Once he and the rest of the expedition finished descending down the tower to get their first good look at the temple’s interior, Zareth’s first impression was that it made little sense.
The vast majority of the structure had been buried beneath the sands and been abandoned for millennia, yet its stone halls were in far better condition than they had any right to be.
Oh, the old temple certainly gave the impression of being ancient ruins which any Adventurer would be salivating to explore, but Zareth knew there was more to it. The air was strangely fresh, lacking the musty, decaying scent he had expected. Instead, the atmosphere was subtly invigorating, as if the temple itself was imbued with energy
With his third eye open, Zareth could easily confirm that to be the case. Both magical and divine energies were woven together throughout the temple in a way Zareth hadn’t known was possible. He would be the first to admit that he hardly understood the fundamentals of the various mystical forces that existed in this world, but he had been under the impression that they didn’t exactly mix.
Not only that but there was something… incredibly strange about the magic itself, being far less structured than what he was used to.
His third eye could see magic far better than [Magic Perception] had ever been able to, and most of it appeared to him as rigid patterns of geometric symbols that moved in ways that were somewhat predictable. However, the magic formations seemed incredibly fluid, like a living tapestry of energies that seemed to move with a mind of its own.
The fact that the magic was rhythmically pulsing like a heartbeat, and vaguely resembled a circulatory system of veins spread throughout the temple only reinforced that perception.
Zareth wasn’t sure how long he stood there studying the magic before someone tapped him on the shoulder, snapping him out of his reverie.
“Is there something wrong?” asked Kajal, his posture tense as he looked down at Zareth. “I have been attempting to get your attention for some time.”
“Oh, sorry. I was just somewhat distracted by the magic in the walls,” Zareth said sheepishly before going on to explain his observations.
Most of the expedition didn’t seem particularly interested in the strange magic, but Tilda’s expression grew increasingly amazed the longer he spoke.
“You sure about that, lad?” asked Tilda, turning to look at her surroundings with newfound interest. “Then this place must be mighty old to be covered in unstructured magic. It's a damn shame that I never evolved [Magic Perception]. I would’ve loved to see it myself!”
“Unstructured magic?” Zareth asked curiously, unfamiliar with the term.
He knew that Tilda, an [Elemental Mage] from Eldamir, had almost certainly received a comprehensive education from one of their academies. So, it was no surprise that she recognized what he was describing.
“Aye, unstructured magic. You see, it’s common knowledge that the System imposes a certain level of structure on spells,” said Tilda, grinning with excitement as she explained. “Enchantments from before the System came around just feel different, more… untamed. I read that it's supposed to feel exhilaratin’, like starin’ into a storm and feelin’ the raw power of the elements.”
That description was accurate as far as Zareth was concerned. The magic had a certain quality that could definitely be described as potent.
“Then, is unstructured magic stronger?” asked Zareth, intrigued by the topic.
Tilda shook her head vigorously, a hint of panic dousing her previous enthusiasm. “Oh, don’t misunderstand me, lad. Unstructured magic is like a double-edged sword. Sure, it feels potent, raw, and perhaps even more natural to draw directly from the Etherveil, but it’s unstable and harder to control. Practicing magic outside of the System is a good way to blowin’ yourself up, along with everyone around you. There’s a damn good reason why it's illegal in Eldamir.”
Zareth turned his attention back to the weave of magic flowing through the temple and found it hard to believe Tilda’s words. The magic around him definitely seemed like it could be less predictable, but he wouldn’t call it unstable.
The fact that the enchantments had survived for who knows how many millennia proved the opposite.
“As interesting as this impromptu magic lesson might be, there was a reason why I wished to gain your attention,” Kajal said pointedly, interrupting the conversation before it could continue. “I need you to look at our surroundings with your superior vision and describe them to me. Leave out no important details.”
Zareth wanted to ask Tilda more, especially about that Etherveil thing, but he recognized that there would be better times for that later. There was no telling if a horde of monsters was about to suddenly charge at them, so it was important that they get their bearings.
It had taken the expedition a few minutes to descend the tower into the temple, and they were now all standing in a hallway. The rest of them likely couldn’t see much beyond that, but Zareth’s third eye was quickly proving itself to be more useful than he expected.
