The newly formed Shadow Dragon towered over them.
And somehow, it looked smaller.
Jax knew how ridiculous that sounded.
The creature was still at least eighty feet tall. Its enormous hind legs could have crushed a carriage beneath them. Powerful arms hung from broad shoulders, each ending in massive root-like claws. Its tail stretched across half the chamber, thick enough near the base that Jax doubted he could wrap his arms around it even if he had several more arms to work with.
There were no wings.
Nothing about the creature suggested it needed them.
It stood like a building that had decided buildings were tired of staying in one place.
But compared to the Guardian they had just fought, it looked leaner.
Less bulky.
Less… rooted.
The Guardian had been connected to the World Tree itself. Thousands of glowing channels beneath the floor had fed mana directly into its body.
That connection was gone.
What remained was the creature's own power.
Which, considering an eighty-foot SSS-Rank Shadow was currently standing in front of them, was still plenty.
Root-like armor had become nearly black, formed from hundreds of overlapping branches and twisted vines woven together like muscle. Purple light glowed from deep within the cracks.
The enormous creature shifted its weight.
Jax's eyes dropped.
Its foot lifted from the floor.
For an instant, the bottom looked like it was covered in hundreds of spikes.
Then the spikes moved.
Roots.
Thin black roots pulled themselves free from the floor and retracted into the bottom of its foot.
The massive foot came down again.
The roots immediately punched into the ground.
Almost like cleats.
The other foot lifted.
Roots withdrew.
Another step.
They drove into the ground again.
"Huh."
Pixelle followed his gaze.
Her expression changed.
"It's feeding."
Jax looked at her.
"What?"
"The roots." Pixelle dropped lower, studying its feet. "They're drawing energy and nutrients from the ground itself."
Jax looked back up at the enormous Shadow.
"Useful."
Exactly how useful, he had no idea.
The System prompt still hovered in front of him.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO NAME YOUR SUMMON?
Pixelle flew higher.
She slowly circled the creature's head, studying it from every angle.
"This deserves a proper name."
"Yeah."
"Something ancient."
Jax waited.
"Verdanthar."
"No."
Pixelle stopped.
"No?"
"No."
She considered the creature again.
"Worldroot."
"No."
"Elderwyrm."
Jax frowned.
"No."
Pixelle put her hands on her hips.
"You're rejecting these very quickly."
"I don't like them."
"They're dignified!"
Jax looked at the Shadow.
"I'll give you that."
Pixelle thought harder.
Her eyes suddenly brightened.
"Megatron."
"Already taken."
Pixelle blinked.
"What?"
"I'm not getting sued in a fantasy world."
"What does that even mean?"
Jax rested Peacemaker against his shoulder.
"Rootzilla."
Silence.
Pixelle slowly turned toward him.
"What?"
"Rootzilla."
"You cannot be serious."
Bunny tilted her head.
Her ears shifted as she studied the massive creature.
"I kinda like it."
Jax pointed at her.
"See?"
Zee considered the name.
"It does accurately describe him."
"Thank you."
Pixelle looked at Llandra.
The Elf gave Rootzilla another long appraisal.
"It is functional."
Pixelle stared at her in betrayal.
"Functional?"
Llandra shrugged slightly.
"I have learned there are battles not worth fighting."
Nyxian smiled.
"I think it's adorable."
Pixelle spun toward her.
"HE IS AN EIGHTY-FOOT-TALL ANCIENT TREE DRAGON!"
Nyxian looked up.
"Then he's very adorable."
Rootzilla raised his head.
The roar shook the chamber.
Nyxian grinned.
"See? He agrees."
"He roared!"
"Enthusiastically."
Pixelle threw her arms into the air.
"STOP HELPING HIM!"
A blue window appeared.
NAME CONFIRMED: ROOTZILLA
SHADOW SUMMON ACQUIRED: ROOTZILLA
Jax nodded.
"Yeah. That works."
Pixelle hovered in stunned disbelief.
"Verdanthar was better."
"No."
"Elderwyrm was better!"
"Debatable."
"Megatron was better!"
"Trademarked."
"What is a trademark?!"
Nyxian floated closer and put a hand on Pixelle's shoulder.
"Welcome to being a Vixen."
Pixelle stared at her.
"I don't know if I like it here."
Nyxian smiled.
"You'll get used to it."
Jax looked back at Rootzilla.
The massive Shadow lowered its head toward him.
Jax reached out and placed his hand against the creature's snout.
The surface looked like bark.
It felt solid beneath his hand.
Physical.
Real.
Rootzilla's purple eyes glowed.
