Danny stared at Michael with a frown when his brother jumped up from the chair.
Michael's sudden action startled him at first. Then he grew increasingly more confused.
When Michael realized that he nearly flung the table in front of him aside, he sat down quietly. He smiled in embarrassment and sipped on his water to calm down his heart.
Afterward, he stared deep into his brother's eyes. A piece of paper appeared in Michael's hand with a few sentences written on them.
'Good thing that I wrote everything down beforehand,' He mused to himself before he handed Danny the piece of paper.
The sentences written down on the piece of paper were related to the strange information he had received from the old temple when he stepped on the first step of the ancient stone staircase.
"What is that?" Danny asked as he took a first look at the content written down on the paper and furrowed his eyebrows.
'He cannot understand what's written there?' Michael realized, and his mood worsened quickly. However, instead of being discouraged that his brother was unable to translate what was written on the paper, Michael calmed his heart and mind.
He looked straight into his brother's eyes and began to detail his escapade. Michael didn't leave out any information, thinking that it might be important.
Danny had already figured that he lived in a dangerous region, so he might as well share all the information to make sure that his brother could give him some good pieces of advice.
Since both of them had become Lords and Michael gained more experience, it was much easier to talk to Danny about the Origin Expanse and their situations.
"I wanted to research a bit more about that temple in the underground ecosystem, but it's not easy to find information using the low authority of my Lord ID. Even the Bartholomew Network is not that helpful. After all, most Lords and Adventurers who have gone on expeditions to conquer temples, ruins, and other mythical places of the Origin Expanse don't share many useful pieces of information about the situations they've encountered," Michael complained at the end of his story.
He sighed deeply and shook his head in disappointment.
Meanwhile, Danny stared at his brother with squinted eyes.
"So you're telling me that you found a temple less than a month after your 18th birthday? That…has to be a joke…" Danny mumbled to himself in disbelief.
However, after hearing what Michael's first Soultrait was, and that his first summon was a Heroic Summon; their first ancestor, to be precise, finding a temple belonging to a forgotten civilization didn't seem all that special.
Danny opened Starnet on his crystal watch and did a quick research. He searched for the names Michael had mentioned; Untamed Jungle, Xiltra, and the Zentika Empire.
With his authority as Tier-2 Lord, Danny could find the same report as Michael found using Bartholomew Network with his Golden Membership. It was not a lot, but enough to worry about Michael's safety.
His brother seemed fine, but his region and the regions adjacent to the Untamed Jungle didn't seem all that secure.
"I told you about my situation because I want you to share more about your expedition and the dangers of the Primedival Pyramid. If you don't want me to be blinded by the treasures, I might be able to procure in the old temple, it would be better to share everything. Otherwise, I cannot reassure you that greed will not consume me," Michael said in all honesty.
He could already tell that he was getting greedy for both treasure and strength. It was addictive to be wealthy and powerful, and Michael knew very well that the old temple could give him both unfathomable strength and treasures that were so valuable that their price couldn't be measured!
Thus, Michael wanted his brother to bombard him with the threats and dangers of the Primedival Pyramid and shake him hard, jostling him to reality and put him back in place.
If Danny wouldn't help him, he could always ask Alice. However, he didn't want to tell her too much about his territory just yet. He was still not certain what she planned to do with him, and what her future plans were.
It might be ungrateful to think like that about Alice Zenovia after everything she did for him, but Michael couldn't help but doubt her intentions. He was extremely vigilant, but who could hold him accountable for that? Since when were prodigious children of a highly influential family nice to him?
There had to be a reason for her interest in him!
After Michael told Danny about everything he encountered since he entered the Origin Expanse, he hoped that his brother could give him a helping hand.
That was exactly what Danny did. He was still shocked about the information Michael shared with him, but he could tell that his brother still had some sanity left though he was worried about his changing mindset and greed.
Michael might have been in danger when he emerged in the Untamed Jungle, and when he summoned their first ancestor as his first summon, but he overcame everything more or less easily.
Michael also gained a lot in less than a month, and he was about to advance to the 1st Tier. The speed at which Michael improved was dangerously fast. It was dangerous because he was more likely to overestimate himself sooner or later, which would lead to mistakes…and mistakes led to death in the Origin Expanse!
Danny didn't want his brother to die, so he went against the promise he made to himself and shared his hardships of the past few years with Michael.
He told Michael about how he started out as Lord, and how he struggled to stay alive. Danny shared how his territory had nearly been bulldozed by a rivaling Lord, and how he survived by himself. He explained in detail what he had to do to overcome the ordeals in the desert region, and how he regained his power.
