The home of the elemental spirits, was, as expected, a massive cavern secreted underground, lit by a thousand glowing crystals hanging from the ceiling. Entered by a tunnel that opened at Turgluk’s command, it had been a surprising sight to Sam. The walls were coated in layers of aggregated gemstones, and within it, the spatial anomalies were barely noticeable. About a thousand of Turgluk’s kin made the cavern their home, living in small earthen huts. In the center of the village was a larger stone dome, where the Matriarch lived. It was to that building that Sam was being taken.
As he and his guide walked down the main avenue of the settlement, he felt the eyes of the other Elemental Spirits on him. They came in various shapes and sizes, but most were shorter than him. A few were about the same height, but none surpassed him. Given how many outrageously large monsters Sam had fought during his time as a cultivator, this was quite surprising. Though, these beings weren't monsters. They were something else.
The central dome of the settlement was shot through with shards of diamond, ruby, emerald and sapphire, twinkling brightly in the light of the cavern’s hanging crystals. A barely visible vortex of elemental power spun around it, funneling Earth elemental energy into the dome. Sam could feel his own attunement rising by a small amount as he neared the structure, the concentrated conceptual energy like nectar for his soul.
“I will not go any further,” Turgluk said, stopping a few dozen feet from the dome. “The Matriarch needs every drop of elemental energy that she can get. And you now, I suppose.”
Sam nodded his thanks and continued forwards, his feet crunching on the stony ground. A small arch was the only point of entrance to the dome, and he ducked inside. The interior of the building was entirely coated in iridescent diamond, reflecting beams of yellowish elemental energy down towards the being sitting in the center of the room. While the other Gemstone Spirits were made out of mixed rock and precious stones, the Matriarch was entirely made out of the latter, gleaming in the light of the ambient Earth elemental energy.
“Welcome to my abode,” the Matriarch rumbled, her voice sounding like the grinding of stone upon stone. “It falls upon me to aid you in gaining the strength necessary to defeat the Shadow Raven.”
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“I take it that this dome, or elemental focusing array-whatever it is- will help with that?” Sam asked. “I could feel an increase in my comprehension simply from nearing it.”
“This ‘dome’, as you call it, is made from the remains of my predecessors. A few millennia of Matriarchs have lived and died here, creating a haven for their descendents.”
Sam imagined a slight hint of disapproval in the elemental’s voice, but it was hard to be certain.
“Oh. Sorry.” Sam looked around the room. “It is quite an impressive construct.”
The Matriarch nodded. “It will hopefully serve you well. I will be leaving now, so you can achieve your goal.”
With a grinding noise, the crystalline elemental got to her feet, and walked out of the dome, each footstep shaking the ground. Sam headed over to the center of the dome, and sat down. In that focal point, a storm of elemental insight buffeted him, almost forcing him to meditate on its nature. Smiling, he adjusted his position, and began to cultivate Earth.
His mental image of the element had slowly grown since its initial ideation, but the general idea remained the same. Within the strange, metaphysical realm of his Meridian, a titan of earth and lava dwelt, lording over a planet as its ultimate sovereign. Over the last few months, both the planet and the titan had grown in size, with the former being about as large as the Solar System. Sam could clearly see this, as there were now a series of smaller planets orbiting the central one, each of which looked like a grain of dust in comparison. Drifting closer to them, he saw that they were versions of Earth, different in a few ways, but generally the same.
Above it all, gazing down from the colossal moon of the central planet, the titan watched over its domain, its mountainous face creased in a smile. Sam swept his gaze across the entire scene like an ephemeral god, comprehending it all in a moment. After all, it was his creation, built from the sweat and blood of his tireless progression.
He flew up to the titan, the center of his elemental concept, and beheld it in its full glory, the star sized golem radiating an immense gravity. In fact, it had moons of its own, circling the central part of its body. Hovering there, with the godlike elemental basking in its own might before him, Sam felt insights suppressed since his last breakthrough cycling through his mind.