“There are no immediate threats from what I can see,” said Zareth, carefully studying the temple’s magic. Although he couldn’t see through solid objects, he could get a good idea of the path ahead by observing how magic passed through its walls. “The path ahead forks in two different directions. They both lead into a bunch of different hallways, but the left one looks like it’ll take us downward while the right will stay on this level.”
Honestly, the temple was much larger than what should be natural, but that wasn’t particularly surprising. In a ridiculous world where even Gurza could spatially expand her bakery with a Skill, why wouldn’t he expect the same from an ancient temple?
“Any traps? Magical guardians?” asked Kajal, focused on the task ahead.
“Not that I can tell, but that doesn’t mean much,” Zareth said with a shrug. The [Eye of Cerebon] was powerful, but it wasn’t omnipotent. “I can only tell you this much because the entire structure is covered in magic. That doesn’t mean that I can see traps.”
“Very well. Casper, go and search the path ahead,” said Kajal, turning his attention to his group’s [Scout]. “We’re going to explore the right path first. In places like these, the deepest levels are always the most dangerous.”
“No problem, boss,” Casper said with an easy smile before drawing a dagger that immediately began glowing after leaving its sheath. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
Zareth watched as the man cautiously ventured deeper into the temple, eyes darting around as he searched for any potential traps, until he disappeared into the right hallway.
“Is it really alright for him to go ahead alone?” asked Zareth, somewhat worried for the cheerful Adventurer. “We had to waste a lot of time disabling the traps in the tower, so I have no doubt that there are more further in the temple.”
“Casper has been training to be a [Scout] for most of his life,” said Kajal, sounding completely confident in his teammate. “He possesses an advanced form of [Danger Sense] that will alert him to the vast majority of threats before he encounters them. He will be fine.”
While Casper was gone, the expedition spent the next few minutes setting up a small camp that could be used both to rest and as a defensive fallback point. Not only would they likely be exploring the temple for quite some time, but it was also necessary to have a place where they could regroup in case things went awry.
Given that the environment prevented Tilda from using her magic to create pitfall traps or stone barriers, the Adventurers had to rely on more mundane methods to protect the camp. Kajal and Tilda worked to set up a series of tripwire traps that would launch alchemical flasks at any attackers while Sefirah swept the tower for anything they might have missed while descending.
Zareth, Rizok, and Leira just set up the camp at the base of the tower while the Pathfinders worked. It was mostly empty, aside from a few broken shards of metal and the occasional bone fragments, which looked like they would turn to ash with a touch. This made it easy to set up a few sleeping mats and a fire to make the place a bit more welcoming.
By the time Casper returned from his scouting, the makeshift camp was set up and the group was ready for whatever lay ahead.
“So, good news or bad news first?” asked Casper, his normally cheerful expression somewhat strained.
“Good news first,” Zareth said before anyone else could respond. “After trekking through the desert for so long to get here, I think we could all use some uplifting news.”
A round of affirmations echoed from the rest of the team, and Casper seemed to relax a bit at that.
“Well, the good news is that we’re definitely going to find more treasures in this place than we thought,” said Casper, grinning from ear to ear. “A lot of it's likely to have rotted away by now, but most of the temple’s actually in pretty good condition as well. There must be magic preserving it, so we also aren't going to need to worry about the place collapsing on us.”
That was definitely a relief to hear. When you had plans to explore a giant temple buried beneath several tons of sand, its structural integrity was a rather important detail.
“How can you tell that we’re going to find a lot of treasures?” asked Zareth, curious as to how a seasoned Adventurer would determine something like that.
“Oh, well that’s where the bad news comes in,” said Casper, his smile falling again. “There are signs that whoever lived here was preparing the temple to be attacked, which means it must have been well supplied.”
“But it also means that it's filled with traps and other defenses,” Kajal continued, instantly understanding why his teammate was concerned.
Glancing at the gashes in the wall and rusted arrow heads littering the floor, Zareth could have guessed that. It was nice to know that this trip was likely to be worth the effort, but danger and rewards usually came hand in hand.
