The shimmering gate led him to a beautiful world. Trees with golden leaves decorated a serene landscape where small animals and birds filled the air with songs and cries. He couldn’t see a sun in the sky, but it was full of orange and red clouds, as if the sun was eternally setting just behind the horizon. For a moment, Micro’s only thought as he stepped away from the shimmering portal was one of gratitude that he was able to experience such a beautiful place with human senses. However, his feeling of relief was soon interrupted.
“What the-” He blurted out as the weight of his own body drove him to his knees with a thud. A small crater formed beneath him with the impact that made his legs numb.
He tried to stand up, but the more he tried, the more weight he felt dragging him back down to the ground. He struggled for hours to get up off of his hands and knees before finally managing to lift his head back up to look around. However, knowing that there were Core Cards waiting for him somewhere in the dungeon, he forced himself to stand up despite the pain.
His first step felt like it was weighed down by a boulder, and the second step was no easier. He took a third step, and his legs finally gave out. It took him another few hours to catch his breath and recover his strength, but again he was only able to take three steps. By the end of his first day there, he ended up walking a total of thirteen steps before feeling like he needed to sleep. Just before closing his eyes, however, he heard a familiar sound.
“You got quite far!” Kel called out from behind him.
“I had a feeling you’d wander in here, but I thought you’d let me explain it to you first.”
Micro turned his head, still unable to lift it all the way up, and saw Kel stifling a laugh behind him.
“You can walk…?” He asked Kel, wondering why he was able to move so effortlessly through the impossible gravity of the forest.
“It’s impressive that you made it a few steps on will alone, but you’ll have a much easier time walking here once you’ve learned to apply your internal energies in different ways.” Kel replied casually as he raised his hand.
“For example…”
Micro lifted his eyes just enough to focus on Kel’s hand. Kel confirmed he had Micro’s attention, then snapped his fingers once, creating a small clicking sound that didn’t surprise Micro in any particular way.
“Now I’ll fill the muscles in my arm with as much energy as I can.” Kel smiled.
SNAP
A deafening shockwave erupted from Kel’s hand at the flick of his finger. The last of Micro’s strength left him as the shockwave hit him, and he fell to the ground with a thud. Kel massaged his reddened finger as he walked over to Micro with a guilty smile on his face.
“Would you like to spend a hundred years crawling around blind, master?” He asked rhetorically.
“Or would you like to prepare yourself a little more first?”
“I need to prepare…” Micro replied with a pained nod.
“Then let’s get you to bed, and we’ll start your training in the morning.” Kel chuckled as he picked Micro up off the ground and wrapped his limp arm around his shoulder.
“Thanks, Kel…” Micro replied as he was dragged back toward the shimmering portal.
~
Once they were back in the beautifully decorated cavern, Micro breathed a sigh of relief at being able to move freely again.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“You’re lucky, master.” Kel smiled smugly.
“The Fire Mountain Art dungeon is a forgiving trial. You can come and go as you please, and there are a number of rewards available to those who challenge it.”
“Rewards?”
“Most of the skills practiced by our disciples are thanks to the many Skill Cards hidden throughout the dungeon.” Kel explained.
“And just like the Turtle Art dungeon, time passes at a much different pace there. We estimate that two or three days in the Fire Mountain Art dungeon are equal to the passing of about one second back in this world.”
“That’s convenient…” Micro yawned.
“Indeed, but you can never be sure how long you’ll be required to participate in a dungeon trial.” Kel went on.
“The Amber level dungeon gate where we dispatched a team of guards could have the opposite effect for example. What if you entered it today but weren’t able to exit it for a hundred years?”
“That would be inconvenient.” Micro nodded as his eyes began to close.
“Now, let’s rest properly, this time.” Kel smiled, and the two continued their trek into the mountain.
~
Micro was surprised to learn that most of the sect’s temple was built inside the mountain. Beautifully crafted tunnels led to all sorts of places full of people. Everyone greeted Kel politely as he passed them by, though they offered a more curious and tentative glance to Micro. They passed a library, a training facility, and a large conference room before coming to a door with Kel’s name on it.
“Here, we’ll be sleeping here tonight.” Kel announced as he opened the door, revealing a much bigger room than Micro had been staying in before the explosion. It was decorated modestly by comparison, but Micro estimated one could park at least ten small trucks inside with room to spare. A fire burned in the centre of the room, the smoke rising up to a hole in the rock ceiling.
An attendant not much older than Rose followed them swiftly into the room and began to prepare tea for the two of them without a word. He thought it was impressive that she was able to move so gracefully despite the shield on her back. Micro waved, but she had already prepared the tea and left before he could say hello.
“Please, enjoy a cup with me.” Kel said, inviting him to join him by the fire.
“There’s plenty of time to rest before sunrise.”
“Thanks, Kel.” Micro took the cup and drank it down quickly, realizing only after he had finished it how thirsty he was. He leaned back on the floor where he sat, then he noticed Kel looking at him with bright eyes.
“Is something wrong?”
“Forgive me, master.” Kel replied quickly without his usual formality.
“Might I ask about the shape of your core? I’ll admit I caught a glimpse of your soul for a moment, but even now when I try to look at it, I struggle to discern its shape. It was angular, and dense… It was unlike anything I’d ever seen!”
“What is your soul like?” Micro answered in return.
“Mine?” Kel raised his eyebrows.
“Mine is the same shape as I am! I was born with it, after all. There are people with unique souls, damaged souls, modified souls, and the like, but it’s rare to see one so different from the body it’s in. One would think it impossible for the two to function as a unit, but-”
Kel stopped to clear his throat and leaned back slightly.
“Forgive me, master.” He spoke with his formal tone restored.
“What I mean to say is that my soul, as most humans’ are, is the same shape as my physical being, more or less. And like most cultivators, my core is a sphere. I have heard of powerful cultivators, too powerful even for us to imagine, shaping their core as they see fit, but most cultivators struggle even to form a perfect sphere. That’s why yours is so…”
“Ah, it’s just a garage.” Micro explained quickly.
“It’s where I was always parked back home. It seemed like the logical thing to make.”
“You were able to recreate a physical structure out of internal energy capable of housing such a powerful soul?” Kel asked. He looked around the room and continued.
“I can’t imagine trying to recreate this room in such a manner, even though I’ve slept here for most of my life.”
“Well, I spent a lot of time there before I could think, so it sunk in.” Micro thought aloud.
“It’s more like I was remembering it with my soul, if that makes any sense.”
“Remembering it with your soul…?” Kel whispered.
“I see… That is indeed incredible… Our sect teaches familiarity with the shield so that it becomes easier to manifest and control. It’s an extension of us, unlike our swords, which are purely weapons of necessity. Other sects do practice more diverse forms of mental training and visualization to produce a variety of forces, weapons, and the like. What did you master teach you about such-”
Kel ceased his dialogue when he noticed Micro had fallen asleep by the fire without a sound. Though disappointed at first, he quickly fetched a blanket to rest atop the boy and then retreated to his own sleeping mat, beside which was the shield he was rarely seen without.
“His patience is unparalleled, but his pace is difficult to fathom…” Kel mumbled as he recalled the week’s events. Soon, he too was asleep.