Chapter 1210 15-41. The Fourth Treasury

“Is it weird that I want to just run off and see if I can survive it?” Elijah asked, mostly to himself.

Mano laughed. “It is a good instinct, brother. We all want to test ourselves against indomitable foes. But trust me,” he declared. “That is a losing battle.”

Elijah glanced toward the big dragon. “They probably would’ve said the same thing about Gorveth. Or my first tower. Or the Primal Realms I conquered alone. I’m a lot more durable than I look.”

That elicited another laugh. “So you are, brother. So you are.”

Their two escorts – Kilikak and T’avarin – cut their eyes in the brothers’ direction, silently judging their insanity. Meanwhile, Elijah turned his attention back to the environment.

They had been walking for a little more than an hour, and even with the escorts’ protective aura shielding them from the worst of the caustic atmosphere, the going was incredibly rough. Not only did Elijah feel his skin blistering like he had the worst sunburn of his life, but he’d also found it much more difficult to breathe. And finally, the gravity weighed down on him at least a thousand times more powerfully than Earth’s.

To call it hostile terrain was an understatement of the worst sort.

Even so, it was also beautiful. Terrifying, but magnificently so. A lot like Gorveth’s sky, Elijah found. Not in terms of aesthetics, considering they looked nothing alike, but because, despite being incredibly deadly, they both managed to elicit a potent sense of wonder.

Elijah’s gaze swept back and forth over the terrain. Jagged peaks of black rock jutted towards a sky filled with smoke and fire. Potent winds scoured the surface of the planet, kicking up storms of acidic rain and chaotic ethera, while plumes of pure, fire-attuned water geysered into the air.

Every footstep came with sharp rocks cutting through the soles of Elijah’s feet, though Regenerative Steps, often forgotten because of its subtle effect, continuously healed the minor wounds. Not for the first time, he was glad he’d taken the time to don his gear. Otherwise, he’d have needed to keep Wild Resurgence going at all times.

In any event, Elijah was still mesmerized.

Had he found his next body cultivation resource? According to Mano, even his soul would be unsafe on She’everoth’s surface. And Elijah very much wanted to test that out. After all, finding locations damaging enough to fuel his cultivation had become incredibly difficult. The only question was whether or not the attunement would fit his needs.

To date, he still wasn’t entirely certain how that all worked, but that was probably appropriate. According to most conventional wisdom, his methods shouldn’t have worked at all. The majority of people used heavily controlled cultivation chambers, aided by special potions and guided by long tradition. That made the endeavor much safer but far slower.

And secretly, Elijah also felt that it cheapened the entire process. To him, cultivation wasn’t just an item to check off a list. It was a battle. A way to pit himself against the very idea of self-improvement and find a way to survive. Because of that, he knew his cultivation results were far superior to most. For example, his grandmaster soul with its well-developed Mantle of Authority was much stronger and more versatile than what most people at that stage could boast.

Even though the majority of people who reached that stage were deities, Elijah would pit his soul against any of them. His mind had even stood up, albeit briefly, to a transcendent-tier threat, and his body was much stronger than it should’ve been at his level.

Cultivating back on Earth had laid the foundation, but his methods on Gorveth had truly put him on a different level. His performance in the Tournament of the First Fang, where he’d fought against demigods on the cusp of evolution into deities, spoke volumes. Winning shouted it even louder. The only one who’d truly pushed him was Cyran, and Elijah believed that was at least partially because of all the cheating.

Though he had to admit that the wind mage had earned his position at the top of the heap. Even if he’d resorted to underhanded tactics in that final bout, Cyran had proven himself a capable combatant.

And Elijah hated that reality enough that he’d almost convinced himself that it was a lie.

“What are you thinking, brother?” Mano asked as they continued to traverse the landscape. They skirted a massive cliff that rose miles into the air, its surface as smooth as glass, while a lake of fire roiled on the other side of their narrow and ill-defined path.

“Cultivation.”

“What about it? Perhaps I can help,” Mano suggested. “I may not be as learned on the subject as mother, but I do have some experience.”

Indeed, Mano had a tier eight body. Adamantine. By comparison, the other aspects lagged far behind, while his soul was his least developed. He was a grandmaster as well, which was a true travesty for someone his level. That had become a point of contention between him and Kirlissa.

“I was thinking about coming back here and throwing myself into that lake,” Elijah admitted, nodding to his right.

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“Ill-advised. A lava kraken lives there.”

“Oh, cool. I met one of those once.”

“You met a lava kraken and…survived?” asked Mano, an expression of surprise playing across his face.

“Yeah. Trial of Primacy. I think it was like the transcendent I helped kill,” Elijah admitted. “Its level – or power I guess, considering that I don’t think beasts actually level – was reduced by the system.”

“Shackled.”

“Right – that’s the term. Anyway, Cinderath was being held hostage by a bunch of fire giants,” Elijah explained. “I freed it, then helped save its eggs before it went through some sort of summoning portal back to its world. Or dimension, maybe?”

“Ignis.”

“Huh?” Elijah asked T’avarin for clarification.

“Lava krakens generally reside in Ignis, the realm of fire,” she explained.

“Then how did this one get here?”

T’avarin seemed almost eager to answer that question, describing a situation that Elijah had never even known could exist. Apparently, the nine realms were connected to one another in ways that most Scholars still couldn’t explain. They were separate dimensions, but intertwined in such a way that sometimes they overlapped.

