Lex controlled his emotions, though he felt especially triggered upon being called a baby. But he understood that he literally could not blame the projection, for he literally had a bone age of a few months.
"Follow me as I explain things," the projection said, rubbing its forehead. Lex felt the projection was being unnecessarily dramatic. Why was answering a few questions such a hassle?
Nevertheless, as the projection began to walk through the halls, Lex followed.
"The Temple of fasting is a special place, but for certain reasons, I cannot get into the details of it. All I can say is that it was hidden away for good reason. Although being discovered was somewhat unanticipated, it is still acceptable. What was completely unexpected was that the temple sensed your companion was closely related to a very notable figure, and thus brought him in. After all, it is his right!
"But the opening of the temple created a momentary weakness in its otherwise impenetrable defense. Besides you two, who were welcomed in on purpose, a few other entities have also entered. Among them, one is a living curse that is partially sealed, one is a broken law that has gained life, three of them are devils, and the last one is the most problematic. The last one is a divine projection of a Deity!
"Do you understand? Because of you two, the temple is now in serious jeopardy! For both the sake of your entire realm, and the temple, the deity at least needs to be killed immediately! Unfortunately, the temple has no living guards left! I can only rely on you!"
Lex frowned. He recalled sensing a curse being sealed deep within BGY-987, and guessed that is where the living curse came from. He had no idea where the broken law came from, but guessed that the devils were amongst the ones who were trying to hurt him. The devils were the least of their problems, though he could not gauge the danger of the law and curse. But Ra's clone definitely needed to die!
But the issue was…
"Why can you only rely on me? What happened to Z? Moreover, why is Ra a danger to the whole realm?"
"Your companion is currently in a special state, and undergoing an evolution deep within the temple. He cannot be disturbed, so that leaves only you as my option. The devils, the curse and the law are all potential problems as well, but they cannot circumvent the temple's internal defenses. Only the deity has that possibility and is, in fact, doing so! If he reaches deep within the temple, he will mess with things he does not understand. If the Temple of Fasting is compromised, it will attract enemies your realm cannot face."
"That still doesn't answer my question. Why rely on me, and not the devils, or the curse or even the law? Well, for the last two I cannot make a judgment, but I know for a fact that devils are all amiable to deals. They would happily help you out."
"It's not possible. The Temple of fasting is specifically designed solely for humans! It is the ultimate place for humans to train. I dare say that in the entire universe, there is no place more suitable for training for humans than the Temple of Fasting! It is almost impossible for any other race to travel freely through the temple. But, even for humans, there is a system you have to go through to get access to the various areas. I can help you a bit by lowering the difficulty of some tests, but ultimately, you have to gain access to the rest of the temple yourself. It's extremely important that you do not fail. The deity has been making his way to the center of the temple for months now. He is close.
"If you fail, the trouble that the deity causes will result in the doom of the entire realm. The temple will just go and hide somewhere else, but everyone else will be doomed - your companion included! But if you succeed, not only will you save all those lives, you will personally benefit as well. The temple will aid you in your training, and you will grow stronger with each level of the temple you get access to."
A gleam flashed through Lex's cute little eyes as he thought of something. He was not concerned about the difficulty of the temples' tests, as he had every confidence in himself. Moreover, he would have aided the projection in killing Ra, regardless of anything else. But since there were benefits, how could he just let them go?
"How can you aid in my training?" Lex asked as he considered the viability of his plan. Although he did not have a way to prove the projections boast about the temple being the best place for humans to train, it would be useful for him and his workers, even if its results were above average.
The projection turned and gave Lex another derisive look.
"There is nothing the temple cannot train you in. We're here. Step onto the platform and you will be scanned again. Let's see what you need training in. To reach the deity, you will need to pass 7, maybe 8 levels of the temple based on how quickly the deity can move.
"Besides your own skills and talents, one of the things I will have the temple train you in is how to combat deities. I wouldn't want you to catch up, only to be stunned by the aura of the deity."
In a new room that looked much like an auditorium, Lex stepped onto the slightly raised, circular platform the projection was pointing towards. A familiar yellow light scanned him and began announcing his traits, causing the projection to freeze.
*****
Deep within the temple, there was a massive yet unlit room. At the head of this room was a large statue of a being with the upper body of a woman, her countenance majestic and holy, garbed in a resplendent dress, and the lower body of a snake, giving her a blend of ethereal beauty and serpentine grace.
Beside her was a smaller statue of a man dressed like a king, his facial expression depicting strength and wisdom beyond ordinary reach. In front of that statue, Z sat on the ground with his legs crossed, deep in meditation. Oddly enough, the statue looked a lot like Z, only much older.