A broad drinking horn of bone drifted out of the void key, blood visibly sloshing from within but restricted by a script. The metallic stench was overpowering, and it radiated a sense of enduring strength.
“The Thousand Blood Elixir,” Lindon introduced. “Distilled from a thousand of the most physically powerful sacred beasts, condensed and refined to let a Sage artificially match a Herald in strength. For a moment, at least, and assuming their body can handle the burden. Stolen from the Beast King.”
[“Stolen,”] Dross repeated. [A vulture dropped it on top of us.]
Silently, Ziel thanked his mentor. He reached out for the horn, but Lindon pulled it back.
Something else was drifting out of the void key.
“The Spring of Celestial Starlight. Nourishes the spirits of Archlords to prepare the Remnants for Herald.” This was a crystal-bright sphere containing a blue liquid that Ziel would bet had been refined from a Tear of the Deep, the ultimate water-aspect natural treasure.
[You get half. The rest is for Little Blue.]
Ziel reached out a second time, but a third object floated out.
This was a golden pill, trapped in six layers of cages, each made of a different metal. Ziel sensed nothing from this at all; at least, nothing that escaped the scripts. “Heart of the Earth Emperor. Stolen from the Ninecloud Court, this pill is made to help Monarchs control and focus their physical strength.”
Ziel didn’t reach out this time, but he found himself a little intimidated by the sight of the three. No matter what he’d stolen from the Monarchs, these had to be three of the best items. Would he have any left for the others?
A fourth elixir flew out. This container somewhat resembled an hourglass and was filled with a bright, violently orange fluid that gave him the spiritual impression of strong acid.
“An unexpected gain from Reigan Shen’s vault,” Lindon said, with a satisfied smile. “The Inner Light Tempering elixir is intended to reinforce madra channels and promote spiritual resilience even in highly advanced sacred beasts.”
[Not recommended for human use,] Dross pointed out. [And not fun to cycle.]
The void key closed. Rather than commenting on the rarity and power of these treasures, Ziel focused on their purpose.
“Looks like you’re preparing me to take a beating,” Ziel observed.
Lindon was carefully filling a syringe with the orange fluid of the Inner Light Tempering. The madra within surged and raged like a contained storm, and Ziel thought he even saw faces inside; elixirs at this level often developed a kind of rudimentary will.
“You will need to take a beating,” Lindon admitted, without taking his eyes from the syringe. “You’ll have to take hits from Monarchs and Dreadgods. But you’ll also need…” He finished filling the syringe and brought it over to Ziel. “…to hit back.”
Ziel strapped himself onto a table Lindon had summoned. He leaned back with his arms tied down; nothing he couldn’t break, but it was meant to contain him while he slept.
Lindon pushed the needle into him and injected the solution. It raged through his veins in seconds, and Ziel’s muscles tightened up involuntarily.
The empty syringe was visibly warped from its brief contact with the Inner Light Tempering elixir, and aura around it bent strangely, which disturbed Ziel. That stuff was now in his veins.
Lindon incinerated the ruined syringe with Blackflame when he noticed Ziel looking. “You’ll miss a little willpower training by sleeping through this, but nothing important. This functions more like a poison, teaching your body to resist the burden of excess spiritual power.”
[Like when you’re using a weapon too powerful for you, for instance,] Dross put in.
Pain wracked Ziel’s entire body, but nothing he wasn’t used to. When Dross’ words sank in, Ziel eyed Lindon.
“You’re preparing me for a weapon? Isn’t that optimistic?”
“It’s trust,” Lindon said. Then he took a step back. “Three days to start with, I think.”
It was hard to concentrate on the Grand Oath Array with the painful elixir burning his veins, but Ziel manifested the silver runes. Before he activated them, Dross drifted up to his head.
[Sweet dreams,] Dross whispered, tapping his forehead. [By which I mean I have ensured that you will dream about delicious desserts. You’re welcome.]
In his last, fading thoughts before he passed out, Ziel activated the Array for what he estimated would be three days.
The world outside slowed as he, the table he was strapped to, and the tank of mind-constructs at his feet were all pushed forward three days.
He did, indeed, dream of cake.
Mercy had backed up to the first page in her Book of Eternal Night. The first time she’d visited for training purposes since she was a Gold.
The first page wasn’t much. At least, not by her standards now. It was a large room filled with a black spider’s web. She had to climb the web and make it from one end of the room to the other, pursued by crystalline amethyst Remnants that resembled spiders.
Lindon strode up next to her, his spiritual sense filling the entire space. “Incredible,” he said. “I can only imagine the Soulsmithing expertise that went into this.”
“Break it down,” Mercy said decisively.
He hesitated. “Are you sure? If we leave it intact, you’ll still have a cleaner road to Herald than anyone else.”
“You said this was faster, right?”
Malice’s will and memories were in every page of the Book of Eternal Night. If Mercy continued to follow her usual Path of Seven Pages, she would reach the peak of Archlord with her spirit prepared for Herald.
But not soon enough. She needed to steal more of her mother’s power, faster.
A spider crawled up to Lindon’s feet, but he glanced at it, and the spirit scurried away. “There are other ways. If you do this, you’ll have to defeat her will. You risk turning yourself into a second copy of her.”
Mercy’s Overlord revelation whispered into her mind. “I am not Malice. I am Mercy.”
“I won’t,” she said aloud. Though she did add, “But let’s take it one page at a time, all right?”
“Can you help her, Dross?” Lindon asked.
The spirit spun out next to Lindon’s head. His eye traced the entire space. [Hey, I like it in here! Nice colors. Anyway, there’s not much I can do for you, Mercy. This place is inside you, so how am I supposed to slip in between you? You’re not Lindon.]
Mercy steeled herself. She felt like she might cry, but she had never been more resolved. Her mother had betrayed her, and the time Mercy had spent since then had not healed the wound. “I’ll never be in a better condition to resist Malice’s will than I am now.”
Lindon gave a nod and raised his right hand.
Madra slithered out from him in a web she could barely detect. It was too scattered and rough to be called a real technique. More like a method of moving madra around. But he spread pure madra, Blackflame, and hunger out in a complicated web into the page.
She winced in discomfort as she felt the Book of Eternal Night trembling.
[Each page is really its own, separate construct,] Dross told her. [We’ll have to go through the pages one by one and break them down, and then you integrate the powers into your spirit on your own. It shouldn’t be too bad for you; everything here is compatible with your spirit. Not like Lindon! Do you know how many times he’s Consumed something that could have destroyed his whole soul? I’ll tell you…]
While Dross continued, the first page of the Book of Eternal Night crumbled around them.
Each fragment torn out of the space dissolved into her spirit. The contents of the room, she could handle; this page was made for Lowgolds, after all. But when chunks of the walls collapsed and vanished into her, she grunted and almost lost her concentration.