In the midst of the storm, the boy who hid in the cave, waited until the storm would stop so that he could continue on his journey to reach the peak.
He just woke up from a dream and since then, the rock that was supposedly on his chest was gone. he was clueless as to where the rock was or who took it. He was worried that if he did go to the peak without it, he could fail.
But for now, his eyes that only stared at the very flames he made himself, was weary and fickle over the events that happened in a dream-like memory.
He was cold and alone, with not single person to accompany him. He may be for the rain to completely stop but he wasn't sure if he had the energy to go through this challenge.
With four of his fingers cut from the fall and with his back that he knew was sprained from landing such a tall height, he was physically broken and was barely strong enough to walk kilometer.
His mental state also wasn't in good condition. To experience such a trauma and not have it be completely resolve made him feel conflicted. He couldn't fully stable himself, he was lost in his thoughts to a point that he could not think clearly of what he should do at the moment's call.
All he could ever do was stare in the flames with no precise goal or thought in mind.
With the sound of the rain continuously falling down to the ground and with the heat of the flames that warmed his cold body, he could only wait.
"...I don't understand it, why am I going through all of this…why am I going through this stupid challenge…what am I doing?" he questioned himself to his reasons…he wanted answers but also he wanted a distraction from his current problems.
"Oh right…I was supposed to get this skill…summit's will." after a couple of minutes, he was reminded of his original goal when coming to this domain.
But reminding himself of his original goal didn't fully convinced him of his thoughts, he was fully immersed with doing something while his mind was a bit of a mess.
So he stayed sitting with his palms out for the fire to warm them. Although his other arm was missing four fingers, he couldn't really bother with the pain. In time, they stopped bleeding and he just completely ignored it's condition.
As he did sat there, while his arms were warming up against the fire, he remembered that on the back of his right hand, the mark of acknowledgement from the Intrepid ruler was placed specifically right there.
He remembered the time when the Intrepid Ruler's spear went through that hand while he was defending himself in the dark void.
"..." he smiled as that memory wasn't all to pleasing to remember but he knew that at that moment he had started a connection between him and those Rulers.
He reminisced through his memories when he went through the challenges. He could only smile from how terrible each challenge was…how hard they were…but they all made him stronger as time went by as he did those challenges.
As he was remembering those challenges, it gave him a thought. He lost the smile from those memories and was replaced by an indifferent look.
"Summit's will…to attain this skill, I need to do something."
As he said this, he stood from the floor and made his way out of the dry space. As he was an inch away from the pouring rain, he looked down to the floor and saw the running current of the rain. He saw it continuously flow with nothing stopping it from its path.
Still, no actual goal was flowing through his mind, but he stood in front of the rain with such a cold and depressing gaze.
"...I am a ruler…I am a king…I should be better than this."
As he said this, he made his first step to the rain and slowly walked out of the dry space.
His once warm body was quickly being enveloped by the rain, and the cold feeling it brought awoke the boy's gaze over the sheer coldness of both the strong winds and rain.
This action of just walking through the rain slowly brought his attention apart from his emotional pain. The rain was helping him be distracted and it was slowly giving him the edge to be awake and away from his problems.
As he did so, certain thoughts started to push through his mind.
I am a Ruler.
I faced death more than a thousand times…
I shouldn't be this weak even when it comes to my family…even when it comes to my emotions
If I continue to be this weak then I will fail as a Ruler.
He kept reminding himself of his past accomplishments and the reason why he was doing all of this in the first place.
To be a better Ruler for the people he had to lead one day. To be a person capable of rebuilding a kingdom that was long gone.
Although the memory of his father was painful and depressing, he needed to be better than this. The past was the past and for him to be a fulfilling Ruler, he had to be better than he was a moment ago.
So even when he has already cried for his past failures, he had to move forward even if his problems weren't fully resolved, he could always come back to fully save it when he was ready to do so.
But right now, he had other things to worry about.
Although he had such a sad expression, he also gave himself the resolve to be better and walked his way through such a heavy rain.
"Summit's Will means that a person's will should be strong like the mountain even when they are troubled. Even when I can't fix this, I should be strong enough to go against it's flow…"
"Like how the earth is…like how it's element is…" suddenly a revelation came to mind in the eyes of the boy.
"Like the world, it carries a lot of poison, burden…problems that not a lot of people would bother fixing but the world still stands…it's being strong enough that it could face the problems head on even when it's suffering."
"This is what it means to set my will…like how the darkness contributes to the negative emotions of man, the earth is controlled by how strong my will is…how strong I am to take action without the act to doubt and instead be direct with my will...with my decision…"
As he realized how a strong will had an effect to controlling the earth element, he had understood the meaning of having to gain the skill.
And he now knows the meaning of having to fully understand his will. In terms of action, he made the resolve to fully win through this challenge.
Even with an injured hand, he still made the choice to go through the pain and succeed.
So he grabbed an extra crocodile tooth from his pocket with his left hand. And with pure determination, he stabbed the side of the mountain and continued on his journey to reach the top.
'I am a Ruler! Even if it will take days, I will reach the peak!' with this thought in mind, he did not stop for a second from climbing the mountain with only one hand.
'I will reach the peak!'
'I will reach the pick!'
"I WILL REACH IT!" as he shouts his thought to the world, he showed himself the very determination to climb pass his issues. To forget about them. To become a man who could do anything if he could set his mind to it.
Be sad sure, but be better after it.
Be threatened sure, but never surrender to the thought of giving up.
Be a boy who could cry over the thought of losing something precious but after it, be a goddam man who will succeed.
Be better than you were.
Be a Ruler, who rules over his weakness.
As his motivation…his mindset pushed him forward, it felt like nothing was going to stop him.
So he moved forward.
Doing so, he continued on his path…a path that was surely high and mighty.
For hours he climb to the top. He did not rest nor did he care if his body was in pain, all that mattered was the climb.
To climb and never stop.
To live past his lowest point in life and and someday reach the summit that showed his efforts. The summit that would show him that he made it past everything, that he grew and had become a man who could, instead of becoming a man who couldn't.
At his last reach for the top, of this particular mountain, the rain had finally stop. And it showed afterwards the beauty of how the sun was shining past every dark cloud.
It showed him the beauty of his efforts.