Chapter 126: Book 2 Chapter 33 - The Treasury

The arches stood beneath the stars. Rings of granite buried in the red crystal waste. They housed marvels, but the goddess drew Zoe’s attention.

Lorilla raised an eyebrow at Zoe’s staring.

“And I don’t even have my glamor on.”

Zoe blushed.

“No, it wasn’t like that,” Zoe blurted out. “You’re just… so powerful.”

The words fell limp between them, a frail shadow of the truth, for Lorilla’s presence throbbed against her in a way Rue’s had not. While Rue’s pressed upon her like the knowledge of a knife in the dark, with weight and terror, Lorilla’s filled the room. Her presence was one of warmth and throbbing, blood-trembling power. How could one not bow under such a touch? It was as though a heart swelled in the room until Zoe had nowhere to stand.

But the splinter of steel that she was refused to buckle.

Lorilla laughed at Zoe’s determined jaw. The throbbing pressure relaxed but did not fade completely.

“Fair enough, little one, this is not the time for such displays. Tell me, can you fly?”

Zoe gasped for air — how many times would she have to do that in one day?

“Of course, I can’t fly. What kind of question is that?”

“A pity. You should try to fly as quickly as you can. People say it is overrated, but it is the system’s first great gift,” she smiled as she floated off the ground until she looked down at Zoe. “For now, take my hand.”

“Why?”

“Because Rue, in his deviousness, has only shown you half of the treasury.”

“What!”

A sword scraped against stone. The sound rang out through the arches. Again and again. An echo growing in strength, rougher, more visceral, as though her ears were the stone, her ears the sword, and everything bled.

The solid ground became dust beneath her feet, and she fell.

Lorilla snatched her wrist and held her above the growing abyss. A cloud of dust fell into the darkness, shrinking, dimming, silent as the grave. As it dissipated, it revealed the arches as rings. The shelving doubled, and the treasury went from abundant to absurd. Beneath them, in the cutaway world, impossible stars glinted.

Zoe’s mind twitched at the sight, and she did not fight Lorilla as her hand gently guided her up to look at the rings. The goddess held Zoe under her arms as they flew through the floating loot.

“Why did you save me from the Smith?”

The question had dogged her, but she had no way of understanding how the gods thought or planned.

“I think you have a real chance of winning,” Lorilla said. “So I want my name attached.”

“Winning what?”

“Well, Rue threw down the gauntlet. He wants someone from this world to kill him. We both agree — and this is rare — that you have a chance.”

Zoe let that thought digest for a moment.

“You think I can? My abilities, my stats, everything is at cross purposes.”

“I think your build is great,” Lorilla said as they flew past a collection of glowing mushrooms. “You’ve only just incorporated blood, but you have your [Mind’s Eye Incision] to experiment further. I’m excited to see what you come up with. So, what to get for the girl who has everything?”

“A spa day?”

Zoe immediately regretted making the joke, but Lorilla’s charming laugh pealed out.

“We could do that, you know? Here.”

She zoomed like a rollercoaster and stopped just as suddenly. Without Zoe’s enhanced body, she might have suffered whiplash. As it was, it was just disorientating and… thrilling. Her heart hammered as she looked at a small dried gourd. It was bulbous, shaped like an eight, with intricate paintings upon its surface of an ancient spa.

[Astral Harem Gourd: sleep with this under your pillow to visit a spa of pleasure and relaxation in your dreams]

[Essence: dream +4, love +4, water +8]

Zoe’s blush deepened. She didn’t know what to say, but deep down — selfishly deep down — she wanted it.

But that was the point of a treasury. To fill it with things that other people desired.

“I don’t think it’s for me,” she said at last, conscious of the time once more.

“You wouldn’t be the first adventurer to choose such a prize,” Lorilla said with a laugh. “But that isn’t the reward I would recommend. At least, not at this stage of your growth. Maybe later, if you ever make it back here on my behalf?”

They flew away at a less breakneck pace. Zoe looked around for Rue as they passed armor and weapons and taxidermied monsters. Everything took on the quality of a dream, underscored by the incoming tension of the Gambler’s Game. There was no sign of Rue amongst the seemingly endless rings. She tried to scan objects as she passed. There were rings of fire that formed defensive shields. An icy flute that summoned the winds of winter. Steel gloves that made her strikes magnetic. A sleeping rabbit that could hear everything within a mile radius. And many more objects that blurred together as Lorilla flew them between the rings.

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Zoe drowned in the overwhelming feeling, but as the treasures flashed past, she wondered what Rue meant when he said they would all be summoned.

Surely not…

How did she ask the Goddess carrying her a question?

“Um?” damn, she could have done better than that.

“Yes, little one?”

Zoe cursed herself but pushed on.

“What did Rue mean about the Gambler’s game?”

“Well,” Lorilla almost spat. “That idiot misbehaved in the Gambler’s court, like some common rabble. Not an inch of respect for a literal cosmic god, let alone someone like me! For his insubordination, he has to appear on the next show. For the sins of my past, I must accompany him.”

“That means —”

“Yes. We may be allies, but most likely we shall be opponents,” She paused as they slowed and stopped at a particular ring. “If it makes you feel any better, Rue and I are just as scared of the Gambler. Everybody dreads his wrath.”

Zoe sagged.

“So the show is a punishment? I mean, it felt like hell but…” her eyes widened with shock. “I mean, it’s tough but it’s fair.”

She waited for the Gambler’s mocking call. For her life to get worse. Lorilla brushed her hair.

