The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1033: So Many Shrines

Mira led them through the temple, pointing out each of the small rooms, or sometimes just a vestibule, that was dedicated to each god.

”Whoever built this was very unification minded, werenʼt they? They went out of their way to ensure that there were shrines to every speciesʼ Gods on the main floor.” Tessa noted.

Mira laughed. ”It was made by the Darklight Host, of course. The top two floors are made for guest rooms, the basement is a reinforced shelter, and there is an outbuilding for giant species.

Most of the way stations are nothing more than an overnight stopping point, with some nature aligned Guild Members to provide food and water for travellers. But this one is truly ancient, and it was built around the existing temple.

As the historical records go, they found the statues dumped here from a destroyed shrine, or a lot of them. So, they stood them up, found out who the more obscure ones were, and built a new temple to all of the Gods who look over this world.

At one point, this was part of a Royal Retreat, and it was supposed to have a strong enough connection to the Gods that it could help with System Class advancements. But if my Guild Messaging isnʼt working, I would say that time is long past.

Personally, I suspect that the removal of the Royal Treasures is the cause.

There was a rumour that they had a set of relic stones in the treasures, and that was the source of the Templeʼs divinity. But I suspect that it was something more incredible than that because the Relic Stones are actually still in the basement floor, and theyʼve been inactive for the last thousand years.

I read the caretakerʼs journal entry from the time when they went inactive.”

Karl and Tessa turned to stare at each other.

They had found the lost System Stones entirely accidentally.

Tessa whispered the translation to the Orcish Chieftain, who looked pleased but not too concerned about the stones. Those werenʼt the goal of the Orcs.

{Ask her if she knows where the treasure went.} He whispered.

”The Chieftain would like to know if you are aware of the new location of the Royal Relics. He believes that there might be a relic of the Orcish Clans there, and they would like to trade to get it back.” Karl explained.

Mira nodded. ”Theyʼre at the Royal Temple of Shash, under the supervision of the Divine Fire Dragons. The Kingdom that they belonged to no longer exists, but the Dragons like to protect historical relics of value.

So, they collected them, and put them into stasis storage.”

Tessa relayed the message and the Chieftain smiled. This was the closest that his people had come to finding a solid lead on where the lost scale piece was. It was a long way to Shash, but it was on this island, so they could walk there eventually.

The question was whether they would manage to get there before whatever strange anomaly had brought them to this place ended. It might be range limited, or time limited. If it only lasted a few days, there was no way that they could walk thousands of kilometres to the Grand Temple.

”Can we see the floor with the Relic Stones? I would like to sketch it.” Tessa requested.

”Of course, follow me down the stairs, and I will show you. Theyʼre on the floor of the main basement room. Surprisingly, they havenʼtʼ worn down at all in the time theyʼve been inactive. They look as good as new, they just donʼt function.” Mira explained.

She led them down the stairs, and into a large meeting room, where hard wooden chairs were arranged around a circle of golden stones on the floor.

Karl smiled as he realized that he knew all these runes. At least the ones that were on top of the System Stones.

It wasnʼt some grand magical spell, it was the words to a prayer to the World Dragon to grant them their heartʼs greatest desire.

[What do you think will happen if you speak the words? I mean, you got Avatar of the World Dragon for your skill thingy, right?] Remi asked in Karlʼs mind.

Karlʼs attention was drawn to his system interface, just in case he had read the message incorrectly during his advancement.

{Patron Deity Detected} [World Dragon]

{Skill Bonus Confirmed} [Avatar] The Avatar of the World Dragon may walk freely anywhere within the World Dragonʼs influence. Increases resistance to Negative Statuses that impact movement and thought. [Portal] spell range limits increased.

Yes, it was the World Dragon that the System had identified as his patron deity. And the prayer was to the World Dragon. So, in theory, he might be able to make the System Stones work again.

The repercussions of actually reactivating them after centuries of inactivity, and during a downturn of the System, when war and destruction were spreading wildly, could be extremely unexpected.

The Monster species were asserting dominance now that the other species were losing access to the System, and with it most of their power.

Over the next few decades, as the shorter lived species aged out of combat ability, the Monster species would gain utter dominance of most of the world. Karl knew that from history, both at home and from this continent.

Most species still had some magic, but a lot of it was System linked, and without the assistance of the System, only a fraction of the population was capable of gaining enough power to defend their people.

In the Golden Dragon Nation, and the other human nations, it was the mage towers. But even then, their influence was limited, and most humans lived in hiding.

The Dwarves had retreated into their mountains and locked the doors behind them, but that wasnʼt unexpected. When all the problems were on the surface, the subterranean species would naturally want nothing to do with it.

What Karl really wanted to know was if there was more magic hidden in these stones that he could replicate.

If he could make a whole new set of System Stones to send home, or place in the courtyard of the Guild House, he would become a living legend among the World Dragonʼs followers.

The man who granted Class advancements as soon as you were qualified.