Mage Tank-Chapter 259: Her Golden Majesty

***

SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY: USER NAME [Ruler 5]

***

“That bad, huh?” said Xim to a now empty tunnel. She came to a stop, looked left, then right, then up. Arlo’s advice about looking up almost never mattered, but sometimes it did.

This was not one of those times. The ceiling was still there, five feet above her, but everyone else had disappeared.

“And the entrance is gone,” she said to the air before turning to confirm her suspicion. “Of course.”

Turning back the way she had been walking, an alabaster door stood in the middle of the tunnel. It had no frame and stood in defiance of sensible architecture, just an unadorned and unreasonably clean door in a cave connected to nothing. It even had hinges, attached to thin air. Xim leaned to peek behind the door, finding that the tunnel continued into the darkness behind it, farther than Xim’s vision could penetrate.

Xim decided it would be rude not to accept such an obvious invitation. The door had a knob, though without a frame, there was nothing for the latch to catch. Although it was rare to encounter them while awake, Xim was no stranger to metaphorical doors. So she turned the knob and pushed, but the door held fast. She wondered if it might be metaphorically locked before pulling it, whereby it opened, revealing nothing but the empty cave behind it.

Xim shrugged and walked through the space the door occupied.

The tunnel dissolved and fell to the ground, revealing a massive room oppressed in blinding white. Huge columns connected the pristine marble floor to a high vaulted ceiling covered in fabulous and detailed frescoes depicting a great many events Xim couldn’t decipher. Her eyes followed the frescoes down the wall to enormous stained-glass windows that surrounded the room on all sides, depicting individuals Xim didn’t recognize from a variety of species she didn’t know. Their vibrant color glowed with austere radiance amidst the immaculately polished stone, decorated with intricate engravings.

All of it flowed towards the center of the back wall, where the source of the blinding light convened.

A massive halo floated behind a colossal feminine figure made of a dazzling blue crystal, sparkling with a serene brilliance under the light of the disc. The statuesque woman sat atop a marble throne with an outrageously large back that stretched nearly to the hundred-foot ceiling. Normal-sized humanoid attendants were scattered around her, working diligently with an array of mason’s tools to chisel the crystal lady’s form into fine and smooth lines.

The throne was the centerpiece of a large dais raised several steps off the floor. Bannisters of woven gold snaked through sonorite rings, which hummed soft choral notes. Their melody reverberated across the gargantuan auditorium.

The crystalline figure sat on her throne with legs crossed. She towered over Xim from her position atop the dais, though her height alone would have sufficed. Her blank aquamarine eyes betrayed no feeling or intent, and without pupils, Xim couldn’t even tell if the lady was looking at her at all.

But she definitely was.

“Why should I pass you?” said the creature. Her voice was high but boomed around the chamber nonetheless, and however she was talking, it wasn’t with her lips. Xim frowned and narrowed her eyebrows. No introductions, no formalities, straight to business. Fine. Xim would follow her lead.

New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on ƒгeewebnovёl.com.

“Pass me from what?” said Xim. “To where?”

“I arbitrate this test, and I alone determine if you pass.” Her words were bright but cold, like a fearsome authority. Awe-inspiring, but detached. “So I ask, why should I pass you?”

The old turn-around-and-you’re-somewhere-else trick, Xim thought. Effective, but not very original. However, I certainly appreciate the theatre of it.

Xim had indeed come to enjoy the material arts, and Etja’s performances were captivating, even more so than her storytellers back home. Xim just had to figure out who the main character was supposed to be. She figured she’d go with her gut and summon some of what Arlo called Etja’s ‘main-character energy.’ If Xim were the MC, why should this woman pass her?

“Because I want you to?” said Xim.

For the first time, Xim saw movement on the statue’s face. The slightest grin poked at the edge of the lady’s literally chiseled jawline. The servant’s chisel was still in his hand.

“Yes. A good start,” said the lady. “You are wiser than most who come before me.”

“Thank you,” said Xim. She knew how to accept a compliment, even if she had no idea what it meant.

“But you will need more than that. Even if you ‘want’ me to pass you, I am not inclined to do so. I do not believe you are worthy. Desire alone is insufficient for worthiness.”

Worthy? Was this sculpture testing her righteousness?

Xim summoned Etja’s hero voice and belted a response. “Then what would suffice?” If this was a hero’s challenge, she knew the right lines. Or could at least improvise.

“You can ‘want’ anything,” said the figure. “But what can you actually obtain? Only your deeds can speak of your worthiness.”

“I have little doubt that a being of your power can see my entire life laid out before you like a book,” said Xim. “I have no desire or need for subterfuge. A sage of your Divine expertise should have no problem hearing my deeds speak.”

The blue woman said nothing for quite a long pause, nor did she move. Xim might have believed she truly was a statue had she not ended her placid hiatus.

The creature made a sound between a hum and a grunt. Xim couldn’t tell if she was bemused or appalled.

“Ah, the dark mother,” said the statue. “And in search of all seven organs, it seems.”

Xim wasn’t surprised this creature knew so much of Sam’lia. Any experienced sage in the Divine school would have come across her sooner or later, and this creature was clearly quite experienced. Xim also knew the woman had used a revelation to scrutinize her past, but she had no idea what other kinds of revelations the statue possessed. Perhaps a revelation about judgment, or cryptic language.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Quite the confidence you have, to seek for all seven organs,” said the woman. “Or arrogance.”

A revelation of pompousness was also likely.

“I will succeed or I will fail,” said Xim. “Regardless, I follow the Mother’s path. That is its own reward.”

This time the noise the woman made was definitely a scoff.

“You deign yourself worthy of becoming a Mother? What lecherous pride.”

“That is not what I said,” said Xim.