He was more than a little curious as to why the temple had been turned into a makeshift fortress. The Grimoire of Cerebon stated that Cerebon had become a god during the advent of the System, and the god himself claimed that he’d usurped Meldorath’s divinity.
If those things were both true, then the temple would have been involved in a military conflict during the same time period as the System’s creation. That was a period of history that Zareh was quite interested in learning more about if he could.
“If the temple was being attacked, then aren’t you worried that whoever attacked them already looted it?” asked Zareth.
“The attackers would have disabled the traps before looting the temple,” Casper said, shaking his head. “Besides, I doubt that they made it that far. The path ahead is blocked by gross, fleshy barriers. Tried nicking one of them with my knife to see if we could cut our way through, but it regenerated too quickly. Without your help, it wouldn’t be easy to get through.”
Zareth was quite curious about these flesh barriers. Aside from locating the tome of Meldorath for Cerebon, he was also interested in learning what an ancient religious order of flesh crafters could come up with. After all, anything they could do, he could appropriate for his own cult.
Faced with the opportunity to learn more about how his abilities could be best used, Zareth was suddenly glad that he had waited to spend his Skill points.
“I think we’ve waited around long enough,” Zareth said excitedly, turning to the leader of the Adventurers. “If you’re ready, then we should move on ahead.”
He might be the one paying for and directing the expedition, but it was the Pathfinders who would be risking their lives. Deferring to their expertise was only logical.
Fortunately, Kajal seemed to agree that they were ready to move on, and it wasn’t long before they were carefully making their way down the hallway Casper had scouted. Rizok and Zareth stayed in the back while the Pathfinders took point, their keen eyes catching several traps along the way.
Leira and her elemental decided to wait in camp, as her only duties were to guide them through the Qahtani Desert, not risk her life in an ancient temple.
The interior of the temple wasn’t all that interesting at first, simply being empty and crumbling stone corridors occasionally interrupted by broken weapons or gouges in the walls. However, that changed once they finally reached the fleshy barrier that Casper mentioned at the end of the corridor.
Zareth hadn’t felt disturbed by flesh manipulation since becoming a [Cultist] of a flesh god, but he could tell that the rest of the expedition members were uneasy at the sight before them. The passage was blocked by a pulsating mass of clenching muscle and sinew, with veins carrying blood throughout. The barrier seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting in tune with the temple’s magic.
If Casper’s testimony about its ability to regenerate was accurate, then it was a rather impressive example of fleshcrafting, and Zareth couldn’t help but feel a hint of respect to Meldorath’s worshippers. Creating something like this without the assistance of the System or his education on biology would not have been a simple feat.
“Well… that’s an unsettling sight,” said Sefirah, staring at the barrier with a grimace as her hawk squawked in agreement.
Casper assessed the barrier of clenched muscles for several moments before smiling. “Now that I give it a closer look, it really looks like a b—”
“It is already clear to everyone what it looks like,” Kajal interrupted his teammate with clear exasperation in his voice. “More importantly, how do we get through? Casper, I know you’ve already tested it with your dagger, but are you certain nothing will happen if we attack it with more force?”
Casper didn’t look too happy to be interrupted, but he merely shrugged before answering. “[Danger Sense] isn’t giving me any warnings. Don’t worry. It probably won't drag us in with tiny little hands and start eating us!”
Zareth didn’t think that sounded particularly reassuring, but it seemed to be convincing enough for the Pathfinders. The Adventurers attempted to destroy the barrier through a variety of ways, such as with fire, poison, and a flurry of blades. They did manage to do quite a bit of damage, but the fleshy barrier always regenerated far too quickly for them to get through.
During this, Zareth simply stood back and watched. He knew that the Pathfinders hadn’t inconveniently forgotten about his abilities, but it was important that the expedition find out now if Zareth was the only person who would be able to remove the barriers.
Unfortunately, that indeed seemed to be the case and it wasn’t long before the Pathfinders gave up and Zareth began making his way to the barrier. Ignoring the splatters of blood on the ground, he placed his hands on the barrier and focused on his [Flesh Perception].
