251. Temple of Zol (II)

Soon they came across a yellow dot on the mini-map amid a heap of fallen jumbo-sized trees. A beehive the size of a treehouse. Knocked over, leaking the treasure.

𝔾𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕟 ℍ𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕪 [𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 (𝔸)]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕡. 𝔸𝕟 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖-𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖.

Zane left most of it to his friends. He was getting plenty of essence just from Monster stomping. And they were all making good progress toward Nascent—getting pretty close. He would feel a lot better when they also got there. Zane could attest the difference was pretty big.

Actually…

He looked around at the whole area—all the trees spread out about them. Still teeming with Monsters.

He scratched his head. He wasn't sure why he was in so much of a rush, now that he thought about it...

He took out his axes. Savage Edge lit the ends. Nothing had managed to slow them yet.

He tossed one to his left—there was a crashing, a booming, a shrieking of insects and bird-Monsters, a great tumbling—lines of trees falling over, exploding one after another, racing into the distance.

A good thirty seconds later, it came to a shuddering halt. And then—

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟘𝟝 -> 𝟛𝟘𝟞

Nice.

He did this another few times. Just chucking out his axe, and seeing what could stop him.

Nothing could stop him.

That was how he collected a handful of easy Levels on their way to the next section. And how he hollowed out vast swathes of the floor. He had never collected so much essence so easily.

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟘𝟞 -> 𝟛𝟘𝟠

They took a few detours, cut around to treasure areas. Harvested more of those giant beehives full of essence honey, and slurped happily. Really this floor was turning out to be one big treasure area. Zane wasn't even pumped as he went about it. It was more like a stroll for him.

Reina wondered why this floor was going so easy. Maybe whatever Monster trying to kill Zane couldn't find enemies that could stand up to him? Or maybe it had just… given up? She wasn't sure.

They kept ambling along. It wasn't long before they got to the next section.

The trees started fading away. Stone totems started cropping up, pillars etched full of inscrutable symbols. Wings, heads of beasts of prey. Smooth stone slabs started littering the ground at random. Soon they started linking to vague paths.

Follow along, and—

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕:

𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝟙-𝟚: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 ℤ𝕠𝕝

A vine-riddled stone temple lay before them. Like something out of an ancient long-lost civilization. Giant serious-looking stone heads flanked the entrance.

A big yellow blot lay right in the middle of it. A treasure area.

A notification popped up:

𝔼𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣, 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕝, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖! 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕙, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕥… 𝕊𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 ℤ𝕠𝕝.

It was made of big slabby stone blocks. There were mosaics carved of simple brushstrokes. Mythical beasts—three-headed lions, burly gods riding storm-clouds. A kind of pantheon, making a massive mural stretching stone after stone. At the center of it all was a Cyclops in what looked to be a toga. One eye stared straight at them. It was holding up a three-fingered palm, some kind of gesture, as though casting a spell.

They neared the temple. Neared those two big stone heads.

The heads promptly came to life.

But they had barely moved when two flaming hammers fell upon them with all the wrath of Zane.

The heads promptly went to death.

Zane nodded at the ruins, satisfied. He had come not to trust big stone statues guarding things. His intuition turned out to be correct.

Sneaky. They were quite bird-like in that way.

…Maybe that was why they rubbed him the wrong way, now he thought about it…

The compass on the mini-map showed they would have to go through this Temple to get to the other side. The path Zane's Axe had blazed ended here.

There was no big clusters of red dots running through the Temple. Nothing sinister-feeling. Just that one treasure area in the middle of it. It was almost too calm.

He looked to Reina, scratching his head. He wondered what was up with the place. He couldn't make much sense of that notification. She wasn't sure either. Avery put her hands on her hips, squinted for a bit. But she didn't sense any obvious death-traps.

It did seem weird, though. When Zane focused in on it, really felt the place with his soul, he felt a bit of warbling in the Astral Plane. There was a Concept there, maybe a Law, that he was not sure he had seen much before.

It felt like pretty high-up stuff. It kind of felt like the subtle auras some scrying glasses or portals gave off. But cranked up much stronger.

They all blinked at the thing for a bit longer.

Zane shrugged.

Whatever the case, he was pretty sure if he came across something unexpected he could smash it without much trouble.

He led the way up a flight of mossy, vine-laced steps. This time nothing attacked them. They went in.

The air inside was cool. The humidity dried up instantly as they passed between the mossy columns. It was as though they had entered a new dimension. Torches lit the walls, which kept up those mosaics—they were all linking to form some kind of long-winded story, Reina thought.

Their footsteps echoed stone halls barren save for moss and vine. The only other things there were the statues—little gold ones on little marble pedestals.

𝕀𝕕𝕠𝕝 𝕠𝕗 ℤ𝕠𝕝 [𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 (𝔸)]

Zane's belly growled.

