'Today is the day.
Today is the day.
Today is the day my life changes'.
A boy walked along the narrow path heading up the mountain.
His clothes dirty, torn and far to small for his frame covering the bare minimum.
The weather was cold and snowy, the path slippery and rugged with an ever increasing incline.
On first sight one noticed how thin he was, skin meeting bone.
Trees with no foliage could be seen on all sides of the path a single slip could spell disaster.
Dirty hair, dirty skin, shivering from head to toe he kept walking.
Many footsteps could be seen throughout the path but no one was in sight.
Like a walking corpse the boy pushed himself to keep going.
light shined from over the hills breaking the dusk apart, the first sign of a new day.
It was hard to see still, the path was unclear and his footing unsure.
He needed to persevere a little longer, just a bit more he thought.
Avoid this rock, climb this hill, ignore the pain, today is the day.
A tone of blue, yellow and purple could be seen pocketed on his skin.
Black and crimson scabs covered his elbows, knees and feet.
One could see the determination in his eyes, he couldn't fail now.
Not now.
An hour passed and dawn had arrived.
_[Final edge sect]_
Excitement appeared in his eyes along with a new resolve, to see the arch alone gave him hope.
His steps became lighter, his pace increased, his fatigue lessened.
In front of him an arch stood high overlooking the barren landscape, standing alone against the winds.
No walls could be seen on either side only the arch stood surrounded by the barren snowy landscape.
The boy could neither read nor write but he knew what the symbols at the corners of the arch represented.
Standing below the arch the boy drew a breath to calm himself before stepping forward.
'Please.
Please be true'
Apprehension and hope pervaded the boy's thoughts as he crossed the arch.
The barren landscape warped slowly disappearing behind him, opening up to a refreshing wind, before him the trees vibrant, flowering and filled with life.
His steps slowed, tears filled his eyes as his belief was fulfilled.
Looking back he no longer saw the barren landscape, the arch was now surrounded by a vibrant forest while inside the arch one could see a snowy landscape with a path leading into the distance.
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The boy was shaking, his freezing body was warming up from the excitement.
'It was true, I'm really here'
The boy fell to his knees as his strength gave way.
"Stand up child, you are not done yet"
A voice sounded from above.
The boy looked around finding no one, he then looked toward the sky only to see a man was standing in the air above him.
"Congratulations boy, you have passed the first and second test, now it is time for you to stand once more and walk onto the stone before you"
The man gestured down below, a square platform made of stone could be seen in the distance.
The boy stood slowly seeming to be on the verge of falling once more.
No fatigue could be seen in his eyes, his body felt further and further away from him yet he pushed forward.
The man watched for a moment before no longer paying attention seemingly disappearing in the wind.
The boy made his way down the mountain, he could see several other children waiting below the platform while an older woman sat atop.
The boy appeared behind the crowd, some of the children looked over for a second before looking away.
Curiosity could be seen on many children's faces as they looked around them, while others seemed to be afraid others stood bravely full of expectations.
Children of many different backgrounds could been seen among the crowd.
A child wearing a nightgown, one wearing nothing but shorts and straw sandals, another dressed in fine cloths, some in bearskins, others even carried large bags filled to the brim.
The color of their skin, the features of their faces and even the color of their hair all varied from child to child.
The children gathered from across the globe trekking the snowy landscape only to end up here, some knew what was about to happen other's simply walked the path that was set before them and a few simply ended up here thinking it was all a dream.
The older woman looked at the children below her, then looked into the sky before looking away.
"We will now begin the welcoming ceremony, everyone gather together"
The children did not know what was going on, but the woman was an adult so they simply followed instructions.
She wasn't compelling, only authoritative.
"Now then, I will call each of you forward one by one onto the stone platform, I want you to stand in the center of the platform until I say so. You have already passed the test of your endurance both mentally and physically, you have also passed the arch confirming that you have spiritual roots, now it is time for your spiritual roots to be tested so that you can be assigned proper guidance".
The woman's mouth did not seem to move yet every child could hear her voice in their heads.
No children above the age of 6 had been brought here, their minds were filled with wonder, fear and awe at everything that was happening.
"Now then, girl with the braids up front come up here"
A little girl with braids looked around only to find herself to be the one singled out, she was flustered but soon made her way up
"Stand in the center child"
The girl stood at the center of the platform while the others watched from below.
Slowly a dim light spread below her feet.
The older woman looked at the light, a golden brown, pale green and a clear blue light shinned on the stone.
"Oh not bad, triple element spiritual root metal, wood and wind you have a good future ahead of you"
The girl didn't know what this meant, from the tone of voice the older woman used she at least knew it wasn't bad.
"Step aside child, next you boy with the big forehead"
Another child looked around and found that this time it was he whom was being stared at.
He put his head down as he walked onto the platform.
The same process would repeat one more.
"four element spiritual roots, everything but earth. Next".
The boy stepped aside and the next child went up.
This time it was the skinny boy.
"Four element spiritual roots, everything but water, step aside skeleton. Next".
This process kept repeating until every child had been tested.
"Good, now we can proceed"
The old woman stood still clapped her hands together while mumbling under her breath while the children stood behind waiting.
The stone platform then started to shine as many lines spread out and many symbols glowed around the children.
In a bright flash the children and the woman disappeared from the platform.
The man in the sky once more appeared.
"How goes the search?" the man spoke.
"It's not looking good, the spirit of this world is dying... those born with strong enough spiritual roots to enter the gate are becoming harder and harder to find" another man's voice sounded.
"...sigh" the first man looked depressed.
"Master, earth is no longer able to support cultivation, the latest children's spiritual roots have degraded by a level or more if not outright disappeared, the other sects have already abandoned this mortal realm and headed to the spiritual world, is it not time for us to do the same?" the voice from the void spoke.
"Yes, it might be about time. With all other sects having left earth, it allowed us to gather children from across the world to fill our ranks like other years but the talent is no longer there. We will search for three more years for any remnants, after that we will leave earth" the first man spoke dejected.
"I will do as you say master, I will double the effort for these last years to leave no talent behind!" the voice spoke.
With that the man in the sky waved his hand and the arch leading into the winter landscape disappeared from the barren landscape, while the passage closed no longer leading into the frozen landscape.