*pants* *pants* *pants* *sighs*

Melianne was panting and heaved a sigh of relief from all the events that happened till this point. Meanwhile, Lucas was still fine and acted as if nothing tiring happened. After he put down Melianne, he started observing his surroundings.

The area they were in looks like a majestic palace. The outside actually looks as if the temple was just a run-down temple but when you see the inside, the view is beautiful. Inside the gate, there were copper-colored pillars standing straight and tall, supporting the temple.

Strange symbols were sculpted around the bottom and top of the pillars. ‘Maybe they are some sort of ancient language?’ Lucas thought to himself. They then opened the huge double door, noises were generated from the cranking door.

The darkness inside the palace was greeted by the rays of light from the opening doors. Once they both reached inside, the doors automatically slammed shut, leaving both of them in the dark. Followed with it was the lighting of the torches at the hall they were in.

“Woah! That scared me…This place is giving me the creeps.” Melianne shouted in surprise as she quickly looked around to see what was happening. Once they reached the other end of the hall, they saw a corpse sitting on a mat.

It seems like the corpse was quite old when it was still alive. Lucas planned to not touch it as a show of respect to the dead when suddenly…

The eye sockets of the corpse suddenly lit up with light blue fire and a screaming voice appeared out of nowhere. “BOO!!”

Lucas jumped as he was frightened to death while Melianne shouted in horror. Even though he was already quite powerful, the jumpscare still scared him as it was unpredictable and he did not expect the corpse to be still alive

“Hahahaha! I got ya there did you?” A raspy and loud voice of a man was heard by both of them as they heaved a sigh of relief.

“Who are you and what are you!?” Melianne shouted as she screamed at the laughing ghost.. She was pissed so she punched the skeleton, but did not expect a painful resistance. *Clang!*

A metallic sound was produced from her fist as she yelped in pain, shaking her hands to alleviate the pain she was feeling. The ghost continued laughing at her antics, and Lucas used his powers against him out of curiosity..

He used his << Atomic Vision >> ability to scan the ghost, and saw something different than usual. He can see that the particles were as small as an atom, yet it was not an atom but a different material. He could see that the particle and the energy it was generating was like see-through plastic.

“Hmm, so this is what a soul looks like huh.” Lucas said as he pondered while his gaze was on the soul.

The soul shivered as he saw the piercing and dangerous gaze of Lucas through him. “Woah, woah there, boy! Calm yourself, you are probably killing me inside your mind right now ain’t you?”

“*coughs* Now as I was saying, I assume you’re the new owner of this small realm?” 

“Wait, you can own this place? I am not the owner of this gem yet. Just who are you anyway?”

“Oh, I’m the previous owner of this place. Like the one who used to own this place before the previous owner. You see, the thing is that I am stuck here. The previous owner was quite stupid and a know-it-all, just like a frog at the bottom of the well. He wasn’t listening to what I was saying so here I am waiting for the right owner to release me from all of this suffering.”

“Just how are we going to release you then?” Melianne asked along.

“You just need to bring this temple to the outside world. But as of now, I can see that you are still quite weak, and don't have that much attainment to the void. For now you should probably comprehend it, then you can release me.”

“So, what is your use then? I guess you have a lot of knowledge in regards to cultivation and stuff like that, do you?” Lucas asked him.

“Oh I sure do, boyo! Just that, I am not sure if my knowledge is up ta date. Ya see, I’m really old, ya know, like thousands of millennia old.”

“Well since that’s the case, can you tell me how I can own this place and get out of it?”

“Simple, you just need to pass the tests of this small realm and you’ll be the owner in no time. You will see an orb on the pedestal at my back, if you can’t see it. I can’t move my body after all so you’re gonna have to use your eyes for a bit.”

Lucas moved close to the orb and placed his hand on top of it while Melianne just stood to the side, ready to take action in case some weird stuff happened.

He focused his mind, emptying it until he finally felt a pulling sensation. He opened his eyes and all he could see was darkness. Now after a while of waiting, a figure of a monster emerged from the darkness. It was like a zombie, lunging towards Lucas with unbelievable speeds.

Lucas quickly dodged and punched, realizing that all his strength was gone and he could not use his abilities. His punch passed through the figure, yet the figure could touch him physically, clawing on him and sending him flying.

*grunts*

Lucas stood up and tried all sorts of tricks to defeat the figure, like imagining his powers into reality, trying to chant his powers, anything and everything he tried to no avail.

He was getting beat up and clawed by the zombie-like figure, giving him deep gashes. Lucas was in pain and totally confused about what to do. 

He could feel that he was on the verge of death, yet he did not give up without putting up a fight, his will to fight becoming stronger by the second.

He could finally feel his strength coming back to him, and he punched, obliterating the entire existence of the figure. He was panting as he could finally feel his consciousness back at the small realm.

When he opened his eyes, he could see a face filled with worry looking down at him. He felt that his head was on Melianne’s lap, and he could feel the softness of her thighs. “Just how long are you going to rest on my lap huh?”

Melianne said in a demanding tone. Lucas pulled his body up, sitting alongside Melianne and asked her what happened. “Your body suddenly fell down. You really worried me there, you know!”

Lucas laughs for a bit, and he could feel a weird sensation. He feels as if he could sense every inch of this small realm, from an ant to a big creature. It was literally filled with different kinds of creatures in the forest which is surrounding the temple..

“Now that I am the owner of this place, it’s time that we get out of here.” Lucas said to Melianne.

“Now, now, don’t forget your favor to me, after all you wouldn’t be able to get out of here without my guidance.”

“*chuckles* You don’t need to worry about that, uhh..”

“This old man’s name is Vermos. Make sure to remember that.”

“Yeah, yeah, old man Vermos. Don’t worry about it, I’m a grateful person, and I will pay you back in due time. Surely you can handle a little bit more of waiting, right?”

“Don’t worry about it. I will just hibernate once more until you need me or free me from this place.”

Lucas nodded as he looked at Melianne and imagined both of them going out of the small realm. A black vortex slowly spun and grew, enveloping the both of them and making them disappear from space.