Chương 123: The second gate

"Then, trial-taker, would you like me to explain the rules of this gate, and the challenge that the Queen of Jade and Sky has left for you to undertake?" The orb's voice seemed to be as full of gravitas as its neutral inflection could muster, and it was easy to imagine it gazing severely at Kite even without having any actual eyes.

"Please do, officiator. I am eager to hear what kind of challenge you have constructed," Kite replied, bowing politely as he hoped that his question might elicit a similar response as he had gotten from Third. This sphere, however, did not rise to take the bait or show any other signs of restrained enthusiasm, its slightly hollow voice remaining neutral.

"By conquering iron rank, the queen acknowledges your path's potential. Therefore, the challenge of bronze is your chance to show your insights into your path and where you want it to lead. While the heavens is ever the goal, each path's way of finding the strength to reach it varies. In the lands below, you will find the concepts of the world waiting for you, ready to be claimed through the strength of your path or the wits and perception of your mind.

They will take the shape of quintessence, and you may deposit whichever kind you wish into my corporeal form, along with other materials you may claim. But note that there is a finite limit on how much this construct can harbor. Choose only that which you believe may strengthen your path enough to carry it to the next step towards the heavens. As with most steps upon the heavenly path, there is no going back.

There are also twelve rulers of this land, each one a silver-ranked entity embodying one or several concepts. To pass the trials, you must gather enough quintessence and materials to fully saturate my vessel, which will require you to defeat at least three of these rulers. You will also be judged in regards to your reasoning in how you have chosen to build upon your path, so proper reflection is recommended."

"That is a bit different from my last trial," Kite noted, taking in the information.

"Will you be accompanying me?"

"This vessel will accompany you to provide information and to allow for the deposit of materials, but will not otherwise interfere."

"Speaking of materials, are there treasures here as well for me to claim?"

"The trial-taker is free to lay claim to any unused materials, and a perceptive trial-taker may find themselves rewarded."

"I will take that as a yes then," Kite mused as he looked out over the edge and the lands below. He could see a green forest, but also other environments which he was unfamiliar with.

"Is that… a desert?" he thought as he saw an almost golden expanse of mostly flat land beneath roughly matching the descriptions and few images he had seen in books.

"Is there anything to stop me from taking on all of the rulers?" he wondered aloud, turning back to the officiator.

"There are no such restrictions. Even though you may only deposit three such materials, you may spend the time within the challenge however you wish. As long as you believe that your path is strong enough to withstand it."

"And I may begin wherever I wish?"

"That is correct." Nodding to himself, Kite stepped over to the edge. His stomach churned at the height, but he steadied his mind.

"Then I suppose that I might as well get this trial underway. But before we begin, do you have a name?"

"I am the officiator, a vessel for my maker's will. I do not require a name."

"Oh? The last officiator was called Third. I thought it might be referring to some kind of order of construction."

"Such a thing is irrelevant. I am the officiator."

"Then I am pleased to meet you, officiator," Kite said with a polite bow.

"My name is Kite Flown in on Winds of Fortune. I'll be in your care."

"This vessel will not care for nor aid a trial-taker in any practical way."

"I-" Kite began, but stopped, shaking his head helplessly.

"Understood." He knocked the side of the bottle at his waist, Glint emerging out from her little habitat. She took a couple of swirling laps around him to inspect their new surroundings, mirroring Kite's own excitement.

"Well then, little beauty. Shall we be off? Would you kindly assist in my descent?" Glint sent him a feeling of assent through her link, and a moment later the carp taking laps around him looked halfway towards the dragon that the old scroll had said that she might one day become, her long supple body glimmering in the hazy light. Kite sat up on her back, stroking her scaled back.

"Then onwards. To the heavens, and beyond." And together, with the officiator in tow, Kite and Glint shot out from the edge and down towards the varying landscapes below.

"Do you think that he has entered by now?" Dragonfly asked, her cup of sap-wine almost forgotten in her hand while she lounged across one of the couches in Will's private garden.

