John could feel his mind sphere pulsating regularly. There were only five days left until his one-year birthday.
Today, he will leave his grandmother's secure space and visit his grandfather if he fails his tribulation.
His grandfather was dying, at least that's what John heard others discuss. So he thought he should show some filial piety and visit him with a loving heart.
He went toward grandfather's courtyard with his granny, mother, and Granpa Lyrius.
"Lyrius, I thought you couldn't leave your beloved book store?" John's mother teased with a mischievous grin.
"Sitri, you are getting more and more daring, huh? Nevertheless, I made an exception and forced elder Guanmo to protect the library today. You know, I like this kid Felix. He is so composed and calm, not a reckless bastard like the other pipsqueaks you have shown so far."
Lyrius smiled and looked back at Sitri with a dangerous glint.
"Stop your bickering, Lyrius. If not your extensive knowledge, I wouldn't even bat an eye to your request to see this event." John's grandmother harumphed and opened the door to his grandfather's estate.
"Sure, Ophelia, I will behave. Also, is that old coot dying?"
Granny just let everyone pass and waited until closing the door, until answering.
"Lyrius, it seems you aren't a fool after all. Abaddon is fine. We want to lure some snakes, who plot all day, having nothing else to do."
John listened to his granny with great interest. He didn't think there was so much plotting in his own house.
"Felix, we will stay here until you pass your tribulation. After all, your grandfather is the strongest person in this branch now, and other experts will arrive shortly." Granny explained with a relaxed smile.
"Well, hello, our newest family member." A booming voice sounded in the hall.
John saw a middle-aged looking handsome man sitting in a lotus position on a praying mat. Others were sitting in a semicircle, some older, some younger, but they all made John feel unprecedented pressure.
"Humph!" John's mother snorted and took all the pressure away from sweat-drenched baby John.
"To test a baby, do you even have any shame?" Sitri said with a hateful voice, not restraining her anger at all.
"Don't worry, dear. It was my intention." The booming voice sounded again as the middle-aged man spoke and stood up.
"Child, my name is Abbadon Westgate. You don't need to be polite here. We are all family." John heard his grandfather calling him out.
"Hello grandfather, my name is Felix." So responded John without being humble or arrogant.
"Good, good. This pressure was intentional, as it showed your willpower. You will need a lot of it to pass through this trial."
John listened to his grandpa speak. This cautiousness made sense, as he learned how big of qualifications one needed to form his mind palace successfully.
"We will set up a protection formation here, and your grandmother will be responsible for pill supplementation. You might not know, but she is the best alchemist in this branch, so her expertise will save you a lot of pain."
John carefully listened to his grandfather's explanation and was quite surprised that there was such a profession in this world. He recalled reading some fantasy books that mentioned alchemists in his previous life.
"Felix, tell me did you manage to absorb some lights with your mind avatar ?" Abbadon asked without any more chit-chat.
"Yes, I managed to absorb fire, water, and earth energy. Others are not ready yet."
John used his limited time to prepare without holding back at all. His mother was concerned that he would damage his body with his unending trying, but John persisted.
John knew that some pain now could help him survive this ordeal. However, he was not naive to think that some weird miracle would happen and save his ass, or this time his head, from exploding.
During the last few weeks, he used his previous life knowledge and understood fire, earth, and water attributed energies.
When he finally got the hang of it, it wasn't so tricky with a lifetime of memories he had. John made connections between lights. He observed their behaviors and distinguished similar lights into their respective power fields.
John comprehended similarities of natural phenomena with how the energies inside his mind-space behaved.
During one night, John heard thunder and saw lightning through the window. This storm gave him an epiphany that energy acted like electricity in his sphere.
The light blue sparking light was constantly jumping around in his mind-space. When it made contact with brown particles, it dimmed, and it became faster when it made contact with blue ones.
John instantly connected this behavior with how electricity acts in the real world. Earth stops it, and water lets it flow. Unfortunately, this little comprehension wasn't enough for John to absorb lightning energy. However, it led him to understand water and earth energies.
He already knew the Earth's composition. He could remember the periodic table like the back of his hand. However, he also learned his knowledge was insufficient, as the light didn't notice his understanding.
