Chapter 588: The Caelorian Throne

There was no exit, so this throne room could possibly be the final room in the dungeon. Did that mean the dungeon’s core was somewhere in this room? Maybe not, since I knew there were multiple ways to access the third floor and we had exhausted the rooms in this area of the third floor, but there were likely other pockets of rooms. This was likely a dead end, but there should be a suitable prize for defeating the ancient king.

I focused on the two pedestals with liquid basins. Was this a puzzle or a riddle? There were a few puzzles I read about in dungeons where you had to drink the right liquid to pass. Drinking the wrong one could lock you out from progressing or even kill you. Yet it didn’t make sense, as I had already defeated the king, and the reward chest was on the throne.

It was an impressive throne, the black stone seat standing over eight feet in height and just as wide. All along the throne were highly detailed reliefs. Approaching it, the elves in the carvings were all craftsmen from various professions. The detail on each individual likely meant it was honoring an actual master from Caelora’s history. This must be homage to the city’s artisans who truly made Caelora a great elven city. I didn’t touch the chest yet, instead inspecting the dais on the left before inspecting the dais on the right.

The black stone pedestals looked identical. However, the left dais had clear, odorless water, and the one on the right had a thick, off-white, milky-looking liquid with no scent. Both cups were identical and didn’t resonate with earth speak when I inspected them. The pedestals, however, had plumbing going deep into the floor and drew from the same source to refill both basins. There was also rune work artificed into both basins.

After pondering the purpose, I mustered the courage to touch the clear liquid first, then cautiously tasted it. It was just water as I suspected. I assumed the runes were there to ensure it remained pure. That raised my confidence on the second basin. I filled the cup, finding the substance slightly thicker than expected. I poured it slowly back into the basin, watching the viscous fluid more closely. There was a nutty and buttery scent in the air from the fluid.

When there was just a little bit remaining in the cup, I drank it. It was a heavy cream with a velvety texture. It was so thick, it was almost a custard. It wasn’t cow’s milk or Auroch milk, but I couldn’t place it. The aftertaste was very pleasant as well, reminding me of a vanilla milkshake. I knew the purpose of these ornate basins. Like all creatures in a dungeon, the king needed sustenance to sustain his life, and this is what the dungeon provided him.

I didn’t think the king was placed here until after Alhur asked the dungeon where we could obtain mithril. Once the dungeon knew this was our destination, it moved the king here as an obstacle for me. I pitied him as this was likely his existence for the last fifteen hundred years—isolated and eating and drinking the same thing every day. How he didn’t go mad was hard to fathom.

When creatures became too unruly, the dungeon released them into the Endless Dark and just recreated them. Since there were not hundreds of Ancient Elven Kings running around, I doubted Ninleyn had ever been freed from his torment. It was a long time to wait for revenge against the Telhian Empire. Unless the king didn’t realize how much time had passed. Maybe he had committed suicide numerous times, and this was a later iteration of the king. He did mention he hadn’t seen his queen, so maybe that is what kept him going.

I took out the essence I had obtained from the king. “Huh,” I muttered, surprised. It made sense with his haste spell form, but the king could likely cast magic as well. The translucent golden orb had tiny silver cracks across its surface. When you rotated the sphere, some cracks faded, and others appeared. It even looked like some of the cracks extended into the sphere, but when you tried to follow them, they seemed to disappear. It was my first time holding a time essence, and I had only read second-hand accounts of them. The writings didn’t do its beauty justice.

Time was my second strongest affinity, and I had imprinted the slow aging spell form on that facet of my aether core. With my ninety affinity in time, and if I kept my spell form active, my lifespan was measured in millennia, not years. If I consumed this, I would add a few thousand more years to my already improbably long life. I remember the seer telling me I might get sick of living at one point and just end it, but I couldn’t imagine me being so weak. I sent the rare essence to my dimensional space to hold on to for now.

Getting more time essences would be hard. I wouldn’t call the king a reliable source of time essences. He was just too difficult to fight, and I don’t think I should have lived through that fight. Maybe after I enhanced my physical speed with essences and studied the king’s spear style in the dreamscape, I would be more confident against him.