"Probably, yes. But with the distance, we cannot expect any kind of report. We will simply have to find our own ways to pass the time while waiting for word. Master Walker promised to send word to us if anything was heard from him," Serene said from where she sat primly across from her friend.

"Then we can only continue to do our utmost to make sure to surpass his progress. He would not want anything less for us," Will said, emptying his own cup.

"Is Gold still willing to join us?"

"He is," Serene confirmed.

"While he is new to us, he should be able to shoulder Kite's role for the time being, allowing us to go after silver-ranked monsters."

"Yeah, Gold is solid, although he certainly doesn't overshare," Dragonfly agreed. Then, as if realizing something, she sat up and looked to her priestess friend.

"Wait, haven't I seen you and Gold together a lot recently?"

"He is pleasant company," Serene replied calmly.

"... Really?"

"Yes."

"Gold? The guy who barely talks?"

"You should know that there is more to a person than their words, Dragonfly."

"Uhuuh…" Dragonfly said, looking more intently at Serene.

"Exactly what are you doing then?"

"If you have to know, we often sing together." The statement made Dragonfly sit bolt upright, incredulous chock evident on her face.

"Sing? Him?"

"Yes."

"Worth Transcending Gold? Singing?"

"Yes."

"Huh…" Dragonfly sat down again, still looking a bit stunned.

"Is… is he any good at it?"

"Oh yes. Very."

"Huh…" Dragonfly repeated, looking thoughtful before another look of realization crossed her face.

"Serene?"

"Yes?"

"Didn't you once tell me and Kite that you would only consider someone as romantically interesting if they were a good singer?" At that comment, Serene only took a long delicate sip from her own glass, the container unable to hide her smile.

"The officiator did not lie when it said that the concepts of the world were contained within this space. Just how much can the queen's gate shift the space within, to accomplish such a thing?" Kite thought to himself. Seated atop Glint, the pair was slowly descending on a glob of conjured water. While they were way above the altitude where Glint could use her conjured water to fly, the carp could still use it to greatly slow their descent.

"Where do you think we should go first, little beauty?" Kite asked aloud, more to give voice to his thoughts than to actually receive an answer.

"The forests over there feel more like home, but I find myself curious about the mountain over there. See the one with the large, flat plateau?" Feeling her response through his link, Kite chuckled.

"I would prefer to find my bearings a bit more before going to the great lake, little beauty. We should think things through properly. Haste will surely make-" Kite's stomach suddenly lurched, and it felt like the world disappeared beneath him as Glint suddenly dove, the conjured water no longer carrying them aloft. Only after a split second did he feel the spike of alarm and fear through Glint's aura, and by then it was too late.

Through his expanded field of vision, he suddenly saw something akin to a roiling cloud come into existence a few meters away, as if exiting a mirage. The next moment, he was flying through the air, the pain in his left side and what was probably a broken arm registering around the same time he realized his sudden freefalling state. Whatever the cloud was, its strange, roiling surface swiftly came closer as it pursued.

Kite managed to channel just a smidge of mana into his old amulet of the Azure Heron to gain a modicum of control over his fall and to keep himself from spinning before the thing was upon him." Ward!" His barrier appeared just in the nick of time, its surface immediately covered in cracks from some kind of unseen impact. Kite was relieved to see that it at least held for one strike, and his aura senses finally managed to confirm what his panicked mind had started to suspect. The thing chasing him was silver rank.

He tried to send an attack towards the thing, but the strike was awkward as he lacked leverage and fine control over the direction of his body. The projected ripple did have some effect at least, as the thing chasing him swerved out of the way with disturbing fluidity, allowing Kite to gain just a little more distance, but he knew that his situation was a dire one indeed.

This was confirmed the next second as a hailstorm of frozen spikes came shooting out of the cloud, forcing Kite to conjure another barrier which quickly started to wear down beneath the barrage. Seldom had he wished for the ground to come up and meet him faster, but as he held on for dear life, channeling mana into the barrier of Heaven-and-Void Warding, Kite would almost look forward to the impact compared to the slightly helpless feeling that had overcome him.

