There was a lot of work to do.

Finding the temple was a stroke of luck, one of which I intended to use to the fullest. With a last scan through the room, I decided to head to the stairs and back up in the upper chamber. 

With every step I took toward the hole at the end of the stairs, the atmosphere became brighter and brighter.

’Damn darkness... Next time I'll bring a flashlight with me... Haaa... I wish... Maybe a torch?’

Initially, I intended to use the fallen rocks, putting all of them together to create some kind of footstep for me but I got a better idea. While testing to discover the ring’s limitations, I actually stored the whole table and the chest. Testing further it was revealed that I could not bring stuff back if there was not enough space for it.

Taking it out, I managed to climb back but something was not right. The place was too bright. Much brighter than I remembered. 

’What in the world...’

Driven by my curiosity, I stepped out of the room through the hole in the wall, followed the path I used to get there and out in the main courtyard.

The next few minutes were spent just looking at the sky with what I could describe as one of the most shocked and confused expression I ever had on my face. Not that I could see my face but it felt exactly like that. 

” The hell is wrong with this world? Another... sun? A yellow one this time? Damn, this world really likes to make fun of me... ” 

I could not even bring myself to think about how to regard this one. Was it as dangerous as the red one? The whole situation made less and less sense—

’Wait, no... The stars also disappeared... And the brightness... Holy crap!’

Was that the actual day and the whole red sun was actually another moon... Actually, yes. Why wouldn't have this world two moons? 

’Wait, wait, wait, wait... World, is this all? Is there something else? Do you plan to prank me even further?’

Or was it the Holy Tree? That thing liked to plank me waaaay too much...

Whatever, the conclusion: two moons, one sun. One relatively harmless blue moon, one bad and dangerous red moon, and a still questionable yellow sun. The latest needed more research. 

I honestly hoped for it to be harmless and frankly the last one... I could live without a fourth ghostly green one just fine. I also hoped that I didn't just jinx myself right there. Though the only option I had was to wait for a complete cycle. To wait until the blue one would reappear. 

*sigh*

” I'm not paid enough for this shit... ” And no. This world containing magic was starting to not be worth enough to deal with all of the shit alone.

’Focus, focus... The hole in the wall... the surroundings... the monsters... I'll die if I don't do something about it... Get you ass together and do the job me.’

.

.

.

I started to collect rocks and carry them to the hole in the wall. It was hard work, though, that changed when I realized that I could simply store them in the ring and take them out right next to the wall. The mana loss would regenerate on its own over time. Some of the losses during the experimenting process were already regenerated so I was sure of it. 

After that, the process became much easier. I managed to fill the hole in the wall in no time. 

Next on the list was the door, or to be more explicit, everything around the door. I needed to clean all the trash and stuff around it to make it open to some extent. 

As for the hole in the roof... there was not much I could do about it. I didn't see any monsters capable of flying; at least not yet, but I was good enough. If I was proved to be wrong, I would rest in the room at the end of the stairs and that was it. 

After the job was mainly done, I decided to take a stroll outside and explore the rest of the temple and the courtyard. In the end, there was not much to see so I climbed a taller tree to oversee the surroundings. 

It paid off the effort. I could see quite a bit of the forest and the rest of the hill’s surroundings. I could see what looked like the plains from where I came from and the mountains in the distance. 

The mountain chain was huge. Actually, it was not just huge, it was HUGE. To the point that I could not even see the peak since it was way above the level of the clouds. 

If this world had dragons, I could bet my three silver coins that they were right on top of that—

’Wait... Is that a river? Ohhh, yeaaah... That's how it should be! That's a freaking river... And not too far from here... Good job, Holy Tree. I'll be your faithful believer from now on. Two sacks of fertilizer from me if we'll meet in the future...’

But as the saying was going— everything that seemed too good to be true, probably wasn't— I also spotted what likely was a group of little green and ugly fellows which I started to despise the more contact I had with them. 

’What the fuck are they doing there? Yellow sun, are you betraying me? You are, you little shit... And I started to have some faith in you... Bad sun.’

