Chapter 84: Hidden Shrine

POV Eliza

'E...l...i...z...a...'

I heard a weak voice in my head calling to me in my sleep. It was a familiar voice. At first I couldn't recognize it in my drowsy state, but then I remembered. It was the voice of the goddess Luna.

I got up from my sleeping place and looked around. It was dark in my room. I carefully opened the door and listened. Nothing could be heard and there was no light in the corridor either. I followed my hunch and stood in front of the door to Master Freyna's office. It was dark and quiet inside. I opened the door quietly. It wasn't locked. Inside, I quickly closed the door again.

The office was so dark that even I had trouble seeing enough. I could just make out that there were two large piles of documents on the desk. Better not to touch them. I moved slowly through the room, unsure of what I would find here. The voice echoed in my head again and as I moved around the desk, it got louder for a moment. Something must have been in or on the desk. I scanned it but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Was I perhaps wrong in my assumption?

I was just about to open the drawers when my eyes adjusted to the almost complete darkness. As a result, I could make out a very faint glow on the wall behind me. The glow was in the shape of a circle and reminded me of the full moon. I placed my right hand on the circle and noticed a vibration in the wall. Part of the wall opened up in my direction and a narrow opening suddenly appeared in front of me. Behind it was a corridor that led slightly downwards.

After about 20 meters, the passage opened up into a natural cave. The air smelled damp and there was a small lake about 5 meters in diameter in the middle. The cave was not much bigger, so the lake took up almost the entire area. In the lake was an island about 2x2 meters in size, on which there was a 1x1 meter shelter. In this shelter there was a narrow statue of a woman about 1.5 meters tall, which glowed faintly. This allowed me to see clearly. The scenery reminded me of the old abandoned shrine I had found in the hills years ago.

The voice in my head had stopped as soon as I had entered the cave. Nevertheless, I had a feeling of security and with one big step I stood on the island. Almost impatiently, I touched the statue and heard the voice of the goddess Luna clearly.

POV Luna

I had been feeling Eliza's presence for a few days. She had to be near one of my undamaged statues. Nevertheless, I had to be patient until tonight, because I only had the opportunity to let some of my divine power flow into my statues on the nights of the full moon. And even then, it was only faintly audible. Back then, when I still had a larger following, it was different. Then I could reach every believer if they were nearby. Now I had to rely on the person coming to me.

I noticed Eliza's presence approaching. She seemed to have heard my distant call. I was looking forward to hearing from her how she had fared over the past few years. I hoped she was doing well. A short time later, she was so close to my statue that I was able to stop calling out to her. I'm sure she'll make herself known in a moment.

“Are you there, Goddess Luna?” <Eliza>

“Hello Eliza. Yes, I am here. I finally called out to you because I felt you near. How are you?” <Luna>

“I'm very well, thank you.” <Eliza>

“I'm glad to hear that, I really am. You're important to me, and not just because you're my champion.” <Luna>

“Thank you, Goddess Luna. I appreciate your words.” <Eliza>

“Would you like to tell me how you've been in the last few months since we last met?” <Luna>

“Gladly, if I can ask a few questions afterwards.” <Eliza>

“Of course.” <Luna>

“Let's start with what happened after I left the cave.” <Eliza>

In the next hour, Eliza told me how she had transformed into her old self from earth and found refuge in a small village in this disguise. How she was discovered and had to flee again. About Tyros and her life as an adventurer and how she met lots of nice people. Lynn and Lirella took up a lot of space in the story. How she had fought in the dungeon and gained valuable experience both alone and in a group. About the first winter at Lirella's place and how she became aware of the heroes' call. I had to ask twice because I could hardly believe it. I hadn't expected Eliza to be so bold as to sneak into the group of heroes and gather information first-hand. How she had been taken in and used the heroes to learn important things like new spells. How she went into the Darkness Dungeon with them and fought with them together. About the shortcomings the heroes had and how she was thrown out of the group because of jealousy. About the decision to go into the dungeon alone again and how she had defeated the first two bosses. I was amazed at how she used the regeneration to build up various resistances. I wouldn't have believed her to have the courage to be constantly poisoned by spiders or to sleep in the midst of ghosts. When I heard about it and the pain she had suffered, I felt a sense of pride and respect. Unlike the heroes, she took my competition very seriously and was prepared to go to great lengths. She also told me about the coincidences that had led to her meeting various members of the beastfolk and how much she enjoyed the feeling of friendship and security. I was glad that she was also having fun and enjoying her time.

Eliza ends her story with the group of people who adhered to my faith below the capital of the Empire. I had thought for some time that the Church of Lumos had wiped out my faith in the Empire, but I was happy to be proven wrong. I was glad to hear that I actually still had followers and that Eliza had met them in the most unlikely of places. I could no longer dismiss all these coincidences she told me about as mere coincidence. Apparently, other gods were also intervening in my competition to the best of their ability. I suspected one or two that I knew didn't like Lumos' behavior either, and one of them happened to be the Goddess of Fate. It seemed that Eliza and I had a strong ally on our side. I should show my gratitude to her in good time.

“Thank you, Eliza, for filling me in. You've been through quite a lot in such a short time and you seem to have been fine. We probably don't have much time before your mana is exhausted, but do you have any questions I can answer?” <Luna>

“Yes, one has been on my mind since I received the skills. How exactly does self-transformation work and why can I regenerate? I haven't seen either of these on anyone else and the heroes probably don't know about them either. They would probably do anything to learn regeneration.” <Eliza>

“Hehe, that's a lot of questions. I can't give you the answer to the why just yet. You're not ready yet. But I can explain at least part of the self-transformation. What can you transform into so far?” <Luna>

There was a brief silence on the other side. Apparently she was reviewing her choices.

“That's strange, I suddenly have one more option than I did a week ago. I don't understand the principle behind it. I can transform myself into an image of myself from Earth. I have two more images to choose from. One is a male human and one is a female catwoman. I've had the first from the beginning, while the second is new.” <Eliza>

“There is a certain prerequisite or certain actions you have to perform in order to add new images to your repertoire. I can't tell you what they are yet, but the reason is the same as for regeneration. What I can tell you, however, is that you can change the images with the expert rank. This allows you to make slight changes to your appearance, such as hair color, eye color and skin color. You can also change your height and weight to a small extent. Significant changes are possible from Master upwards.” <Luna>

“Thank you, that's good to know. I haven't tried either forms yet. I'm not at all interested in turning into a man and the other one is too new.” <Eliza>

“Then let me advise you not to try either until you're sure that nobody will notice. As you may have noticed, the image corresponds exactly to the original. Eliza as a human corresponds to your old self, while you have newly acquired the other two here on Narran. If you transform into them, you will look exactly like the template at the time you learned it.” <Luna>

“Then I shouldn't meet people who know the template in that form. Oh, I'm getting dizzy again. When can I speak to you again?” <Eliza>

“Only on full moon nights at the moment, but I hope that will change soon. You'll have to increase your level and your skills. Then I'll show you how to do it at any time. And one more tip. Improve your special skills such as regeneration or appraisal as quickly as possible. You shouldn't forget Limit Break either. This can significantly increase your characteristics and give you a noticeable advantage in times of emergency." <Luna>

I didn't even hear Eliza's reply. Time had run out, but we were able to exchange a lot of information. I was looking forward to the next time we would speak.