How strange…
The structure of the flesh barrier was about what he had expected. The muscle tissue didn’t come from any creature that he recognized and was much more dense than that of a normal human’s, but it wasn’t completely foreign to him. What was far more interesting was what happened when Zareth activated [Permanent Flesh Manipulation] and attempted to simply destroy the barrier.
Immediately, the tissue began to part as he intended before a surge of magic flowed through it and forced it back to the original shape. It took a moment for Zareth to track down the magic’s source, but he eventually realized that the barrier was connected to the same network of energy flowing through the entire temple.
In fact, closer inspection revealed that he was a bit more accurate than he had known when he compared the network to a circulatory system.
The magic was quite literally being carried through the walls of the temple by a system of veins and arteries woven into the stone, effectively turning the entire structure into an immense, living organism. Zareth could help but wonder about the metaphorical ‘heart’ of the temple, and from where it got the energy and biomass needed to sustain the temple and continuously regenerate the barrier.
Honestly, it was more than a little fascinating to Zareth and he couldn’t wait to study it. More than any potential artifacts, the knowledge he could gain from this temple was invaluable.
Now that he’d discovered the source of the regeneration, it was simple for Zareth to disconnect the veins connecting the barrier to the rest of the temple. Once again activating his [Permanent Flesh Manipulation], he quickly dissolved the barrier into a puddle of inert biological material and opened the path ahead.
“There we go,” said Zareth, somewhat pleased with himself before turning to the rest of the expedition. “But there are a few things that you need to know.”
Everyone was quite interested to learn the true nature of the temple, but it didn’t change much about their immediate plans. For now, all it meant was that the walls might bleed a bit if they were damaged, and there was a non-zero chance of the temple spontaneously coming to life and eating them all.
It was important information, but there was little to be done about it until they learned more.
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Things started to get a bit more interesting once they traveled further into the temple. The walls were no longer purely made of stone, as tendrils of muscle and sinew laced between bricks pulsed gently with the flow of magic. The floor squished slightly underfoot, giving the sensation that they were walking on the inner lining of an immense creature.
Zareth had no doubt that Meldorath’s worshippers would have been able to use their powers to turn this place into an utter hellscape for any invaders. It made him wonder why the entire temple wasn’t like this.
As they moved on, they came across rooms filled with the strangest kind of furniture. Chairs and tables made of flesh that would slightly change shape to accommodate whatever was placed on them, and bioluminescent orbs fused into the wall that illuminated their path. It was clear that this section of the temple was meant to be some sort of living quarters, as they even came across what appeared to be dormitories and communal spaces.
That likely explained why they didn’t encounter any traps or monsters, as not even crazy zealots would enjoy sleeping next to things that could kill them at any moment.
Zareth considered speaking that observation out loud, but thought better of it.
No need to tempt Murphy.
Eventually, they came across a large chamber that had clearly been a place of worship. There was a raised altar of flesh in the center, surrounded by concentric circles of engraved runes and a large figure looming over it all.
It took Zareth a moment to understand that he was looking at a statue constructed from organic material rather than a living being.
It depicted an eerily beautiful shivarath woman, her arms spread wide in an inviting gesture as she gazed down at the spot where worshippers would be kneeling in supplication. She wore a beautiful red gown that looked as if it were made of silk, though Zareth’s vision could see the small veins running through it, and her hair cascaded down her back like a river of night.
The figure of Meldorath was far more captivating than Zareth had expected, and her statue still glowed faintly with divine energy even millennia after her death.
“Wow, that's certainly a sight,” said Tilda, staring up at the statue with open admiration. “It’s a shame we’ll probably have to destroy it. How much do you want to bet the thing comes to life and starts tryin’ to kill us?”
“That’s not a bet that I’m going to take,” said Casper, his light tone belied by the cautious glances he was throwing around the entire chamber. “My [Danger Sense] has already started to tingle, and it's growing stronger by the moment.”
That seemed to break the momentary awe that had settled over the group, and they all began preparing themselves for battle.