” Soooo... these guys are roaming the forest day and night, huh. Well, damn... ”

At least there didn't seem to be as many compared with the red moon. I just needed to be more careful and to stay the hell out of the forest when the red moon was us. Preferably in the new base.

 With the new goal set, my first move was to get down and search for new crafting materials. I could not live without water. I had to make the trip no matter what but I couldn't if I was unarmed. 

With the goblins roaming around pretty much everywhere and all the time, that was too dangerous. 

In the end, I was still stuck with sticks, rocks, and vines as always. And probably what could be of use from the temple. 

The final result: 

[Crude wooden spear] x3

[Crude rock club] x2

I decided to make more of them. With the new ability to store them and also take them out at will, there was no reason to not do so. I could not use mana for anything else... yet.

As for the piece of resistance...

[Crude rusty metal spear]

• [Spear type weapon of the lowest grade.]
• [High-Amateur grade]

That was my masterpiece. I was lucky enough to find a sharp piece of metal in one of the rooms and use it as a spearhead. 

I failed quite a bit until I made a cut in the spear shaft’s end, shoved the piece of metal in between, and tied up tightly with more vines. It was not as easy as it sounded, not without the right tools.

It did not matter that the system named it [Crude rusty metal spear]. That was the best one I could get in the current situation. The other three were mostly like the last one but I put a little bit more effort into sharpening them. 

As for clubs, I failed to make a metal one. There was no suitable piece of metal and on top of it, that wasn't really necessary either. For a blunt weapon, the rock head was good enough. 

As for a knife... It was just a petty dream. Unless I found one around there was no way to make one myself. 

” Good. Let's get going... I started to get quite thirty anyway. I hope that the river won't run away from me or something... ”

’Seriously, don't. Don't fucking run away from me.’

With this world throwing new shit at me constantly, I was starting to believe that nothing was impossible... Why not a running river? 

.

.

.

With caution, I started the little expedition toward the river. It was quite anticlimactic after all the preparations. I did not regret them though... I had to go back as well. There was no say in what would happen on the way back.

As for the river, the water seemed clean and without signs of contamination. It was ideal to boil it but unfortunately, there was no way to do that at the moment. 

I also wanted a bottle of two to take some water back to the temple. I could not make the trip whenever I got thirsty. 

’Actually... I don't even know how I look anymore.’ Being chased by monsters all night didn't give me to worry about such small problems.

Maybe it was better like that. All the agitation distracted me from the... issue.

*sigh*

” Still, I want at least to know how I look. Now or never... ” Making my resolve, I searched for a portion of the river where the water was clearer and smoother and approached it quietly with small steps. 

Whatever the future was, I had no choice but to accept it. I was still myself. No matter what changes my body had gone through I could still make it further as it was. 

Outside of the marriage stuff and the interaction with the opposite sex, there was not much of a difference... At least that was what I hoped. 

’Funny enough, I'm actually living at a temple... I'm basically a monk... Yeah, probably not.’

Getting closer to the water I finally got the chance to take a peek at my reflection. The quality could not be compared with a real mirror but was good enough.

” As expected for an elf. At least the myth about their beauty is not a lie. ”

What I was in the water was a well-proportioned face with smooth skin, a small nose, and pink little lips staring back at me. The deep and radiant green eyes were matching perfectly with the almost surreal image and the rest of the facial features. 

They were also matching with the rest of the forest greens that were reflected in the water around me. It was somehow like an assortment... Like I was an accessory for the forest itself. 

If not for the long ears peeking out of my long silver hair, the image would be just that of a beautiful young girl and nothing more. 

I did not complain one bit. Maybe these features would cause me problems in the future, but at that moment I did not give a damn about it. If I was to be turned into a woman, at least I wanted to be a beautiful one. 

’Fuck the hypocrisy! I want to be the most beautiful one... And everyone else to be ugly as shit... Yeah, and to laugh at them all, ugly bastards.’

” Haaaaa... Venting is sooo damn good! ”

Damn, I wanted to see my silver hair glittering with droplets of water slowly flowing through it. That would have made the perfect elf-like image.