15-42. Spoiled For Choice

The approach to the Fourth Treasury made one thing abundantly clear – it was a lot bigger than it appeared at first sight. The dragon statues weren’t exactly life-sized, but they still loomed hundreds of feet tall, with wingspans many times that. They loomed over the equally large temple façade, like nine transcendent guardians.

“Do not offend them,” Mano cautioned.

“What? Who?” Elijah asked. Then, he added, “I’m always tactful.”

It was a lie, and they both knew it.

Mano explained, “Those statues are more than just rock. They were carved by a transcendent Sculptor who imbued them with the barest hint of the Emperor’s power. If they find you unworthy, you will be obliterated.”

“Like the ocean.”

Mano rolled his heavy shoulders, replying, “Exactly. The Emperor is the most powerful dragon in existence. Even a hint of their power is not to be underestimated.”

“What archetype are they?” Elijah asked. Upon arriving in the Empire of Scale, he’d done a little research on its ruler, and what he’d found was intriguing and more than a little confusing. For one, the emperor was both one person and nine separate individuals, each one purported to wield the power of a transcendent.

That alone wasn’t difficult to understand. Where Elijah’s brain started to glitch was when he discovered that each of the emperor’s nine clones was an individual unto themselves. They possessed different powers that suggested a variety of archetypes, and they even presented as opposite genders, with one being entirely androgynous. According to some reports, they even argued with one another.

However, the explanations he’d read seemed entirely convinced that they were, indeed, a singular entity. And when necessary, they could merge into a transcendent of unprecedented power.

“That is a complicated subject. The original form of the Emperor was a Scholar,” T’avarin interjected. “However, they diverged from that path when they became obsessed with cloning. Initially, they did so because they believed they could learn far more with a couple of extra bodies. That was true, but success in that endeavor altered their path. Each evolution further narrowed it until they became the Emperor we know today. Only in transcendence did their identities completely diverge, adopting new archetypes for each clone.”

“They don’t like being referred to as clones,” Kilikak stated.

“True. But avoidance of the truth does not negate its veracity,” argued T’avarin.

Kilikak nodded. “Acknowledged and accepted.”

It was an edifying conversation, and it reminded Elijah that he’d never gotten the chance to attend the academy, as Kirlissa had originally planned. Instead, he’d outleveled it, and the training he’d received during the tournament had focused almost entirely on practical abilities. Birk had taught him about combat, while Tura was in charge of helping him get the most out of his spells.

The latter was training that most dragons began the moment they achieved sapience, so Elijah was still a little behind his peers. Still, by the time he reached deity, he hoped to have mastered his abilities so that he could begin to adjust things more directly.

He would get there, one way or the other, and he’d practiced steadily even when he was back on Earth. It was just part of his normal routine, which included physical training, cultivation exercises, elemental manipulation in Shape of the Magus, and spell practice. He had a lot on his plate, and most days, it left very little time for anything else.

Which he lamented.

It was fine when he was back on Gorveth. The work was the only thing keeping him sane. But now that he was back in civilization? He couldn’t just isolate and focus on self-improvement.

Or maybe he could.

He just refused to, because he knew precisely what it felt like to be undeniably and irrevocably alone. Never again would he take companionship for granted.

As Elijah considered those topics, Kilikak and T’avarin spoke on the subject of the emperor. Most of it was hearsay, but there was some potentially useful information there. Like the fact that they’d originally set out to create a clone for every archetype, but they’d fallen short of that goal due to the limits of their mind cultivation.

Some suspected that when they finally reached tier nine – diamond – they would achieve that goal. Elijah wasn’t so sure, but that was because he had some difficulty fully wrapping his thoughts around hive minds and their connections. One thing was certain – Elijah had absolutely zero interest in trying to replicate that feat. He had enough trouble controlling one body, much less multiple.

In any case, they eventually reached the temple entrance, which seemed impossibly large up close. The gate alone was more than big enough to allow for Elijah’s dragon form, though T’avarin cautioned him not to transform. She explained that only humanoid forms were allowed inside the temple.

Mano scoffed at that, grumbling about size restrictions. Elijah suspected that if it was allowed, he would have spent every waking moment in his dragon form. But being the size of a moon disallowed that.

