"So this is the gate of pride?" Damien asked. "It's much closer to Aestus than I thought it would be."
The gate is embedded into the side of a cliff face that was just outside of the mountain range that surrounded Lake Aestus. The frame of the gate reached just about two stories tall and had the width of a two lane street. Peculiar markings and shapes covered the frame and a diamond shape blue rock was sticking out of the frame. Elder Treya approached the blue rock to examine it.
"The rune is still intact." She said. "Everything is as it should be here. If the young man wishes, he can undergo this trial upon our return to Aestus."
"If you don't mind me asking Elder Treya, but how does this work." Ty asked.
"To be honest, I don't know. I've never seen it been used before. All I know are the stories. People that enter came out a broken version of their former self. They lose all of their ambition, motivation, confidence... they lose their pride. Out of the seven gates this is the one that is feared the most."
"It does no harm to you physically but the mental toll seems to be quite frightening." Elder Faye added. "Are you sure about letting him do this sister?"
"It's best for him to do this one first so we can appropriately tend to the damage that's done before he leaves Aestus." Treya replied.
"Alright, I'll trust your judgment sister."
"So where to next?" Treya asked.
"The Redwoods. I believe we can find whoever used the lake of Lazarus there."
.....
Meanwhile in Aestus. Droplets of water rained down from the lake above and showered the village.
"It rains down here?" Kaden asked.
"Randomly the rune that keeps the lake suspended above would weaken and allow some of the water to fall like this." Mai replied.
"It doesn't happen often but we enjoy when it does." Kuria added.
"Doesn't it scare you?" Kaden asked looking up.
"Why would it?" Kumori questioned.
"What if one day that entire lake came crashing down onto the village. The people have nowhere to escape to, and I doubt they'll have anytime to react. The thought of that would keep me up at night if I lived here for a long time."
"Thankfully we don't have to think about that since it isn't an issue." Mai replied. "The lake's being held up by a rune that was placed by one of the ancient deities. It's more than strong enough to function for an eternity without breaking."
"Those deities again huh?"
"You don't believe it?" Mai asked.
"Everything I've seen in this world has been hard to believe, but ancient beings that can create a sun and stop an entire lake of water from falling is absurd to me."
"Well then I guess we can show you." Mai stated.
"Show me, what exactly?"
"Ouuu, can I tell him the story Miss Mai?!" Kumori asked.
"Sure Kumo, you can tell it while we're walking. Kenzo we're ending early today."
"Understood. I have to catch up with the other guards so I'll be leaving you."
"No problem Kenzo, thanks for your time." Mai replied.
He doesn't do anything but watch anyway. Kaden thought.
"Follow us stranger, we're going to show you something special. You can start the story Kumo."
"What's this story about?" Kaden asked.
"It's a legend of our world."
"Listen closely S.S. you're going to enjoy this." Kumori stated. "Once upon a time, two mythical creatures roamed the water continent long before humans lived here. One of them was a large bird which soared high above the mountains and watched over the state of the land. This bird was named Huma and it hardly ever landed on the ground or interfered with life down on the earth. It's believed to have light blue and gray feathers and it might not have any feet."
"The other creature was a sea serpent that traversed both the land and water of this land." Kuria added. "The serpent was also large in size and is thought to be at least 300 feet long. Unlike Huma, the serpent interacted quite a bit with other creatures on the surface and even was seen as the guardian of the water continent."
"So where are they now?" Kaden asked.
"One day the serpent felt a disturbance somewhere in the Redwood Forest and went to investigate it." Kuria said. "Upon arrival the serpent found that an are of the forest was up in flames."
"It was the Phoenix." Kumori said. "Another mythical creature that lived on the fire continent. Nobody knows why the Phoenix attacked but whatever the reason was doesn't matter. The serpent then attacked in order to defend its land. It was a destructive battle which ravaged a lot of the land around and it's said that the damages can still be seen out there. Unfortunately the fight was not in favor of the serpent and it was moments away from being killed by the Phoenix. It was a dire situation which could've ended badly for the serpent if Huma didn't intervene in time."
"Huma protected the serpent and took the fight with the Phoenix to the sky." Mai stated. "It was a literal battle of the gods. During their battle, the serpent slipped away to protect the creatures of land. He slithered down to bottom of this very lake and created this sanctuary. The rune that currently suspends the water above was placed by the serpent himself. He opened the lake and allowed creatures of all shapes and sizes to find refuge from the ongoing battle above. In the end, the battle lasted literal decades. Huma was able to kill the Phoenix once, but shortly after it revived from its very own ashes. The only way Huma could've defeated the Phoenix was to seal it away, and it did exactly that."
"And where was the serpent when all of this was going on? I understand it was hurt pretty bad, but if decades went by why didn't it eventually rejoined the fight?"
