There was no good way to explain the presence of Terea Wendimar's statue in this place. In the original timeline, the Wendimars were only a Founding Family in name by the time Terea was born. Still, that wasn't the biggest issue. The Terea depicted on the broken marble was not the young Terea that he saw in his first memory lantern.
It was the older Terea who briefly appeared to thank him after completing the lantern, the one with the disposition of someone who'd been in power for a long time. In other words, it was a theoretical Terea that should not exist outside a memory domain. Even if she somehow survived in the true past, which Zac highly doubted, the timeline didn't line up.
Terea's lantern remained the latest point in time Zac had encountered thus far. The events of Kristvan's desperate defense of Terea's breakthrough took place when the System awoke and began draining the Heavens of its Dao. Say Terea survived, she would still need millennia to reach the age of the version depicted here.
Zac wasn't exactly sure how long the interim was between the System's awakening and the Left Imperial Palace sinking into the depths of reality, but it should be significantly shorter than that. The Limitless Empire disappeared almost immediately when the Dark Ages descended on the Multiverse, and the continent's ritual should have coincided with the pillar's erection.
There was no plaque or epitaph on Terea's statue, or any other for that matter, to explain why she was enshrined like this. The only way to explain it was that Zac's actions had caused the statue to come into being. The question was how and why. He'd assumed that memories affecting reality were a unique quirk of the Mercurial Court and its close connection to the Peak of Fantasy.
The statue was clearly not a new addition to the square. It had an air of antiquity, and time had eroded many of its features. The statue exuded a weak hint of spirituality, which matched Terea's Dao. Placing the Wendimar Clan Token against the marble caused a small stir, which was more than the effect of his Flamebearer seal. As far as he could tell, there was no inheritance waiting inside or fated connection either.
Breaking it open to see if some treasure waited inside was out of the question. Not only would it be extremely rude, Zac's danger sense went haywire just at the thought. The Left Imperial Palace would come down on him with a vengeance if he dared profane these people.
Zac glanced at a nearby Faith Gate, wondering if he'd come face to face with the owner of his borrowed identity if he stepped inside. He then turned to the sea of statues strewn across the square, most of them in a worse state than Terea. A quick estimate put the number at over twelve thousand.
There were around a thousand trial takers, so the number could match the number of memory lanterns activated. Some, like himself, would only seize enough to fill their seal, while others would explore dozens as a means of reaping rewards. Taking into account the casualties over the past year and a half, twelve thousand lanterns seemed reasonable.
'They could be monuments honoring martyrs,' Esmeralda commented with a somber tone. 'These people gave up their identity and possibly their chance at reincarnation to help us break the status quo.'
"Perhaps," Zac said, though his instincts said otherwise. "Maybe we'll find out more when another pillar is completed."
Tersephe's information packet had named this biome "The Rubble Square." Reading the description, it shouldn't have this many half-preserved statues. That could only mean the statues were actively recovering, likely in connection to the infusions of power from the outer courts. A few more, and the square might see a critical transformation.
Zac reluctantly put the mystery aside and continued on his way after bowing to Terea's statue. He tried looking for his other identities and came up empty-handed. The fluctuations coming from the statues were too weak to scan at a distance, and many statues lacked any defining features. Disappointed, he could only continue.
There were two pathways leading out of the forest of statues. After conferring with the introduction letter, Zac took the left. His danger sense began pinging before he'd even passed through the tunnel. It only weakened after Esmeralda helped erect a spatial shroud around him.
Creeping to the mouth of the pathway, Zac took in an eerily silent square. It had once been an eastern garden with fish ponds, artificial lakes, rivers connecting them all, and small cobblestone paths winding through the scenery. There were even a few broken gondolas lying in the trenches. There was no water left in the ponds. Instead, most were filled with a dense mist.
It gave off a feeling very similar to the living resentment he'd encountered in the Imperial Graveyard. From the largest ponds, he could even see spectral figures moving within. As Zac observed, he suddenly felt a sharp stab in his lung, and he barely suppressed a cough. Turning inward, he spotted a sinister energy mixed into his blood.
'The air has some form of corpse poison!'Esmeralda warned.
"Screw this," Zac muttered as a Void Vortex silently opened before him.
The action did trigger a massive response. A frothing river of mist rushed directly toward his location. Not only that, an enormous wraith formed above the largest lake. It rose nearly three hundred meters into the air, holding a broken dagger. Zac glanced at the Dao Rune that was the source of the mist, wondering if the wraith was the lingering will of whoever left the scar.