Dante landed nearby.
The Flame Dragon folded his wings and stared at Rootzilla.
Rootzilla stared back.
Two SSS-Rank Shadows.
One built for the sky.
One apparently determined to become part of whatever ground it happened to be standing on.
Warden stood between them.
His helmet moved from Dante to Rootzilla.
Then back again.
Jax knew that look.
"No."
Warden looked at him.
"We are not testing them against each other."
Warden remained perfectly still.
"Don't even think about it."
Warden's helmet slowly turned toward Rootzilla.
Jax sighed.
"Later."
Warden nodded once.
"That wasn't permission."
Warden said nothing.
Nyxian smiled.
"You really need to stop negotiating with him."
"I wasn't negotiating."
"Sure."
Jax dismissed Rootzilla.
The eighty-foot Shadow collapsed into darkness.
Dante followed.
Then the remaining Shadows.
For the first time since entering the chamber, it became quiet.
Jax looked toward the Guardian's corpse.
The enormous headless body still covered a massive portion of the floor.
"Alright."
He walked over and placed one hand against the bark-like hide.
"Let's see if this works."
He focused on his storage.
The corpse vanished.
Not all at once.
The nearest section disappeared first, followed by the massive torso. Legs, arms and tail vanished one after another until eighty feet of SSS-Rank monster simply ceased occupying the chamber.
Jax opened his inventory.
The System had been helpfully keeping track of the creatures and monster remains he'd collected throughout the World Tree.
He scrolled.
And found it.
ANCIENT ROOT DRAGON — SSS-RANK — CORPSE ×1
Jax smiled.
"There you are."
Bunny walked over.
"All of it?"
Jax looked around.
Pieces of the Guardian's destroyed skull were still scattered across the chamber.
He looked back at Bunny.
"Define all. We destroyed the head."
Bunny followed his gaze.
Her ears slowly lowered.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"The shoes."
"The shoes."
Nyxian groaned.
"Please don't start again."
Jax closed his inventory.
"We'll collect the pieces."
"Of course we will."
"SSS-Rank pieces."
"Jax."
"Probably very valuable."
"Jax."
"Grathok might—"
"Jax!"
"Fine."
He started collecting them anyway.
It took several minutes.
The pieces were scattered everywhere.
Chunks of root.
Hardened bark.
Fragments of horn.
Pieces of whatever passed for a skull inside an Ancient Root Dragon.
Jax took everything he could find.
Merchant.
Always.
When he finally finished, he turned back toward the others.
Bunny was staring past him.
"Uh… Jax?"
"What?"
She pointed.
"I think your dragon was lying in front of something."
Jax turned.
"Oh."
Behind where the Guardian had fallen stood a doorway.
It had been there the entire time.
They simply hadn't been able to see it.
The doorway was enormous.
Not Rootzilla enormous, but easily thirty feet tall. It had been carved directly into the living wood of the World Tree.
There were no handles.
No visible hinges.
Thick roots crossed the entrance like chains.
And surrounding the doorway were hundreds of symbols.
Pixelle flew toward them.
"Wait."
She stopped inches from the writing.
Her expression changed.
Llandra approached more slowly.
"You recognize it?"
Pixelle nodded.
"I think so."
"You think so?"
"It's Gaian."
Llandra's eyes narrowed.
She stepped closer.
"Ancient Gaian?"
Pixelle nodded.
"Very ancient."
Jax walked up behind them.
"How ancient?"
Pixelle looked over her shoulder.
"Older than Common. Older than modern Elven. Older than the Fairy Kingdom."
"That didn't answer the question."
Pixelle thought about it.
"More than fifty thousand years."
Jax stared at the wall.
"Okay. That's ancient."
"Gaian predates every language still spoken today," Llandra said. "There are fragments of it preserved in some of Elarion's oldest records."
Pixelle nodded.
"It was spoken before Common became the shared language of the world."
"You can read it?"
"Some."
Pixelle moved closer.
"My tutors made me study it when I was young."
Nyxian grinned.
"Princess lessons?"
"Queen lessons."
"Sounds terrible."
"It was."
Llandra studied one of the symbols.
"I recognize portions. Some of the oldest Elven script appears to have descended from it."
Jax looked at the symbols.
They meant absolutely nothing to him.
A blue window appeared.
LANGUAGE DETECTED
ANCIENT GAIAN
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AVAILABLE
WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN ANCIENT GAIAN?
Jax stared at it.
Of course.
Why wouldn't his System casually offer him fluency in a language more than fifty thousand years old?
YES
The symbols changed.
Not physically.