Hm.

He grabbed one, inspected it.

This was good metal.

They seemed to be some kind of god. Very serious-looking fellow. He stuck the head in his mouth and took a nibble.

It was surprisingly tasty. Zane's sense of taste had changed more and more the more he took in Titan Rhino blood. Metals did not taste rusty and stale anymore. They all became various flavors of sweet. Some, like steel, tasted like rock candy and sugar. Silver tasted licorice. Gold dissolved in his mouth. These were like chocolate. It had been quite a while since he had good chocolate.

He finished it off in three big chomps.

After a few—

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔻𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟'𝕤 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕀 -> 𝕀𝕀

They kept going. Getting closer and closer to that big yellow dot in the very middle. Soon an open archway lit the distance. A gale of rich essence streamed out. The temple was opening up to some new area.

There were two more big heads guarding it. They barely had a chance to come to life before Zane smashed them.

They passed through the final archway.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕: 𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝟙-𝟛

𝔾𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖

It felt like they were wading into a lake of pure essence. So much filled the air the atmosphere could have been its own low-grade Earth treasure.

It all came from the flowers. Spread out across the breadth of the Garden, going in dizzying spirals.

Their petals were translucent, made of faintly pastel colors. And their centers seemed like motes of pure light. There was something ethereal about them, something ghostly—like if you touched on them, blew on them, they might just dissolve into the wind.

A description popped up.

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 ℤ𝕠𝕝. 𝕀𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕚𝕟 𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕞. 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕚𝕖 𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕖𝕡𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖—𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞…

They all took a few moments to take it all in. The flowers were all pretty eye-catching. A few were of particular interest—

𝔾𝕒𝕚𝕒'𝕤 𝔼𝕞𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖 [𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 (𝔸)]

It was a clutch of Wood-Element ferns. Perfect for Reina. She was pretty close to her third Concept—she had been chipping away at it for a few days now.

Then there were—

𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 ℝ𝕒 [𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 (𝔸)]

It was like sunshine captured in physical form. Motes of it glowing on the edges of swaying flowers that were little more than tricks of light. Evan gasped.

A few were limpid lilies, trickling freshwater off their petals.

𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕃𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕤 [𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 (𝔸)]

Avery pounced.

His friends needed a lot less essence than Zane to level up. Just these might get them to Nascent. Evan was already pretty close to Level 300—they were all Leveling pretty fast, it felt like.

This third floor was turning out pleasantly so far.

They decided to stay for a bit and soak in all the treasures here. With how far they'd gone along, Reina felt this could be one of the last chances to rest and power-up before they went for the finish.

She called a meeting. "Let's make the most of this," she said brightly, looking at all of them. "I'll get as close to mid-Fusion as I can. You should too, Avery."

"Yes m'am!" said Avery with a salute.

"Evan—let's take those dandelions and push for Nascent, okay?"

"Okay!" said Evan.

"Zane…" she paused, pursed her lips. There wasn't really much he could break through on right now, it felt like. He just had a bunch. They blinked at each other. "…You're doing great," she said at last, and gave him a pat on the arm.

"Thanks," said Zane.

In the end Zane sat Evan down and gave him a pep talk on how to do the breakthrough. Most of it ended up boiling down to "try very very hard."

"Okay!" said Evan.

They went off to do their things.

Zane found a few Fire- and Steel-element flowers. And ate. The Steel Flowers—'Ironhead Tulips'—got him another Skill Level.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔻𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟'𝕤 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕀𝕀 -> 𝕀𝕀𝕀

After that there wasn't much for him to do but wait, he supposed.

He wandered deeper in. Through spiraling routes of flowers, not quite sure where he was going. Just poking around idly. Soon he was convinced he'd gotten totally lost. This was with a mini-map on him. Even Zane was not sure how he managed to do this.

That was when he came across the hill.

It had no other flowers on it. Just a plain of grass, leading up to the very top. Where there was just a single flower.

𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕞 [𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 (𝕊+)]

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣, 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕝, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕒𝕥𝕙.

Zane remembered—the message in the temple description. Way back at the very start of this thing. Something about the end of his Path. He shuffled up to it, gently picked the flower. It did not feel, or look, or smell particularly dangerous.

He considered it for a bit. Then shrugged, and swallowed it.

Instantly he started feeling sleepy. As though he'd been struck by a spell.

He frowned. He could fight this he sensed. His Soul Pagoda was starting to act up, ready to respond—but it did not feel harmful to him. Instead it just felt like it wanted to show him something.

So he tamped down on his Pagoda, and his urge to resist. He let the flower do its thing.

The feeling washed over him. Zane swayed on his feet, eyelids drooping. He yawned, blinked. He felt a little…

He dropped face-first into the ground.

THUMP. The whole hill shook with the impact.

He was snoring in seconds.