Book 6, chapter 35

"Raina?" The old woman asked, her words hardly more than a whisper. Zee took a worried step back as a billowing aura spread through the throne room. One moment it seemed like a normal old lady was in front of her and the next a towering ancient giant with unfathomable power. 

It was a power that made her feel like an insignificant little bug. Not even her grandpa, nor the emperor, could come close to this kind of power. Zee was forced to her knees, the stone cracking under food as the old woman loomed over her. Zee tried to activate wayward walk, to escape the looming threat, but her energy was turbid, under so much pressure she couldn't even activate her movement skill.

Heart racing madly, Zee looked up into a pair of furious eyes. The old woman's gaze was icy cold, the bloodlust oozing from her thin body so thick it was like fog. Zee was unable to even twitch as the monster in the shape of a human loomed above her. 

"Is this some sort of sick joke… Why would you show me an illusion of my dead daughter?" the old woman asked in a dangerous tone. 

The crushing pressure lessened just enough for her to talk. "She is not an illusion. Raina is real and alive," Zee replied, through gritted teeth. Panic welled in her chest as frantically tried to figure out what to do. What did this crazy old lady mean that Raina was her daughter?

"Explain!" the old woman demanded, her eyes narrowed slits of barely contained fury. 

Heart practically leaping from her chest, Zee didn't dare hold anything back. This old lady was crazy powerful, and might murder her out of hand if she wasn't appeased. 

"I think Tarnival trapped Raina's soul inside this book, though I don't know why. When I met him, I formed a contract with her and somehow she has been recovering," Zee explained, feeling like she was being hammered into the ground by the old woman's overwhelming presence. 

"Tarnival the butcher gave this book to you?" the old woman asked, the pressure disappearing as soon as it had come. 

Gasping for breath, Zee nodded. 

"Yes. To be more clear, that old geezer tricked me into a contract with the book," Zee said. 

"What are you?" the old woman asked, rubbing her chin, eying Raina's ethereal form closely. 

"I am Raina. Sorry scary lady, please don't hurt me," Raina said. 

"Are you sure? You could be just an illusion that senile old made in his grief. That's probably why he sent you to pick up the keys to the throne. He wanted to break my heart one more time," the woman said sourly.

Clearly startled by the woman's gaze, Raina glanced back to Zee for help.

Sensing Raina's fear, Zee looked into the old woman's eyes. "Her name is Raina.. I don't know if she really is your daughter, but what I do know is that she has been trapped in that book for a very long time. From what I can tell, Tarnival gave this book to me because of my odd ability to share energy, and nurture with other souls. If that was his intent, it seems to be working. Since I got her, she has grown a lot. She was just a child when I formed the contract, stuck in a dream. She is much more corporeal now, I have even seen her interacting with objects like a physical being. In time, I think she will be indistinguishable from a physical being," Zee said, putting herself between a confused Raina and the crazy old lady. 

Being between them wouldn't do much good if the old lady tried to kill them, but it was the gesture that counted. 

The old woman frowned, her domineering aura washing over them both again, though this time much more gently. After a few seconds the old woman actually smiled, an ill practiced motion.

"I can see right through your aura and you don't appear to be lying. Either you have been misled, or you really are telling the truth. I'm starting to believe you wild story. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but the more I look at you, the more bizarre you become. You are quite an interesting kid. You and that Ashary are nurturing each other in a way I have never seen before. How are you doing that?" the old woman asked. 

Zee shrugged. 

"No idea. Tarnival asked the same thing. It think that is why he tricked me into a blood contract with Raina. Maybe he was hoping that my odd ability would help her recover?" Zee said. 

The old woman nodded slowly, her eyes seeming to bore right through Zee. 

"That's hard to believe. If myself and that old coot couldn't reverse Raina's curse, how could a brat like you?" the old woman asked.

Zee shrugged again.

The old woman huffed in derision.

"Well, I guess you can't be blamed for your ignorance. And you have done weirder things I suppose. An E grade cultivator with a fragmented inner world? No idea how that's possible. Your soul should have crumbled by now, and yet, here you are. You seem to be a collection of oddities," the old woman said, seeming more than a bit impressed.

