Outside the Divine Realm of the Divine Source Monastery, the stone stele started to rumble, and then slowly retreated into the ground. The crowd watched, feeling a mix of emotions, as the stele disappeared from sight.
The final trial had ended, and the purpose of the stele was exhausted. There was only one thing left to do in the realm, which was John potentially obtaining the treasure within. Many felt disappointment that they would not be able to see that happen, or if it even happened, but they were not surprised.
The boisterous atmosphere resumed as the divine city continued its celebrations. It would continue until John left the realm himself, as all wanted to lay eyes on the genius that had stunned the world.
…
John felt a strong energy envelop him, and white filled his vision. He quickly reappeared in a different location, the golem having transported him away from the arena. He blinked as he took in the new location, and his eyes went wide in awe.
A tree, tens of thousands of yards tall, rose up before him, larger than any tree he had ever seen in his life. The tree was thousands of yards thick, its bark a light green color, glowing slightly with vibrant energy. The branches of the tree spread out as far as he could see, overhead and into the distance beyond. The branches were covered with vibrant gold leaves, each leaf a dozen yards wide.
John's mouth went agape. He had never thought such a large living thing could exist. It was beyond his wildest imaginations.
"Is this the reward?" John asked the golem questioningly, confused at how a tree was supposed to be claimed by him.
"No," the golem said flatly, and walked forward towards the tree in the distance.
John followed behind silently, his eyes taking in the wondrous scene. He could tell that even the artifact spirit golem treated this place with reverence, as they could have easily flown or teleported towards the tree once more, but instead walked towards it on their feet.
The tree seemed close, but was actually dozens of miles away from where they had initially appeared. Its size made it hard to judge just how close they were. Their pace was slow, and they arrived some time later, at the base of the massive tree. Its roots, each hundreds of yards thick, dug deeply into the earth.
John stared with wondrous awe. He felt as if he were in the presence of a god. It was as if the tree was a world tree of life, nourishing every being in the world. He had never seen such a concentration of energy before, never seen such a miracle of the world.
"Follow me," the golem instructed, continuing to move towards the tree. John did as instructed, following closely behind. John spotted an opening at the base of the tree, its size hard to determine. They arrived before it a while later, and the opening was a gaping hole between two of the tree's roots, as if a doorway into the base of the tree.
The opening arched high above, itself hundreds of yards tall and wide. John followed closely, and the two stepped onto stairs, clearly man made, that descended down into the hole beneath the tree. John peered down the stairs that led into dimly lit darkness, but couldn't see anything down there.
Spirit crystals lined the edges of the wide staircase, illuminating it a bit, but did not illuminate enough to see the bottom just yet.
John walked for what felt like miles before he felt them arrive on flat ground once more. His eyes swept about as a massive chamber came into view, nearly a thousand yards wide, deep, and tall. The walls and roof were covered with spirit crystals, which illuminated the large chamber.
Amidst the spirit crystals were detailed carvings, etched deeply into the walls, detailed beyond compare, each more awe-inspiring than the last. There were hundreds of different carvings, some depicting the tree they were beneath, some of humans and other races he had never seen, and other bizarre things he didn't recognize. Strange symbols, strange creatures, strange places.
The carvings were so detailed that John felt as through the depictions would come to life and step right of the walls. John's eyes swept over the carvings, and noticed a similarity between all of them. At the center of each carving was a circle, so small as to almost be ignored amidst the massive carvings. But the circle seemed to attract his gaze more than it should, as if it was the most important thing in each of the carvings.
His eyes became glued to the circle, almost unable to peel them away.
"Follow me," the golem instructed, somewhat ahead of John who had stopped to look all around. John snapped out of his daze, his eyes peeling away from the carvings, and he quickly caught up to the golem.
They arrived in the center of the chamber, and John noticed another carving beneath their feet; a formation carving. The formation was incredibly complex, depicting thousands of detailed runes he didn't recognize, all linking together in a mesmerizing manner. It was one of the most profound formations he had ever seen in his life.
The formation suddenly lit up with vibrant green light, and John felt himself wrapped up in an overwhelmingly strong energy before he could react. He felt a constriction of his body, his mind, his soul, as if every inch of him was being squeezed together. Before he could react to the pain, it vanished, and he appeared in another location. His vision was blurry, and he blinked several times to clear the blurriness away.
That usually didn't happen during spatial teleportations. This one was different somehow. His blurry vision cleared up, and his eyes widened with shock as he took his surroundings.
He had just been awed by the massive tree, but this was even more awe-inspiring. In fact, it was one of the most awe-inducing things he had ever seen in his life, if not the most.
The artifact spirit golem appeared next to him once more, staring at the same thing John was looking at. It paused for a moment, as if even a non-feeling artifact spirit like itself was awed by what existed before it.
It finally glanced at John and spoke.
"Welcome…to the core of the world."
