The region was quiet again.
The sword stood stoically, as an unseen being focused its eyes and looked out towards the distance. This being's gaze passed through the old temples and tall trees, when it came to the barrier separating the different regions of the realm it effortlessly penetrated it. The unperturbed gaze passed through the very laws that made up the world, until it finally rested on a familiar scene.
Parading under the think canopy of trees in a vibrant forest, a young boy swung his wooden sword heroically.
"Little girl, its okay! You don't need to cry anymore, big brother will protect you!" The boy laughed as he puffed up his chest, and gripped the little hand in his own hands a little more.
The "little girl" in question had a nasty look on her face as she was being dragged around.
"Big brother?! Little Brat, even your ancestor's ancestor would have to call me elder sister!" Little Tulip cursed in her mind incessantly. What was wrong with this brat? How come he's still here unscathed, and why am I constantly getting the short end of the stick? Hmph, you think you can win against me? Just because you're a little lucky...let's see how you get out of the next one. As she thought this, Little Tulip had a scheming smile on her face.
It was just then when the young boy suddenly stopped. The two kids were standing at the edge of a wide river which demarcated the edge of the forest, and looking toward the other side one could see large rock monument on an open plain. Just as the boy was about to turn back, to get some wood or branches to make a raft, there was a loud sound and some smoke as an old man suddenly appeared.
Though one could call him an old man, he clearly wasn't man, as he was made completely of wood and some metallic parts. Even the long beard that hung down his wrinkled face, was made of twigs and he had long flowers coming out of his ears and his nose.
The boy evidently was not too surprised by this sudden appearance as he pointed his sword valiantly towards the old wooden man and stood in front of the young girl.
"Another creature of the darkness! Old man, are you the guardian for this trial! Hah, there's no use, I have defeated all the other trials and soon I will reach the demon's castle and slay the demon king!" The little tyrant roared valiantly.
Seeing this loud little creature the wooden man sighed in his head thinking, "Ugh, why do I have to be the one to deal with this little devil. Little devil, I've seen what you did before to the others, I just hope I'll be left in one piece."
But of course, one look from the "little girl" who was being shielded by the valiant young 'hero', cut off all wandering thoughts from wooden man's mind.
"Hmm, another challenger!" The man began in an austere voice, "There have been many like you, but no one lived long after coming here..."
"...But I'm still here!" The boy interjected righteously.
Please little devil, don't interrupt me and let me get this over with, the old man pleaded in his mind, but continued with a cold snort, "Hmm little kid, now is the time your luck runs out."
"But don't worry too much, the master is gracious, and she has felt pity for you...so the trial this time is very simple."
Then the old man turned to the river behind him, and snapped his figures.
All of a sudden there was a loud creaking, and thunder erupted from the sky, and lighting began striking down and deep rumbling emerged from the river.
At this new development the boy swung into action, he pushed Little Tulip back casuing her to fall unceremoniously unto the ground, "Don't worry, I'll take care of this devil servant", and then valiantly began swinging his wooden sword the old man.
Thwack! Thwack!
The old man caught off guard by the young boy's actions, quickly held up his hand to defend himself.
"Wait wait! Stop, stop hitting me!" He shouted in pain.
"Old man, you think you can call for mercy when you're calling lighting down to attack us! I shall defeat you, you fiend!" With that the boy began thwacking down on the wooden old man.
"No, no, wait this is a misunderstanding! The lighting is not for you, this isn't the trial! Wait stop!"
Hearing this, after a few more swings for good measure, the young boy retreated back to where he had shoved little girl a moment before. She was looking up at with a visible hatred on her contorted face, as she wiped her muddy face, but the young boy didn't seem to notice.
"Speak devil" the boy gestured to the old man.
The old man almost wanted to cry as he soothed his back, gesturing at the stormy clouds and lighting hitting the lake he said, "Cough, cough! You're misunderstanding things, all of this is just some pyrotechnics, completely harmless. You know just setting the stage for the real test, creating an atmosphere!"
"Oh I see!" The boy face lit up as he snapped his finger's in understanding.
What do you mean you see, you little bastard! Calming himself down, he clicked his fingers again. Soon the lake waters began rippling as large stones emerged. While this was happening the boy had once more held up his sword, making old man sweating profusely. Hurry up, stupid rocks! He thought.
"Hahaha, you see this is the real test..." the man said gesturing to the lake, "...It's simple, all you have to do is cross this lake by stepping over these rocks. Of course, if it was just that then it wouldn't be a test, all you need to do is step on the right rocks, if you step on the wrong rock one it may sink, and you with it. Of course if you stay on a rock for too long, you'll also sink. How about it? Pretty easy right, don't tell me you're going to chicken out now?" The old began goading the boy.