"What can I say? I have been through a lot," Zee said, not sure what else to say.

As if to break the tension the old woman laughed.

"That you have. It's quite impressive that you were able to absorb a wisp of the apocalypse," the old woman said. 

Zee's train of thought was derailed at the reminder. 

"About that… Could you perhaps get rid of it for me? I know it was supposed to be the prize for solving the labyrinth but I would prefer not to have it," Zee said. 

The old woman waved a dismissive hand.

"That wasn't the prize. It was just a test. You weren't actually supposed to absorb it. Turns out that wisp of energy was smarter than I thought, hiding in your body like that. Sorry kid, nothing i can do about it now that it's fuzed with your soul,"

Zee scowled. " Then why would you keep that kind of dangerous energy around anyway? I thought gathering the keys was supposed to be a trial for lower grade cultivators, not a death trap," Zee grumbled.

The old woman shrugged.

"No one said you had to go searching for the keys. You got greedy for power, how is that my fault? In my defence I have been curious to see what would happen when someone absorbed that madness into their body," she replied.

Zee stared blankly at the old woman. "You are doing this out of curiosity?" Zee asked.

The old woman laughed jovially. "Of course! Curiosity, well and get rid of the boredom. The eons grow dull without some excitement to brighten things up," she said with a half smile.

"I don't believe I caught your name?" Zee asked, inwardly muttering, they are like two peas in a pod. 

"I'm Halico, former empress of the heaven fall empire," the old woman introduced.

"Nice to meet you, I guess. I'm Zee," Zee introduced, clearly unhappy. 

There was a long drawn out silence as both of them stared at each other with Raina hiding behind Zee like she was a shield. 

"Are you going to introduce yourself, young lady?" Halico asked, looking at Raina with a friendly smile that was clearly ill-practiced. 

"I already told you scary lady, I'm Raina," Raina said softly, clearly unsure how to process this whole ordeal. 

"Do you not recognize me?" Halico asked.

Raina vehemently shook her head. "No, sorry,"

The old woman frowned, clearly unhappy with the reply.

"I'm your mother," Halico said.

"No you're not. Mother is not some scary old lady," Raina proclaimed. 

There was a long, drawn out silence. Both of them stared at each other with frowns, with Raina seeming incredibly doubtful of the claim. With them both sharing the same expression, they did look surprisingly similar. 

To break the stalemate, Zee decided to change the subject. 

 "So, what is this trial that big statue out front was talking about?" Zee asked.

"Trail? Oh right, the trial. No need for that. You are with family. That trial was just an experiment anyway. You would have probably died fighting the monster I put at the end of that trial. It's quite a marvelous creature I found, nearly impervious to all energies." Halico said, with a dismissive wave.

"So you are going to give me the supreme treasure for free?" Zee asked hopefully. 

Halico barked out a laugh.

"Supreme treasures don't just grow on trees. Especially something that would be helpful for someone with such an unfortunate path as your own," Halico said.

Zee frowned, " Soo, I went through all that nonsense for nothing? All the pain, the suffering, enduring that stupid maze for years?" Zee asked, more than a bit peeved. 

Halico gave her a sidelong glance.

"Well, I do have something, but.. I don't think you, or anyone at Peak E grade for that matter would survive absorbing it. Your body, soul and channels are just not sturdy enough to incorporate all of its energies. Even if you can withstand the pain, it will still probably turn you to dust," Halico warned.. 

Instead of being scared, Zee was elated at the proclamation. A treasure that fits all of the concepts she was cultivating. Was such a thing even possible? 

"I'm harder to kill than you think," Zee said.. 

The old woman's excited smile made Zee momentarily reconsider her statement. 

Halico clapped her hands, and their surroundings shifted. Zee blinked as they appeared at the edge of a wide well lit atrium.

With a gentle wave, Halico gestured towards the center of the chamber.

Zee's eyes widened as she took it all in. Based on the incredibly dense and complex ritual markings covering the whole room, the single object at its center must be incredibly powerful. 