“Well why wouldn’t you? You are on the path of the seven organs, the Mother’s path, and you follow it knowingly. You must believe yourself worthy or else you wouldn’t be attempting it. You’re the third seeker I’ve seen for the Mother, and the other two were just as convicted and just as devout–though I promise you they did not consider that path a reward in the end.”

Traditionally, revelators of Sam’lia picked one or two organs and stuck with them, even into late-stage revelations of fifth or higher. Arlo’s revelations were all of the Eye, including one Xim believed he was on the cusp of understanding.

However, Xim not only had three revelations–rare enough among the devout–but they were all of different organs. Her first was of the Heart. Her second was of the Stomach. Her third was of the Brain.

In Sam’lia’s scripture, it is said that if one can achieve a seventh-stage revelation, with each stage belonging to a different organ, they could become a vessel for Sam’lia known as the Mother. However, it had never been achieved. Those who attempted it were referred to as seekers once they gained the first three revelations from three different organs. That was so rare it only occurred once in many generations, sometimes with thousands of years between. Xim was the first seeker in nearly three millennia.

If this being had seen two of them before, then considering how few seekers even ventured to the First Layer, and how many fewer still could have or would have made it to this statue...

Xim had severely underestimated this being’s experience. It was very, very old.

But still, the past was not Xim’s concern. She was following Sam’lia’s call, wherever that led, and Sam’lia had led her to becoming a seeker. Where she was to go from here, only Sam’lia knew, and the rest was not Xim’s concern. Why the other seekers never achieved Motherhood, that was not Xim’s to know.

“That’s their problem,” said Xim.

The blue woman’s grin grew slightly as the attendant’s chisel went by.

“Yes, it is,” she said.

“Did you pass them?” asked Xim.

“I did,” said the lady.

“Then pass me as well.”

The white light of the halo turned the slightest shade of blue, and the attendants quickly but neatly packed up their chisels, hammers, and tools, then left the room. It only took three seconds for the space to be emptied of everyone other than Xim and whatever this crystal person was.

A long silence passed. A very long silence.

“Do you know what you are asking?” said the crystal, pulling Xim from her meditation.

“Teach me,” said Xim.

“Each test comes with a reward for those who pass. This reward is flavored with the attunement of the test’s administrator.”

“You are obviously Divine,” said Xim.

“Choose your words carefully,” said the statue. “But yes, that is my attunement.”

Xim knew to wait. After a–thankfully–much shorter pause, it continued.

“If you believe you are worthy, I will reward you with knowledge of the Divine realm. However, the way you handle this knowledge will be the true test of your worthiness. For your sake, consider yourself carefully.”

“If you must test my worthiness, then I welcome the chance to grow in it.”

“Yes, well, we will see about that.”

The statue’s eyes glowed a brilliant white, and the blue halo behind grew, stretching out to cover the wall, then the ceiling, then the columns, then the floor, until Xim was surrounded by a heavy presence that pressed in upon her mind. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to balance herself, when a voice rang out from the light and penetrated her soul.

Take this time to think

Of what you have done,

The fields you have sown,

The wheat you are owed.

Tread softly upon the grass

That flows, that knows you,

Whole, intact.

From the smallest quark to the Empyrean,

Infinite attention spent on this

That you should follow in the footsteps

Of those who shed themselves for souls.

Ten thousand doors and only one key,

Ten million fall and only one rise,

Ten billion places in only one realm.

Look in the mirror,

Reflect what was told,

Discover what you are,

Behold!

Xim’s eyes were impaled by a stream of images that pierced every corner of her mind. Her ears were crushed by a thousand choruses screaming through her skull. Her nerves were immolated by the grab of countless hands. Her tongue dissolved under the tastes of exotic truths. Her nostrils hemorrhaged the scents of grand perspectives.

Xim had been imparted divine wisdom before, but not like this. Sam’lia was gentle, kind, and guiding, showing Xim where to walk and coaxing her forward. This was a cannon firing her skull at mach speeds, her body dangling behind her as she blasted into lands beyond what she could recognize or comprehend. She witnessed alien landscapes, impossible creatures, broken mountains, and towering monoliths.

Xim reeled from the insight, lost in an eldritch realm with no sense of direction. Still, she knew how to find her way. She called out to Sam’lia, begging for a path back to her, and a dim light appeared far over the horizon. Xim mustered every ounce of her will and reached for the light, stretching, grasping, and she began to flow in its direction.

The landscape did not calm, but the light showed Xim its order. The creatures did not morph, but the light showed their true form. The mountains did not grow, but the light revealed their purpose.

The monoliths stood out. Xim realized there were five of them, and two were emanating a fearsome green light high into the cosmos. The other three were dormant, waiting for their time to join the others. At the height of the light, Xim saw a tear in the heavens, and power flowing from the rent into the lighted monoliths. Though she did not know why, she understood this was a cataclysm she must stop. It was wrong, it was unnatural, it was sin incarnate.

She was Sam’lia’s righteous hand, sent forth to dash it asunder.

Xim continued towards the light, past the monoliths, and found her soul once again, waiting for her in the soft glow of Sam’lia’s embrace. When she rejoined herself, the warmth was a flood of overwhelming comfort and assurance.

Xim fell to the floor, tears falling down her face and onto the polished marble, creating small puddles as she rocked back and forth.

The Dragon never moved. The bright white eyes faded back to a glowing aquamarine, and the halo resumed its shape behind the throne. A wide smile cracked across the statue’s face.

“Wow,” said the Dragon. “This is an unusual reaction.”

Xim raised her head, beaming a radiant smile at the woman, and laughed uncontrollably.

“You just showed me I was right,” said Xim.

“Yes,” said the woman. “Yes I did. You’re much faster than the others.”

“So I passed your test, then?”

“Almost everyone passes the test. Almost no one survives it.”