But the young boy didn't even let the old man finish his enticements, before cutting him off stating "Thats it? Old man this test is too easy for me hahah!!"
Then he sheathed his small wooden sword around his belt, and then turned to the little girl.
Patting her on the head, even though she was a few centimetres taller than him, he began to console her, "Little sister, it's okay, even though it looks scary, your big bro will easily defeat this trial. You just have to follow me okay! These trials are piece of cake for your brother!"
"Piece of cake your ass!" Little Tulip cursed in her mind. How far have I fallen?! She lamented, how could I, the great Mistress Tulip, be talked down to by a little brat. Many great figures have been defeated under my plans, especially that brat Red Baby, aahhh why couldn't this brat be more like him! But she calmed herself down, "It's all part of the plan, its all part of the plan! Stupid brat just wait and see."
Even though there was an internal battle going on her mind, Little Tulip only sweetly smiled and replied, "Okay I'll listen to you -"
"-Big brother" the young boy reminded.
"...I'll listen to you big brother." She smiled back at him cutely, but her eyes were staring coldly at the wooden old man, transmitting "This better work or I'll have to bring you to the workshop to fix you up properly."
"Ahaha, Mistress Tulip don't worry, this will surely work! Trust me nothing will go wrong this time!" The old man transmitted back worriedly. He only prayed that things would work out properly: Please let me keep all my parts!
Thus, holding onto Little Tulip's hand, the young boy stepped onto the first rock which was nearest to the edge of the river with a decisive stomp.
"Hmm, not too much to it!" He said smiling smugly at the wooden old man.
The man had an ugly smile on his face, but said "This is just the beginning, as you move the more choices you have to make."
But the valiant young hero didn't pay these words any mind, continuing to make decisive stomps as he travelled safely along the river with Little Tulip in hand.
Little Tulip on the other hand, who you would expect to be angry, was looking gleefully at the wooden man, who at this point was half-way across the river at the bank they had come from. "Brat, everything is in place right? I don't want any mistakes to happen here. If I keep losing to this kid, I won't have any face left!"
"Mistress, no need to worry! Everything has been set according to the plan." The old man transmitted back to her reassuringly.
At this point, the two children were at the middle of the lake standing on a sturdy rock. In front of them were three rocks. The on on the left was small and jagged, while the one in the middle was wide and smooth, as if there was a sign on it that said "Hey! Step one me, I'm safe!". On the right was a thin and short piece of stone that looked very wet and slippery.
At this point the young boy was considering where to go when he felt a little tug at his clothes.
"Big brother, I think its that one. Let's go on that one big brother!" Little Tulip put on her sweetest voice as she pointed joyfully at the big smooth rock.
"Hmm, you think so? ....I think you're right, that other rocks are too hard to step on or too small. Little sister you're really smart aren't you!" He pinched the young girl on the cheek affectionately.
Calm down, calm down... don't ruin it now, Little Tulip repeated over and over again in her mind.
At this moment the young hero took a large jump and stepped decisively onto the big rock.
"Haaah, finally!" Little Tulip shouted jubilantly, as she triumphantly stepped onto the small jagged rock. "Haha, little brat how does it feel now, the rock you're on is the wrong one. Stupid kid, how could you be so easily tricked by appearances..." She started laughing loudly as she awkwardly balanced on the jagged rock.
"Calling me little sister, little sister! Brat, finally you lost. Haha, now you have to call me big sister, no, call me father! Hahah" Little Tulip was beaming from ear to ear in happiness, finally she had done it, this little monster had been defeated fair and square - ahem- fair and square!
"Little sister! You've been brainwashed by the demon, don't worry I'll go to the demon's lair and save you from his clutches!"
Little Tulip was waiting to wallow in his misery but his words confused her. "What do you mean save me?" she thought, it was then she realised that the little brat seemed to getting taller and taller, or rather she seemed to sinking deeper. In the next instant the rock along with Little Tulip disappeared from the surface of the lake, as they had been teleported.
On the smooth, comfortable big rock, the young hero stood with his sword pointed ahead of him toward the distance with a determined look in his eyes, and on the other side of the river, the old man made of wood sunk to his knees.
The only thought on his mind was, "It's over.".
--------------
In the innermost region of the realm, at the bottom of the altar which was covered by grass the grass and some trees, a little girl with an ugly look on her hair appeared, her clothes and her hair drenched.
