Adasa's bulging eyes scanned his surroundings. Thousands of shelves were occupying the space with its neatly placed books greeted his view. He rushed and gently touched the books to confirm its existence to make sure he was not just seeing things.
Then, he looked around and noticed the non-existence of neither windows nor doors to find his exit. Surprisingly, he didn't feel suffocated.
Through his inspection, he noticed that there was only a table and chair placed in the middle. A book was laid on it.
Adasa looked over it. He noticed the handprint to the cover similar to the book he saw earlier He tried what he did to the first book, but nothing happened because he couldn't draw his energy at all as if something had erased it.
'What's going on? What is this place?' His expression sunken knowing he was weak at that point. He heightened his guard just in case something unexpected happened.
Instead of not doing anything, he opened the book and there are no single words written on its pages as he expected. But as he was just about to close the book, it released a golden aura, forming a guardian figure.
"Welcome to the 'Holy Blessed Library' young man! I am Guardian Bida, your librarian guide." The guardian in front of him surfaced a warm expression. His golden wings spread, covering the view ahead. "There are a lot of books you can study about; History, art, medicine, purification method and many more. This place is rich in heavenly energy concentration too, so your purification level will increase by leaps and bounds if you do it here. If you need anything here, you can ask me!" He continued not noticing the surprise expression of Adasa, "Before you can use the library, you'll need to sign in. Write your name and the name of your benefactor in that book."
Adasa opened the book. He was surprised to see a lot of names on it. It was just a moment ago that he didn't see any.
"Benefactor?" Adasa looked at Guardian Bida, confused.
"So, he didn't tell you, huh?" Guardian Bida bent his back to meet the eye of Adasa.
Adasa stood still not knowing what to say. He really doesn't know anything.
"Don't worry! I just need to call for his body. That will do!" Guardian Bida surged his energy and shot it out toward the ceiling, but to his great surprise, it doesn't seem to be effective. He did it thrice but to no avail. He felt dizzy and fell onto the floor.
"Guardian Bida, are you okay?" Adasa dashed forward to help him stand, but he couldn't touch Guardian Bida at all. His hand just passed through him. His confusion just deepened.
"Hssss! What a pain?" Guardian Bida felt extremely displeased.
"Tell me what is happening?" Adasa asked, baffled.
"Forget it. Follow me!" Guardian Bida led the way.
"I'm just a sliver of will from myself when I was alive, so you can't basically touch me. Of course, there is an exception. If the will is strong, then direct contact is possible, but my past self could only do this. Your benefactor must have done something to his body. I couldn't call him out. Maybe, he doesn't want you to know." Guardian Bida explained. "Do you know your benefactor?"
"Say! Guardian Bida, what do you mean by not wanting me to know? Who is my benefactor? Where are we going?..." Adasa asked a lot, but Guardian Bida paid no heed to him for the meantime.
"You'll know sooner. Take a step inside that circle." Guardian Bida instructed, pointing the circle on the floor with some sort of ancient words inscribed.
Adasa did what Guardian Bida said.
A moment later, Adasa felt like his energy was being sucked and the circle emitted a faint golden luster. Though confused as to how his energy came back, he knew that it was not the time to inquire. The plain wall in front of them emitted a dazzling light that seemingly followed an invisible pattern. Suddenly, a scene flashed on it.
"What is happening?" Adasa was perplexed viewing the scene. It was a scene in the library where he and Tala were arguing.
He noticed something was amiss to Tala. The projector of their conversation not only show what their naked eyes could see. It also showed weird things like the flow of energy one possesses.
"What is that sliver of golden light in Tala's body? It does seem that she's sending it off her body to mine?" Adasa was baffled.
"So, he is not he. She is she and her name is Tala, huh! That's settled then. Now, we can put her name beside yours." Guardian Bida commented. To inherit the title of chosen one, the pioneer one should logically lose his life slowly. That is the reason why the pioneer one chooses his inheritor when he realizes that he is near his end. 'She is too young to die. What is happening out there?'
They watched in great expectations.
Sacrifice was needed to achieve greater height, but offering one's life in that manner wasn't the sacrifice he wanted to witness. It was just an excuse for a cowardly action.