“You must proceed alone. Inside, you will find a projection that will guide you forward. I will warn you, though – touch nothing you do not wish to take as your reward. If you lay a finger on an item, you will be ejected from the Fourth Treasury immediately,” Kilikak stated. It came off like a warning he’d given thousands of times.

“No touching. Got it. Anything else I should know?” Elijah asked.

“Choose wisely,” T’avarin said. “The treasures inside may change you in ways you could never imagine.”

“Bah. His path is his path,” Mano remarked. Then, to Elijah, he said, “Find something that compliments you. Change nothing.”

“With all due respect –”

Mano interrupted T’avarin with a single glance. His power rippled outward, and she very nearly fell to her knees from the weight of it.

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“Mano. Stop,” Elijah sighed. “She’s just trying to give advice.”

“Bad advice.”

“Then I’ll ignore it,” Elijah pointed out. “No need to do…that.”

Mano continued to glare at the woman. Then, the pressure suddenly disappeared, and she sucked in a lungful of air.

“A-apologies, transcendent,” she gasped. “I overstepped.”

“It is forgotten,” Mano stated, channeling false magnanimity that made Elijah want to roll his eyes. For all that Mano was tens of thousands of years old and powerful beyond measure, he lacked a lot when it came to social graces.

Elijah clapped his hands, then rubbed them together. “Alright. Let’s get this thing started,” he declared. He turned to T’avarin and added, “Just one question, though.”

“Yes?” she asked tentatively.

“Are there seeds in there?”

“Seeds?”

“Yeah. Like the ones that turn into plants. I have a friend who goes nuts over new seeds,” Elijah admitted. “And I’ll admit that, as a Druid, they hold a special place in my heart as well. Plant a few powerful plants in the ol’ grove, and I get a bit stronger. Sort of. It’s hard to describe the connection.”

That was true. He knew that he and his grove were symbiotic. As he grew stronger, so did it as well. And to a degree, that was true in the other direction. Grove Conduit was the most direct example of how it could empower him. However, there was a more subtle connection between them that he couldn’t adequately explain. All he knew was that a stronger grove meant a stronger Elijah.

And nothing helped the grove better than novel flora.

“There are a few such treasures,” T’avarin answered. “But I caution you – do not overlook anything in there. You may come to regret it.”

Elijah nodded. “Peruse all the options. Gotcha.”

Then, without further discussion, he mounted the steps. There were more than three thousand of them, so it took a few moments to reach the top. As he climbed, he felt the eyes of the dragon statues looking down on him. Accusingly. Threateningly. Like he was an intruder, and they hadn’t decided what to do with him yet.

That sent a tremble up his spine, because he knew without a shadow of a doubt, that those statues could utterly destroy him. And even with all his tricks, there would be no coming back from that.

Still, he’d been promised a reward, and he wasn’t going to turn back just because some statues were a bit scary. He proceeded forward, absolutely dwarfed by the jade-framed gate. The doors were made of some sort of bronze that had been emblazoned with a representation of emperor’s nine forms. They looked at him accusingly as well.

Thankfully, Elijah didn’t need to endure their glares for long, because the bronze gate swung open upon his approach. It revealed something unexpected.

Dragonstone.

The same material he’d quarried to help build his very first dolmen. The same stuff that Carmen had used to build the first version of the Forge of Creation. Elijah had even employed the stone to lay the foundation of his hot tub back home.

However, the dragonstone inside the Fourth Treasury was very, very different than the stuff he’d quarried back on Earth. Not in structure. Not even in appearance. But it pulsed with so much power that it left Elijah feeling almost drunk. It was comforting and pleasing, with just a hint of disorientation that made him stumble.

Even if no other reward was on offer, that feeling would have been worth the trip.

“Please proceed forward, petitioner,” came a surprising voice. Elijah glanced to his left to see a flickering projection. Normally, he felt at least something from that kind of thing, but there was no indication of the projection’s existence. Not via Soul of the Wild, at least.

“Sorry. Just a little overwhelmed there for a second.”

“It happens,” said the projection. It presented as a male drake dressed in simple, red robes. Aside from the occasional flicker and the transparency, it looked indistinguishable from a real person.

“I’m sorry, but can I ask a question?”

“Certainly. I am your guide.”

“What are you?”

“Ah. That.”

