“To think a dragon would be a gourmet,” Ashley said, her eyes landing on Vur. “Well, when you already have everything else, eating good food isn’t a bad reason to live.” She nodded and walked up to Vur. “If you’re willing to help the lords defeat the Oebu Sin, I’ll introduce you to the leader of the Gluttonous Gourmets.”

Before Vur could respond, Lindyss cleared her throat. “And why would he need an introduction?”

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Not just anyone is allowed to join the Gluttonous Gourmets. The foods they sample are usually limited in number; extinct animals, spices that require thousands of years to grow, luxury goods monopolized by certain groups. Without a recommendation or introduction, they won’t even consider accepting Vur.”

“Is that so?” Lindyss asked, a small smile appearing on her face. “I’m sure there are ways of joining that won’t involve Vur making such a huge commitment. Stopping an apocalypse for the price of a mere introduction, don’t you feel dirty for lowballing us?” She turned her head to the side. “What do you think…?” The cursed elf blinked, her gaze shifting onto Tafel. “Where’d Vur go?”

Tafel blinked as well before turning her head to the side. Vur wasn’t where he had been just a few seconds ago.

“He went that way,” Miranda said in a small voice, pointing at a corridor leading deeper into the temple. “I saw him sniff the air, so maybe he smelled something good? He did seem pretty hungry thanks to all the food talk.”

A loud bang came from the corridor, and an amber light shone from everyone’s root bracelet at the same time—except for Ashley. Tafel furrowed her brow and raised her left arm, bringing her wrist closer to her face. “We cleared the temple’s trial and, by extension, passed the admission exam?”

Kim Hajun grunted while staring down at his wrist. “And we have six hours to gather our things before we’ll be removed from the exam region.”

Lindyss’ root bracelet flashed with an amber light, and a small dagger appeared in her left hand. “What did you guys receive as a reward? I got a dagger.”

“I got a dagger too,” Tafel said as a small weapon appeared in her hand as well.

“Same.”

A chorus of voices expressing the same sentiment rang out. Everyone had received a dagger for clearing the trial. Jeffery stared down at the weapon in his hand with a blank expression. Since he had passed the exam, he couldn’t enter it any longer as a wilderness guide. He could continue to reside on the first floor, but without a source of income, wasn’t he screwed?

Footsteps rang out from the corridor, and Vur’s figure came into view. He ignored everyone’s gaze and went over to Tafel’s side before handing her an orb. “I found the hidden piece, but when I broke the thing to get it, the tower said I cleared the trial.”

“Yeah, we know,” Tafel said and shifted her gaze onto the orb Vur had given her. “We got a notification, and all of us got daggers as a reward for clearing it.” Tafel narrowed her eyes at the orb. “Intuition. With intuition, you can predict your opponent’s next attack.”

Vur blinked. “All of you got daggers?” he asked, glancing around the room. “I got a javelin.” His root bracelet lit up, and a massive pillar appeared in front of him, breaking the ceiling and floor of the temple. “I think it’s dragon-sized.”

“It certainly looks dragon-sized,” Tafel said, staring up at the cracks spreading along the ceiling.

“You received the main reward,” Kim Hajun said. “The tower awards things based on contribution points when it comes to completing tasks. Since you completed the trial while we stood around, the bulk of the reward went to you.” A furrow appeared on Kim Hajun’s brow. “Do dragons even use weapons? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one use them before.”

“Some dragons wear specially customized talons,” Ashley said, wiggling her fingers. “That’s the closest thing I’ve seen. People create weapons to achieve things their bodies can’t, and dragons usually don’t have problems doing things they want with what they already have.”

Vur patted the pillar, which was the shaft of the massive javelin he had been awarded, and it vanished as his root bracelet flashed amber. A chunk of ceiling fell to the floor, nearly landing on Tafel’s foot, but Vur pulled her to his side before it could. With the demon in his embrace, he turned his head towards Kim Hajun. “How many temples are left? Can we find them in six hours?”

Kim Hajun rubbed his chin. “There are only two lords’ temples we haven’t raided yet: the Earth Lord and the Water Lord. You already know how vast each region is. If you fly at the same pace you’ve been traveling, there should be enough time to reach one of the temples and find its hidden piece.” Kim Hajun’s eyes shifted onto Tafel. “Of course, time doesn’t seem to weigh down as heavily on your group….”

“I can’t cast haste on Vur for too long,” Tafel said and shook her head. “It takes up a lot of mana.” She leaned her head back onto Vur’s shoulder and bit her lower lip as her eyes narrowed. “If we split up, we should be able to reach both temples, right?”

“You really want those skills, huh?” Lindyss asked.

“Of course!” Tafel said, lifting her head up. “We’ve already collected so many. It’d feel wrong to miss out on one or two of them. I’m not even a perfectionist, but the thought of not collecting them all makes me a little anxious.”

“We’ll make it,” Vur said and released Tafel. He tilted his head from side to side, cracking his neck multiple times. “I’ll fly faster.”

“Is that something you can do just by saying it?” Ashley asked, raising an eyebrow.

Vur gave Ashley a look that suggested she had some empty space inside her head. “No,” he said. “It’s something I can do by flapping my wings faster.”