The Sand Guardians slowly woke up from their slumber as the presence of the God Seth has diminished. Sadiki now just looks like a great warrior of the western continent and his jackal headgear also vanished. It seems that the avatar will resemble the god that has descended to their bodies.
The Sands Guardians were alarmed of Sadiki's presence, but they accepted the reason that he was a guard sent by the Goddess Bastet's uncle. It seems that they memories have been altered quite a bit to make sure that the story fits which actually shocked Adrian.
Sadiki might look like he should be gruff and very cold in nature with a hint of a wild side, but he was not. He was surprisingly calm and a shy person when it comes to praise. The Goddess Bastet chuckled as that was also the God Seth's personality before, he got his duty of protecting the world from the Distorted God Apophis.
Adrian asked the Goddess Bastet if he is also afflicted by the memory alteration, but he learned that he cannot be affected by that. The Goddess Bastet told him that it will be almost impossible to alter his memory because his soul is so stable, and his very soul could hut gods if they touch it carelessly.
From the Goddess Bastet's description of memory alteration, it should be more in line with soul alteration as that is what they alter. Adrian did remember that the saying of "The mind might forget but the body remembers". If they do not alter the soul slightly then the people could just remember everything in due time but that is not always applicable to everyone.
"Anyways, we should now go to the temple as the sun is already rising. We do not want to die of heat stroke. By we, I meant them as they do not have water in their bags." Adrian stated as he told the Sand Guardians to continue leading the way.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe group encountered more monsters on the way, but Sadiki is not the Avatar of the God Seth for nothing. Sadiki could easily overpower any monster that came their way and would even help the Sand Guardians that need it. They easily doubled or maybe tripled their travel time because of it.
The Temple of Bastet is not like other temples that are located in a heart of a city or kingdom. Their temple is located near the Ceaseless Desert which is one of the danger zones in the western continent. Thankfully for Adrian's group, the Ceaseless Desert is on the other side of the temple instead of the desert that they are traveling now.
The Temple of Bastet is built on top of a mountain range that separates the Ceaseless Desert from other deserts found in the Western Continent. One would think that the Temple of Bastet would not be filled with much activity or people because the other side is a danger zone but that is not true. In fact, a small town is actually built below the temple as many adventurers would get to the Ceaseless Desert to get large value of coins.
Unlike other continents that deem danger zones as incredibly dangerous and not to be explored, the western continent people think of these danger zones as money generating zones. Monster parts from the danger zones fetch an incredibly large price and they can even find treasure buried from the sands of the Ceaseless Desert.
The Temple of Bastet acts as the gate keepers of the Ceaseless Desert danger zone as monsters from there would often escape to the other side. The Temple of Bastet maintained the great barrier protecting the western continent from being potentially invaded by monsters from one of the danger zones.
People of the Western Continent might be great warriors but that does not mean that all of them are. The Temple of Bastet also regulates those that could enter the Ceaseless Desert as many casualties occurred back then when it was not. They only let people with appropriate strength to ever enter the danger zone.
The Temple of Bastet could be said as a temple for cats as many of the statues and monoliths erected there are all cat figures. The entrance to the temple is even a cat mouth opening with red ruby eyes. One could say that the theme for this temple is cats and not just normal housecats but cats of all sizes.
Another cool fact about this town is that they all have cat pets. Some have small cats while those that could tame large cats are also present. This very town is littered with cats as the Temple of Bastet is said to bless households that have cats.
As Adrian and the people are heading to the Temple of Bastet, he noticed that the people are actually drawn to their group. They were mainly drawn to the Goddess Bastet despite the veil covering her face. It seems that a piece of cloth could never block the divine presence of the goddess that they all pray to.
Some people even knelt down crying as they prayed. It seems that Adrian did not see this interaction with the Sand Guardians earlier because they were not as devout as the people here are. It made an awkward interaction which is why they needed to hurry up and proceed to the Temple of Bastet as soon as possible.
"This is where we part ways, Champion Equinox and Goddess Bastet." Sadiki told the two which shocked the Sand Guardians as those were not the names that they said earlier.
"Thank you, Sadiki. Escorting us even though you are already extremely exhausted. You may now return to the Temple of the Storm to rest. I grant you my protection until you reach there." The Goddess Bastet stated as she blessed Sadiki.
"Thank you for the blessing, Goddess Bastet. For you Champion Equinox, I await the day that you come to the Temple of the Storm. I shall welcome you with great energy should you visit us. For you noble noble Sand Guardians, keep doing what you are doing because the God Seth is watching over you and is overjoyed with your ideals." Sadiki stated.
Sadiki chanted some words and tore up a scroll that he has. When he did that, the clouds became dark, and lightning suddenly landed on top of him. The lightning that landed on Sadiki's body did not hurt him but rather took him with it. Adrian now knows how Sadiki managed to reach their location immediately even though the Temple of the Storms is in the other side of the Western Continent.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"No wonder his name was familiar. That was Sadiki…The Great Storm of the West. To think that we bonded with the blood crazed warrior, and he was even very respectful." Shara stated in shock while looking at the spot where Sadiki was before.
"I think this is where we part ways on our journey. The Sand Guardians have successfully escorted us to the Temple of Bastet. Here is the other fifty gold coins as promised." Adrian stated as he handed a small bag that had the fifty gold coins.
When Shara received the fifty gold coins, this is when her brain registered that Sadiki referred to Miss Tet as the Goddess Bastet. She did find it weird that some of the people in town gazed at they and some even knelt down crying but now it adds up. They were actually kneeling before the Goddess Bastet as they could recognize the goddess that they pray to even though they cannot see her whole face.
"Praise the Goddess Bastet! Forgive us if we said some things that might be offensive." Shara stated as she began to kneel with the other members of the Sand Guardians.
"Do not worry children. I have enjoyed my time with you, and you also helped me understand the goodness of people. There were many challenges on our way, but you managed to overcome them with your determination. For that, I shall give all of you, my blessing." The Goddess Bastet stated as she casted some sort of spell towards the Sand Guardians that somewhat gave them divine energy.
"We are eternally grateful to the Goddess Bastet!" Shara stated but she then looked towards Adrian. Adrian just responded with a smile and thanked them for their protection. Although deep in the minds of the Sand Guardians, they believed that the two of them never really needed protection in the first place.
"They are an interesting lot." Adrian stated as it took him quite some time before the Sand Guardians could leave them as they clung to his leg begging that they should let all the comments about him be water under the bridge. Shara did try hitting on him earlier which is why she was incredibly shy when she learned that he was a Champion of not just one God but two.
"I shall cherish the time that I spent with them." The Goddess Bastet stated.