9 The Hall Of Treasures
After thanking Astraea for her generous gift, Ashur hurried to the Hall of Treasures before she could change his mind and retract her offer.
Reaching the tall, grand building, he tried to open the door but found that it was locked, so he knocked twice.
Knock, knock!
A gruff looking old man opened the creaking door from the inside. “Who’s there?” He asked.
Ashur stiffly bowed and introduced himself, “Sir, my name is Ashur.”
“What are you doing here? This is the Hall of Treasures.” He said fiercely. The old man didn’t believe that this dirty, scruffy young man would have any business here.
“Astraea gave me her permission to choose one of the treasures from the Hall of Treasures,” Ashur explained.
“You?” The old man frowned. Surely the young boy wouldn’t be so daring as to lie about something like that? But if it was indeed true, why was Astraea being so generous to him?
“Sir, it’s true! She said I could choose a welcome gift as a reward for training hard and working diligently. She...she also said to look for Priam!” Seeing the doubtful expression on the old man’s face, Ashur hurriedly clarified.
Hearing this, the old man nodded. That sounded like something Astraea would do. “I am Priam. Come on in,” he said as he pulled the door open for Ashur to enter.
“My name is Priam and I am the caretaker of the Hall of Treasures.” Priam introduced himself to Ashur. “I have been taking care of this old place for over 50 years, and I know every nook and cranny here.
The Hall of Treasures holds all of the wealth and secrets of Lacotta. Only those of the ‘Master’ level and above are permitted to enter the building, and everyone else is forbidden from seeing the treasures inside, let alone being allowed to pick out a treasure as a gift. You are a very lucky boy.”
“Come, let me show you all the treasure you can choose from,” Priam said as he led Ashur into the first room. Glittering gems of all colors, shapes, and sizes were stacked neatly in piles.
Ashur’s eyes widened. He had never seen so much treasure in his entire life.
“This is the Room of Gems. In here, there are mountains of precious gems. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and more.”
Priam walked over to one of the piles and picked up an egg sized diamond. In the sunlight, it seemed to gleam brightly.
“Diamonds are very valuable. Selling a diamond this size can easily buy you a small village.” Priam told Ashur.
Ashur’s jaw dropped open as he gaped in shock. If he had a gem like that, he would have a small fortune and could live a life of luxury in the future. A wide smile lit up his face as he thought of the possibilities he could have with that amount of wealth.
Seeing Ashur’s expression, Priam smiled slightly and said, “Don’t get too excited yet. That’s not all.” He led Ashur into the second room. There were multiple racks of exotic looking weapons, many of which he had never seen before.
“This is the Room of Weapons. The most powerful weapons in the land of Etheria are stored here. There is a Legendary Crossbow which never misses, a Ghost Axe that feels weightless in your hands, and even a Magical Sword that swiftly moves like it has a mind of its own.” Priam said. “These are all great fighting weapons.”
“Wow!” Ashur exclaimed in amazement. With a weapon like that in his hands, he would almost be undefeatable in battle.
“But wait, there’s more,” Priam said and led Ashur into the third room.
“There’s...there’s more?” Ashur muttered in disbelief. What more amazing treasures could lie in this Hall of Treasures?
The room was dimly lit and was filled with shelves and shelves of parchment scrolls. They were organized neatly into different marked boxes.
“This is the Room of Scrolls. All of the knowledge passed through the generations is contained in these delicate scrolls. Legend says that just one scroll is enough to teach you how to improve by 20 Cultivation Levels.”
“10 Cultivation Levels?” Ashur exclaimed in shock and his mind immediately began to wander. If he could be 20 levels higher just by reading one scroll, he would be so much more powerful than he currently was. He would almost become a Warrior!
Seeing all these valuable treasures, Ashur’s head started to spin. There were so many powerful treasures in here, how could he possibly choose just one?
If he chose a precious gem, he would be rich beyond his wildest dreams.
If he owned a powerful weapon, he would never lose another battle again.
If he possessed a scroll, he would have a leap in Cultivation Level and finally become respected by others.
It was so hard to choose!
As he was pondering his choices, all of a sudden, he saw a plain amulet that had fallen in between two ancient scrolls.
Pointing to the amulet, he asked, “Priam! What is that?”
Priam walked over to the shelf and picked it up.
“Ah. This is an ancient amulet that has been passed down from ancestor to ancestor for centuries and centuries. It was here even before I started working here, but if it is in the Hall of Treasures, it is probably very powerful,” Priam said. “Is this the gift you want to pick?”
Priam carefully handed Ashur the amulet.
Holding the amulet, Ashur felt a sudden surge of warmth. Curious, he looked more closely at the amulet. It was a rather ordinary bronze forged amulet with a copper chain. In the middle of the amulet, there was a dark purple amethyst stone.
The amulet tingled slightly in his hands. “Pick me, pick me!” It seemed to say to him.
The simple amulet in his hands was a huge contrast to the rooms and rooms of glittering gems and powerful weapons and scrolls that he had just seen. Normally, it would be regretful, foolish almost, to pick this seemingly ordinary amulet over all the other treasures in this Hall.
But this amulet just...felt right.
Pushing away all temptation, Ashur firmly made up his mind.
“Yes, I choose this amulet,” Ashur told Priam.
