Where am I?
I slowly rubbed my eyes as I tried to get up from the floor.
Hmmm...
It seems that I'm still inside the temple.
But it looks different.
The temple looks like... it is recently built?
Wait...
I felt something on my hand in which when I looked at it, it is an artifact of some sorts.
Oh, no.
I'm hoping that I'm wrong.
Everything seems new. There are no golems and the temple looks beautiful and decorated with all sorts of stuff and flowers.
So many flowers.
I thought they don't believe in gods or heavenly beings?
A quick observation around my surroundings made me realize that this is not a temple for a god. But instead, it is a temple for magical training.
Magical training?
Then I should hide!
But there's nowhere for me to hide!
I silently went towards the exit with no problems at all as the temple is currently empty except for me.
When I got outside, instead of the desert and ruins facing me, several massive towers stood in front of me with all sorts of vegetation and gardens surrounding them.
I was right.
I went back in time.
Stupid artifact!
I was about to smash it on the ground when my common sense kicked me hard.
Oh, yeah.. If I smash it then I'm stuck here.
So the golems are not protecting the temple but this artifact.
It's a good thing that I have a magic bag with me that I placed the artifact inside for safe keeping. I don't know how to use it as it's not glowing anymore and I have a feeling that it might take sometime for me to be able to use it again.
I think it needs a huge amount of magic power to activate it.
Of course, I just can't ask anybody to activate it! And... oh, my goodness.. dozens of creatures are staring at me.
I was so deep in thought that I forgot that I'm a stranger in this current time.
Especially with my clothes.
My clothes looked too revealing as the creatures around me are wearing clothes that covered their entire body. Some even covered their entire head as well, leaving only their eyes uncovered.
Oh, no.
I'm drawing too much attention!
Okay, I should not panic.. I should definitely not panic..
Calm down self.. calm down....
I don't have any cloak with me and I can't just nonchalantly walk around here.
What shall I do?
I'm standing like a dummy while more and more creatures are staring at me and whispering among themselves.
To make it worse, I can't understand whatever they are talking about!
Suddenly, I felt a cloth covering my mouth while my arms are tied up with a magic rope of some sorts.
I won't bite! This cloth is making me gag!
Oh.. I should not make sudden movements or my situation will get worse as they already think I'm dangerous to them.
It's quite funny as all I can do are some basic fighting skills and they are no match if I'm facing magic users.
But I can't blame them though as I looked different from them.
I can recognize some of the creatures based on my knowledge from my fantasy books.
There are aeralfos, which is some sort of a flying humanoid lizard, that are carrying weapons that made me think that they are the warriors or guards of this place.
Besides the aeralfos, there are several sand elementals too, making me surprised as they are known to live in deserts. There are no presence of the desert around, further proving that I went back in time.
Oh, I am in so much trouble right now.
I can hear several loud shrieks in the air in which when I looked up, I saw dozens of rocs flying above me.
Rocs are an enormous bird that looks like somewhere between a hawk and an eagle, with a huge wingspan, razor sharp talons and reptilian teeth.
It didn't take me too long to recognize them as predators.
In fact, most of the creatures that are surrounding me are predators except for several deserters and some neutrals as well.
They are all huge in size, making me realize that I looked like Thumbelina to them.
I'm scared! I'm definitely not a threat to them!
But they acted like I'm a huge threat to them as several guards escorted me as they tried to bring me somewhere.
They walked too fast, making me stumble every now and then that soon, I have all sorts of cuts and bruises on my legs.
They treated me like I'm some sort of an animal, making me realize that they are used to having strangers appearing at the temple.
So, I'm not the first one to go back in time.
That's why there are golems protecting the temple. Or more specifically, the artifact.
So they should destroy the artifact instead! Not protect it!
Or maybe, nobody can destroy it yet.
This artifact is dangerous!
Going back in time is definitely a forbidden magic! Several devastating consequences might result because of it, especially if you inadvertently tampered with an event or something.
Now what should I do?!
I'm in so much danger!
....
I'm a dummy!
It's my fault of picking the stupid artifact up!
Stupid, stupid me!
The guards had placed me inside a cell in an underground dungeon.
Thankfully, they removed the cloth around my mouth except for the magical ropes that binded my arms together.
I can still walk even though it's a bit painful.
Painful because I am walking barefoot as they removed my shoes earlier.
It's a good thing that they didn't remove my clothes but all my jewelry and my bag were taken away.
They really treated me as an animal.
Or a beast to be exact.
As a matter of fact, the cell that I am in right now has no bed or rug.
It seems that I'm sleeping on the ground.
I do hope there's no pests around.
There's a bowl of water at the corner of my cell which I didn't drink at all as the water seems like it's been there for a long time.
And it smelled!
No way I'm drinking it! I'd rather die!
As for the food, I don't want to take a look at it.
It's quite funny to think about it on how they treated me as an animal here compared to how I was treated back in my own time.
But it seems that I went back in time... several millennia I think...
Definitely several millennia based on my observation.
I know that I'm right as some of the creatures that I saw earlier are extinct. I remembered someone from the pack mentioning that a lot of the ancient creatures were wiped out because of too much uncontrolled killing.
A millennia to Lion or especially Leon is not a long time for them so it would make sense that I went back several millennia or eon...
I'm not sure what the correct term for it though..
But yeah, I went back more than thousands of millennia. That's how ancient times are like to them.
The thought is incomprehensible to a human.
Even trying to understand Lion's age is difficult for me.
But like Bubu said, Lion and I have a huge, huge age gap between us that seemed like Lion is a pare...
Oh, gosh!!!!
I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT THAT!