“Zareth, it would be safer for you and your guard to wait in one of the previous rooms while we clear the path ahead,” said Kajal, his many swords ready and unsheathed. “We will inform you if we need your assist—”
The Adventurer was suddenly interrupted by the sound of metal colliding with a hard surface. The source of the sound was Rizok’s blade blocking a scythe of bone that had erupted from the nearby wall and attempted to remove Zareth’s head from his body.
“Enemies from the walls! Take defensive formations!” Rizok shouted with the authority of a man used to leading soldiers, his sword cutting gashes into the creature that was slowly emerging from the walls. “Zareth, move to the center of the chamber and protect yourself!”
Zareth didn’t hesitate to follow Rizok’s instructions, understanding that now was the time to listen to those who had far more experience than himself. Once he was a decent distance from the fighting, Zareth was finally able to get a good look at his surroundings and understand what was happening.
Emerging from the walls were a half-dozen of what could only be flesh golems. Each of them were vaguely humanoid in appearance, but they were all unique in their construction. The one who had tried to kill Zareth had long, bony scythes instead of arms, while the Pathfinders were fighting another that looked like an abomination made from a half dozen creatures.
More were appearing by the moment, and it was clear that the golems were connected to the temple because they were easily regenerating every bit of damage that they were taking.
I have to help. They’re going to eventually be overwhelmed if I just sit back.
Decision made, Zareth took a quick moment to survey the battlefield and plan his course of action.
Rizok was fighting off multiple golems with his blade while also using several Skills to drastically weaken any of the creatures near him and strengthen his allies. Zareth could already feel the difference as [Bolstering Aura] sent a surge of strength flowing through his body. It honestly felt as if he could sprint for a mile and punch through solid stone. Even his perception of time had noticeably slowed as Rizok’s aura significantly increased his Agility Stat.
Even then, Rizok moved with a speed that was difficult for him to process, becoming a whirlwind of deadly steel as Glitterfang desperately hung around his neck for dear life. Zareth had already known that Rizok was powerful, but seeing the evidence of his deadly skills was always surprising to him.
Turning his attention to the Pathfinders, Zareth let out a hum of appreciation as the experienced group of Adventurers showed their worth. They had fallen into a clearly well practiced defensive formation and were currently tearing apart the golems with practiced ease.
Where Rizok wielded his sword with the efficiency and brutality of a warrior who’d only been trained to kill, Kajal’s six blades moved around him with almost unnatural grace and skill as he danced around his enemies. Every swing of his blades either caused a debilitating wound in the golems, or created a successful distraction for a more effective strike.
It was immediately clear why Kajal was the leader of the Pathfinders.
Sefirah’s lizardkin features had become more feral as she and her Stormcaller Hawk tore into the encroaching golems with tooth and talons. Lightning sparking from the two of them as she and Kajal protected their two less durable fighters. Casper and Tilda were joining in the fight with arrows that accurately struck joints and tendons or streams of fire that filled the chamber with the scent of burning meat.
Despite their skill and coordination, it was only a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed by the ever increasing number of enemies that refused to stay dead.
Zareth continued to watch the fight for several moments as he waited for an opportunity to join without immediately being killed. Suddenly, he saw Rizok leap into the air and cut the wings from a pustule covered golem that had been harassing the Pathfinders by spewing streams of acid and knew this was his chance.
Sprinting forward, Zareth used [Deaden Nerves] on himself and launched his sharpened tendrils from his body into the golem, pinning it to the ground and causing it to release an ear piercing screech of pain. Ignoring the acid that began to burn away his tendrils, Zareth swiftly severed the golem’s connection to the temple.
The construct displayed significant resistance to his Skill, but Zareth eventually succeeded before immediately shouting for Rizok to finish the creature off. The [Aura Blade] did so without hesitation, cutting the golem into several pieces even as he parried another attacking from behind.
No longer able to regenerate, the golem was left as a pile of twitching, inert flesh.
“Well done, Zareth!” Rizok shouted over the cacophony of battle, a note of genuine approval in his voice. “Repeat that with the rest. Do not worry, I will not allow them to fatally harm you.”
Feeling reassured, Zareth nodded and joined with Rizok in tearing the golems apart one by one. Repeating his earlier success, he waited until the soldier wounded one of the enemies before impaling them with his tendrils and severing their connection to the veins and arteries pulsing through the temple. True to his word, Rizok parried any blows that would tear Zareth in half or remove his head from his body.
