. Nothing of interest besides a pair of sturdy-looking doors that remained even after everything else decayed. It was an impressive feat if not for the big hole in the wall next to it. 

I decided to take a peek inside. 

Contrary to my expectations, the room was a big disappointment. Just broken and rotten pieces of furniture. There was also a big hole in the ceiling that aggravated the situation. 

Everything that had some value to this place must have been gone long ago and what was left... 

’Yeah, everything rotten or broken all over the place...’ 

Even so, it must have been an impressive sight in its former days of glory. It was a mystery how much time had passed for it to end in that way.

Distracted by my thoughts, I failed to notice the damaged floor under a significantly bigger hole in the ceiling. When I noticed the crunching sound it made under my feet, it was too late.

” Kyaaaaaa! ”

*Thud* *thud* *Baam*

’Ouch... That was seriously dangerous. I was lucky that the fall wasn't too big.’

Looking up, I could see the place where the floor collapsed with a big hole in it. 

’Maybe two to three meters... More importantly, are those stairs I landed on?’

It could have been worse. Instead of stairs, there could have been some spikes. Like in the stories with old and dangerous temples.

I stood up and looked around. There was not much to see. Pieces of the floor that collapsed with me and the stairs leading... underground?

The place was not too wide and seemed untouched. A wild tough ran through my head and a grin bloomed on my face.

” Maybe not everything is gone from this place. ”

The further I descended, the darker it became but was still manageable... somehow. A perk of being an elf I guessed. At the end of the stairs, I was greeted by another pair of dors. 

” The lock is still on the door. ” My luck seemed to be quite good. ” But how to unlock it? Hmmm... Oh, nevermind... ” Judging by how much time had passed, the lock was as rusty as it could have been. To the point that it barely looked like one anymore. 

I got upstairs and picked a slightly bigger rock to crack the lock with.

After two or three attempts, the lock already crumbled as expected. It was almost sad that I wasted more time pushing the doors open than I needed for the actual lock. 

’If the people who built this place find out about this in their afterlife, I do want to see their facial expressions.’

With an expectant face, i walked in and looked at the symbols that were still bravely resting on the walls even after so much time had passed. The designs were so intriguing and ambiguous they probably would have stirred the interest of everyone looking at them. 

Making my way into the dusty chamber, I found a lot of bookshelves that still contained remnants of old books. My curiosity increased with every step that I took. There was still a bit of suspicion in the back of my head about the whole thing, but I shook it off. There were living, breathing monsters outside, what could a messy ghost do worse than that...

” If not for this damn darkness.  Where is the light? Where are the torches that usually light up when people walk in such places? ”

It seemed that my expectations were a little bit too high...

Strolling through the bookshelves, I discovered that some of the books were in better shape than others. And even had some strange runes like the ones on the walls. 

Taking a closer look, I was stupefied to see that some of them were glowing a little as I was tracing my finger on them. 

” This is ridiculous. This must be some kind of preservation magic, isn't it? This must be magic! ”

*Haa... haha... Hahaha...* 

A loud and uncontrollable laugh escaped from my mouth. If someone happened to see me at that particular moment, I didn't want to know what they could have thought of me.

’No good, no good. This is not how a noble elf should be at all. This is the scary psycho elf way...’ I shook my head while still chuckling a little at that. Even if it was magic, I had to be calm. 

” Pfffee... hehe... Hehehehe... ”

And I lost it again for quite some time. I really couldn't do anything about it. It was goddamn magic after all. It was real. 

”Haaaaa... I really got crazy... ”

It was one thing to just assume its existence even though it was very likely to be true and another thing to actually see it in front of you.

Opening one of the books and taking a look, I could see something resembling strange hieroglyphs but what was even strange was that I was able to read them somehow. 

I assumed that it had to do with that skill regarding the language. The common language one most likely. This place must have been in the Amissi continent after all.

’Good. Good, time to collect all of them. I should gather all of them at the entrance or at least in a single place.’

After some trips from one bookshelf to another and back to the entrance, something else piqued my interest. The poor visibility had made me miss it for quite some time.

Seated in the middle of the chamber was a table with a miniature chest on it. The chair was broken but the table looked like would still stand for some time. But not that was the problem. 

The chest seemed almost new.

” If this is not something important then I don't know what can be. ”

The chest didn't have a lock on it so it was all good. After a contemplating moment, I decided to open it.

On a miniature pedestal inside the chest was the only thing within it. 

” A ring? ”

Pitch black and seemingly unimportant, unremarkable to the point that if it was found on the ground probably nobody would care to take it. 

’Seriously? That is all? Where is my treasure? Where was my chest full of gold coins? I'm being bullied here.’

*sigh*

Nope. I should not judge something based on appearance. I was aware of at least that much. That was the important-looking chest. 

’This ring is most likely a treasure of some sort... Or, those guys wanted to play a prank on whoever discovered this place.’

Making up my mind, I extended my hand to grab the ring but the moment that the hand touched the ring, I felt a sharp pain on my finger. I instantly let go of the ring and even fell on my bottom in surprise.

Looking at my hand, I saw a little bit of blood on my finger and stared at it in amazement for a long time.

” The ring has... And I was... ” I was still not able to believe what just happened. ” Was I bitten by... a ring? ”