Peering through one of the arches, Ren's gaze fell upon a dimly lit alcove, its ambiance created by a handful of flickering torches mounted on the walls. Even with the subdued illumination, his eyes widened at the glimmering objects just out of reach. The alcove was carpeted in royal blue, on which stacks of gold bars rested along with crates of precious gems.
Everywhere he looked, intricate artifacts adorned every available surface, their radiance dancing in the wavering torchlight. It took tremendous willpower to resist the temptation of reaching through the protective wards, but for once his greed saved him as he wondered what the other alcoves in the room contained.
Moving to another arch, he found himself faced with a sight that would make any bibliophile's heart skip a beat. This alcove was lined with shelves, each meticulously arranged to house an extensive collection of books. Countless volumes filled the space, their spines emblazoned with the enigmatic script of a lost civilization. The thought of delving into a myriad of ancient tomes and uncovering long-lost cultivation methods, was extremely pleasant to him. However Ren was curious about the other treasures housed behind the remaining wards, so he pressed on.
The view between the subsequent arch displayed a space brimming with mystery and arcane potential. Thousands of glass vials occupied the chamber, each containing potions and elixirs of unknown origin. A sturdy table spanned the length of the space, weighed down by an assortment of glassware—from delicate test tubes to substantial beakers and glass jars—each filled with a mesmerizing array of colorful liquids.
Through the next arch, he observed a treasure alcove that stood in stark contrast to the previous chambers. Devoid of any treasures save for one remarkable sight—it housed an impeccably crafted suit of red armor. Resting upon a dulled metal frame, the armor exuded an aura that Ren could sense even through the protective ward. Wisps of stifling heat rolled out of the alcove, distorting the protective ward that was supposed to isolate the alcove’s contents from the room. He stared in fascination at how the air surrounding the armor shimmered and standing in front of the alcove felt akin to standing before a roaring forge.
Shaking his head at his luck, he moved on. He definitely had to have that armor! Although, would it scald off his skin? “Eh,” he shrugged. “I’ll find out once I get my hands on it.”
Like this he moved around the Octagonal Room, peering into the contents between the arches. Each alcove contained things he wanted for himself, despite not being able to read the inscriptions carved into the archways. His palms itched, his mouth drooled and his cold heart shivered at all the treasures laying arms width away.
But the wards here were the most sophisticated he had seen in the entire Fractured Realm. They felt impenetrable and they buzzed with such strong energy that he dared not come too close. However, the enticing contents they protected drew him in without conscious effort.
Ren felt like a fly being hypnotized by the light from a bug zapper. He knew it was a siren song, that the moment the wards made contact with him, it would all be over. But he just had to find a way to get his hands on the treasures. He was mindlessly approaching the next arch when he stopped in his tracks. Something about this arch was different. Tearing himself from his daydreams, he focused and quickly realized what his subconscious had noticed.
The wards on this arch were not solid, but flickered!
He glanced to the floor of the arch and noticed a congealed tar-like substance laying just outside the barrier’s limits. It looked just like the remnants he had found a day ago in the Bank Lobby. The difference here was that where the congealed tar met the ward, was a humanoid gray finger with a brass ring on it. The withered finger was actually within the ward, but the protective enchantment failed to destroy it.
Instead it flickered, and everytime the ward reached the finger, it disintegrated for a count of one breath, before reforming again. Ren watched in fascination as the phenomenon repeated itself multiple times, not sure what to make of it. The pattern only varied slightly over the next few minutes and he felt comfortable that he could capitalize on this lucky find. Lifting up his gaze, he peered into the space beyond the flickering barrier and his sights fell upon an alcove lined with shelves of glowing parchments, but that only drew his eyes towards the darker center of the space.
In the center of the alcove, an altar crafted from exquisite materials stood proudly. Illumination in the space was minimal but the placement of the glowing parchments on the shelves had been deliberate because the light they emitted cast a spotlight on the Orb resting atop the altar. From its appearance, Ren deduced that it was constructed from the same metal he had encountered in the hallway.