However, the lizardkin couldn’t be everywhere, and Zareth was forced to heal many small wounds over the course of the battle.
In this way, Zareth found himself being lost in the heat of battle as everything turned into a blur of motion. Rizok informed him at some point that the golems were slowly being whittled down, but it felt to him as if the fighting stretched on for hours. He had no doubt that any person without System enhanced endurance or the assistance of Rizok’s auras would have long since collapsed in exhaustion.
Covered from head to toe in blood and gore, Zareth was only pulled from a state of intense focus when he heard a shout of pain from the direction of the Pathfinders. He turned just in time to see that a miniature golem had managed to slip past their defenses, its tiny form resembling a maw of razor sharp teeth attached to eight clawed legs. The creature had bitten a chunk out of Casper’s leg and was now about to take a bite out of his skull.
It felt as if time slowed as he realized that none of them would be able to make it in time. Zareth moved entirely on instinct as he slammed his palm to the organic material of the floor beneath him and activated [Permanent Flesh Manipulation].
His Skill resonated with the temple’s biological network, and for a split second Zareth felt as if his consciousness had expanded and he was inextricably connected to something far beyond his ability to control. In that moment, he could sense everything within the impossibly large temple from the thousands of monstrosities slumbering in its depths to the enormous pulsating organ which sustained everything by continuously creating biomass from magic.
Then the moment ended and a tendril of flesh and fangs surged from the floor, capturing the golem inches away from Casper’s head before tearing it to pieces. Zareth’s concentration wavered as the feedback from the temple overwhelmed his senses for a moment. He staggered, catching himself on the floor as he took deep breaths to steady himself.
Zareth wasn’t certain how long he stayed like that, but when the world returned to focus, the sounds of fighting had ended, and Rizok was looking down at him with a concerned expression.
“Zareth, are you alright?” asked Rizok, reptilian eyes assessing his features. “You are showing signs of Skill Exhaustion, so it may be better for you to rest.”
“I… I’ll be fine,” Zareth replied, panting as he forced himself to stand up. “That just took a bit more out of me than I expected, is all. I don’t think I was ready to connect myself to the temple. It’s far too large for me to safely do so.”
Seeing Rizok’s quizzical expression, Zareth quickly explained his experience to him and the Pathfinders as everyone began to relax after the deadly fight they had just endured. The Adventurers had already started treating Caspers wounds with a healing potion, as they were too severe for them to wait around while Zareth recovered enough to heal them.
Nobody was pleased when Zareth told them that thousands of those flesh golems, many of which were larger and more deadly than the ones they had faced, were currently waiting in the lower levels of the temple. That kind of thing was obviously far beyond what the Pathfinders had signed up for, and Zareth had no delusions that they could explore the entirety of the structure without extreme preparation.
It didn’t help that Meldorath’s worshippers had almost certainly stored the majority of their valuables in the most heavily guarded sections of the temple.
He would most likely need to come to an agreement with the Adventurer’s Guild if he wanted the lower depths of the temple to be fully explored.
Fortunately, it wasn’t all bad news. Zareth was reasonably confident that the tome Cerebon sent him to retrieve was fairly nearby.
“There’s a large room with a secret compartment attached to this chamber,” Zareth said once he’d reached that part of his explanation. “Chances are good that it belonged to Meldorath’s High Priest, or whoever was in charge of this place. It’s the tome that we’re looking for, and they would want to keep it close.”
Zareth should know. His office was also connected to the main shrine in his temple, and he’d also kept the Grimoire of Cerebon there before moving it to his personal chambers. While the Grimoire was valuable, it would be too inconvenient to keep useful books in a heavily guarded treasury.
“If not, then it’ll likely be in whichever room was their personal chambers,” Zareth continued, more confident in his assessment. “Either way, it shouldn’t be too hard for us to find it.”
The Pathfinders looked somewhat mollified by the news. Although they likely wouldn’t be finding a large stash of enchanted treasures, it was stipulated in their contract that they would receive a substantial bonus if the job was completed successfully.