The danger sense grew more urgent as the wraith turned in his direction, and for good reason. Its gaze was virulence itself, causing an eruption of toxicity in the air wherever he looked. Nevertheless, Zac waited until the last second before creating a second vortex on the opposite side of the garden. He stepped into the Void, directly closing the path behind him.
With the mist already gathered on the opposite side and the wraith slow to react, Zac was gone before the danger could catch up. The experience acted as a poignant example of the dangers that lurked in the outer biomes. Not all squares had lingering faith to keep guests safe. Luckily, Zac wouldn't have to cross any more danger zones to reach his destination.
The next biome housed a small, blocky mountain that rose miles into the air. Even with the height and thickness of the walls separating the biomes, there was no way it should have been out of sight. The biomes likely existed within spatial folds seamlessly melded into the structure. The weak pull of destiny from the letter pointed Zac right toward the mountain.
It didn't look naturally formed. Its angles were too square, and it sported hundreds of box-shaped identical indents. Inside each such mark grew a Natural Treasure, the weakest of which was Peak D-grade. There was more than one C-grade treasure close to the mountain peak. Seeing them left Zac leery more than anything.
The mist lakes were dangerous but not impassable. Zac shouldn't be the first one to reach this biome, yet the treasures remained untouched. That could only mean there was some problem with the mountain. He carefully approached and felt a heat rising within. The mountain radiated a powerful heat like a volcano that could erupt at a moment's notice.
Approaching was difficult; climbing the mountain was out of the question. Zac could tell he would turn into a bonfire if he dared step foot on the slopes. Zac tried to fly up, but a hidden array prevented him from rising more than a few feet above the ground. Zac gave it some thought before sending an axelight into the wall. The fractal crumbled the moment it reached the rock.
Haro fared no better. His vines ignited before he could reach the closest treasure. Zac still had a chance to harvest the treasure with [Earthly Dome], but first he needed to deal with Verun's matter. He took the long way around the mountain and found a Faith Gate installed facing the palace interior.
Initially rejecting him, the gate provided passage the moment he brought out the letter. Zac entered without hesitation, and the deafening clangor of a large-scale smithy filled his ears. He'd appeared inside an enormous cave, and no matter which direction he looked, there were countless artisans frantically crafting weapons. Hundreds of forges were lined up along the walls, yet it wasn't enough for the sheer number of craftsmen squeezed into the hall.
"Here for the trial or for business?"
Zac turned around and saw a burly blacksmith in a dirty apron approach. Judging by his aura, he should be at least a Middle Monarch.
"Trial?" Zac couldn't help but feel curious.
"Master is taking a final disciple before leaving the Left Imperial Expanse," the blacksmith said. "The test is to make something that piques his interest."
Zac looked out across the sea of artisans, noting that none of them were C-grade or above. This test was exceedingly difficult. How was a D-grade blacksmith supposed to achieve something that piqued the interest of a master artisan at the very top of the pyramid?
"I am here to seek an audience with Master Akke. I have a letter from Master Pustor of the Order of Fertile Soil," Zac said as he held out the letter.
The apprentice scanned the letter before closing his eyes. Zac stood in silence for a full ten minutes before the apprentice nodded. "Master can see you."
"Is there anything I should be mindful of?" Zac asked.
It wasn't uncommon for old experts to be eccentrics with unusual temperaments. The chaotic way he went about picking a new disciple indicated Akke was no different. While the risk of getting hammered into pulp was low, Zac didn't want to ruin his chances of eliciting Akke's services by saying or doing the wrong thing.
"You'll be fine. You look sturdy enough," the apprentice said, ignoring Zac's confusion as he continued. "Your chances improve if you can show him something interesting."
"Something interesting," Zac mused as he stepped through the gateway.
Sweltering heat knocked the wind out of Zac's lungs as he entered the inner sanctum. Compared to the plant-based craftsmanship of Pustor, Master Akke was obviously more of a traditionalist. He'd set up his workshop inside an active volcano. Interestingly, the setup was reminiscent of the volcanic forge that Brazla's creator once used.
Taking place front and center was a massive, misshapen anvil. It towered nearly five hundred meters and exuded a terrifying weight. Just looking at it forced Zac to a knee as the bones in his body groaned. Despite having suffered extensive damage, its aura was not something a normal Hegemon could endure.