“Some Scholars theorize that the World Tree came into being by first solidifying those connections, intertwining its branches into each dimension,” she lectured. “Though that is unsubstantiated, save by the fact that those connections are much stronger than any others. Dissenting opinions claim that is only a function of age.”

Then, she went on to actually address the initial question, explaining that the closeness of those realms sometimes resulted in spontaneous portals. “Through those, denizens of our realm – Mortalum – may visit others. In my youth, I was lucky enough to go on an expedition through one such portal. Alta Terra. Wondrous and deadly place where the world presses down on the body, mind, and soul like a physical thing.”

“And I’m guessing the portals can go the other way, right?” Elijah asked, gesturing to the lake of fire. “Hence, the lava kraken over there.”

“It’s actually on the other side of the lake,” Mano said.

Kilikak provided, “We do not travel through this place unprotected. Our path is enchanted so that the wildlife will avoid it. The lava kraken could easily break through, but it has little reason to do so. Instead, it claims the other side of the lake as its territory. It is an old and docile beast, as far as those creatures go. However, its progeny do sometimes cause issues.”

T’avarin added, “The portals to other realms typically only open in locations of extreme attunement. Such as the Lake that Burns The Soul of Any Who Dare Stand in its Presence.”

Elijah shook his head at draconic naming sensibilities. He was well aware that some of the verbosity came from a glitch in the system’s translation effect, but that didn’t make the names any less of a mouthful.

“Burning Soul Lake,” Elijah muttered to himself.

T’avarin just shook her head.

“So, don’t take this the wrong way, but you definitely sounded like one of my college professors just then,” Elijah told the escort.

“Why would I take offense at such a compliment?” she asked.

“Uh…”

Mano interjected, “The Order of the Archive is a Scholarly institution, and their members normally act as lecturers and teachers. Most of the Academy’s teachers in Ashakar are members of the Order.”

“I did a rotation there,” Kilikak stated wistfully. “Fantastic library.”

“So, you’re like scholarly monks,” Elijah reasoned.

“We are not ascetics,” T’avarin stated.

“Oh, no. Sorry. That wasn’t what I meant. Not like, that kind of monk. On my world, we have stories about fighting monks. They’re martial combatants who study the truths of the universe while kicking ass,” Elijah elaborated. Shaking his head, he admitted, “I’m explaining this badly.”

T’avarin nodded. “It is the folly of youth. With time, you may gain the wisdom to properly explain your position,” she said. “But I do like this notion. A martial Scholar. It fits.”

After that, she fell into contemplative silence. In the meantime, she and Kilikak maintained their protective auras as they journeyed across the surface. Eventually, they reached a cave, the entrance to which had been carved to resemble the gaping mouth of a dragon.

They passed through it, and for the first time since reaching the surface, the caustic atmosphere receded. Elijah’s skin continued to heal from Regenerative Steps, and by the time they reached the other side of what turned out to be a tunnel, the minor injuries had faded entirely.

“You must possess significant regeneration,” Mano said. “I approve. Staying power is important in any battle.”

Elijah let his brother believe that his armor’s trait was the passive effect of his attributes, largely because he didn’t want people to know the nature of his every advantage. Because of the tournament, too much of Elijah’s capabilities were public record, so he needed to keep as much to himself as possible.

Mano wouldn’t reveal anything, but Elijah couldn’t say the same for their two escorts. They seemed nice enough, but who knew where their allegiances dwelled? With the Order of the Archive, certainly, but they both had families. Clans, too. For all Elijah knew, they were enemies hiding in plain sight.

But at least his stalkers hadn’t come to the surface. That was a small relief, at least.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, Elijah was once again awestruck by the sight before him. The path snaked close to a cliff overlooking an ocean unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Part of it was fire, just like the lake, but there was blackness interspersed throughout.

“Oblivion.”

“Huh?” Elijah asked Mano.

“That is the ocean’s name. Oblivion.”

“No Oblivion that Swallows a Thousand Suns and Destroys all Dreams?” Elijah asked, referencing the overtop draconic naming sensibilities.

“Of course not. That would be silly,” Mano answered.

T’avarin interjected, “It is as potent a source of pure destruction-attuned ethera as you will ever find. Every creature in that ocean could vaporize you in an instant.”

“That’s…interesting,” Elijah remarked, staring out at the sea below. They were so high above it that even the miles-high crashing waves failed to reach their perch.

“No.”

“What?” Elijah asked.

Mano repeated, “No, brother. Confidence is important. A willingness to test oneself against mighty foes is equally essential for any Warrior. But I will not see you laid low by your own hubris.”

Elijah sighed. “I wasn’t really going to do it,” he muttered.

“Good.”

After that, Elijah jerked his attention away from the glorious ocean and focused on the path ahead. It only went on for a mile or so before their destination came into view.

It was a temple built into the side of the cliff, its façade dominated by towering columns and statues of nine identical dragons.

And it was made of what looked like pure jade.

“The Fourth Treasury awaits, young one,” said T’avarin, a smile in her voice. “In there, you will find path-altering treasures, cultivation resources, and crafting materials second to none in your tier. Are you prepared?”

Elijah could only nod.

“Good,” she said. “Then let us complete your journey.”

With that, she continued down the path. Elijah followed in a daze induced by the majesty of the temple before him.