John had to experiment with the lights and finally found what attracted earth energy. It wasn't some scientific stuff from his previous life. He discovered while meditating that his visualization of the Earth was drawing the particles.
Soon, John began visualizing Earth's planet. First, he tried the image of Earth's crust, mantle, and core. The more detailed his vision was, the more it attracted earth energy particles.
This training led John to absorb earth, fire, and water energies.
John was surprised by the feeling the absorption gave him. It was like information flowed inside his head, forcefully expanding his understanding. It was painful but satisfying.
After fully comprehending this new information, John could absorb the energies corresponding to his understanding.
John also learned that his previous knowledge was just the tip of the iceberg. All three energies he absorbed taught him so much information that he had never heard in his previous life.
Earth encompassed eternal laws. It had so many interlinked features, elements he had never heard of, the aura he never knew was there, and so much more.
The same could be said about fire and water. There just seemed no end to the information that hid.
"Unbelievable..." Abbadon looked at the child with a shocked expression. He never heard of such an absurd comprehension ability. After all, even the most talented children absorbed one type of energy when they reached at least five years of age.
John was not surprised, but he was also not arrogant. After reading so much information, he knew that his only advantage was previous life memories and early intelligence.
John concluded that his earlier start would be the last advantage over his peers and everything else he will have to work with his effort. However, he also knew that his lack of other talents would be a giant downside, as others would have constitutions and bloodlines to fall back on in their times of need.
"Felix, this is terrible news you just said. It is our fault for not telling you this. However, you can't blame us as it didn't even cross our minds as a possibility." Abbadon walked back and forth while talking in a low voice.
"What do you mean, dear?" Granny asked with concern all over her face.
"Darling, the heavens are fair. The more power you take, the more danger you will go through." Abbadon stated without stopping his back and forth walking.
"It is rare, but it is still a possibility. I think The Heavenly Tribulation will punish Felix." Stated Abbadon with a pretty sure conviction.
"But it is absurd! He is only a baby!" Granny shouted with absolute rage.
"The heavens don't care how old he is! If his talent is big enough, heavens will not let him off easily." Abbadon said and began drawing inscriptions on the white floor.
"We will help him nevertheless. It is our responsibility. However, we don't have time to prepare against tribulation so that we will act accordingly."
John watched as his grandfather created a glowing circle with thousands of engravings around his tiny body. He believed it should be connected to this Heavenly Tribulation they just talked about.
"Felix, a Heavenly Tribulation is a name for heavens punishment for those who they deem punishable for their crimes, talent, or power. It usually is an elemental storm that strikes your body with lightning, ice blades, or even fireballs. Stronger Heavenly Tribulations even attack and try to eradicate your soul, but you will not have to go through this."
John heard his mom explain with a worried voice. He could see how all the people in this hall looked concerned.
"Okay, enough chit-chat! I will put you in a trancelike state, so your body will be in stasis, waiting for an eruption in your mind." John heard his grandfather saying, and he sat down in the middle of the formation and began meditating.
"This will let you be at your peak condition until it strikes. Now don't absorb any more energy. Just relax and stay calm." So instructed granny with a calm voice.
And so the wait began. Everyone inside the hall waited in silence for the whole five days until they saw energy fluctuations around the baby's body.
Abbadon frowned when he saw the magnitude of the energy storm around the kid's head. It was a lot more violent than he expected.
Inside John's mind-space, there was cracking and shattering noise everywhere. John could see through his avatar that the sphere's wall was cracking and breaking. The globe was full of energy, so the burst would be terrifying.
"Well, let's do this!" John tried encouraging himself and took a deep breath as he felt pain assaulting his head.
"Ofelia, take out pain medicine, quickly! If he loses consciousness, it's over!" So shouted Abbadon with haste and instructed his family what to do.
Granny took out an ointment. It had a refreshing medicinal herb aroma that made your mind clearer just from the smell. She carefully applied it on the baby's forehead and back of the neck.
John suddenly felt the pain reduction, and a refreshing sensation traveled through his mind.
"It seems they used some kind of medicine." So deduced John as he watched the energy shaking with considerable momentum.