At last, Danny explained in detail the dangers of the Primedival Pyramid, and that the treasures found in the Primedival Pyramid were incomparable to the dangers they encountered.
Danny found Tigerfang in the Primedival Pyramid, but he had to pay a hefty price for it as in exchange for procuring it, thousands of his subjects died. One of the Lords in their expedition alliance died as well!
It was shocking.
The more Michael heard about the expedition the more he worried about his brother's safety. Michael forgot about raiding the old jungle temple almost immediately. Without the necessary preparations, the only thing he would receive by entering the temple was death…and he didn't want to die yet.
After a while, Michael felt like his head was on the verge of bursting apart. He pointed at the piece of paper and looked straight into his brother's eyes.
"Can you understand what it says? Even if it's just a glimpse, it would help a lot." Michael asked at last.
He had to make ample preparations before he could even consider entering the temple. Learning the spoken and written language used by the old temple was a necessity.
Michael had not yet processed everything his brother shared with him, but he was interested in the strange information the temple had given him. It attracted his attention, no matter how dangerous the temple may be.
Knowing how nosy his brother was, Danny could only surrender. He knew that he had scared Michael enough with the information he shared about his own life. It was obvious that the Curse of their family played a big role in the obstacles that appeared in their path, but the brothers could also tell that their curse might as well be a blessing if exploited thoroughly.
The old temple was an opportunity for Michael. It was a means to become stronger and be prepared for the war in the extra-terrestrial that might start at any time.
Danny felt that sharing his knowledge was the best way to prepare Michael for the dangers he would face in the future. Thus, he took a second glance at the piece of paper.
He spent the next ten minutes trying to decipher the sentences written down on the paper before he gave up. Instead of translating the entire sentence, Danny focused on translating single words.
"I know a bit of the Old tongue used in the Origin Expanse…but even then, I only know one word for sure," Danny acknowledged with a deep frown. He pointed at one letter on the paper and added, "That means 'forgotten'."
"But the other parts…they don't really look familiar. I learned the Old Tongue from a 5-Star Scholar of the Decalta Empire for years…but even then, I don't know these letters. I am certain that these letters are older than the Old Tongue from the Third Epoch. The Decalta Empire used the Old Tongue, and the Origin Tongue was created one millennia later, using the Old Tongue as its foundation…"
After Danny spent a whole hour staring blankly at the paper, he felt a bad headache creeping up his brain.
"This could mean 'Pyramid'...but I am not sure. This old temple of yours is WAY older than the Primedival Pyramid I'm trying to raid. That also means it could be much more difficult. The Forgotten Civilizations of the Old Age were very technologically advanced. They might have ceased to exist due to various reasons but don't underestimate them!!" Danny warned Michael while rubbing his forehead in pain.
Michael looked at the letter Danny pointed at. It was two letters after the word 'forgotten'.
"Pyramid might as well mean 'Temple' since the old temple is clearly not a Pyramid," Michael mumbled before he felt enlightened all of a sudden, "If that means forgotten and the letter after it means Temple, it's likely that they form the words 'Temple of the Forgotten' or something along those lines!"
Michael could tell that he was getting a little ahead of himself, but Danny nodded his head.
"Temple of the Forgotten?... That could be true, but I'm not too sure about that…'
Other than those two words, Danny had no idea what the remaining letters could mean. They looked beautiful and it seemed like an expert calligrapher had written them no matter how one looked at it. However, they might as well be paintings or idle scribbling without any meaning.
However, it was a fact that the language used by the old temple was far older than the Old Tongue of the Third Epoch!
This worried Danny a lot. Michael had yet to learn more about the tasks and responsibilities as the Lord of his territory, yet he was thrown into one troublesome situation after another.
That was not good.
He took a deep breath and chose to give Michael a general understanding of expeditions and important tips that made the preparations for an expedition, and the expedition itself, much easier.
"Pay attention to what I'm going to say now," Danny said seriously.
Michael's ears perked up and he did as told.
"The most important thing you have to do is to understand that your life is more important than anything else. You can find countless treasures and seek more golden opportunities, but you have only one life!"
"First, even before you consider starting an expedition, you must find out more about the ruins you want to explore. In your case, you have to learn the language, find out from what Era it belongs, and the general technological standard of that era. Then, you…"
In the next hour, Danny taught Michael the ABC of an expedition.
Michael listened intently and sat like an obedient kid in front of Danny, glad that he asked his brother about tips and tricks.