Just thinking about huge age gaps reminded me of a certain memory about Yilan...
OH, GROSS!!!!
....
I don't know how many days that I'm stuck in my cell.
Other prisoners from the other cells come and go except me.
They looked lifeless, as if they resigned already to their fate.
Oh, I definitely do not want to give up yet even though my situation seems hopeless...
Hopeless enough that the water at the corner looks especially inviting...
No.
I rather die than to drink it.
I'm thirsty but the cell I'm in is not hot at all.
In fact it's a bit...
How do I say this?
It's not hot or cold.. it's as if there's no temperature at all.
It took me a bit of time to realize that they are trying to prolong our torture.
Ah.. so that's why the other prisoners looked lifeless.
They are trying to deprive our senses.
Ha!
They should not underestimate me then!
....
I'm hungry and thirsty.
But I'm not that desperate to eat and drink what they placed inside my cell.
My arms though are numb even though they already removed the magical ropes that tied it together.
I know that the isolation is starting to affect me as I can't think about anything else except my basic needs.
Still, I tried to think about everyone, especially Lion as I attempt to cheer myself up by making all sorts of plans for them.
I have no problems with sleeping as I soon got used to sleeping on the ground.
This kind of inconveniences reminded me of the extreme trainings that I had back in my previous world.
Our instructors would scream at us with all sorts of curses and threats as we tried our best to survive the training.
Of course, I was a smart aleck back then that always cursed back with much more colorful curses than them that soon, they began to take note of whatever that comes out of my mouth.
They ended up being my buddies though.
I guessed that they understood that I must be hurting that they always made sure that I won't hurt myself too much during the training since I acted like I have unlimited lives.
Yeah.. I acted like that because I WAS hurting.
I was trying to accept back then that I can't go back in this world.
Despite trying to kill myself plenty of times, I can't go through with it as if something is preventing me from going through with it.
That something is the portrait of a lion that I bought from one of my travels.
Lion...
Where are you...?
It's so hard to be separated from you.
Even though the rest of the pack are precious to me, it's different when it comes to you...
Maybe... I should just give up...
After all, we can meet each other in the afterlife...
But...
I don't think we can meet each other in the afterlife as he has a freaking contract!!!
Wait.
As far as I know, contracts are supposed to end when either of the contractor or contractee dies.
Hold on.
This is making me confused.
I mean, what kind of stupid contract did Lion made? And who is his contractor?
As far as I know, he made a contract before he met me.
Everyone seems to be afraid of mentioning Lion's contract but no one seems to know for sure what kind of contract he made.
I thought having a contract should be secretive? Like Alpha as nobody else knows that he made a contract just to bring me back in this world...
Wait...
I think Lion knows.
Lion definitely knows as it requires a huge amount of magic just to be able to bring me back here. Same with the rest of the pack as they are all well versed with magic.
Huge amount of mag...
Contract...
OH MY GOSH!!!
HOW STUPID OF ME!!!
They freaking made a contract with a demon!!!
...
The other prisoners looked at me with amusement as I began yelling all sorts of extremely colorful profanities, extremely colorful enough that will make the heavens cry.
I can't believe it took me this long to realize it!
I'm a dummy!
I'm such a dummy!
I know for a fact that Lion and Alpha have no idea they made a contract with a demon.
They must think that the contractor is just demanding a steep price as it requires a huge amount of magic in exchange for whatever they ask for.
With Alpha, I can understand why, as nobody else, not even Leon himself can manage to bring me back in this world.
I would be dead for a long time before they can learn how to do it.
So I can understand Alpha's desperation.
Now I wonder what the price is.
As for Lion, I know that he can't decline anything that is demanded from him. Especially when the palace is the one who demands. Like the time when he received several summons.
But...
I'm sure it's not Leon. I don't feel any negative energy from him and he isn't that powerful enough to be able to do that kind of magic. He has limits too.
Although I have suspicions that he has another form. And he also mentioned to me about that so it's not really a secret.
Um.. it's secret. I almost forgot. He told me to keep it a secret.. I think?
Now I'm confused. It's hard if you lived for a long time, especially if you are a human. All those memories jumbled up in your head that I sometimes kept mixing up some memories that I have to think about it for a long time just to make sure that I got it correct.
Now I understand Lion on why it took him a bit of time in thinking about something despite having a great memory.
It's not easy at all!
Oh, wait. Now I'm getting distracted.
Now where was I?
Ah, yes. I'm not suspicious about Leon being the contractor.
Hmmm.. who else is there..
Definitely not the former head of the magic users at the palace as he lost his mind already. If he lost his mind from making some magical trinkets, then he doesn't have an inch of magic that Lion has.
Yilan?
Oh, gosh! Not Yilan again!
But I don't think that he has that kind of power as his background story is a bit suspicious.
A sudden rise to power...
I think he made a contract too....
Now I'm getting stressed! A lot of them made a contract with a demon! No wonder that a lot of demons kept appearing in this world!
Wait...
Maelsa?!
No. He's powerful like Leon but I don't feel any dark energy around him. He's sadistic and kept demanding that we find powerful magic stones for him.
So, he must be working for someone more powerful than him.
Someone that I haven't met yet.
And that someone is a demon.
But who?
I haven't seen anyone powerful enough than Leon or Maelsa at the palace.
I guess that I need to investigate more.
But as for having a contract with a demon, they usually demand your soul, soul of your beloved or memory as a payment.
Since Lion and Alpha have good memories until now, so I think that their souls are the price.
But they seemed too desperate to do everything what is demanded of them if their souls are the price.
Unless...
The price was changed.
And that price... is me.