Halico smiled at her reaction. "At the center of this ritual diagram is a treasure that rivals the wisp of the apocalypse. If you can absorb it, and take it into your inner world, it will give you unmatched benefits. Channel its power, form a shard, then use the rest to set the foundation for your core. If you succeed, what remains will connect with the wisp of the apocalypse, and they will stabilize. You are already at the threshold of peak E grade. With this much energy, it should be possible to push all the way to middle D grade," Halico said. 

Zee stared at the haze of glittering dust like particles floating at the center of the square. With how thick the ambient haze surrounding the treasure was, she couldn't even tell what it looked like. What she could tell was that it contained incredibly dense and pure energy.

"What is it?" Zee asked.

"Not entirely sure what it's called. I have been calling it a cosmic seed. Name aside, it is an exquisite treasure, with such dense and pure energies that calling it a supreme treasure would be an insult," Halico said. 

"Is this another one of your experiments like back atop that pyramid? I have no desire to be turned to dust like my late cousin," Zee said.

"Unlike the wisp of the apocalypse this treasure is not a trap. You could say it is your reward for collecting four keys to the eternal throne," Halico said. 

Zee frowned at the old woman, who currently looked like an excited teenager at the prospect of Zee absorbing this thing. 

Were all high grade cultivators crazy? 

She shook the thought aside. 

"What do you mean, four? I thought I only had three, including the wisp of the apocalypse," Zee said. 

Halico cracked a wide smile, looking Zee head to toe. 

"Well… I sort of have been using the bloody eclipse to experiment on a wide scale. You dear girl, I think are the result of said experiments. Can't believe I didn't recognize it immediately. No wonder you were able to absorb and incorporate the heart atop the corrupted spire. That's what that bastard Kur Zul gets for going against me all those years ago. I hope that spiteful ghost rots in the nether realm," Halico said, eying Zee excitedly. 

"You have been doing what?" Zee asked, alarmed.

Halico smiled knowingly. "It's nothing to get riled up about. I have been just using the immense flux of energies during the planar shifts of the blood moon to cast my experiments far and wide," Halico said. She said it like it was nothing, but there was obvious pride in her voice. 

"And what do these experiments have to do with me?" Zee asked.

Halico vaguely gestured at her. "I mean, just look at you. Your energy channels, bones, organs, tendons and even your soul has been enhanced far beyond what it should be for your grade. More than that, there are echoes of my experiment lingering even now. That blood red hair for example," Halico said. 

"You experimented on me?" Zee asked, more than a bit horrified at the prospect. 

"Something like that. Though if it makes you feel better, it was an undirected experiment. The fact you survived it is quite impressive, but I didn't choose you on purpose. I just flung a bunch of experiments out into the cosmos at random. As it turns out, yours worked out, which is better than most can say. This is a pleasant surprise, finding two successful subjects in one year. The last one I ran into was marvelous. Can you believe it, a lizard that is nearly impervious to all forms of energy? The varshak I had guarding the maze is impressive, but this lizard is even more so. I'm actually kind of bummed out you won't get to fight it," Halico said.

Zee scowled at the clearly insane old woman. 

"You are giving me very little confidence in your work. You just throw experiments out into the cosmos and hope they work out?" Zee asked.

"Well, I honestly don't care if my experiments work out or not. Sometimes they do go wrong, but that's the price of progress. Like when I accidentally altered those docile creatures in the Null realm. They were powerful but timid creatures before. Now they are malicious monstrosities with an unmatched thirst for carnage. I'm not very proud of that one, but how was I supposed to know it would go that horribly wrong?" Halico said.

Zee started reconsidering her life choice. This old woman really was absolutely insane, and a menace to the cosmos by the sound of it. Despite coming to that conclusion, she would eat her left boot before saying it aloud.

"I think I have reconsidered my earlier statement. It seems like it would be a bad idea to take the cosmic seed," Zee said.

Halico shrugged. 

"I'm not forcing you to do anything. But this is all the reward you get. It's either this or nothing. Say the word and I'll send you back the way you came in. Who knows how long it will take for that wisp of the apocalypse to kill you? And I'm sure you will run into a treasure of this quality again," Halico said with a knowing smile. 