Zareth was already weeping for his budget, but it was necessary that he maintain a good relationship with the Adventurers. Besides, this trip had proven itself to be more than worth the effort.
Once everyone recovered enough to move on, Zareth led the way to the room he’d sensed during his brief connection to the temple. He was forced to destroy another barrier blocking the way to the room, but they were fortunate enough to not be attacked by any more monstrosities.
After entering the room, it was immediately clear that it had once belonged to someone of status. The ceiling was an intricate lattice of organic bioluminescent filaments that gave off a warm glow while at the end of the room stood an ornate desk and an imposingly large chair fashioned from the same flesh-and-bone material as the rest of the temple.
More importantly, however, was the bookcase in the corner filled with rows of relatively intact scrolls and tomes. Placing preservation enchantments on particularly important documents was common practice in Tal’Qamar, so he wasn’t surprised to see that something similar had been done in the past.
Feeling the weight of Cerebon’s attention intensify, Zareth instantly knew that he was in the right place. Ignoring everything else, he didn’t hesitate to move straight over to the bookcase and begin rifling through their contents. Strangely enough, Zareth found that while most of them were written in an ancient script that he couldn’t understand, a few became legible once he looked at them with his third eye.
However, his attention quickly turned to a particular tome that was placed almost ceremoniously at the center of one of the shelves and contained the most divine energy. Predictably, its cover was made from flesh, with pulsing veins shaped into the symbol of Meldorath. Even Zareth couldn’t help but feel a hint of unease with the book once he realized the skin had come from a sapient, specifically a middle-aged female ogre.
Zareth could feel Cerebon’s approval the moment he touched the tome, so he knew that he’d found the right one.
“This is it,” Zareth announced to the expedition, opening the tome and sighing in relief when he discovered he could read it. “You guys should go search through the upper levels while I take a moment to read this. I couldn’t sense any more golems up here, so you should be fine.”
After spending so much effort to acquire a tome desired by a god, Zareth was obviously going to read it when given the chance, especially since Cerebon hadn’t forbidden him from doing so.
The Pathfinders didn’t need to be told twice, and quickly left to search for treasures while Rizok positioned himself near the room’s entrance. Zareth didn’t pay it much mind, instead sitting in the strangely comfortable chair and opened the tome to the first page.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t immediately obvious to him why Cerebon would have wanted the tome. Rather than being filled with ancient spells or a map to an all-powerful artifact, the first part of the book was a journal written by Meldorath’s High Priest. It seemed to detail the experiences of Meldorath’s worshippers as they lived through an enormous war that had apparently engulfed the entire continent.
Zareth wasn’t particularly interested in this at first, but that changed as he continued reading and the journal first mentioned the names of gods he recognized as being part of the Conclave. It took some time for him to understand the context, as the High Priest mentioned several nations and factions that no longer existed, but things eventually became clear.
As far as he could tell, the war was being fought between a Pantheon of deities called the Aeonarch and a coalition of deities led by a powerful God of Freedom named Tareth.
Given that the Conclave was still around to cause problems while he’d never heard of Tareth in his life, the eventual winner of the conflict was obvious to him.
It was difficult for Zareth to figure out the reasons for the war, but he strongly suspected that it had something to do with the System given the general timeframe it was taking part in. Meldorath and the Conclave had apparently been allies as they both settled in the Qahtani Desert and fought against Tareth’s allies.
Zareth continued reading for quite some time, searching for any information that could be useful to him. The High Priests' accounts of the war were actually very interesting, but he would much rather discover something that could actually be of use against the modern Conclave. After all, understanding the Conclave’s history was the first step in understanding their current motivations.
Unfortunately, there was a significant amount of context missing from the journal, and he found it difficult to piece together a coherent picture. In fact, the only useful detail he managed to notice at first was a suspicious similarity between the symbol of Tareth and that of House Kavasa.
House Kavasa used a pair of silver wings unfurled against a dark backdrop as its insignia while Tareth was represented by similar wings on a sky-blue backdrop.