"Kite, focus!" he chided himself, the many hours spent alongside his different mentors coming back to him, their united wisdom reminding him of a simple fact; any one action taken with intent was better than ten taken in haste and panic. Even as his mana was gradually chewed through by the sustained assault, his barrier barely hanging on even with the ongoing reinforcement, Kite took a moment, and breathed.

"My path will not be moved by the world, but use it to gain momentum." Part of the mantra came unbidden to his mind, and with it came a bit of clarity." Dissolve the patterns of power." The expanding wave unleashed by Ripple of Cancellation closed in on the cloud-thing chasing after him, its passing partially negating the incoming higher-ranked icicles. Kite was pelted by the stinging hail that remained, but compared to the ripping shards from before, he would weather it.

Even before the wave had closed in on its target, Kite had already sent another attack in its wake, his staff appearing in his hand as he swung. While the motion destabilized him, forcing him to use his amulet again, he still felt a bit of triumph as his dispelling wave reached the creature just a split second before the attack. As he had hoped, a chunk of the cloud-cover was dissolved by the passing of Ripple of Cancellation.

Kite had just enough time to glimpse something solid and scaled inside, a vibrant blue like the skies themselves, before his attack hit. He had not held back, opting to go directly for his usual damaging combination of Void-Sunders-Firmament and Chakra Implosion, echoed once more by his staff. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The effect was not as great as he might have hoped, but at least it got the monster to swerve again as Kite sent out three more strikes in quick succession.

"Just a little bit mo-" His trajectory quickly changed again from a second collision, but Kite could even bear the pain shooting out from his damaged arm as he once more felt Glint's scales beneath his hands and feet. A few tendrils of water snaked out and wrapped around his waist, securing him somewhat to the familiar's back even as she continued a rapid descent. Kite only had time to send a message of gratitude through their link, words required for other matters." Wall!"

The monster had once again started diving towards them. Kite did not know exactly where Glint aimed to bring them down to the earth, but he certainly did not have time to care as the thing broke through his layered wall of force in a violent burst of ice-tipped cloud tendrils, its momentum seeming to only add to the foe's lethality. And as his magical perception picked up flickering motes all around them, Kite's heart seemed to freeze along with the forming ice.

"Glint, prepare for impact!" The carp barely had time to sway out of the way as multiple clusters of sharp, pristine ice started growing in the skies, and still half-collided with one to send her and her rider spinning before Glint managed to once more stabilize their descent.

With Ripple of Cancellation still unavailable, Kite could only do his best to send the occasional projected Disrupting Strike towards the hazards in an attempt to break them apart even while he continued to use his barriers to deflect the occasional attack. Still, a ripple through the floating field of ice crystals informed him that the heavens had not seen fit to end his tribulation yet. Kite barely had time to let his staff disappear and for his shield, Heavenglass Defender, to appear on his remaining good arm.

He managed to conjure the barrier from the shield along with a new one from Heaven-and-Void warding before all the ice-cluster around them detonated. Glint did whatever she could to minimize the damage, but as they had yet to leave the field of ice crystals, the danger came from all around them. Kite's dual barriers did absorb a lot of the flying shards of ice, but both he and Glint were hit several times, the familiar being the larger target.

He could sense her pain through their bond, and as the rose gold chains that was Glint's harness lit up, Kite realized that his friend had indeed taken a lot of damage to cause the gifted accessory to release its built up storage of life energy. Worse, the spikes had frozen most of the water Glint used to stay aloft, and she was frantically trying to conjure more to control their sudden plummet as the monster pursuing them dove towards them once more.

His expanded vision showed Kite that the surface below was not too far off, and he found no choice but to use his most powerful defensive measure if the pair was to have a chance to reach it at all.

"Void!" Using his charge of Potential of Stolen power to further augment Gate of Nihility, the black gate was even larger than normal. From his many, many uses of the power, Kite knew that it would be able to absorb more, even converting some of the absorbed attacks to refill his resources. But for the moment, he needed it to act as both delay and a bit of a desperate gamble.

He could feel the impact from the other side of the dark aperture, but did not have much hope that whatever damage the collision inflicted would be enough to deter further pursuit. However, his plan was something different. And a bit risky.