I knew that the Caelorian king expected to meet again, but that was because he thought I would delve into the Shimmering Labyrinth again. I didn’t think I would ever return to the Shimmering Labyrinth after this. The loot might be exceptional, but it was abundantly clear the dungeon did not like me. Maybe it was just following its parameters and trying to put adversaries in front of me that challenged me, but either way, I didn’t like hard mode. I had a long list of dungeons that were much easier and friendly to competent delvers.

I settled on the plinth that held the milk. Even with the ring of sustenance, I was salivating for more. I guessed it functioned similarly to the elven ambrosia chalice, converting water, just much larger. I think it was refilled with water by pressure, and I was not quite certain how the transmutation was activated, but I had just dumped a lot of fish and apples from my space. The black marble pedestal disappeared, and my lip curled up. I hope I pissed off the dungeon by stealing the artifact. I don’t know what I would use a water purifier for, but I took that one too.

If the throne was smaller, I would have taken that as well just to spite the dungeon. At least I still had the reward chest resting on the throne’s seat. I drew my dagger and smashed it with my hilt. The telltale signs of gold coins flashed in the rubble. Underneath the stone and gold was a tome. The binding was a rich blue with gold runic letters on the cover. I couldn’t hide my disappointment; I was extremely dissatisfied with the reward. Maybe the dungeon had altered the true prize after I had taken the two basins.

Truthfully, I had claimed Heartseeker and the king’s runic armor already, but still I felt cheated. This was supposed to be one of the final rooms for the Shimmering Labyrinth. Resignedly, I stored the twenty-three gold coins and opened the book, expecting a spellbook. I immediately knew it was not a spellbook because I knew the difference between a spell forms and setting a ritual.

I paged through the book slowly, intrigued. This was a detailed ritual using three different affinities: time, convergence, and displacement. I recognized the convergence aspect as feeding the ritual, but the time-and-displacement spell forms didn’t make any sense. Was this a form of time travel, even though that was impossible? As I puzzled over it I wondered if this knowledge from the Caelorian Elves, or much older and from the Titans? Like Venere’s dungeon, the Shimmering Labyrinth had an ancient Titan at the helm.

“Are you done?” My head snapped up to see Konstantin standing at the entrance to the room.

“How did you get in here?” I asked, surprised to see him.

“I walked,” he said bluntly, looking around the chamber for threats.

“I mean, why did you come?” I corrected.

“I was worried. It has been two hours since the passage was reopened,” he said, entering the room. Damn it, I was wearing the amulet of clarity and time got away from me. “Smells very fishy in there.” He thumbed back toward the dark passage.

“You walked blindly through the passage, not knowing what danger there was to check on me?” I asked, touched by his concern.

Konstantin shrugged. “I trusted that you won or the creature would have come to hunt us. I just shadowed the wall. I was calling your name as I went, but I don’t think my voice carried. With how far I was going. I started to get worried. But then I stepped into this room,” the old man casually said as he reached me.

“Is Alhur with you?” I questioned.

“I don’t think the elf followed me in, but I can’t be sure.” He was studying my ruined clothes and damaged elven chain mail in disbelief. “What happened to you?”

“The King of Caelora tried to kill me with the true Heartseeker spear. He got the better of me for most of the fight, but I finished it in the end. I am actually surprised you didn’t trip over him in the passage,” I said, closing the book.

“I might have; hard to tell what was fish and a dead elf with my feet,” Konstantin said, shaking his head. “Do we have what we need?”

I nodded. “The mithril, yes. I was just collecting the reward from defeating the king,” I held up the book and vanished it. “A ritual book,” I said, annoyed. I also removed the amulet of clarity and stored it.

“I think Alhur knew the king was waiting for me,” I said as Konstantin studied the throne and chamber.

“Are you sure?” Konstantin asked, giving me his attention. I could tell he was wondering if Alhur was about to meet an unfortunate end.

“No, but he is related to the King and Queen. Who knows what information the two are passing when he talks to the dungeon,” I grumbled.

“He said he can’t talk to the dungeon anymore…” Konstantin trailed off. “Let’s go make sure he isn’t lying.”

“Agreed.”

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