Zareth had no idea if House Kavasa had intentionally taken an insignia similar to a likely dead god or if it was a coincidence, but his instincts told him that it was important. Unfortunately, he doubted that he would be able to learn more until he consulted a professional [Scholar] as there were simply too many details that he didn’t understand.
I sincerely doubt that Cerebon sent me to fetch a book that was just filled with history, Zareth mused with a hint of confusion as he began flipping through the tome.
That assumption was proven correct when Zareth reached the final few pages of the tome. Apparently, the High Priest had somehow come to the conclusion that his temple wasn’t going to survive the war and began recording everything Meldorath’s worshipers knew about bioengineering.
Zareth’s breath quickened as he flipped through page after page of surprisingly complex diagrams describing in detail how to construct various organic structures. The more that he read, the more he felt as if he had just stumbled on a gold mine. There were annotated notes on everything from the most efficient golems to artificial trees that grew edible clumps of highly nutritious meat.
Zareth knew that many of the creations were either beyond his current abilities or simply impractical, but even ideas about what was possible was invaluable to him.
It was no wonder that Cerebon had sent his worshipers to search for this temple.
Zareth continued to read through the tome, enthralled by the knowledge contained within its pages, until he came across something that caused his eyes to widen. Written in great detail were instructions for what was effectively a magic to biomass converter that the High Priest referred to as ‘Meldorath’s Heart.’
It was the exact same artificial organ which made everything in the temple possible.
There were many frustrating limits to Zareth’s abilities which had long been a source of concern for him, several of which could be bypassed by a steady stream of quality biomass. Not only would it allow him to easily create golems and structures without butchering a bunch of livestock, but ‘Meldorath’s Heart’ was also capable of creating what was effectively magic-infused biomass.
For example, Zareth would theoretically be able to create biomass that was intrinsically resistant to fire and then use it to augment people.
Regardless of how you designed it, there were certain limits that mundane biology simply wasn’t capable of overcoming. Fat and flesh would always melt when exposed to high enough temperatures, and muscle fibers would never be as strong as steel.
Those limits were often significantly below what could be gained from the System, which often severely restricted Zareth’s usefulness.
However… this changed everything.
If he could get Meldorath’s Heart working, then all of the many ideas he’d conjured in his daydreams and been forced to abandon were suddenly possible…
“Is everything alright?”
Zareth was pulled from his thoughts as he looked up and saw Rizok looking at him with a quizzical expression. He was about to excitedly share his discovery when he suddenly thought better of it.
“Yes, everything is fine,” said Zareth, forcing himself to calm down. “I was just really excited to be able to read about Pre-System history. It’s genuinely fascinating.”
He could tell that Rizok wasn’t fully convinced, but the soldier merely nodded and turned back to the room's entrance.
While Zareth wasn’t afraid to admit that he liked Rizok, he definitely didn’t trust him enough to share information about the first significant treasure that had fallen into his hands. He had no idea if the lizardkin would take it back to whatever faction he worked for, and what they might do if they fully understood the implications of what Zareth had acquired.
Meldorath’s Heart had the potential to drastically elevate his cult in power, but it would take time for that potential to be fully realized.
During the short moment when Zareth had been connected to the temple, it had felt as if he could easily take control of all of its structures, including the many deadly monsters within it. In that moment, he had felt more powerful and in control of his own destiny than at any time since reincarnating in this messed up world.
Not even the Great Houses would have had an easy time attacking him with those kinds of forces under his control.
Even if he understood that it was just a temporary illusion… that moment had been one of intoxicating freedom for Zareth, and he wanted to feel it again.
He wanted the Cult of Cerebon to grow to the same heights that the worshippers of Meldorath had apparently achieved, so that he wouldn’t need to fear the other factions in Tal’Qamar.
So that he wouldn’t need to indebt himself to House Vhelan, who was slowly looking to be far more shady than he had expected, or bite his tongue when the Desharin treated him like trash and blamed him for disliking them.
So that he could wield enough influence that he could protect himself and the people he cared about, and not have to worry about secret organizations like whichever one Rizok worked for.
Zareth desperately wanted to build his cult into a force that could be reckoned with, and the opportunity to do so was currently sitting in his hands.
He would not allow anything to jeopardize that.