"Give me all the speed you have, Glint. And prepare!" Kite called, channeling what mana he could to keep the Gate of Nihility active for just a little bit longer. His shield disappeared and his staff returned, already mid swing.

"It is a small blessing that my companions aren't present," he thought with gritted teeth, projecting a strike with his staff. Towards the gate. Ever since ascending to bronze rank, Immutable Echo had been able to detonate Kite's barriers to unleash waves of resonating force damage. It had been a useful tool for getting some mileage out of the defensive measures as well as the occasional area damage.

But it hadn't been until relatively recently, while out on contracts along with Dragonfly, Serene and Will, that Kite had realized that he hadn't tried the ability with Gate of Nility. Because while it looked more like a hole in the world, it should still count as a barrier, or at least he had theorized. It had turned out that it did indeed, but as its nature diverged quite a bit form the rigid walls and discs of force, the effect was a lot different.

As the strike connected, the dark gate seemed to crack before it suddenly collapsed in on itself. Said implosion was not a peaceful one either. An indiscriminate pull caught everything in a wide area, dragging all within its reach towards the collapsing void gate. Kite himself was usually able to resist due to Indomitable, but he could feel the pull on Glint as well where she, even at their distance over thirty meters away from the event, had to strain to keep her momentum downward.

And the silver-ranked monster pursuing them had been very close to the gate when it started collapsing. With the obscuring disc gone, Kite could see it strain to make its escape. The covering cloud was drained into the small singularity, and for a moment Kite got a full look at their pursuer, and he had to admit that it was rather majestic. The monster looked like a combination of a great bird and a lizard, its five meter long body covered in sky blue scales.

It had two pairs of wings covered in shimmering ice feathers, and the cloud stuff covering it seemed to emanate from them. The long neck had a beaked head much like that of a heron, and it was powerful and graceful in equal measure even as it struggled. And while the silver-ranked being made headway, it was not fast enough. With a final, dull thump that still threatened to burst Kite's eardrums, the gate collapsed, sending a wave of pressure out in all directions.

The monster was flung away, as was Glint; the former propelled upwards at an angle while Kite and his mount were sent down towards the ground at a terrifying speed. Or more accurately, towards the great lake they had seen in the landscape below. Even with his expanded vision, Kite hadn't properly had the time to process which trajectory Glint had chosen, but as the pair crashed into the water at great velocity, he was all too aware.

From the dark which overcame him for a moment, Kite suspected that he passed out for at least a few seconds after impact, and it was probably only Glint's ability to manipulate water which kept them from further harm. Thanking Fortune that he had at least had the presence of mind to hold his breath, Kite groggily fumbled with one of his spatial pouches, eventually producing a small pill which looked like it was made from condensed seaweed and pushed it into his mouth.

It seemed to dissolve and spread across the inside of his mouth and throat, and a moment later Kite took a deep breath of water. It was still quite uncomfortable to feel the liquid slosh around inside his lungs, but he had tried Auntie Dove's pills enough by now to push past it. The lake was surprisingly bright around them, lit from the depths by clusters of coral glowing in hues of the sunset.

Glint was steering them down towards the lakebed while Kite kept his eyes upward, looking for any sign that the flying monster would pursue them. But when no such attack came for over a minute, he finally relaxed his guard, if only slightly.

"I can see why I should not use that particular tactic too often," Kite murmured aloud, the sound swallowed by the surrounding water. The first time he had detonated the gate like that, it had ended with all of his companions in quite the disheveled and sore state. Even if the detonation itself was dangerous, it was not close to the potency of an actual, dedicated attack spell of that rank.

But what it lacked in straightforward damage, it made up for with the force of both its pull and subsequent detonation, flinging everything caught in its grip far and wide. Glint eventually slowed down next to a pair of pale boulders on the lakebed, touching down in a puff of fine sand which covered this part of the lake's bottom. Kite slid from her back, sore and hurting as well. Even if he knew that his broken arm would mend itself through his bronze-ranked constitution, it was still quite painful.

And from the multiple bleeding wounds which marred Glint's colorful scales, he knew he was not the only one in need of rest and recovery.