"The serpent devoted himself to defending the animals down here." Kuria answered. "Maybe he should've joined the fight because even though Huma was able to eventually seal away the Phoenix. It came at the cost of its own life. To this day nobody knows where the Phoenix is sealed and Huma, who was believed to also be able to resurrect from death is still dead today."
"Leaving just the serpent." Kaden stated.
"Correct."
"So where is it then."
"That's where we're going to." Mai said with a smile.
"You're kidding." Kaden replied with a chuckle.
The four of them soon found themselves on the edge of the underground sea. They had traveled to a part of Aestus that had no signs of people living there.
"Just around here." Mai said.
"For some reason the air around here feels different." Kaden said.
"I see it!" Kumori shouted as she ran into the tree line.
"Slow down Kumo." Kuria said following her.
"Tell me stranger, what's your world like?" Mai asked.
"Why are you interested in my world."
"I can't picture a world without spiritual essence. I'm guessing the people there are much closer since there isn't any classes to divide them into."
"Heh, people in my world are even more divided than the ones here. Essence doesn't divide them, but damn near everything else does. Religion, money, politics, shit even the color of your skin."
"What?"
"My world is shit honestly speaking. Uncontrollable violence in every nation, treatment for ailments and injuries are overpriced, segregation, pollution, abuse of power, wars, thieves, cheaters, abusers, lie-... it's a lot."
"...You say all of that but you still decided to try and go back."
"...I'm a hypocrite for calling out a lot of that stuff because I was indulging in a handful of those things myself. I contributed to the world being a mess, and there's a few people I have to apologize to for that."
"That's very admirable Kaden. If there are people like you in that world, who can recognize their mistakes and and work hard to fix them. Then surely your world isn't all bad."
"...I guess it isn't." Kaden replied.
"This place isn't perfect either but there are a lot of people working to make it better." Mai said watching Kumori and Kuria. "As long as there are people like that, then the world will never be all bad."
...
I'm definitely not one of those people, and I'm pretty sure I got one of them killed.
"Look ahead." Mai said pointing forward.
Kaden lifted his head towards the structure they were approaching.
"We're here!" Kumori exclaimed.
"What is that?" Kaden asked nervously.
"This is the molted skin of the sea serpent." Mai answered.
Of all the creatures that Kaden has seen so far, the remains of this godlike entity is the one that scares him the most. What he was looking at wasn't even the being itself, just a hollow shell that it once wore. The skin was a beautiful blend of blue, purple and green with broken white lines that zigzag across its body. The height of it was about three times the height of Kaden, while its body seemed to have no end in sight.
"We called him a sea serpent but our ancestors referred to him as a Leviathan." Mai stated.
"Is it just me or does the air feel different around here?" Kaden asked.
"What your feeling is essence radiating from the molted skin."
"But... only living things have essence right?"
"The Leviathan contained such an immense amount of essence that centuries later its molted skin is still emitting some into the air." Kuria clarified. "It's also the reason why the skin hasn't dissolved."
"It's against the law to vandalize the Leviathan's skin in anyway." Kumori said. "It is to be left to naturally dissolve away."
"And this skin is also proof of the Leviathan's existence." Mai stated.
"So where's the real thing now?" Kaden asked.
"Down there." Mai replied pointing at the sea. "The Leviathan still protects Aestus to this day from the bottom of this sea. He hasn't been seen in a long time but we know he's down there."
"Since we're here, it may be a good idea to do some practicing." Kuria suggested. "With all of this extra essence in the atmosphere you may find it easier to release your own."
"Good suggestion Kuria. How about it stranger, do you want to practice here for a bit?"
"...Yeah sure, I've got nothing else to do."
The four of them sat down in a circle and began to meditate beside the skin of the Leviathan. Orange, yellow and brown leaves fell from the trees and danced their way to the ground around them.
This feels different from the other times. Kaden thought. I can feel something moving in me. This is different from what they were all describing though. Instead of my entire body I can only feel it in my chest. This feeling... it's making breathing a lot harder than it was before. C'mon Kaden, steady breathes.
Kaden began to inhale large amounts of air, and held it for a brief moment before exhaling it all. He repeated this several times without realizing what was really happening.
This must be it. He thought. It feels like something is circulating through my body. Don't get excited yet Kaden, I still have to release it. C'mon Kaden you got this. C'mon Kaden... C'mon-
"Kaden!"
Kaden opened his eyes in a jolt at the sound of Mai calling him in a worried tone of voice. She and the twins were all looking around them in awe of what Kaden was actually doing. Leaves were slowly revolving around them, being suspended by a steady current of wind.
"What's happening?" Kaden asked looking around.
"...This is you." Mai asked. "Instead of releasing water essence, this is air essence."
"...This is me?"
Kaden stood up inside of the slowly rotating vortex that he was the center of. Kumori had a large smile in excitement of what she was watching. Kuria remained calm and quietly analyzed the situation. Mai was looking at Kaden with a worried expression, but after a few seconds that look became disappointment. Not at Kaden, but of herself.