Chapter 286 - Attunement (Patreon)

Zeke fell forward, his torso draped across the enormous golem’s wound. His skin glowed with golden power, highlighted by the black veins that had come with his transformation into a cambion. The statue was almost completely inert, but for a few flickering wisps of the king’s soul remaining within. It wasn’t enough to power the golem – far from it – but it was just enough that the mighty dwarven king’s presence persisted, albeit much more weakly than before.

“Finish it, cambion,” said the king, his voice rumbling in the sudden silence that had come when Zeke ceased absorbing Fáinn’s soul. “This existence is…painful. Kill me so that I may rejoin my people in whatever lays beyond this life.”

Zeke didn’t have the energy to respond. There was a part of him that still rejected what he was doing. Now that he knew the origin of the spirts that had been powering the golems, he was disgusted that he’d effectively been devouring the remnants of dwarven souls. The king had been clear that they weren’t truly souls, and that they’d left any semblance of sentience behind when they became earth spirits – but that just seemed like semantics to Zeke.

The mention of an afterlife stirred Zeke’s languid thoughts, and, as he adjusted himself into a more comfortable position, he asked, “Do you know what comes next? Another tutorial? Another life? Or does it just end?”

It was a good question. Back on Earth, Zeke had cultivated a passing acquaintance with Christianity – not uncommon for where he’d been born and raised – so he’d always comforted himself with the idea of an afterlife. Heaven, if you followed the right set of rules. Hell, if you didn’t. To his straightforward mind, that was enough.

But now? He had to wonder if it had all been a lie. On one hand, the existence of an afterlife seemed even more plausible than ever – especially after everything Zeke had seen. But on the other, his rebirth hadn’t even remotely resembled anything mentioned in Earth’s various religious texts.

Certainly, there were people who still maintained the faith. Many of them – regardless of their religion – viewed their new lives in the Radiant Isles as something of a purgatory before they moved on to the true afterlife. Some also thought of it as a simple continuation of the lives they’d lead before, albeit in a different world. And there were many others who’d abandoned their faiths altogether, becoming atheists, agnostics, or adherents to some of the new religions that had cropped up in the Radiant Isles.

But that was back on the Mortal Plane. Zeke hoped that the most powerful being he’d encountered on the Eternal Realm would have more insight.

He was sorely mistaken.

“We believe that, upon death, our souls join the earth from which we were born,” the king stated. “Most of our legends from before we first appeared on the Mortal Plane suggest that we were molded and shaped by a great god of earth, and when we die, we return to him so that he can reshape us into something else. With each death, we shed our impurities, coming closer and closer to the earthen ideal. Some of us still believe that. Others…others have abandoned those beliefs as nothing more than superstition and myth.”

“And you?”

“I…I do not know,” the king stated. “A troubling state for someone who had lived for thousands of years even before I fled into this lifeless statue.”

Zeke understood. The afterlife was just as much of a mystery on the Eternal Realm as it had been in the Radiant Isles – or on Earth before it.

“Are you afraid?” asked Zeke.

“Yes,” answered the dwarven king. “But that is natural. Death comes for us all. True immortality is a myth, regardless of how high we may climb.”

Zeke wasn’t certain if that was true. After all, the king may have been powerful, but he hadn’t ascended into the next realm. Or the one after that. Besides, once a person’s life spanned hundreds of thousands of years, the concept of immortality lost some of its meaning. Certainly, he didn’t think he would live forever; no – he was too battle-focused to expect that. But still, he wasn’t immune to the fear that came with not knowing what came next. It seemed he wouldn’t get a good answer for that question anytime soon, though.

“Do you have any other requests before we finish this?” Zeke asked.

The king answered, “One. Please do not judge my people too harshly. They have been twisted by demonic forces.”

Zeke ground his teeth, then responded, “Be that as it may, I won’t spare them. Soon enough, I’ll be leaving this mine. And if they stand in my way, I will not hesitate to destroy them. I can’t afford mercy.”

