Upon entering the spire, Zelgadiss found himself immediately approached by a short man who, with a brusque manner that managed to irritate Zelgadiss straight away, demanded the password of him. Zel was, if anything, more brusque in his manner of reciting the demanded password, and was soon allowed entry into the first floor.
It was a kind of puzzle to reach the second floor, a puzzle that seemed rather pointless to Zel as he stepped on the clearly marked floor tiles that would allow him to proceed.
When he found the stairs to the second floor, he was once again faced with the test-giver, who eyed him as though he did not belong there. Zel knew he didn't belong there- this wasn't his world -but that had never stopped him before. The man asked, "What is the source of all magic, whose touch gave us life?"
Remembering Mia's mentions of the goddess of their world, and her healing statues spread across the lands, Zel quickly answered, "Althena," and was gratified as he was bade to continue on.
* * *
The second floor was much like the first, with the same layout and the same tasks to complete. There were many monsters here, however, and they were a nuisance he could have done without. He found, though, that he learned pretty quickly how each monster could be defeated. A disproportionate number of the monsters were only harmed by magic, he discovered as he nearly chipped his blade on the tough hide of one. He was forced to make use of the many starlights he had brought along to restore his energy.
Upon finding the stairs to the third floor, Zelgadiss found the test-giver once again waiting for him. He seemed impatient, so Zel deliberately chose to take his time in approaching. Without preamble, the man proposed the second test, asking shortly, "What is the key to swordsmanship?"
Zel thought about it. The question was not so objective as the first had been. He knew quite a lot about swordsmanship, and knew himself to be a good match for Gourry (when he wasn't using the Sword of Light), who was the best swordsman he knew. He thought back to when he had been learning the art of the blade, focused with determination to master it, though others told him that he would do well to turn to other, more profitable pursuits. He had wanted that power so badly, it had changed him; he had received that power, the mastery of the blade and much more. Now, he knew himself to be on par with the best in the world, and all through the fact that he willed himself to be so. Zel thought of Gourry and the Sword of Light, then, and how its strength fluctuated with the willpower of the person wielding it. If that was not the key, then he did not know what was.
"Strength of will," he said, and almost smiled as the man bade him continue his way upwards.
* * *
The third floor was more difficult, but mostly because the layout was different from the previous two floors. The tasks to be completed on each of the floors weren't difficult, but the monsters that roamed the rooms slowed him down considerably. Once or twice he was faced with a monster that he could only harm by using Astral Vine on his sword, for neither his normal swordwork nor his magic would even faze it.
He reminded himself as he took a breather and used one of the starlights he had bought, to thank Mia for suggesting he stock up before he left. He was thankful to find that there were fewer rooms on the third floor and that he found the stairs to the fourth floor quickly. As he approached, however, he stopped short at the sight of a man... not the test giver... crumpled on the floor before the stairway. His calls, asking to be healed, were suspicious, to say the least. What was he doing in a place like this? Was it a trap? It was only after watching him for a good length of time, from out of sight, that Zelgadiss approached. He asked him to stay still, then cast Recovery upon him. The man was healed and, though he eyed Zelgadiss' strange form and strange magic with a half-wary, half-curious gaze, thanked him, bidding him continue up into the spire.
Zel grew quickly impatient to see the end of the seemingly meaningless tasks that were required of him at every floor. Upon the fourth floor, the test giver demanded that Zelgadiss leave behind something he carried with him, either his sword or his pack containing his food and supplies, whichever had been least useful in coming this far. Zelgadiss reasoned that he would not have been able to make it this far without either, but the man said that he would have to leave one behind, or he would perish.
Zel smelled a bluff. He quite nonchalantly said that both were of equal importance, and that he'd believe the man's threat when either his sword or his pack were prised out of his cold, dead fingers.
He was allowed to pass.
The fifth floor's test was not as easily bluffed. He was told to scupt the image of a great treasure out of a lump of clay.
...Zel preferred working in marble to clay, but he was in no place to argue, really. He just didn't know what to sculpt.
How does one sculpt knowledge? How does one sculpt power? They were abstract, and he doubted than a sculpted representation of an abstract concept would do for this particular test. He eyed the clay as he kneaded it under his hands, making it soft and pliable. He could, perhaps, sculpt himself having returned to human form. That was a treasure he would delight in having... it was the treasure he sought by venturing here. In his mind's eye, Zel could see Amelia's honestly confused look as she asked, "You're still trying to do that? But why?!" He smiled very faintly, thinking about her. She was so naive. She didn't understand what it was like, being stared at wherever you went, being eyed as a monster, as something different and possibly dangerous.
She didn't see how difficult it was, everyone staring. ...Though, she didn't see why it bothered him because it never bothered her. Amelia never really understood how he could work apart from or even against their traveling group, for she saw them all as one team, together. She accepted him, never saw him as a monster, but as-
"A true treasure, indeed. You may proceed." The man's voice broke into Zelgadiss' thoughts. He blinked at the man, then looked down at the clay figure of Amelia before him. He seemed to have caught her in the middle of one of her justice speeches, to judge by her pose.
Even stone can blush, it seems.
* * *
The test giver greeted him once again as Zelgadiss finally stepped into the room at the top of the spire, commending him on his determination. He finally said what Zelgadiss had wished to hear, that he was free to read any and all books kept within this storehouse of knowledge.
Zel wasted no time.
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