The four students and three Masters stood in Pheisl's cave. The three students were allowed to rest since this test involved Josec alone.
"I don't quite get how it is I am supposed to awaken the Eye Of My Heart" Josec said.
"My test is a prerequisite to the next Master's test and you will find that you will need everything you have learnt so far to overcome her test" Pheisl said.
"The next Master is a lady?" Buern asked.
Pheisl nodded.
"Sweet!" Buern exclaimed joyfully.
"You still haven't answered me Master. How do I awaken the Eye Of My Heart?" Josec asked.
"Your five days of rest were not for nothing, I'll bet you've rested ten days almost in alternation now. One rule of a Master is to rest whenever the need calls for it. The most extreme ones will absolutely forget a battle and rest immediately after it has been fought. Recall the tale you saw in Fencer's cave?" Pheisl asked.
"Speaking of…where is your tale?" Josec asked.
Pheisl chuckled.
"You are looking at it. I am my entire history of Jo-lan. My history has made me" Pheisl said.
"As strange as it sounds, Pheisl speaks the truth. He lives his history. Both the 'common' and the 'unique history'. Pheisl will not necessarily test you through combat so I suggest you keep your eyes open" Fencer said.
"What were you saying about Fencer's history?" Josec asked.
"He is listening" Fencer and Kyem laughed.
"Do you recall the painting of the man with Crimson Wings? The man who was receiving gifts from the people?" Fencer asked.
Josec nodded.
"Before he awakened the 'Eye Of His Heart', he put his heart and body in a restful state. The story goes like this; after he found himself in a place of light, he was made to face his reflection. Whether the reflection he saw was a monster he had to fight or just himself, he had to recall that he was staring into a mirror. After initially seeing a monster and struggling with himself, he recalled that what he was staring at was merely his reflection and not simply his reflection but one of two weapons to vanquish the darkness. It was in light that he faced his reflection for reflection is an effect of light. As the story goes, he would need to forge the second weapon to vanquish the darkness. A weapon made from the gifts of his friends. He had to face three trials. The first was his 'history'. The second was his duty to the world and the third was his destiny. To face his duty he needed two kinds of 'eyes'. The first eye had to do with what he saw around him. The second eye had to do with what he saw in the future but to discover these eyes, his foundation was rest and rest is a peaceful state" Fencer narrated.
"Besides, Bane is also a master and he has an interesting definition of Jo-lan that you may not have heard of" Fencer said.
"To fight?" Buern asked.
Harry, Josec and Estelle shook their heads.
"The original definition of Jo-lan was 'to give life to'" they corrected Buern.
"I see, I never knew that" she admitted.
"Jo-lan is expressed in combat however our one and only enemy is Souryu. Keep that in mind" Master Kyem said.
"The reason it is double-headed has to do with how double-minded it is" Fencer said.
"How long will our training last?" Josec asked.
"That is dependent on you Josec because you are the one undergoing this test. Like your previous masters, I won't give you a time limit but I will observe you" Pheisl said.
Josec did not know where to begin so he wandered the cave for two days. Then he began to converse a bit more with his friends. He learnt things from Harry about Harry's last battle with Asmodeus and Anubis and discovered that even the Book of Jo-lan could be used in combat. He spoke to Buern and learnt of her fears concerning his reaction when he found out that she was Innovain's daughter. She voiced out her relief concerning how he took it. He learnt from Estelle that she was a princess and discovered how difficult life actually was for people in authority.
Pheisl observed him silently. Josec noticed him every now and then.
"I could pass him right now but I'd rather watch and see where this leads" Pheisl said.
Josec spoke to Fencer and discovered that Fencer was an artist before his battle with Apollo, Souryu's strongest general. Fencer said to him,
"The knowledge you gather from the moment of birth to the present is something we often underestimate. You will be shocked to discover how courageous and resourceful you are when life throws an almost insurmountable challenge at you. I was formerly an artist. Never even dreamt of battle and then your father, Vega Fenix, the first Jo-lan master in a long time and former heart of the phoenix presented me with a gift. The book of Jo-lan and the coral gem. I've used these to slow the progress of Innovain's influence into my land. I never foresaw though that Apollo would one day attack my land with a scorching flame. To stop him, I began my journey and battled him to a deadly stalemate. Acknowledging my fortitude, he left my land alone" Fencer narrated.
Josec found Master Kyem training.
"Master Kyem, may I speak with you?" he asked respectfully.
"Not now Josec, I am busy. I am the weakest Jo-lan Master so I have to work six times as hard to be at par with Fencer and I have no intention of losing to him anytime soon" Kyem said.
"Master Kyem, Master Fencer doesn't see you as the weakest Jo-lan Master. In fact, in his opinion, your adaptability makes you the strongest Jo-lan Master" Master Kyem said.
"He really said that?" Master Kyem asked.
Josec remained silent as he observed something he had missed before. Master Kyem's trial was in some ways harder than Master Fencer's and Fencer really did see Master Kyem as the strongest Jo-lan Master but Master Kyem still worked hard to catch up to them acknowledging that he was weaker than all the other Jo-lan Masters in terms of raw ability. It almost made Josec wonder what Master Kyem had been through.
"He did" Josec finally said.
"That sly Fencer. He is never honest with his feelings. He would never say that to my face" Master Kyem laughed.
"Master Kyem. Can I ask you a personal question?" Josec asked.