Although it looked relatively plain compared to the ostentatious jewels some of the other treasure alcove’s contained, it exuded an unmistakable sense of importance. Etched runes ran along its surface and its presence felt heavy, like it straddled the invisible line separating reality from something much greater.
“Well, that settles it,” he licked his lips in anticipation. “You’re definitely coming with me. But first…”
Tearing his eyes away from the Orb, Ren patiently waited for the barrier to fizzle out before darting in to seize the severed finger. Holding it up to the faint light, he carefully examined the appendage. How had it managed to survive the cataclysm that had befallen this Fractured Realm’s civilization?
He suspected that either the ring adorning the finger or the unique environment of the barrier itself had played a role in its preservation, while the rest of the body met the same fate as the others.
Pulling the plain Brass Ring off the appendage, Ren secured the jewelry in his pocket. He let the withered finger drop to the ground and focused his sights on retrieving the Orb. His muscles tensed as he gauged the rhythm of the flickering barrier, preparing to make his daring leap into the alcove containing the Orb. However, just as he braced himself, animated voices from beyond the closed room’s door reached his ears, drawing closer with every passing moment.
[ The finger! Grab the finger and hide it! ]
Ren’s mind whirled as he analyzed the situation, but in the end he chose to act on the suggestion. Taking a quick glance at the last two arches, he saw that one protected a thriving atrium greenhouse. Numerous Spirit Herbs were growing in potted vases holding rich cultivated soil. Within the last arch was a golden sarcophagus bound in black chains. As if noticing his gaze, the bound sarcophagus rattled, the chains straining to keep the lid shut from the entity within. Startled Ren paid closer attention to the face engraved on the coffin and flinched in disgust at the ugliest face he had ever seen.
Regardless, Ren wanted it. Just like he wanted the other treasures guarded behind the other arches. His experienced eyes could see the signs of importance the original owners placed on all these treasures. And if they felt they valued these items, then Ren wanted them all. A sense of unwillingness filled him as his eyes darted from treasure to treasure.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Everything in this room was his! And he did not want to share. But since he could not ascertain the strengths and composition of the group making their way to the treasure room, he decided to focus on securing the treasures he could. And as much as he distrusted the crazy personality within him, It would pain him to have to share any more potential treasures with the incoming group.
In a flash, he dove for the finger he’d earlier discarded and placed it in his pocket with the ring. Frowning, he took both the ring and finger from his pocket and detached his jaw. He had a small compartment built into his upper chest where he sometimes hid poisons or sensitive thumb-drives. He had no better hiding place so Ren shoved the hand holding both items into his throat. For now, the compartment would have to do.
[ You idiot! What have you done? ]
...what?
[ Listen Ren, You do not trust me, and that is the smartest thing you have done so far. However, I need you to give me control so we can both live through the next minute. ]
Hell no! Not happening.
[ Listen! You just swallowed a portion of a Demigod's blood. In the next thirty seconds, the energy in the blood will release all at once. Do you want to guess what will happen to you in your current state? You die. ]
Ren was caught in a conundrum. There was a very real possibility this was part of a grand scheme of the voice to steal his body. Although the ruse seemed rather ... childish. Oh yeah, I'll just give control to a psychopathic parasite, that hours ago confirmed he planned to oust me out of my body. He snorted
[ I SWEAR ON MY NAME, X#*^!)&%$ – ]
Ren's head was struck by a deafening boom, sending him spiraling into a surreal state of detachment. The fabric of reality shattered, and Ren found himself locking eyes with someone he recognized—a familiar face, but now bulkier and marked by faint scars and battered ears from countless street fights. His mind swam as he tried to comprehend the sight before him.
In the blink of an eye, the scene shifted, and Ren found himself confronted by a woman with wild, spiky hair. She rummaged through the pockets of a bleeding man, her actions mirroring those of a sibling he never had. The woman's voice boomed in an unfamiliar language, and with swift motion, she hurled a star blade toward Ren.
