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Watching a child who had never had a coloring book get frustrated over being unable to make a portrait was as sad as amusing. "Lil, most people take a long time to learn a lot of the things you do easily, so don''t worry about perfection, just work to get better."
Having heard himself say it out loud, Dave had his first non-divine ''revelation.'' Sure, he maxed out his stats and skills, but he couldn''t point his fingers and shoot a sword of willpower.
"It''s not even about attaining perfection, it''s all about TRYING to improve!" As Dave began to radiate the light, Lilly began to meditate, and Dong, saddened, had to close the driver''s cabin.
All of Dave''s relevant skills and abilities triggered the relevant cultivation paths, which in turn gave him bonuses to those skills and his overall stats.
By the time Dave''s comprehension had finished shining, the trio was only a week away from the center... temple?
They were a week away, but still, it was visible, towering in the distance, a mishmash of dozens of structures more at home in Lovecraft than in this world. A bad AI render of multiple ''earthlike'' monuments Tower of Piza, the Eiffel Tower, Machu Picchu, and Aztec pyramids, just to name a few.
"Well, that''s cursed," Dave stated like it was the most obvious thing ever. Lilly and Dong had no frame of reference for the building, but still felt an eerie feeling. "Lilly never even imagined something like this existed."
Most likely, the single most disturbing thing about the mountainous building was its total lack of a shadow. Upon their arrival, they found no stairs, only a vertical cliff face lacking the normal features that would make handholds.
Dave did consider flying up to take a look, but a nagging feeling in the back of his head rejected that option. They drove around it for days, never once seeing any sign of a way up. "We''re gonna hav''ta get out and look closer." The second they set foot on the sand, nausea welled up in all of them, but it hit Dave the hardest.
''Status'' Dave looked at all three of them. While he did have the largest health pool and fastest regeneration, he was losing 20 health per second, while Lilly was losing 5, and Dong only 2. No status ailments showed. "Kay, ''W.T.F.'' why you two not tossen yer cookies?"
Dong and Lilly looked at one another for a moment. "Truly master, I must apologise, but whaighed by cultivation alone you are... .insignificant even now." Over the last two years, Dong had learned a few things as absolute as far as their master was concerned.
#1 Under absolutely no circumstances should one draw his ire.
#2 While a kindhearted man, His moral code was his alone.
#3 his morals were effectively random... to the world
#4 being ''His'' was more valuable than one''s cultivation...
#5 The'' Gods'' of this world should live in fear of his wrath...as random as it was.
Dong''s fear was muted, but Lilly was like flairs in the dark. "Lilly will show Master the way. The ''wall says the world is a lie." How Lilly understood anything the mountain had carved upon it was anyone''s guess; the fact that only an illusion hid the way to the pavilion should have been cause for concern.
Dave sadly gave it no thought as the three passed through what was only moments ago, an illusion leading to a stairway. It took two days to reach the base of the temple proper. Hundreds of carved runes and symbols covered every surface. As soon as they entered the main arch, the life drain effect stopped.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"This place is huge. How does no one know about it?" Even Dave was awestruck, it was a city-sized structure surpassing anything he had ever seen across 4 worlds. It would take days to walk the perimeter, years to map it, and a lifetime to fully explore it.
Dave pointed to the giant twisted tower at the center. "The answers will be in there." His companions could only look around, dumbstruck, while following wordlessly.
At the base of the ziggurat, one could not see the top of the mangled tower; the obelisks, on the other hand, at this range were not obelisks but rather Roman columns topped with onion domes.
"Lilly doesn''t like this place, it feels... wrong somehow." In truth, it was an architectural abomination not even the talentless modernists would make something so hideous.
"Lil, I think everything here serves a purpose, not to look pretty." Dave was disturbed not only by the hodgepodge design but the familiarity of each piece.
"This place has to be ''bout'' 170 million years old, but look ''round'' nothin''s fallin apart." Dave examining the ornate wall carvings.
"Why do you say so, master?" Dong, not understanding much, but looking at the same set of runes.
"The edges of the markings, the state of the buildings, everything looks new." The edges of the markings were still sharp, even devoid of weather damage; time itself should cause any manmade structure some wear and tear.
Dong only shrugged as nothing about this situation was within his expertise. Dave lingered for a moment before the trio continued up the stairs. At the first major landing, when they paused for lunch, Dave asked Dong to investigate one of the columns.
Even at his top speed, Dong returned after dinner as Lilly was doing her reading studies. "Master, I think you should examine them yourself. They have no carvings, and I can''t even guess as to what they are made of."
"That''s cool, maybe after we check the ''awful tower of Piz''." Dave had dubbed it such because of the metal struts and lattice patterns covering the cylinder tower.
Dong was about to question whether he needed to examine it if Dave seemed to have predicted the outcome. "needed to be sure, som''n ain''t right." Dave did not even look up from the weird contraption he was assembling.
It was a quadcopter drone, though he was failing spectacularly. As hyper-intelligent as Dave was, he had no idea how a computer worked. He managed some parts using magic, formations, talismans, and a soul gem.
"With any luck, this can make a 3D model of the whole mountain." Dave''s lack of confidence was apparent to Dong. "I wish you good fortune, master; however, I must ask why?"
All the buildings do indeed look like they belong in a holy land, but something seemed off about them; they all looked from the outside like a normal dwelling or shop, inside, they were empty of even load-bearing walls.
As it would take days at a minimum to scan the whole place, Dave led them up to the central tower. "Well, this doesn''t look ominous at all," the entrance, a circle that could fit a cargo ship with huge double doors depicting the 4 sacred beasts.
It was neither locked nor hard to open; in fact, a strong breeze could open it all the way, if there were any breeze to speak of.
The interior was empty, 8 pillars surrounded by a spiral staircase all reaching the top of the structure, and a bowl-shaped altar in the center.
"Master, Lilly feels weird." They all were; the air in the building felt more like a liquid due to all the Qi flooding the room. The flow of Qi could not be assimilated as it was constantly pulled to the altar.
"Master, this place will not help with cultivation; it may even result in deviation, however, I already feel my meridians expanding." Dong started using the breathing technique that the three had settled on.
"Lil, sit in the bowl with me." Dave took a lotus position in the center. Lilly did the same on his lap. Every breath was labored, akin to heavy exercise, yet so rich each breath was almost a meal. In less than 15 minutes, Dave was feeling halfway between drunk and poisoned. Lilly and Dong had passed out. He grabbed them both and left the temple at top speed, passing out just outside the door.
Dave woke up to a buzzing sound. The drone had returned, awaiting further orders. "Display" a holographic image of the whole temple materialized. Dave examined the image from every angle, the planing showed nothing in particular until he looked at it from the bottom.
The buildings were arranged in an upside-down Array, with the obvious intent of draining life from the world while acting like the foundational pillar. That is when it all clicked and Dave began to laugh miniacly waking the other two.
"Master, something seems to have happened. Would you please enlighten us?" Dong was concerned that Dave had gone mad from Qi deviation.
In an intentionally off-key and obnoxious voice, Dave began to sing.
"It''s a small world after all..."
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