Elijah suddenly felt embarrassed, mostly because of the drake projection’s downtrodden expression.

“Oh. Sorry. You don’t have to answer.”

“No,” the projection responded. “People normally do not ask that question. Usually, they are too eager to collect their treasure to worry about anything else. Especially an old ghost.”

“Ghost?” Elijah asked.

Then, the projection revealed that he had, indeed, once been a person. After the temple’s construction, he had sacrificed his life and bound himself to become its custodian and protector.

“So it has been for…a long time.”

Elijah could only nod. The Fourth Treasury had been founded early in the Empire of Scale’s existence, which meant that the ghost had been alive for millions of years. In that time, he’d never left the building.

“Do you ever get lonely?” asked Elijah.

“Of course. I do get visitors. That kind young emperor of yours comes a few times a year,” the ghost said. “They always wear a different body, but I can see through that little ability.”

“Interesting,” was all Elijah could say.

The ghost cleared his throat. An entirely unnecessary gesture, but one with a meaning. It was time to get moving.

Elijah apologized again, then asked, “What’s your name, by the way?”

“Once, it was Baryx. You may call me Custodian.”

“Do you mind if I use your real name?” Elijah asked.

“Of course. Most are uncomfortable being reminded of what I once was. It is nice, remembering I had a name once.”

“Alright, Baryx. Let’s get this show on the road,” Elijah said. He took a step, then added another question. “So, where’s your seed section?”

“Seed section?” Baryx asked.

“A section for…you know…seeds?”

“We have no such section. Here, let me guide you forward,” Baryx stated. Then, he floated forward, reminding Elijah that he was a ghost.

After that, the tour of the Fourth Treasury was much as Elijah had expected. Room after room full of powerful items. Weapons dominated the first half hour, with Baryx explaining the traits, attributes, and grade of each item. None were as good as Thorn, though, so Elijah eventually asked to ignore the weapons.

“That narrows it down, then.”

They moved on to armor, much of which occupied similar slots to the gear Elijah already wore. He didn’t want to break up the Wild Revenant set, so he ended up passing on most of those pieces. Some of the jewelry looked nice, though. He even put a couple of pieces on his list.

Like a ring that would let him spawn a copy of himself. It would only last for a couple of minutes and display about sixty percent of his power, but that was still a powerful boost.

There was also a necklace he could’ve used to replace the Snake Fang he wore around his neck. He’d intended to look for something back in Ashakar, but for one reason or another, he’d never gotten around to it. The necklace that caught his eye was kind of like an upgraded version of his oldest piece of gear, and in addition to adding some powerful attribute bonuses, it would also increase the power and duration of his afflictions by nearly thirty percent.

A powerful piece of gear.

There was only one problem – it looked absolutely ridiculous.

“The Sadist’s Choker is an item with a long and infamous history…”

Elijah tuned Baryx out. And reluctantly, he eliminated the Sadist’s Choker from contention. There was absolutely no way he was going to wear what looked like a spiked dog’s collar. Sure, the spikes were fangs, and the leather was scaled, but it was still similar enough that Elijah wouldn’t wear it, regardless of its effects.

“Fashion is important, Baryx,” Elijah said, reaching out to pat the ghost on the back. His hand passed through Baryx’s form, though.

“Indeed. One must always curate one’s appearance.”

Eventually, they moved on from the armor and jewelry to cultivation resources. Mostly, it was just a collection of powerful potions that would make cultivating a lot easier. Elijah ignored that kind of stuff on principle, but even he was tempted to give a few of them a shot.

He put a couple on his list, then followed Baryx to rooms hosting miscellaneous items. And that, apparently, was where he found his seeds.

Unfortunately, there was nothing there that really caught his eye. Sure, each pouch of seeds was powerful in their own right, but there was nothing there that he couldn’t theoretically get himself. And if there was one thing Elijah had chided himself to remember, it was that he shouldn’t waste such an opportunity as presented by the Fourth Treasury. No flippant choices. No impulsiveness. Just reasoned decisions.

He kept to that right up until he saw something he considered entirely unique.

“What is that?” Elijah asked, drawn to the jar in the corner.

“That is the Mycelial Crown,” Baryx answered.

“I want it,” Elijah declared. “That’s my choice.”

So much for his resolution to avoid impulsive decisions.