At first, Zac thought he'd stepped outside the memory domain again, and the anvil had suffered attacks similar to the outer wall. It took him a moment to realize that the furious Dao lodged in the bumps and grooves were fresh. Not only that, the culprit was leaning against the huge block of metal.
The hammer was one of the most terrifying weapons Zac had ever faced. Looking at it felt like facing a dragon—a mature one and not the little whelpling he fought inside the Tower of Eternity. Archaic runes lined its square mallet. It was the same kind of pattern he'd seen on the Stele of Conflict and some ancient treasures. They were created by the Cosmos rather than by man.
'Be careful. That hammer wields Authority.' Esmeralda said, her voice trembling with greed.
'It's an A-grade Spirit Tool?' Zac exclaimed.
'No, I don't think so. It doesn't feel like it has taken that step. It's more like that old lady that guarded the Theomore girl.'
'An Autarch with some Authority.' Zac nodded in thought.
The fiery Dao lodged in the anvil clearly came from the hammer, and the damage couldn't possibly be the result of a normal crafting session. The indents were all over, even on the anvil's foot. It was like the Akke had decided to give the anvil a thorough thrashing. Zac's heart sank as his imagination ran wild. Had Master Akke failed an important craft and decided to take his anger out on the anvil?
He tried not to let his misgivings show as he looked around. Lining the anvil were nine lava pools forming a half-circle. Zac could picture a titan standing before the anvil, dipping a sword into the ponds to heat it up. The ponds all exuded extraordinary Daos, and not all of them were connected to flames.
One of them looked like it was made of molten metal instead of rock. Zac guessed the bloody undertone in the air stemmed from its Dao of Conflict. Another pool constantly frothed as it switched between Life and Death. It was like the Akke had trapped the Calamity, the unstable Chaos-attuned zone inside the Perennial Vastness, inside a lava pool.
Everything else aside, Zac was exhilarated to see both the Peak of Conflict and Chaos represented among the natural furnaces. It had to mean that the Akke possessed deep mastery when crafting weapons connected to these Daos. Zac wasn't sure whether to step inside or wait. He opted for the latter. If nothing else, it might give the old blacksmith some time for his anger to settle.
'Come, then, boy.'
The gruff voice slammed into Zac's mind like a hammer—literally. Zac groaned as his soul buckled under the power of Akke's voice. He might even have suffered a spiritual wound if not for his recent breakthrough. Thankfully, the pain only lasted for a moment, after which he realized his newly formed infinity core was a little more compact. A few words had actually tempered his soul.
Zac wiped some blood running down his nose as he approached. When he did, the hammer trembled, and a gigantic, six-armed dwarf emerged. Only two arms were short and bulky like you'd expect, while the other four were unnaturally long and had five joints each. As he shrank down to match Zac's size, the spindly arms folded themselves along his back.
Zac's eyes gleamed, realizing what he was looking at. He deeply bowed, following imperial custom. "Greetings, Senior."
"You're not surprised I'm a spirit?" Master Akke said with a raised brow.
This time, the words formed a soundwave that crashed into his body. Thankfully, his body was better at taking a beating than his soul, and he only felt a tremor of pain rush through him before it was gone. The effect was minimal, though some small motes of impurities were squeezed out.
Zac glanced at the tormented anvil. The Akke's true form was a hammer. He probably just really liked to hammer things, and the anvil was the only thing that could endure the prolonged punishment of such a powerful Tool Spirit.
"I once met a Living Array called Senior Silver. He was the chief array master of a kingdom," Zac carefully said.
"Hm. Makes sense," Akke said. "I hear Pustor sent you? So, let's have it, then."
Zac infused a tendril of energy into [Verun's Bite], causing her to revert to her true form. As soon as he did, the weapon was snatched by one of Akke's spindly hands.
"Couldn't keep up, huh?" Akke muttered as he turned the axe over. It was like he could see exactly the course of events that led to [Verun's Bite] being reduced to this state. "Don't be sad, girl. You have time on your side. He'll turn to ash while you grow stronger than he ever was."
An infuriated howl reverberated through the workshop as Verun's spiritual body emerged. Zac's heart twisted with pain upon seeing the deep scar that ran from her shoulder deep into her side. Even wounded, Verun took a protective position before Zac, as if she took the dwarf's words as a threat. The ancient Tool Spirit just flicked a finger, and Verun was unceremoniously stuffed back into the axe.
"The bitterbark has set the foundation," the blacksmith said, causing Zac's spirits to rise. His next words made them drop into the cellar. "There's nothing that requires special attention. You can have one of my disciples patch her up."