As if they had fallen into a deep trance, the test took the souls of the group to began their trials.
Khan Ni was lost in thought, she didn't expect to see her family. To the best of her knowledge, her parents and all the people of her village had long since died.
Her Mother's grace was able to sway the hearts of most, she was beautiful and the entire village acknowledged her Alchemy. Dedicating herself to crafts and herbalism that supported her family in every regard, she was second to almost none.
Often Times her entire family would go out looking for herbs in gathering parties, when returning home, her Mother would hone her ability with whatever they found. Their skills in promoting plant growth greatly aided retrieving the precious gifts the forest had to offer, there was even a large herb garden hidden nearby in the forest.
"Mother! Father!" Looking at her parents, alive and breathing, Khan Ni started to cry. She had been alone for a long time and with each second, she remembered less and less of her time away from the Village. Going back into their home, the house was filled with the scent of a warm cauldron. It was intoxicating, vibrant and full of vital energies.
Khan Ni's mother was brewing a potion that was very popular with the Elves, the Forest's Love. Watching her mother practice, she swallowed some of the food that was laying nearby, it was her Mother's favorite. Snatching some for later, she ventured out with her Father to pass the time.
The days were peaceful and her mind was at rest but something felt off. Her senses left her feeling a sense of unease that she couldn't shake off. Continuing on their way into the Gardens, they gathered more Herbs for the Cauldron.
The same sense of nostalgia from before rushed over her again. There was little that was left to be wanted, life seemed perfect.
Laughter and exchange filled the treetops, Khan Ni felt alive again.
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In another chamber, Yu woke to a vision of himself standing beside Mu while they were surrounded by clansmen. Time seemed to move quickly in the vision. Mu had seen his brother grow stronger alongside himself. They grew to become strong men together and had many battles.
One day they eventually left the tribe to adventure on their own. Finding themselves drinking to their hearts content.
Each seeing a mirror reflection of the same adventure, the Twins were lucky in that respect.
The test was meant for each persons accounts of events, as such, the Twins experienced nearly the same test, for a while.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Wu Hai had a different experience entirely, his soul arrived in a room filled with light.
A Mans voice called out to him, worried.
Having no context to what was going on, he asked "Who are you?" Wu Hai felt that the voice was familiar but could not place the tone to anyone.
"Xuan Kim Li." A name came from the voice, the room was bright and he couldn't see anything in particular.
"Professor, What are you talking about? If you can hang on for a minute, Medics are on the way." Xuan Kim Li's voice echoed a few times in Wu Hai's head.
'Medics?' Wu Hai couldn't understand what the man meant. He had heard the name Xuan Kim Li before in a dream.
"I don't understand what's going on but I'm here.." The words were like waterfalls coming from his mouth, unconstrained and free flowing. He seemingly couldn't help himself from speaking them, like his body was not his to control. Another flash of light happened across his vision.
Objects started to appear and time sped up. It was later that he was in a room on a bed, his chest was on fire.
"Oh! Thank God! He's awake." The Man stood above him, there were metallic fisticuffs in his hand. "We really thought we had lost you there, the program was a success. We managed to mine a lot of data and we're sifting through it now. Tell me what you experienced? We managed to pick up the whitewalls in the sample chamber." Another voice from the side seemed to really annoy him for some reason.
"Sample Chamber? Whitewalls?" With a look of confusion Wu Hai didn't understand the words he spoke and the context was completely absent. He couldn't make heads or tails of the situation and asked two simple questions, "What happened? How did I end up here?"
"Professor, you were checking out the a program on the headset. On launch, your vitals stopped. We lost you for almost 10 minutes, we're all surprised you don't have brain damage yet. Can you tell me anything about what you experienced?" Xuan Kim Li was throwing out terms that Wu Hai was completely overtaken by.
'Vitals stopped for 10 minutes?' "You're saying I died?" He put some pieces together and asked, "I don't feel like I died, What do you think happened?" Not having revealed himself yet, this place was not his home, Wu Hai wasn't about to let himself be trapped and interrogated, he did his best to gather information.
Looking like a child staring at a parent in the hospital, Kim Li was looking at Wu Hai with tears in his eyes when he was explaining the technical reasons. Pressing on, he told him about the intruders that had been dealt with and showed him the headset.
'What is all this?' Wu Hai had no idea how to proceed, things were just too strange. It was beyond anything he could have imagined and much of it was unsettling.
"Something doesn't feel right, if the danger has passed, let me go back!" Wu Hai really wanted to get back to where he was. The Blue Pagoda is only a stopping point on his long journey, it would be a bad if to be stuck with no hope of return.
"Sure, we can do that but you have to rest." 'Go back where?' Xuan Kim Li was cautious. His mentor had died already once in front of him and now, the Professor was speaking nonsense.
"There is no time, things are changing too quickly.. I must return to see for myself!" Wu Hai wouldn't let it go, he struggled on the table.
Not understanding what the hurry was all about, Xuan Kim Li was frowning. The words he was hearing were an uncharacteristic plea from Professor Jigui's mouth.
Wu Hai was starting to forget things while he tried to remember them. The more time he spent, the more memories he seem to lose. Lost, he could feel the draining consciousness that was himself. He was seeing and remembering things that were not of himself. The dreams felt very real.
Refusing to give up, he pleaded again to be released. The straps the held him down wouldn't budge and Wu Hai was growing angry.
Kim Li was not going to hear it.
"You don't understand, I barely understand but I have to go back.. and I have to go back now." Furious and nearly seething with contempt, Wu Hai was losing his patience. He tried summoning his magic and while he felt something, he couldn't pull any of his energy out. His attempts at manifesting his abilities looked more like him getting ready to take his fury out on his underling.
Wu Hai's face turned red with anger, there was nothing he could do except plead with Kim Li.
The clocks on the wall all seemed to stop for a moment until Kim Li opened his mouth. The feelings translated through Wu Hai's words, he was scared and serious about the danger he felt.
"I don't understand why but I will help you." Kim Li's face changed a few times during his acceptance and walking back to the data core Xuan Kim Li hooked Wu Hai into the VRC.
Making sure the Professors vitals were stable, Kim Li rushed to the keyboard before anyone else could find out what was going on. If Sheril came back and saw what he was going, she would protest and cause a ruckus, maybe fire him immediately or worse.
Problems were the last thing either of them needed.
While instructing the Professor to lay down, the calm demeanor of a Teacher came over Wu Hai. He spoke uncontrollably, "Thank you, I will try to remember this kindness" Putting on the helmet, Wu Hai wasn't sure what to do, he called out to Xuan Kim Li, "What did I do last time?"
Looking around the helmet he saw a small white icon and reached his fingers out to touch it.
A bright flash covered his field of vision and Wu Hai found himself back in the room with Morning Dew. Wu Hai could feel tears on the sides of his face, "Was that real? I almost lost myself." He paced around the room, wondering if what he was seeing was real or just another illusion.
Morning Dew was quick to answer. "Reality is a matter of prospective." "Live long enough and reality changes greatly."
Unable to argue with his statement, Wu Hai asked what was next.
"Your associates have yet to complete their tasks, you can continue to the next if you choose." Morning Dew opened up another four paths in different wall.
Pressing onward, Wu Hai took the initiative and went onto the second test.
Wishing his group luck, the leaps of faith had to be theirs alone. Wu Hai found his way to the second level and vanished into another blinding light, stepping into the next test.