"That clumsy idiot, how could he mess it up so badly! And that little devil, how can you have such good luck! Just you wait, enough of these games, I'll just end this with force. Hehe, little brat don't worry I'll send you out, but not before I hit you over the head a few times, hmph!"
Just as Little Tulip was about to teleport out of the region, she heard a melodious laughter and a smiling voice enter her mind.
"Hahahah, Little Tulip you've really met your match this time!"
Little Tulip was shocked, "Mistress, you were awake?!"
"Haha, Little Red came with some brats again. He complained that you weren't there to guide him, but it turns out you were having your troubles" Little Tulip could hear the stifled laughter coming from her Mistress, causing her to feel extremely embarrassed.
"Mistress, this little devil. There's something wrong with him, he's not normal. But don't worry I'll make sure to send him out before he comes here."
She dried herself, and prepared to teleport when the voice stopped her saying, "Don't worry about it, let it be. If he wants to come let him come..."
Little Tulip was astonished, and instantly began whining "Mistress, mistress you can't be thinking of meeting him right, he doesn't deserve that honour! This brat is a devil, we need to send him far far away!"
"Haha, calm down little flower, let's just wait and see what happens..."
Little Tulip wanted to protest but could only acquiesce to her Mistresses' wishes.
Having coaxed the little girl, the invisible being turned her unfathomable gaze back to the boy once more.
At this point, the young hero having successfully passed the trial was standing on the other side of the wide river. He looked out at the wide plain in front of him, which seemed to stretch on forever as wild grass and small flowers spread out in front of him.
If the boy had actually tried to keep walking forward he would find himself stuck in an everlasting loop that would always lead him back to where he began. This was because of the barrier that separated the different regions was not purely a physical membrane but a more complex dimensional one.
Of course, having made it this far the boy understood what he had to do. A few metres in front of him was a large stone monument, the same type of monument which he had used to come to this place from the hilly region and the ones before that.
Walking up to it with his sword pulled out on one hand and his other arm outstretched, he placed him palm on the foreign words that were inscribed into the stone. As he did so, a blinding golden light enveloped the surrounding location, and in the next instant there was peace, the boy gone.
The world reverted back to stillness.
As the light receded the young wild hero began to quickly slash his wood sword around while his eyes were still closed, shouting loudly. Slowly adjusting, he opened his eyes, a bit disappointed to find that his valiant slashing had fielded no results.
As his eyes adjusted from the sudden exposure of the teleportation, he looked around slowly to see if he had finally made it to the boss region.
But he was immediately disappointed, instead of dark stormy clouds, and craggy harsh rock environments, it was just a bunch of old buildings and some wild trees and a peaceful sky, there was no black menacing castle or horrific demon in sight.
Thoroughly disappointed, the boy begrudgingly began running forward. He hoped he could get to the next region and finally meet the devil king, so he could slay it with his might sword, save his the little princess and then get his wish granted by the Goddess.
As he has running forward a bit into the distant he noticed a giant sword stuck into an elevated altar. Immediately looking at his own wooden sword the boy's interest was peaked.
"Hmm, I wonder if that is the divine sword I need to use to kill the demon king...but I like my sword better though. So big, I wonder what it's trying to prove!" Though conflicted on this, he still headed toward the altar.
Throughout this entire time he had not noticed anyone or heard any movement. By the time he reached the bottom of the altar, he was wondering where he had beat those devil servants to much...
Slowly climbing up the stairs, he reached the platform.
"Wow, so many toys!" The young hero exclaimed excitedly. Around the giant sword, were various tools and weapons either laid on the ground or stuck onto the ground. With brimming enthusiasm he inspected all of them closely, paying special attention to the swords.
There were many of them stuck onto the ground, thin sabres to giant broadswords, most were ornately decorated and had a striking quality.
Looking around the boy once more returned to face the giant sword.
As he looked at overbearing monument of violence, the entire area seemed to coalesce with a strange invisible tension, an extreme silence impressed upon the surrounding landscape, the clouds above seemed to sway still, the leaves and the grass rigid as if stuck in amber.
Suddenly the boy started walking toward the sword, each step seemed to echo throughout the air. Finally, he was only a few metres in front of the sword, looking up at it, it seemed to reach the clouds. He slowly reached out his hand, his fingers extended towards the the black-silvery blade...
...and flicked it.
"Hmph, what's the point of this big thing! I can't even use it...tsk, what a waste." He scowled, disdain evident in his face as he turned around and walked away.
Somewhere in the void of space, a little tree girl nearly popped a vein.