Nothing moved.
Nothing glowed.
Jax simply understood them.
Every symbol.
Every word.
Grammar.
Context.
Meaning.
All of it.
"Huh."
Pixelle glanced back.
"What?"
"Nothing."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Jax smiled.
"Go ahead."
Pixelle turned back toward the inscription.
She took her time.
"Beyond this threshold lies…"
She paused.
"The Crown of the World Tree."
Jax read the original.
Beyond this threshold rests the Crown of the World Tree.
Close enough.
Pixelle continued.
"Those who have defeated the Guardian have earned the right to enter."
Jax read along.
Those judged worthy through the Guardian's fall may pass beyond this threshold.
Not exact.
But the meaning was there.
"Within waits the final trial."
Exact.
Pixelle moved to the next line.
"Take what is offered… and receive what is given."
Jax smiled slightly.
Exact again.
Pixelle frowned at the final section.
Llandra stepped closer.
"That symbol may mean wisdom."
"I thought understanding."
"It could be either."
Pixelle stared at it.
"Understanding fits better."
She continued.
"Understand what is offered… and claim what is hidden."
Jax read the original.
Understand that which is offered, and the hidden may be claimed.
Pixelle turned.
"That's it."
Jax looked at her.
"You did great."
Her face brightened.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
And she had.
Jax had cheated.
The System had dumped an entire ancient language into his head in seconds.
Pixelle had actually learned it.
Studied it.
Remembered it after however many years had passed since some poor tutor forced a young future Fairy Queen to sit through Ancient Gaian lessons.
She had earned every word.
Jax looked toward the doorway.
"Final trial."
Bunny rested World Breaker against her shoulder.
"I thought the giant dragon was the final trial."
"So did I," Zee said.
Nyxian sighed.
"Of course there's another one."
The ancient symbols began to glow.
Everyone stepped back.
The roots crossing the doorway pulled away.
One after another, they disappeared into the surrounding walls.
Something deep inside the World Tree shifted.
A heavy sound echoed through the chamber.
Then another.
Locks.
Ancient mechanisms releasing after untold years of waiting.
The enormous doorway slowly opened.
Beyond it was darkness.
Then light appeared.
Soft.
Golden.
Jax drew Peacemaker.
Llandra raised Starpiercer.
Bunny gripped World Breaker.
Zee held Sanctaris.
Nyxian uncoiled Lilith's Kiss.
Pixelle moved to Jax's shoulder.
Jax looked at them.
"Ready?"
"After forty-nine floors?" Bunny asked.
She grinned.
"Absolutely."
Nyxian sighed.
"I would've preferred a bath."
"You always prefer a bath."
"With you? Yes."
Zee looked toward the doorway.
"Can we finish the dungeon before discussing that?"
"No promises."
Llandra stepped forward.
"The final floor."
Jax nodded.
"Let's finish this."
They entered together.
Floor 50.
The final chamber.
And for the first time since entering the World Tree—
Nothing attacked them.
Jax waited.
Nothing.
No monsters.
No oppressive mana.
No giant tree dragon.
No insects.
No moving walls.
No bridges over endless drops.
No copies of themselves.
Nothing tried to poison them, crush them, burn them, freeze them, eat them, throw them off something or explode.
Nyxian looked around.
"I don't trust it."
"Me neither," Jax said.
Then they saw the treasure.
Bunny stopped.
"Oh."
Gold.
Silver.
Weapons.
Armor.
Crystals.
Gems.
Artifacts.
Materials Jax had never seen before.
They filled the chamber.
Some rested in enormous piles.
Others had been carefully placed on stone pedestals.
Weapons floated inside transparent magical fields.
Armor stood without supports.
Crystals pulsed with contained mana.
Metal ingots reflected the golden light.
Liquids rested inside perfectly clear vessels.
Powders filled sealed containers.
Small spheres floated in magical bubbles.
Some of the objects radiated so much mana Jax could feel it against his skin.
Pixelle slowly lifted from his shoulder.
"We did it."
Bunny stepped forward.
"That was easier than I expected."
Llandra didn't move.
"No."
Bunny stopped.
Llandra pointed toward the far wall.
"There."
Another inscription.
Smaller.
Ancient Gaian.
Pixelle flew toward it.
"I've got it."
Jax followed.
This time he didn't need the System.
He read it immediately.
Pixelle began translating aloud.
"Those who settle for what is given…"
She paused.
"...shall receive what is ordinary."
Jax read the original.
Those who accept only that which is presented shall receive the reward of the ordinary.
Close enough.
Pixelle continued.