The disembodied king let out a sigh – curious, considering that he didn’t have lungs – then said, “Very well. Finish what you started, then.”

Zeke nodded, though he wasn’t even certain if the dwarven king could see the gesture. Then, he reached back and sank his hand into the waning golden light that constituted the king’s soul. With a mental heave, he pulled everything that was left of the earthen energy into his body via [Metallurgical Repair].

In the beginning, the energy had ripped him apart only to be rebuilt almost instantly, but after he’d crossed a threshold, the absorbed energy had become far gentler. Even now, though, with the king on the verge of dissipating altogether, the energy still burned through him like an agonizing wildfire. But after what he’d just endured, it was nothing he couldn’t handle.

In fact, there was something almost comforting about it. Familiar. Like the return of an old friend. Or a piece of himself that he hadn’t even known was missing.

Zeke had expected it to be over quickly. After all, the king’s soul was very nearly gone. However, that last bit of absorption seemed to take a subjective eternity. Eventually, though, he felt the last of it flow into his body. And with that, the king of the dwarves was no more. Zeke imagined that, at the very end, he heard a sigh of relief, but that could have been his imagination. Either way, he hoped that the king – wherever he’d gone – had found some level of peace.

After what he’d been through, the dwarven king certainly deserved it.

But even with the melancholy Zeke felt upon Fáinn’s final demise, he couldn’t deny that he was more interested in the series of notifications he’d experienced while absorbing the king’s soul. In addition, he’d gained three levels after Fáinn’s death.

It was a morbid thought, that he would benefit so greatly from such an event, but Zeke wasn’t in any position to turn down an increase in power. So, with greedy thoughts, he turned to his notifications.

First, Zeke acknowledged then dismissed the ones denoting his level gain.  In only a few weeks, he had progressed more than he ever could have expected, reaching level thirty-three. However, upon thinking about it, it probably shouldn’t have been terribly surprising. He was constantly fighting monsters almost twice his level – and ones that he felt positive he would never have been able to kill without the cheat of [Metallurgical Repair] absorbing the earth spirits – so rapid progression was to be expected. Especially after having killed the dwarven king, who had been capable of ascension hundreds – or maybe thousands – of years ago. His [Inspect] had been useless when trying to find any information about the soul-powered statue, but Zeke could intuit that the king had been equivalent to a monarch-tier creature of the Eternal Realm.

Maybe even more powerful.

Even thinking about fighting something like that was absolutely ridiculous. Even absorbing the king’s soul had nearly killed Zeke a hundred times over. And that was with Fáinn allowing it. If the king had been determined to kill him, Zeke knew he couldn’t have even put up a fight.

Which was a bit depressing, given the hardships Zeke had endured since being reborn. But in another way, it was aspirational in that it gave him something to look forward to. Because if the king could reach such levels of power, then so could Zeke.

In any case, he pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the most interesting notification:

Congratulations! You have attained an attunement to earth mana. +1 Tier Endurance. +4 Tiers resistance to hostile earth mana. -1 Tier resistance to hostile wind and water mana. Greater efficiency for any skills related to earth mana.

Looking at the notification, Zeke was of two minds. On the one hand, adding a Tier to his already prodigious endurance was likely to provide an incredible augmentation to his durability. He was already difficult to damage, and given that each Tier provided more benefits than the last, he knew he’d just taken a great stride forward. In addition, the modification to his earth resistance was incredible. However, his new attunement had also made him more vulnerable to the elements of wind and water.

Which made a certain degree of sense. On Earth, even the largest mountain would eventually be worn down by wind and rain. So, it only seemed appropriate that that vulnerability would extend to mana.

But that didn’t make it any easier to swallow. Sure, he’d gained more than he had lost, but he’d have preferred to have no vulnerabilities at all. Either way, there wasn’t really much he could do about it now. He could only accept things the way they were and try to make it all work to his benefit.

Still, he would’ve preferred to get an achievement or something. Then again, achievements didn’t seem to be a thing in the Eternal Realm. To counter his annoyance, Zeke brought up his status. He quickly divided his six free points between agility and dexterity.