"Go ahead" Master Kyem said.
"How exactly did you become a Jo-lan Master?" Josec asked.
"I was a musician once. I loved music and I considered it my life. I had no intentions of ever involving myself in battle…but I guess fate had other plans. I noticed a growing snowstorm approach my land threatening to throw my land into an everlasting ice age. This storm was unnatural and I knew it. Most people thought I was insane when I spoke about it but the truth is the truth regardless of whether people believe it or not so I left my musical instruments behind and journeyed into the snowstorm. I was about to die of cold when I opened my eyes and beheld the most magnificent sight. The figure of a man with crimson wings. He handed me the book of Jo-lan and from this book, I learnt about the common history of Jo-lan. There was a note at the end of the tale which said, 'And now the rest of the tale is yours to write'. You will notice that there are blank pages in the book of Jo-lan and they fill up with each unique experience under a heading entitled 'Your Name's Unique History'. By studying the common history of Jo-lan, I discovered a skill called 'empathy'. Most people call it 'assimilation' nowadays but it is the ability to feel something to the extent that you become it and that is how I began to study each element's unique characteristics. In the end, I believed in the elements till I became the elements. This ability is unusually strong in Pheisl but he would rather avoid combat if it can be helped. I've only ever seen him fight twice" Master Kyem said.
"And the cause of the snowstorm?" Josec asked.
"An evil psychorage called Aesakal. A titan who controls ice and is ranked as Souryu's fifth general. We fought and by learning to assimilate flame, I eventually subdued him. Flame is also the symbol of fortitude and my favourite element especially because I possess almost no raw ability. In dedication to Jo-lan's help, I wrote my history in song. A memorial to the Crimson Winged Man" Master Kyem said.
"Thank you very much" Josec said.
Josec began to understand. These men referred to as the 'Masters' of Jo-lan were just ordinary men with their own dreams but when fate presented a challenge that threatened their homes, either on a whim or due to the love they felt for their homeland, they rose to the challenge and served as 'liberators'. The word 'Master' was a little too vague to describe their actual roles and over time, their legend was exchanged for the myth that they were who they were simply because they taught the art of Jo-lan.
Then Josec finally approached Pheisl. He noticed Pheisl performing what looked like a dance invented for combat.
"I spoke to everyone. I think I understand a bit of this 'Eye Of The Heart' you speak about" Josec said.
"Then tell me" Pheisl said.
"Sometimes, we think we know a person until we discover that we didn't know them as well as we thought we did. It involves empathy to truly understand a person. The 'Eye' is perspective and the hero you spoke about learnt two types of perspective. A perspective interpreting the present and intuition envisioning the future. These are the two eyes that form the Eye Of The Heart. Together, they create a kind of Hyper Intuition" Josec said.
"Shocking the things you learn when you are close to death" Pheisl said.
"If I may ask, what's your story?" Josec asked.
"If you really have gained the Eye Of The Heart, watch and don't talk too much" Pheisl said as he shot massive elements of light and flame out of his body.
The elements could only be likened to a golden blaze. Pheisl commenced his dance. It was graceful and as he danced, the elements danced with him. He danced softly at times, strongly at times and almost stiffly at times. As Josec watched, the elements overarched with Pheisl's movements and that was when Josec realized that Pheisl wasn't dancing haphazardly. Forms began to show within the elements. A boy forsaken, nature's vengeance as the boy was bitten by a poisonous wolf, a tale of unrequited love. And then Pheisl paused his dance for a while and then Josec realized that he could almost instinctively picture a song for the dance. Pheisl began intermittent dance steps and then he began to dance vigorously building up momentum. The figures of creatures that resembled dragons began to fight against others who fought back with dragons and the boy was killed. Pheisl slowed his dance down as an image of love realized almost too late was displayed in the elements. Pheisl paused again and the elements began to darken and fade. Finally, Pheisl, began to build up momentum once more and the elements strengthened and became fierce. The boy in the elements arose as a figure of a man with six strong wings and the features of a dragon. Pheisl finished his dance and inhaled deeply. There were tears in his eyes.
"There is indeed dawn beyond the darkest night" he said.
All through the dance, Josec was mesmerized by Pheisl's feeling.
"You saw my history didn't you?" Pheisl asked Josec.
Josec nodded.
"None of us masters had it easy. We had to go through almost crushing trials, beat almost insurmountable odds to be known as the 'Masters' we are today" Pheisl said.
Josec listened with rapt attention.
"You have passed my test" Pheisl said.
Josec nodded.
"What you have just learned, 'empathy' is what determines to a large extent the friends and foes you will have in the future. Someone might have been sure to inform you that the one and only foe of a Jo-lan warrior is Souryu. That is true. Any other foe is more often than not a human under Souryu's influence or Souryu's influence itself. It is possible to purify the enmity between yourself and a foe by showing 'empathy' towards even enemies and if that same person said 'situations don't change, people do' then I suppose breaking the enmity changes the landscape. On this day, I deem Josec Fenix, a worthy inheritor of the Heart Of The Phoenix" Pheisl said as Josec's book of Jo-lan warmed his chest.
He removed it from his clothes and saw it glow. Josec opened it and saw his deeds written under 'Josec's Unique History'. At the end of the last written page and at the centre of each blank page were the words;
'And now the rest of the tale is yours to write'.