"Those who seek greater understanding…"
Her finger moved along the symbols.
"...may claim greater gifts."
Jax read it.
Those who understand that which has been presented may claim the greater reward.
Pixelle turned.
Bunny looked around at mountains of treasure.
"So… this is ordinary?"
She studied the treasures around her.
"I would like to formally request that my ordinary life contain more rooms like this."
Zee studied the treasure.
"This is another test."
Jax nodded.
"Yeah."
Bunny looked around.
"So this is bait?"
"Probably."
Jax smiled.
His eyes moved across the chamber.
The treasure.
The pedestals.
The containers.
The walls.
"Nobody touch anything."
Everyone froze.
Nyxian who was about to pick up a large gem slowly looked at him.
"Why?"
"Wait."
"You're telling us not to collect mysterious valuable objects?"
"Yes."
Nyxian looked at Zee.
"Check him for a concussion."
Jax sighed.
Llandra smiled faintly.
"That's why I'm concerned. You have never refused treasure. You have a habit of creating your own."
"I'm serious."
"I know." Her smile faded. "What are you thinking?"
"If this is a test, then taking the obvious reward probably ends it."
Zee nodded.
"The inscription suggests the same."
"So we don't touch anything until we know what we're looking at."
Pixelle hovered beside him.
"What are we looking at?"
"No idea."
Nyxian smiled.
"There he is."
Jax ignored her.
He walked deeper into the chamber.
Now that he wasn't looking at the treasure as treasure, something felt different.
The gold wasn't piled randomly.
Neither were the weapons.
Or the materials.
Some things were displayed prominently.
Others seemed almost mundane.
An iron ingot rested on one pedestal.
Jax stopped.
"Why?"
Bunny walked beside him.
"Why what?"
"Why put iron in here?"
She looked at the mountains of wealth surrounding them.
"That's a good question."
Jax moved on.
Another pedestal.
Copper.
Another.
Silver.
Another.
Gold.
He continued.
A sealed container held a strange silvery liquid.
Jax stared at it.
"Mercury."
Zee looked at him.
"You know what that is?"
"Yeah."
Another display.
A dark material.
"Carbon."
Another.
A pale metallic ingot.
"Platinum."
He walked faster.
Titanium.
Sulfur.
Tin.
Lead.
Not all of them were obvious.
Some he only recognized because his System identified them.
Others were completely unfamiliar.
A silver-blue metal pulsed faintly with mana.
Llandra stopped beside it.
"Mithril."
Jax looked at her.
"That's Mithril?"
"Yes."
"Huh."
He'd heard the word.
Seeing it was different.
Pixelle pointed toward a translucent green crystal.
"Gaia's Tear."
Zee stopped beside a dark metallic substance that seemed to absorb the light around it.
"I've only seen that once."
"What is it?"
"Umbral Ore."
Jax frowned.
"Never heard of it."
"Very rare."
"Good to know."
He kept moving.
That was when he noticed the wall.
Not the inscription.
The wall itself.
Hundreds of shapes had been carved into it.
Boxes.
Rows of them.
Organized.
Some small.
Some larger.
Gaps between groups.
Jax stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
"No."
He walked closer.
The boxes weren't random.
There was structure.
Order.
He looked back at the materials.
Iron.
Copper.
Silver.
Gold.
Mercury.
Carbon.
Mithril.
Gaia's Tear.
Umbral Ore.
Back to the wall.
Rows.
Columns.
Positions.
Jax's heart beat a little faster.
"No way."
Nyxian walked up beside him.
"What?"
Jax didn't answer.
He moved along the wall.
Counting.
Looking.
Comparing.
Some of it was wrong.
Or at least wrong compared to what he remembered.
There were spaces where he didn't expect spaces.
Additional sections.
Materials that had never existed on Earth.
But the structure—
The idea—
The organization—
He knew this.
He absolutely knew this.
Pixelle flew beside his head.
"Jax?"
He stared at the wall.
Then smiled.
"Yeah."
"Yeah what?"
Nyxian crossed her arms.
"That's his dangerous smile."
Bunny joined them.
"What did you find?"
Jax looked over the strange grid.
Then back at the hundreds of carefully arranged materials filling the chamber.
Whoever—or whatever—had created the World Tree hadn't filled this room with random treasure.
It had built a test.
A test of understanding.
A test of what the world itself was made from.
And Jax knew the rules.
Or at least—
Some of them.
He smiled wider.
"Whoever made this made a mistake."
Bunny's ears rose.
"What mistake?"
Jax looked back at the wall.
"They gave me a test from my world."