Just as quickly, the setting changed again, and Ren was bombarded by a torrent of fragmented lives flashing before his eyes. Each existence flickered by, only to come to an abrupt end, leaving Ren disoriented and swaying in the Vault, barely a second having passed since it all began.
[ – AND CULTIVATION THAT I SHALL ONLY TAKE CONTROL OF REN'S BODY FOR TWO SECONDS TO STAVE IMPENDING DOOM. LET THE COSMOS TAKE NOTICE ]
Ren felt something shift within the corrupted code of the crazy voice. His hackles rose as he felt the gaze of an ancient presence descend and bind the voice to its vow. On an instinctual level, Ren knew, just knew that the vow had been witnessed and signed. If the voice went back on its words, it would be destroyed by itself. A frown formed on his face as he realized that the "Cosmos" as the voice put it, must have done something to him as well for him to be sure of the vow's validity. It was unnerving how insignificant he was to the powers at play. Nevertheless, he had a decision to make.
"Ok, you have —" Before he completed his sentence, he lost all control.
He floated in a void, unable to blink – because he had no eyes. Unable to move – because he had no body. Unable to scream, because he had no voice. The moment stretched, and stretched, but the expected release never came. There was nothing to stave off the insanity, nothing to help differentiate one moment from another.
Trapped in the endless void, a suffocating sensation of boredom began to creep over him like a slow, encroaching fog. Intense panic rose in his throat...his chest? Ren couldn't be sure without a body. In this desolate space, nothing seemed to matter. This was the epitome of his fears on Earth, the very reason he had been willing to die in fiery combustion. But in a twist of demented fate, he had found himself trapped under the clutches of inescapable nothingness. Inescapable boredom.
With nothing to interact with, time seemed to stretch into infinity, the absence of stimulation or purpose gnawing at the edges of his sanity. To ease the boredom, he tried to occupy his mind with thoughts and memories, retracing the steps of his life, but the lack of external reference points made it feel like he was reliving the same moments over and over. The void remained unchanged, an unyielding canvas of nothingness.
Ren's thoughts began to loop, and his attempts at mental diversions grew increasingly futile. The void seemed to stretch on forever, and the relentless monotony bore down on him, amplifying his yearning for any form of stimulus, even the most mundane. Time lost all meaning, and with each passing moment, his sense of isolation and restlessness deepened.
In this desolate void, boredom was no longer a passing inconvenience but a relentless, all-encompassing adversary, threatening to unravel his sanity with its unyielding grip. He yearned for the seething fury he had come into this space with hours ago. Or had it been decades? It ultimately mattered little. Yet he wished he hadn't spent all his fury at once and had instead stretched it out, savored it so that he would have something to hold onto.
He had long since realized he had been duped by the crazy personality that shared his body. If he could, he would have bellowed in wry laughter at being outsmarted by a few million faulty lines of code. Now he was trapped in this...space that didn't exist. If only he had been given the option of —
[ There you go. Control restored. ]
A torrent of curses erupted from Ren's mouth, flowing without restraint. ‘Liar! That was a whole lot more than two seconds!’ He screamed silently but the smugness emanating from the crazy voice only fueled Ren's rage.
[ I have no reason to deceive someone of your meager power. Check your logs. ] Ren hastily scrolled through the records and was astounded to find that exactly two seconds had elapsed. How could that be? In that timeless void, Ren experienced a vulnerability like never before.
[ Hmph! Do not overthink things. We do not have much time! I used a significant portion of my soul to contain the blood. I would say you owe me one, but I know better than to expect anything from you ]
‘You’re goddamned right.’ A snort resounded in his head as response.
[ Can’t we be civil for once? ] Ren opted not to point out the hypocrisy in that question. [ You got your wish, if only temporarily. I will have to hibernate for a long while. Good luck with everything, but do not touch the power. Let it leak naturally …]
The voice began to fade away. ‘Wait, what is your name? If we are to be civil, I need to know what to call you.’ Ren hurriedly asked internally as the group of Cultivators grew closer.
[ Names have power, remember that. My True Name is not something you can handle but … for now, call me Xerxes ]