"Thank you, little beauty," he murmured, stroking a hand over the familiar's side. From their link, he sensed that she was too weary to even change her form, content to recover as she was next to one of the rocks. Kite sat down as well, thankful that the lakewater around had a surprisingly pleasant temperature as he leaned himself back to rest against Glint's side. Sage manifested from within him, the astral gatherer seeming to look quizzically down at the pair.

"Sage, would you please go up these rocks and keep watch?" Kite asked. He was unsure if his words would reach the familiar, but the response indicated success.

"Confirmation Fascination" Sage floated upward after giving its assent, apparently appreciating the chance to get a look at the new environment. Kite could only hope that the curious familiar would not wander off, but as he and Glint needed the rest, he could only trust that Sage would see them through. Kite ate a healing pill and gave one to Glint, the small bead looking quite miniscule in the carp's mouth. If he looked past their collective aches and pains, he had to admit that the view was quite scenic.

Glint had touched down where the lakebed was just starting to slope upwards, which gave them a good view over the swaying seaweed, pale sand, scattered rocks and glowing corals. Compared to the murky and gloomy watery domes from Kite's last trip into a jade-sky gate, this was quite pleasant.

"The lake has to be at least a dozen kilometers across," he mused, sorting through the scattered memories of their descent, a bit surprised at their clarity even in the dire circumstances. The growth of the spirit attribute had slowly crept up on him, and it was mostly in moments like this that he realized the difference compared to before bronze rank.

"But I should really deploy the formation plates for some concealment." He had barely managed to get to his feet when the heavens decided to prove the truth in his words, apparently keen to show their fickle side today. While Kite kept his aura as retracted as possible, Glint did not have the same level of skill and control over hers. And this had apparently drawn company. From off to one side, a sudden burst of motion caught his eye.

Something long and skittering came charging out from a small forest of swaying seaweed; like a centipede crossed with a sea urchin. Kite barely had the time to register the rows of bristling spines and the bronze-ranked aura before a white beam of resonating force flashed through the water, punching clean through the monster, carapace and all. The thing crashed to the seabed in a small puff of sand, with an odd slowness due to the water, and Kite felt its aura flicker out.

"Thank you, Sage," he called, the familiar hovering proudly above one boulder behind him.

"If one of your beams was enough to kill it outright, it seems to have been quite weak. And weak monsters -" Kite began, remaining on his feet as he saw more motion among the seaweed, "- tend to mean that there are more of them." He could sense a short burst of urgency from Glint, but his serene response seemed to let her calm once more.

"Don't worry, little beauty. I'll handle these ones while you rest," Kite said, a small cloud of churned-up sand starting to gather as over a dozen more of the same skittering monsters appeared, charging as one. The inner glow of Immortality had barely started to make it through the gaps in Kite's armor before his shield appeared on his rapidly healing left arm.

"But I'll definitely set up the formation after this. Whatever would Auntie Crow think if she witnessed my laxness?"

"How does your little student fare, dear?" Crow asked as Dove entered the common room of their home in Starberry Peak. The celestine was seated at the low table, compiling lists and inventory in preparation for their eventual departure, keeping Raven entertained through a small collection of formation plates which gave off different types of sounds or colors when touched.

The toddler was gleefully hammering the same one over and over again, and Dove was happy for her silver rank perception allowing her to better filter the annoying repetitiveness of the sound.

"He is doing quite well, even if he has to suffer through me being a bit rusty with the use of an external cauldron," Dove replied, sitting down next to her wife.

"And it was a really good idea to invite his wife into the guild as well. Her having the plant essence makes teaching her a lot easier."

"I'm glad to hear it, dear. It feels like you had the heavens pour a lot of work into your lap with not one, but two students," Crow said, closing up the ledger in front of her.

"But it feels right to leave the village with some more potential for future growth."

"Oh, I know," Dove agreed.

"And it is fun teaching again. It takes me back to when Kite was younger. While alchemy never really became his passion, I still remember his little look of concentration while he tried to grind the leaves properly." Both women smiled fondly at the memory, even if their expressions soon turned a bit strained.