“Don’t worry about the triad listening right now. There is a certain privilege to reaching the upper ranks. Focus on your reward. This is my pick for you.”

Zoe puzzled out the shape in front of her. An ovular lump of black loam, familiar, as though she were seeing a pattern in the dirt.

[Earth Engine: hitch this to any vehicle to provide hovering above land, acceleration over land, and short gliding capabilities]

[Essence: sky +2, earth +2, rock +2, metal +2, wood +2, water +2, fire +2, air +2]

Zoe looked at it with new wonder. The shaggy lump of dark earth was a curled-up horse. Almost fetal, with its head tucked in, and its power felt sedate, complicated, but calm.

“Just picture it,” Lorilla said. “Racing over the earth, gliding between islands, wind in your hair as you cruise the roads through the skies you know. One thing your people did well was highways, and the Incorporation always saves the best of worlds. Wait until you see what the Martians built for their vehicles… I digress.”

Zoe could picture it. A flying car — well, a hovering car — and there were plenty of cars hollowed out by the system. Wouldn’t it be incredible to hook up this engine and fly her friends around? She recalled the wagon she had lugged up the snowy hill. Her strength made it possible, but it was still a chore and far from ideal. Maybe there were horses in this new world… but she was never a horse girl, and had no idea how to hitch a horse to a carriage, let alone a car.

And, with her luck, horses probably ate human bones instead of hay now that the system had settled into earth.

Lorilla was waiting for Zoe to say something, and so Zoe filled the silence.

“I do like it,” she said. “And I can see how it would be useful, but I was hoping for something that would help deal with the giant mantises about to invade my town.”

It felt odd to say ‘my town’ and she couldn’t help smiling. The smile vanished at the dismissive, and unladylike sound Lorilla made.

“Bugs? You want to waste your reward on bugs? I don’t think so.”

“For once,” said Rue as he floated over with his hands behind his back. “We agree.”

“We’ve agreed before, you’re just trying to be dramatic.”

Rue’s smile was so sharp Zoe thought she might lose her head, but no technique flashed into existence. Instead, he let the insult slide as he removed his hands from behind his back. An opal pill with a hammer carved into one half sat nestled in his palm.

[Myriad Hammer Pill: this will transform any weaponry technique into an amplified hammer form]

[Essence: metal +16]

“Jewelry?” Lorilla asked in a voice that chilled Zoe’s blood. “Really, Rue?”

Rue did not look the slightest bit chagrinned.

“Enough games,” he said. “Enough toys. She will find plenty of those on her own in her adventures, but this is perfect,” and his steely eyes bored into Zoe’s. “Listen, I am not trying to bribe you. Your build is at odds with itself, and I can fix it. This pill will enter your [Mind’s Eye Incision] and it will transform that pitiful knife into a proper hammer. You’ll be able to bludgeon aside Skein techniques with impunity. The metal affinity you hold will enhance its growth. I’ve noticed that you’re at odds with your body path, but the dull impact of the hammer suits the resonance of a bell. You’ll be able to incorporate your body path more directly into your actions. Think about how good the club feels in your hands, this item is perfect for you to tie in all the aspects of your build.”

Zoe stared at it the rainbow-specked lustre of the opal. Could she take it?

A perfect solution didn’t exist. She wasn’t so naïve as to believe such praise, especially from a being — no, a person — like Rue. The opal would not solve her problems, it would merely change them. Remove some and replace others. Namely, though it would integrate her body path with her actions nicely, it would remove the scalpel from her armory.

And there was something about the scalpel in her grip that felt right.

Felt true.

She didn’t want to give that up for the sake of convenience.

But she couldn’t argue the fact that she was currently using a club. Made from the bones of her hated enemy no less. The crude instrument felt… fun. Easy. All she needed was strength. To spring first, and fast, and hard.

But the true wealth of the bone — and the arm — was as a material. It could become something else. She had ideas, but no actual plans. If she took this pill, it could only become a hammer. Everything would look like a nail.

She could put a name now on the repulsion she felt toward Rue’s offering: the narrow focus. The specialisation. Something she was familiar with after training to be a plastic surgeon. It felt like stepping into a bunker. She could survive inside, but she could never leave.

Was a toylike engine the alternative? Something that let her travel wherever she wanted. Let her leave her troubles behind and take her friends with her. They could move from island to island and take what they needed before the rest of the world started leveling higher.

The thoughts felt grimy, but they came all the same.

“Well?” Rue said.

“Yes,” Lorilla agreed. “You must learn to be decisive.”

Zoe wasn’t sure which to choose, and she cast her attention about as she struggled to make her choice. Then something caught her attention. A glimmer amongst the arches. Something caught the light that was not there.

What was that?

Rue and Lorilla did not appreciate her delay.

“Give us some space,” Lorilla said. “She thinks you’ll kill her if she picks anything beside yours.”

“She’s not intimidated,” Rue scoffed. “She doesn’t get intimidated. She just wants something else.”

Zoe frowned at the glimmer. She couldn’t scan it at this distance, but it fascinated her.

The attention of the gods fixed upon her like twin magnifying glasses aimed at an ant. Presence bloomed. Two planets descended from the sky. Whorls of cloud obscured continents and oceans. Her eyes struggled to see it all. The weight crushed her.

She gasped out her last breath.

“Please, let me look at that.”

And pointed at the glimmer.

The pressure vanished as the terrifying attention swept away from her and out amongst the arches.

“What is that?” Rue’s voice warbled through the blood in Zoe’s ears. “That shouldn’t be here.”