There are only two ways to acquire the title of chosen one, inherited or blessed by heaven itself. In the case of Tala, Guardian Bida deduced that it was blessed by heaven itself for the unique energy in her body came from her chest while the unique golden energy inside Adasa's body came from his hand, evidence of being chosen as an inheritor by her.
"Is she my benefactor?" Adasa asked.
"As you can see, yes!" Guardian Bida replied.
Adasa watched intensely. Tala was forcefully fusing all her golden energy into a tiny speck of light in the center of her chest. It was so compact and well hidden that he couldn't even notice nor feel the gushing of energy from Tala's body at that moment. It was totally faint. When he touches the note, Tala suddenly shoves it to him when they have physical contact. The sliver of golden light passed through his hands, extracting Tala's energy. She seemed to be exhausted, but she managed to put up a pretense of vigorous state by secretly drawing her heavenly energy to support her.
"How can she put up such action without my notice?" Adasa felt ashamed to the bone. He was clueless and selfish as he watched himself on that projector. "She totally exhausted herself for what?" He mumbled in his heart as his eyes began to form tears.
"In her state, she will not last long...Wait... Guardian Bida, is this what you meant by you calling out her body?" Adasa looked horrified to him.
"Isn't it obvious? As you can see, she was totally exhausted. She will..." But before Guardian Bida could finish his words, Adasa yelled.
"She will not die. She couldn't be dead. We have a bet for tomorrow's battle. She will not die," Adasa's face was full of despair. "Why does she need to do that anyway? Why?"
"For you to be able to come here." Guardian Bida replied in monotone.
"But she didn't need to go that far. She exhausted herself. Although these knowledge and treasures that can be found here are great, it can't be summed up to equal a life. She's so cruel." Adasa's tears fell. He was just a child after all. "Let me out here, maybe she needs help right now. Please! Let me out!" He begged.
"I can't. You are the only one who can get in and out of this place." Guardian Bida stated. Although Guardian Bida was displeased to his words, he suppressed it. 'This young man before me may not know the importance of the treasures in front of him right now. I shouldn't be displeased.'
"Then tell me what I have to do to get out here!" Adasa said desperately.
"First, register your name and the name of your benefactor in that book." Guardian Bida instructed.
Adasa did what he was told. He reached for the book to do his instruction. Guardian Bida just followed him around.
A light shrouded him and a book mark was tattooed on his right arm.
"Then, put the book back to its original place." Guardian Bida continued.
Adasa closed the book to its original state.
"The registration was now complete." Guardian Bida confirmed. Upon doing so, the book mark in Adasa's arm emitted a golden light and he felt that the place and he were now connected. The book vanished without a sound. A door suddenly popped out 100 meters away from him.
"You can go now!" Guardian Bida curved a smile.
"Thank you Guardian Bida." Adasa dashed towards the door, but before he opened it, he paused and asked, "If I come back, will you still be here?"
"As long as you come back, I will just be here!" Guardian Bida said warmly as he waved his hand.
"That's great! Then, I shall take my leave." Adasa clasped his hand and bowed before he dashed out to the library.
...
Ten Great Guardians with five newborn guardians following behind, walked out from the Most Holy Land.
"Head A...A...Araw, is that what I'm thinking of?" Shocked, Vice-head Luna pointed the beam of golden light with his trembling hand.
"Yes. It is. Who might be the guardian who is able to activate it? Let's head over there immediately!" Head Araw replied with agitation.
"Head Araw, we'll wait for you here." Vice-head Cesa said with a grim look.
Head Araw paused a moment and gazed towards the other Vice-heads with a grim look. He suddenly remembered that he was the only one who could enter the mountain and the Vice-heads knew it. He stated, "Vice-heads, We can all go together if you want!"
"We wanted but...." But before Vice-head Luntian finished his words, the Head said,
"The mountain is open at this moment. We all can enter, so let's hurry up before it closes!
"Open?" The Vice-heads were perplexed, but they eventually nodded. This was the only chance they had to finally enter the forbidden mountain.
They let the five newborn guardians wait at the foot of the mountain supervised by an elder they bumped on their way.
They immediately head to the source of the light.