"It's coming! Prepare to infuse energy inside formation!" Shouted Abbadon, and all the people calmly put their hands on the white ground.
The ground lit up and the formation buzzed with unprecedented power. Everyone in the hall showed a satisfied look when they saw the smooth effect of their efforts.
John could feel mental power flowing inside him, reducing his fatigue ultimately. He smiled at this, but his smile soon crumbled when the force of explosion hit his avatar, and an indescribable pain assaulted his senses.
Everyone witnessed a crazy vortex flowing outside of the baby's head, making lacerations around his forehead.
Lyrius frowned as the sight of a baby being hurt in such a violent way shook his heart. He took out blood-red beads and began humming a Buddhist chant that surrounded the space Jhon with sacred light images.
Everyone could visibly see Lyrius spit a mouthful of blood but remained his chant without stopping.
The experts knew that any intervention against the natural way of things, like this trial, would be punished. They could feel the pain in their veins as they helped maintain the formation, but elders knew that this child could become their savior in the future, so with gritted teeth, they endured.
Inside John's mind-space, all the energy flooded his avatar, and soon he lost his vision of the sphere. He could see only white light no matter how he focused.
This light terrified John to his core. It had so much sacred power and intent that filled his head with pain.
"What is this light!?" John screamed in pain as his head almost burst from the inside.
Soon, however, John was relieved as a new wave of medicine helped him reduce the pain. Then, as he refocused his mind, he saw that light was receding, and an image of red particles forming a pattern was forming in the middle.
Just as the red pattern stabilized, brown and blue followed.
John was looking at this with interest. His absorbed knowledge helped him comprehend what he was seeing.
These were the runes of fire, earth, and water. This pattern is the correct way to create them. Then, the image changed again as he memorized the number of particles, order, and intent in the runes.
On the outside, Abbadon began sending his power into the formation. It instantly lit up with even more energy, but the taxation increased as well, and some of the experts spat a mouthful of blood.
"Keep going guys, swallow medicine if you need it. Finally, this child seems to have comprehended something. Soon we will see some changes!" Shouted Abbadon with a clear voice.
John now had a clear vision of dark nothingness. It was pretty scary and lonely as it seems that thousands of years passed, but nothing changed.
"What is this boring place?" John couldn't figure it out. However, as years passed, a change occurred, and a small light lit up the surroundings.
The light turned into a bubble, then a vortex, and formed different energies altogether. John looked at it with amazement, but he felt that this process took thousands of years. He was amazed how he didn't die yet.
On the outside, only a minute passed, but inside his head, millenniums passed every second, it was very tiresome, and he was on the brink of insanity. Still, this energy formation was keeping him sane, as he observed the happenings shown in this vision.
John finally understood that this was the birth of the universe. Energy transformed into laws, matter, and form. A world was soon born, sun, moon, and the stars.
Millions of years passed, and the universe began wilting and crumbling in on itself. Worlds crushed, stars obliterated. The energy dissipated and vanished. Darkness ensued once again.
John was shocked by what he saw. The universe was born, and it died. He only understood that time began with the universe. Everything else was beyond his comprehension.
Soon the darkness was interrupted by the light, and the vision ended.
John was back inside his mind-space. There was a small formation of particles in the middle, spinning.
Red, blue and brown bubbles waited for his command. But, first, John knew that he had to create runes he saw in the vision.
When he looked around, he saw all the other energy particles violently destroying his mind space, so he hurried and began forming the patterns from the bubbles.
Abbadon looked at the child and smiled contently. Then, he seemed to see inside the kid's head and stopped the formation.
"Okay, enough! He is already forming a palace! Now prepare for the tribulation, experts. Please leave the hall now!" Abbadon instructed, and only he, granny, John's mom, and Lyrius stayed.
"What now, dear?" Granny asked and sat down on the mat.
"Now we wait and see." Abbadon closed his eyes and waited for the Heavenly Tribulation.
On the other hand, John was forming his last rune and saw that his mind-space was beginning to create a foundation. It looked like fire, earth, and the fire spun in a circle, letting all other energies from the harmony.