Zee scowled over at the shameless old woman. She really didn't have much of a choice. And as much as it pained her to admit, this treasure really was enticing. A treasure that was beyond supreme quality. As Halico said before, those things didn't exactly grow on trees. She had never even heard of something this rare.

The only problem was, it was being offered by someone who was insane. Halico might very well just be offering her another experiment in hopes of an exciting outcome. The thought was troubling. Stuffing it in a box had crossed her mind, but she could tell neither an etched box or spatial storage wouldn't hold this thing. 

"And what about heaven's wrath?" Zee asked hesitantly.

Halico's smile widened further. 

"Because I feel I sort of owe you, I guess I can help out. As payment, and to sever the debt, I will hide this chamber from the heavens until you form your core. But that is the limit I am willing to go," Halico said.

"So, will I still be forced to withstand heaven's fury once my core is complete?" Zee asked, feeling the question important to ask. 

"Of course! There is always a price for power. Plus, heaven's wrath isn't just a punishment. If you survive, it will temper your core," Halico said.

Zee grimaced.

"Dern? What do you think?" Zee asked. 

"I say we go for it. We need this cosmic seed thing to help balance out that wisp of madness," Dern said.

"And what if she is lying about that?" Zee asked.

"She is insane, but I don't think she is lying about that. If she really is Raina's mother, I doubt she would want to kill her daughter. After all, if you die, so does Raina," Dern said.

Zee let out a long drawn out breath.

"So, what do I do?" Zee asked, turning to the old woman. 

Halico smiled widely. 

"Just walk over and touch it. My contaminants arrays are not stopping you. Just remember, once you start, there is no stopping until the cosmic seed is fully absorbed," Halico said. 

"How long do I have before the wisp of the apocalypse kills me?" Zee asked.

"A month or two. Before long, it will start drawing on your power. Over a few months, the drain will grow. If the drain doesn't kill you, the heavens will once it detects that energy inside your body," Halico said. 

Zee grimaced. Well, shit! Stuck between an out-of-control cart and brick wall. She glanced from the cosmic seed surrounded by a brilliant haze, and then back to the old woman. She hated to admit it, but Halico was right. Power always came at a price. 

But that didn't mean she had to rush into this. Ignoring the old woman's stare, Zee took a seat on the etched stone tile and pulled out a purple gem. 

Inside was an advanced copy of her family's cultivation techniques, given to her by Julian before she left. It was a step by step process on how to form a shard, and then set the foundations for her core. 

It usually would be decades between these two steps, but this treasure was an unimaginable opportunity. A chance to mostly skip an entire stage, both ascending and passing one of the major hurdles of the D grade in one go. It was beyond risky, but then, risks were meant to be taken. 

Reaching the peak wasn't accomplished by measured, or sane people. You had to have a few screws loose to reach for the peak. Struggling for power was a universal truth. Even so, that didn't mean she had to be an idiot about it. 

For the next few hours, she very thoroughly went over her family's cultivation techniques. Everything from forming her shard, to refining, and compressing her core. 

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but when she was finally ready, she stood.

Her body was mostly recovered after eating a few healing pills, and her mind was clear. She was in as good a shape as she could be given the circumstances. 

Approaching the center of the array, she paused just before reaching the hovering ball of energy. First things first. She had already thoroughly searched her spatial storage, and now pulled out a few things that should be extremely helpful. 

Several treasures, each procured in the cube, or found in the endless storm, were placed in front of her. The dense auras of the treasures and her best healing pills washed over her, agitating the ambient energy. 

She took a deep, calming breath. Everything appeared to be in order. Not as many items to assist her as she would have liked, but also more than nothing. Most people would prepare for this step for decades, but she was not most people. Sometimes you had to leap off the cliff and hope you didn't go splat at the bottom. 

She took several more deep, calming breaths to steady her mind. Time to risk it all. This was her chance to take a huge leap forward, and take fate into her own hands. Whether it was for her own sake, or to finally tell the emperor to go shove it, this was something she needed to do. 

With a steady arm, she reached out and plunged her hand into the shimmering haze.