"I hope he's doing well," Dove eventually said.

"I'm not sure if Walker telling us this time is better or worse."

"Such is the life of a parent, I suppose," Crow agreed.

"It is a wonder that essences and awakening stones of worry aren't manifesting left and right in this world."

"Is there actually a worry essence?" Dove asked quizzically.

"It is not, and that might be for the best," Crow confirmed.

"Can you even imagine what kind of path would come from that?"

"I suppose that us giving Kite that resolute essence was us telling him to follow his own mind and to keep his path strong," Dove said, nodding a bit resigned.

"But I still can't help but worry." As if sensing her mother's distress, little Raven rose on unsteady legs and wobbled over to Dove, small chubby arms held aloft. Dove couldn't help but smile as she scooped up the toddler, who immediately started tugging at her mother's brown locks.

"I suppose we'll soon have to start worrying for this little chick as well," Crow said fondly as she watched the two.

"And trust that both Kite's and her paths will keep them safe enough."

"It might just be the remnants of Immortality talking, but I feel like this little tribulation went better than expected," Kite said as he stood among the scattered and torn carapaces of the thornipedes, as his mind had labeled the weird monsters. With Immortality continuously granting him additional recovery, Kite had been able to go as all out as possible, his force walls and barriers curtailing enough of the monsters' numerical advantage to make the battle surprisingly one-sided.

Implacable Motion had always helped Kite more or less ignore the resistance of the water around him, and he had also been pleasantly surprised that the strikes projected through his intent met no resistance either. But most of all, he was happy to see that all his practice had paid some dividends. His shield and barrier in conjunction had let him weather the storm and whittle down the monsters one by one, the rest kept at bay by attacks or walls of force.

While he knew that these particular monsters should individually be on the lower end of bronze rank, it still felt like a proof of concept that was important as he now stood without people ready to step in if things went wrong. Even so, Kite was thankful that he was not entirely alone. Glint and Sage had helped in their own way, through occasional beams of resonating force or by manipulating the water to impede the thornipedes.

While the celestial carp was still injured and preferred not to move, this did not stop her from using her innate magic, which she used even now to sweep the monster corpses well away from their little shelter while Kite set up the last of the plates for the concealing formation. The protection was not perfect and would cost some spirit coins to keep running, but it would hopefully make sure that more annoyances like the thornipedes did not seek them out.

Sitting down again, Kite felt quite a lot better than before, even if Immortality couldn't remove every kind of fatigue. He leaned back against Glint once more, the little group relaxing as trails of rainbow smoke eventually started to emanate from the pile of monster corpses a bit further down the slope. Having seen it so many times before, Kite didn't think too much of it before his eyes caught a glimpse of something shimmering left behind one of the dissolving monsters on the lakebed.

While it made him very curious, he still waited a good while for the smoke to have thoroughly dissipated before he rose and strode over, only to find small gems scattered across the area where the monsters had lain. Most were a blue-green kind of crystal barely visible in the surrounding water, but he could see other more chitinous ones and some shards looking more like small thorns or needles.

"Quintessence?" He muttered, confused as the things had seemingly tumbled directly from the corpses of the dissolving monsters. A moment later, it clicked for him, the details of the challenge having been forgotten in the tumultuous descent. Turning to the officiator, he asked; "Are these the quintessence you mentioned? The ones which I can deposit into your form?"

"Yes. Those are the quintessence of insect, water and needle."

"And once I insert them, I can not take back the decision?" he asked, to clarify.

"That is correct."

"How much quintessence can you hold?"

"Six hundred pieces." Kite looked back to the handful of small crystals on the ground, processing her words.

"So I must gather the quintessence of the concepts I feel would strengthen my path, and also choose the ratio between the concepts?"

"That is correct, with the addition of the three greater treasures, most commonly received after defeating the rulers of this trial." Kite nodded to himself, looking back at the paltry amount laid out before him. Even as thoughts and concepts started whirling around inside his head, ideas not yet fully manifested, one thing was clear.

"I have a lot of gathering ahead of me."