Seeing the new line for his attunement was a bit of a surprise, but it only lasted a few seconds before Zeke accepted it as appropriate. It was also interesting that it had only reached F-Grade, which suggested that it had incredible potential. Not that he’d needed it, especially after what he’d gone through to absorb his spirit. On top of that, he’d gained three levels – a feat he hadn’t experienced since killing the warlock what felt like a lifetime ago.

With a grunt, Zeke climbed out of the wound in the golem’s chest. Then, he turned around, set his hand on its shin, and looted it. It joined dozens of others in his spatial storage. Thankfully, even though it was far larger than any of the other bronze golems, there was plenty of room.

After that, Zeke backed away to the edge of the plaza and summoned his tower. As it appeared, the plinths that had once supported the statues were crushed beneath the tower’s weight. Once it had fully appeared, Zeke let out a low whistle of appreciation. The tower had already been quite big, but now, its base covered almost the entire plaza. In addition, though it didn’t seem to have gained any levels, it was quite a bit taller. If it was less than five-hundred feet, Zeke would have been surprised, and with that height, it threatened to exceed the confines of the giant cavern.

It also seemed somehow more solid than it had before. As if even the king would’ve had difficulty scratching its surface, let alone destroying it in any substantial way.

Zeke ran a hand through his hair and approached the gate. It opened the moment he drew near, and the doors behind that portcullis shimmered before disappearing entirely.

“Huh,” he muttered. “That’s new.”

The moment he stepped through the doorway, the doors reappeared, just as solid as before. Zeke would have been impressed if he wasn’t so distracted by the changes to the interior of the tower.

The spiraling stairway that had once dominated the center of the first floor was completely gone, and it had been replaced by a simple dais that hovered a few inches above the tiled floor. Even more shocking was just how much the floor itself had grown. He couldn’t get precise measurements, but he suspected that it was at least a mile wide. Which didn’t make a bit of sense. Certainly, the tower’s footprint was impressive, but it didn’t even come close to being large enough to accommodate what Zeke saw before him.

“Spatial magic,” Zeke said, taking in the sight. It was the only thing that made sense. And if he hadn’t had plenty of experience with it from using his storage, he might not have believed what he saw. Even with that in mind, it was still incredibly shocking.

Slowly, his gaze swept across the plaza, and he saw that the statues that he’d looted were all displayed on the plinths that had dotted the square where Zeke had just absorbed the dwarven king’s soul. More, each of the statues were in pristine condition. He approached one – he recognized it as the first golem he’d killed – and he saw that its destroyed knee had been completely mended.

“What the hell is going on…”

Of course, there was no one to answer.

At first, Zeke thought he’d somehow attained an army of bronze golems, but upon further inspection, they were, one and all, completely inert. Without an ounce of mana running through them, they might as well have been true statues.

The changes didn’t end there, though. On the outer edges, there were what looked like buildings built into the wall. Some were a few stories tall, with balconies every fifteen feet, but others were comprised of a single door. It was almost as if the tower had grown into a city overnight. Every twenty feet, there were the familiar statues depicting his exploits, though they seemed much grander and more detailed than before.

Which was more than a little troubling. If the first floor had changed this much, then what had happened to the others? Moreover, how did he even get to the next floor without stairs.

Gradually, he approached the dais at the center of the plaza. It was the most logical place to start, given that it had replaced the spiral stairs. He stepped onto the dais, and a moment later, a notification appeared before his eyes:

Please choose a floor: the Hunting Grounds, the Residential District, the Merchant’s Floor, the Crimson Spring, the Craftsman’s Terrace, or the Lord’s Manor.

Zeke was tempted to start with the first, but his eyes quickly alighted onto the final option. The Lord’s Manor. He was eager to see what that entailed, so he chose that option. A flash of light and an instant later, Zeke found himself somewhere entirely different, and his eyes widened at the sight laid out before him.