When Jhon completed his water rune, everything calmed down, and he could see a simple form of energy. His runes balanced the other energy particles.
John witnessed in his mind-space a tri-colored platform forming. His new runes of fire, earth, and water were in the middle of the platform.
Fire rune looked like a bubble, with a red complex letter inside, constantly emitting heat.
Earth rune was like a small continent, very stable and full of intent.
The water rune was almost life-like. It traveled around the platform like a small blue snake, bringing refreshing calm to all alien energies.
Now that John could look around, he saw many embryos of runes resting on the platform. The most prominent seed was the wind rune. It was big and wanted to move, shaking its body with boundless vigor.
Sadly, John didn't have time to relax, as he fell from his mind-space. So he saw his granny and others outside while no experts were there.
John looked at the sky and saw dark clouds above. He felt frightening pressure descend from the heavens.
"Kid, don't worry, the elemental storm will attack you, but your runes will counter them. It will be tiresome, so beware!" John heard his grandfather's voice and took a deep breath.
Thunder howled, and soon blue lighting struck John from above. He didn't even have time to react. Finally, however, his rune of earth materialized on its own and absorbed the lightning cleanly.
John was amazed at this, and he could also feel that he could control the rune freely. He focused his mind, and quickly water, and fire runes also materialized. But, unfortunately, he felt the runes swiftly absorb his mental energy.
John used the earth rune most crudely. It was his shield. The fire rune acted as an attacker, and water just flowed around him, protecting his body.
Abbadon was amazed at the kid's ingenuity, as he knew how long it takes for others to find a way to use runes.
However, their short calm was interrupted by a booming sound, and all kinds of elemental attacks flowed towards John. Ice spears, fireballs, lightning strikes, pressured water cannons, just take a pick.
John used his three runes to defend himself. It was an extraordinary experience, as he could feel excess energy from the attacks flowing inside his mind-space.
The sky suddenly changed color as John heard a humming sound everywhere.
"Damn it! How is this possible?! It is a soul tribulation !" Abbadon was aghast by the events. He knew that the kid had no way to protect his soul.
"Prepare. We will block the hits with our bodies and souls!" So instructed Abbadon without any hesitation.
Adults took their treasures and looked at the baby and into the sky.
"We will be on bed rest for at least a month, you old coot!" Said Lyrius but stepped near the baby with a confident smile.
They knew that the backlash would be crazy, but it was not their first time opposing heavens. Their power realm was their confidence.
John could feel pain, but he didn't know where it was coming from as he examined his body. It was getting stronger every second. Soon he screamed like a pig.
Tribulation was exuding pressure. This pressure squeezed John's soul with deadly force.
"Hang on, Felix! We will take all direct hits, but you will still have to live through this pressure!" Granny said with a concerned voice and threw a pill in the baby's mouth.
"Old hag! Where did you get your hands on Soul Serenity Pill ?" Lyrius was shocked when he saw this scene. Of course, he heard about this pill, but it was unimaginably precious.
"So what, you old codger, can't I splurge for my grandson?" Granny cackled and rammed into a white ball that came straight from the heavens.
Soul attacks were targeting John, but his family intercepted them. He looked around with tears in his eyes. "Is this how true family acts?"
John saw blood leaking from his mother's orifices. But, unfortunately, the same was happening to everyone. Only his grandad was still okay.
The pressure was excruciating. John never felt such pain in his both lives. It was so tiresome. He thought he would fall asleep any time but was afraid that he would never wake up if he did.
The sky flashed with light, and a vast light pillar struck everyone. John could see the light evade him as if he was under an invisible umbrella. His grandfather was standing in the air above him.
"Is he a god or something?!" John was shocked as he witnessed this scene.
Abbadon only spat a mouthful of blood as the light dissipated and the sky returned to its clear blue appearance.
"It's over..."Lyrius sighed with a mouth full of blood.
"Everyone return. It was a success. We will have a family conference after a month of recovery." John heard his grandad's command and soon fell into a coma.
"Sitri, take care of this child. Now let's get some rest. This tribulation was exhausting!" Abbadon smiled, and everyone went back to their courtyards.