Then there was the Eye of the Basilisk. An eye taken from a basilisk and preserved in mana, then forged into a gem. It could be set into a sword or a ring or a crown. Anyone who looked into the gem risked turning to stone.
And what about the Robe of Guilt? The wearer would learn the darkest secret of all those who he passed. I imagined that would become awkward after a while.
They were all fine trinkets, but they just didn’t feel right.
A voice called to me from the other side of the chamber.
“For God’s sake, Beno. Can you make your choice?”
“There are so many! Tell you what. Why don’t you go and complete whatever tasks you need to do? Just leave the key with me, and I’ll lock up when I’m finished.”
“Nice try. Hurry it up, if you please.”
Brenda had told me I wasn’t going to get another chance to come to a place like this again. Never would I have the opportunity to peruse such a place and pick whatever trinket I wanted. So, I wouldn’t be rushed.
I spent another hour working my way through. Brenda became more impatient, and I became more enamored with the trinkets.
Finally, I saw what I needed.
Just as they say that there can be love at first sight between two people, so can there be between a core and Revered Trinket.
The trinket that sang to my heart was in a case the furthest corner of the room. It was almost tucked out of sight.
When I first saw it, the item inside the case didn’t look like anything special. Just a glass vial with mysterious air swirling inside.
But the text painted on the glass display sold it to me instantly.
Ethereal Core Elixir
When absorbed into an empty core, the Ethereal Core Elixir will expand a core beyond its natural potential.
After seeing this, could I choose anything else? If I had interpreted this correctly, the core elixir might help me leave my Base-quality core. With it, I could move at least one step further up the rankings.
“Brenda? You’ll be pleased to know I made my choice.”
She flew across the chamber before swooping down to join me. She was so quiet that somebody without core hearing wouldn’t have known she was there. Not until they turned around and saw a sharp beak pointed at them.
“Finally! You’re choosing the Core Elixir, hmm? I thought you might have picked something a little more useful, Beno. I don’t know if you saw it, but there’s a sword around here somewhere that is strong enough to cut through a diamond.”
“I want the elixir. Final answer.”
Brenda pressed her talons against the case. Mana washed over it, and the case opened.
There it was. The elixir. My gateway to another level of core quality.
“I’ll just carry this back for you, shall I?” she said.
“Thank you.”
“No, thank you, Beno. Your bravery against the Shielded Republic is a credit to the cores who fought the very same republic hundreds of years ago. The spirit of those brave cores rests in you. I’m sure of it. I don’t care what people are saying about your core quality. I hope that we see Beno and Jahn’s Academy competing in the Battle of the Five Stars in ten years.”
“Perhaps you will. In the meantime, I’m sure our paths will cross again, Brenda. Good luck until then.”
Chapter 29
Later, back in my dungeon, I retreated to my core chamber. I commanded the doors to lock shut and ordered my monsters to avoid disturbing me. Only Tomlin was present.
My kobold friend had initially been upset to spend even a second away from his cultivation duties.
“Dark Lord’s essence didn’t replenish fast enough during the tournament!” he said. “Tomlin must work harder. He used his dungeon wages to purchase a book in Heaven’s Peak that he hopes will give him new ideas. The Dark Lord’s cultivation chamber does not befit him, and does not look like the work of an F-class cultivator.”
“Tomlin, you are doing an excellent job. But I have an important task, and I only trust you to do it.”
Now, eyeing the elixir sitting on a pedestal, I couldn’t help but feel excited. Part of me didn’t want to try this, in case it didn’t work. The disappointment would be too much.
But how cowardly would that be?
No, I just needed to do it.
The problem was, I didn’t know how. I had never heard of an Ethereal Core Elixir before, not even in all the reading I had done at the academy. The Revered Trinket itself didn’t come with any instructions.
I wondered if I should ask Maginhart to study it. Though it looked like the elixir bottle was filled with energy rather than liquid, perhaps there was something alchemical that needed to be done to it.
“What is the task Dark Lord wanted Tomlin for?” said Tomlin, his eyes glancing at the door that blocked him from leaving and going to his cultivation chamber.
“Uncork the vial please, Tomlin.”
“That is the task?”
“This elixir is worth more than your life, Tomlin.”
He looked a little aggrieved at this.
“Sorry, I misspoke,” I said. “It is a Revered Trinket, and it is worth 500 of you. Open it carefully, please.”
Tomlin uncorked the vial and stepped back. The mist inside the vial drifted toward the lip but didn’t leave the glass.
“Curious,” I said. “I’ll have to look into this.”
Overseer Gill was nowhere to be seen for the next few days, and Bolton was visiting Hogsfeate with Anna to buy clothes for her upcoming first term in a new Chosen One school.
This meant I had to do what had never failed me in the past.
